Beyond the booth: Deck FX and the future
Hawtin spoke passionately about the “invisible parts” of his work, which, for him, involves minimal preparation. He prioritizes spontaneity and an ability to explore on the fly, typically going from 20,000 promos down to 60 “fire” tracks that he plays out for the first time in front of a crowd.
More important than his own preparation, however, is his deep commitment to supporting the music and the producers. He’s been a vocal supporter of initiatives like Aslice and famously created the RADR program (formerly Twitter DJ). This program automatically posts the track and artist name of the music he is playing to social channels.
“If there was a union of DJs, if you weren’t doing that, you should be thrown out… You should not be able to DJ if you do not support the people making the music that you play. And not even, I’m not talking about financially. Give people credit.”
This ethos is central to his large-scale visual show, Deck FX, where the names of the producers whose music he is playing are projected alongside him, making them co-stars of the performance.