Dark Culture
Heartbreak into output
Heart is broken. How do I productivity-max for eventual stunting? That was the actual question, asked the morning after, with...
Tag
music
Guides
Curation as product
Curation is not a playlist. It’s a product discipline. The lineup is the product. The brand is the trust that...
Guides
Hardware live sets as programming differentiator
Every underground lineup in NYC looks the same: eight DJs playing CDJs for an hour each. The programming blurs together....
BTS
Music file quality: why we check every DJ’s library
Before any DJ plays a SLIST event, we verify their music library. This is not a suggestion. It is a...
Scene
The smoking ban changed the music
There is a theory — developed from observing dancefloor behavior across two countries — that smoking bans on dancefloors directly...
Scene
There are a million highly skilled bedroom DJs who will never see the light of day
There are a million highly skilled bedroom DJs who will never see the light of day. Not because they lack...
Scene
Why photographers should never be on the dancefloor
A photographer with a flash on the dancefloor is a violation of the space. Not a minor inconvenience — a...
Dark Culture
I learned to DJ so I could avoid socializing
That is the most attractive thing about DJing for me — being part of the party without having to socialize...
BTS
We cut a DJ’s set after 15 minutes
Fifteen minutes into a set, the decision was already made. The DJ was playing YouTube-ripped tracks through a sound system...
Scene
4am hard stops are killing techno
New York City forces most nightlife venues to close at 4am. Some close at 3am. A handful have permits that...
Dark Culture
Dark taste vs dark culture
Dark culture is the aesthetic category. Goth, industrial, darkwave — it existed as a named genre well before techno absorbed...
Guides
What to expect at your first techno event
If you’ve never been to a techno event, the unknown is the hardest part. Not the music, not the crowd,...
BTS
Why we don’t post set times
No set times. No artist bios. No FOMO overlays on the flyer. No captions on the Instagram post. Every omission...
BTS
Teaching kids to DJ: the tutoring business that trained a promoter
Before SLIST existed, before Mexico City, before the first rave, the business was teaching. Middle school and high school kids,...
Dark Culture
Cancel culture doesn’t work with real techno people
The techno underground has a natural immune system against cancel culture. Not because it is morally superior or politically enlightened,...
Guides
How to evaluate a venue for underground events
A venue can make or destroy an event before the first DJ plugs in. After running shows at warehouses, hotel...
Shitposts
Music taste is character, not preference
I would probably break up with someone over not liking techno. Sounds extreme. It isn’t. Music taste isn’t what you...
Dark Culture
75% of the world doesn’t like dark music. Good.
Seventy-five percent of the US population does not like listening to dark music. There is statistically no point in trying...
Dark Culture
Dark music saved my life (and killed a friend)
I was asking myself why I liked dark music, and the answer surprised me. It was not about genre or...
BTS
The community is the headliner
The conventional model in nightlife is simple: book a bigger DJ, sell more tickets. The headliner is the product. The...
Shitposts
BPM is P&L engineering
People think tempo is an artistic choice. It is. But it’s also a financial one. At 140 BPM, people drink...
BTS
How we book DJs (and why most promoters get it wrong)
Most promoters book DJs by scrolling Instagram, checking follower counts, and offering whoever has the biggest number a flat fee...
Guides
Set time strategy: how to program a 12-hour event
Programming a 12-hour event is not the same as programming a 4-hour club night stretched out. The energy arc, the...
Dark Culture
The dead friend who started it all
She died after I cut off the friendship. I had hooked up with her and then ended things abruptly. The...
BTS
Extract the darkest shit people normally don’t play elsewhere
There is a single sentence that defines everything we book for. It is the mission statement that every DJ hears...
Music
Ambient
Ambient music is a genre that emphasizes atmosphere and tone over traditional musical structure and rhythm. It’s often described as...
Music
Alternative Rock
Alternative rock is a genre of music that emerged in the 1980s as an alternative to mainstream rock, often characterized...
Events
Lee Eye en Astro: entre lo íntimo y el show
Cuando terminó la noche de Lee Eye en Astro, pensamos en lo raro que es encontrar este nivel de intimidad...
Dark Culture
About: Why I share curated entertainment lists
Sharing recommendations with like minded people is the best sli.st is a reference to S tier lists. I’ve found that...
Recommendations
Dark albums that belong in every DJ’s library
Darker music makes me feel nostalgic and cathartic. I enjoy those feelings. That’s the root. This is not a genre...
Dark Culture
Dark culture across all mediums
Cultures express shared attitudes, values, and practices. Dark culture is a subculture that explores the human condition, prompts introspection, investigates...