There are a lot of complaints these days about ‘DJs’ who don’t actually have much in the way of turntable skills becoming improbably famous by relying on the latest technology to do most of the work.

Back when vinyl decks were the only option, DJ trickery had to be hands-on for all too see, whereas now it’s hard to tell what, if anything, is being done ‘live’. It’s a bit like the difference between someone playing a grand piano or setting a Casio keyboard to autoplay ‘The Entertainer’.

I was once at a Lost party in some dodgy arches with Derrick May headlining where the power kept cutting out. This was generally for no more than a minute or so, but about the 4th or 5th time, it took ages to restart and the crowd were getting restless. Derrick obviously had to win them back, so by the time the generator had been given another good kick up the arse, he had prepared 2 copies of The Goodmen classic ‘Give It Up’, one on each deck.

Without using the motor on the turntable, he manually brought the intro of the track slowly up to speed using his hand, then slammed in the drums from the second copy, mixed in perfect time! He then happily cut between the 2 records as the crowd understandably went completely nuts.

We’re currently tracking Derrick down for an interview as he’s going to be back in the UK this Saturday for the 1st birthday of his Hi-Tek Soul party at Ministry of Sound. The night has rapidly become one of the premier places in the world to hear proper techno from the absolute masters of the genre. Saturday’s birthday party is extra special, with guests Kevin Saunderson, Technasia and Jim Masters in the Box while Colin Dale bring his Tilted Disco to the bar (after cementing his reputation to a whole new generation of clubbers by playing regularly at Manumission in Ibiza this summer).

This is a night to spoil all techo lovers, and there’ll be no worry that the DJ is ‘cheating’…

Check out Derrick May’s most recent live mix from the Detroit Stage at last Saturday’s (29/09) Awakenings party at Gasthouder in Holland to get you in the mood…