Spending Time With Jeff Mills

As a professional DJ, my job and career has been based on the process of curating, selecting music to present, play, mix and modify music for people’s amusement and enlightenment. In this process, I use a number of items: a DJ mixer, vinyl or CD turntables, speakers, etc. All of these items are pieces of equipment that helps me fulfill my main tasks of playing music for people. These items are pieces of hardware that have fixed functions. A turntable has a function of a pitch control. This is for keeping tempo and has a RPM (revolutions per minute) measure lever. Generally, this lever is not modified and altered. In this process, the only essential non-fixed element in DJing is myself. Because I (the DJ) can change my mind and modify my thinking towards what I’m doing, there is room for error, or spontaneously re-thinking the tasks. And if I’m nimble, precise and fast enough, I can make “fixed” and pre-recorded music appear as if its looping, repeating and various other effects. I have the choice of appearing fixed like these machines or I can be loose, free and organic, detached to do whatever I feel is necessary to enlighten the situation. The more I feel this way when I’m playing as a DJ, the more possibilities there are for “what could possibly be”. The more fearless, and courageous I approach the process, the chances of stumbling on something unexpected are increased. To think this way and to prepare myself, I should have a type of mindset that often believes that I can make the sound better by affecting it or programming it from an unpredictable perspective. I should be confident enough to believe that I’m able to create unusual events that can have particular benefits to the listener. I believe this is important for advancement. At a young age, I had been groomed and conditioned to always think “in addition to the normal way people thought”. - to always consider the impossible and the unbelievable. Basically, I consider that something magical is always about to happen”. - Jeff Mills The evening consists of: Jeff Mills "Live at Liquid Room" 30th anniversary documentary Talk session by Jeff Mills and Carola Stoiber Art exhibit curated by Jeff Mills Jeff Mills book signing