Rethinking the Role of the DJ

 When a one became popular somewhere, and later a lot of attention was directed—I appreciated this great display of interest; it said a lot about many people. I wondered whether I should try to come up with strategies to preserve this useful thing, not just for myself. 

The answer was that this would be narcissistic. Long ago I was diagnosed with adjustment disorders with features narcissistic personality. To me, it seems ironic, because I never forced anyone to take interest in me. Similarly, Sidney SN releasing mixes was never meant as a desire to be famous. That happened as a reaction to events. I also don’t think I’m oversensitive to a events.  

Nevertheless, as soon as I told myself that deliberately persuading crowds with my person, manipulating them for my own goals, would be narcissistic, I began to reflect on the question of DJing. In a way, every DJ tries to win over crowds and manipulate people in order to be liked. If a DJ plays to gain recognition, admiration, and a feeling of power over the crowd, that can have narcissistic traits. The truth is, almost every DJ wants that feeling of power over the audience. In their case, the desire and pleasure come through music. 

Almost everyone who starts releasing music online also tries immediately to gain listeners and build a career through it. From the start, in such cases, it is somewhat self-serving. But there are also people who want to make things better through music, and so, as activists of their own goodwill, they try to speak through their music—that is the purpose of their DJing and production. 

And of course, many DJs understand their role more as a guide of the audience’s energy. They try to create a connection, an atmosphere, and an experience where they themselves are not the center of the universe, but rather the music and the shared experience. Moreover, even if a DJ desires to be liked, it doesn’t have to be pathological. The desire for recognition—one of the narcissistic traits—is quite natural for a human being. 

But in a way, every DJ wants recognition, sometimes also because DJing becomes their job and they need or want to earn money from the crowds they command. In a way, every DJ should know how to control crowds in order to sustain themselves, when the original idea of music fails. In this context, DJ often also adapts to the music a “narcissistic traits” in a given country and similar contexts, in order to keep their audience in that environment.

The Shifting Meanings of Love

 When I mix—perhaps most often with English liquid drum and bass tracks—I notice that love is a recurring theme. What I value most is not the empty repetition of phrases, but the genuine attempt to highlight human relationships, expressed by someone who pours themselves into the meaning of the music. Of course, this is not limited towards human relationships alone. Liquid drum and bass, and even deep drum and bass, carries layers of meaning—sometimes spoken openly, sometimes hidden in the subconscious. It is true, a listener may not always perceive this until they come to understand the producer behind it. And this in itself stands in contrast to neurofunk, which, in its rave context, does not engage with these questions, being more utopian technical than alive.

Sidney SN is not always concerned with the literal meaning of the tracks he mixes. From the beginning, I have sought to weave stories into Sidney SN sets—stories that may mirror my own life, though at times they do not. At times, I even transform their essence into reflections on love. A lyric may capture a particular moment—such as the love for vocalism of someone expressed through their song. In such cases, the very idea of love becomes reshaped.

I often find myself contemplating what it truly means to love, to be in love. At times I feel that love is about desire—sometimes even the desire to possess. To me, love means to care or matter. And so, it need not be directed only toward another human being. One can love a plant, a place, an object, or even a fleeting moment. This is where I sense that the meanings of lyrics in Sidney SN’s mixes may shift—finding new resonance, new significance. In a way, nearly every mix by Sidney SN reminds me of my own past, of moments and situations I have lived through. And yes, there are some mixes I cannot bring myself to revisit for precisely that reason. But to be in love is probably something I don’t know. I don’t know what it involves, what the feelings are like when you’re in love — I guess I’ve never felt it. I only know what it means to like someone. 

I said that I mixed mainly for myself—only the music I wanted to hear—and that the fact a track can capture a moment is also the reason why I first started mixing just for myself, before I ever uploaded anything.

The truth is that 99.99 percent of people’s desires—even those directed toward me—are in vain. Sometimes all it takes is asking for the truth: a truth that perhaps one does not wish to see, but which nevertheless exists. And yet, many prefer to cling to belief rather than confront their own cognitive dissonance. From my perspective, in 99.99 percent of cases, this is exactly what it comes down to. And at times, I am no different from that 99.99 percent. But because a situations, not because rejecting. What troubles me most is when I see these truths lost in the act of realization. Then I find myself asking: why realize something else, when in the past I should have reflected just as deeply on someone else? A desires or the love? 

Once, one of the lecturers for the social service workers during sexuality in social services said that the desire for s*x is nothing more than an instinct. In a way, that sounds like something rooted in humans from their animal past—something that cannot always be controlled, because the brain carries within it an irrational drive that is not always possible to master. However, I also believe that animals have s*x exclusively for the purpose of reproduction. There are people who apply this idea to themselves as well. Yet, the counterargument might be that in the human world, s*x can simply be entertainment—something a person indulges in because of their place or status in society. But in the truth, I believe that s*xual desires are just or especially an instinct, because a human evolution. In the world, there could exist beings that know nothing of such desires, because their reproduction has been in vitro throughout their entire evolution, as is the case with, for example, bees. No one bee knows these desires. This in itself could call into question human desires that may never have existed in other highly intelligent beings. Although love there exist. Yes, here could be a space for speech of asexual humans. Perhaps even better, since desires—even asexual beings for a “love”, actually the desire to possess—can be problematic—and often are—whereas in a society without them, individuals would focus on entirely different things, and thus function better as a community. It is not uncommon for a community to fall apart for precisely that reason.

I also see contradictions between individuals: when people are utterly different from one another, and yet each carries within themselves something of another person, as if fragments of “my own” self are reflected in opposites. This is like the contrast between a nymphomaniacs and someone’s who is their absolute antithesis—but both have something from you. It’s a question of what takes precedence, what are desires or love, and what is possible to realize. 

August Seventh

 After the illnesses I had in June and July…

Nothing started well at all when, on the sixth kilometre of my journey in Czechia, someone was killed in a motorcycle accident — and I was a witness. After giving my testimony, I had to find an alternative route to catch my connection to Germany, as the accident site was closed off.

In Germany, I spent a short while in a city. I was still quite shaken by what I had just witnessed.

Afterwards, the journey through western Germany was pleasant. I really like the area around Dortmund, and I enjoy it every time I pass through. The trip south through the Netherlands went without any problems.

After the illnesses I had in June and July, I finally found myself where I wanted to be. And at the North Sea. The water there felt sweet to me, as if it were regenerating me when it gently washed over me. I love the atmosphere around sunny Oostduinpark. The Hague is also a wonderful city on Europe’s western coast.

After a year, I attended an electronic music event in Amsterdam — even the same festival I went to for the last time last year. I missed Anfisa Letyago there :D, but the community was interesting enough that I felt it was worth returning to see how it is this year.

I am always quite surprised when I see reactions such as someone being a similar nukivalent and similarly related. That also pleases me.

Although nothing began well, I still had days in places where I wanted to be many times with the nice weather — though my health, and sometimes the weather, didn’t always allow it. 

Also, I’m “sick,” my throat hurts or something like that, I even cough from time to time, and I don’t feel like myself. After a day in the Netherlands, everything disappears. One might even speculate that these could be psychosomatic issues related to the environment. This isn’t the first time I’ve experienced it. And I often expect that I will suddenly start feeling better “out of nowhere.” In reality, it’s the overall life rhythm – the Netherlands has a different pace, public space and services, a different culture, which itself reduces everyday stress. There’s something to it. 

Dive Into These Waters

Publisehed 2025-07-06

 

  I just share a summer Sidney SN D’n’B mix. Yeah — this one’s all about that summer vibe.

What really makes it for me are the tracks in the mix. I’ve always been into UK drum and bass (just GEST UK, his drum and bass is now influenced by Berlin techno scene)—and Sidney SN’s Dive Into These Waters leans heavily into that UK sound: liquid with some smooth rollers and deep vibes throughout— and yeah, not neuro what is a mainstream at European continent. 

I also really liked the inclusion of Shapeshifter from New Zealand (their Blazer brought Sidney SN to the Shapeshifter music) — in fact, the final track in the mix is from Shapeshifter NZ. Or I liked American Flint, for example, he also was the person why Sidney SN exists, and first track in the mix is from Flint. Flint liquid drum and bass tracks belong to a modern liquid history, for me.

There’s also a track by one of Sidney SN’s German supporters — from the founder of C Recordings. And of course, Sidney SN mixed here classic modern liquid drum and bass tracks. Yeah, don’t forget on IYRE. With Flint is mixed intro from IYRE track. And late in the summer mix is mixed another track from IYRE—‘When Words Fail’. 

And yeah, Sidney SN is back with the summer vibes in his mix he had before 2019. The last mix with a similar feeling was back in summer 2018. It brings back memories of those legendary Sidney SN SoundCloud sets—before everything changed, before all the things we don’t need to talk about. 

 Tracklist: 

Flint – Dive, with intro from Conquest Of Space by IYRE together with pieces of Hard Feelings by imo:Lu Aperio – All Night All Summer 

Tomoyoshi – Dots & Line 

Flava D x Emz – Fluent 

Makoto – Silver Lininig 

SOLAH – King 

EIJER – Nebulous 

Subwave – Think (GEST Remix) 

Technimatic – Breath Sequence 

Nichenka Zoryana – O Rahi 

CRSV & T:Base – Auszeit 

Pola & Bryson feat. Data 3 – Hyperborean 

DØSHI & DIMOD – Electricity 

IYRE – Where Words Fail 

Euqsarosa – Aurora 

Raise Spirit – When You’re Ready 

Shapeshifter NZ – Runaway

______________

 *  For A Best World (August 2025) *

 And Sidney SN has one more liquid DnB mix for Summer 2025. Of course, you can expect full liquid mixing by Sidney SN—positive vibes, love, and an open hearts. 

Sidney SN just changed his policy. Sidney SN no longer wants it For A Better World, but For A Best World. 

  Tracklist: 

01. Polyrom - Rumbling Bass 02. Seba - Under The Sun 03. Makoto - The Points 04. Shogun Audio - Never Let You Down 05. EIJER - Strip Back 06. Breakshift - May There Be Many 07. Lally x Lens - Love The Way 08. Kyrist - NTY 09. Javeon & Operate - Dark Clouds 010. Radiata - Cafe Lunar 011. imo:Lu - Concentrating 012. Visionobi & Philth - Open Book 013. EIJER - Nebulous 014. In:Most & SOLAH - Escape 015. Jolliffe & Sydney Bryce - Everything I Know

When they violate human rights and freedoms, they cannot expect respect

 For more times I wrote a critique towards free tekno, even if I leave aside the fact that their version of anarchy includes total freedom for all drugs, and the erosion of what once made a human being truly human…

Someone may invoke the idea of freedom, but through their actions, they actually occupy, destroy, or displace the freedom of others.

When you claim the right to disturb the peace, to take space, to be accountable to no one — while the people around you lose the ability to decide about their own environment, their own sleep, their own body — their right to rest, to health, to dignity — then you’re no longer fighting for freedom. You’re claiming the rights of others as if they were unguarded territory.

When someone says they live freely, yet completely ignores the consequences of their actions on others, they are not speaking of freedom — but of egocentrism. It’s not ethics — it’s convenient justification. And if this community is unwilling to reflect on the consequences of its presence, then it cannot expect respect, nor understanding from the outside world.

If the free tekno community in practice violates peace, dignity, safety, and the living space of others, then it is objectively in conflict with human rights and freedoms, no matter what it claims about itself.

That’s why this community does not have my respect — not because a music style, but because of its disregard, masked as freedom. Freedom without responsibility is not freedom. It is a denial of humanity.

In my view, this is an attempt — whether conscious or not — to convince or even pressure everyone to eventually accept their version of anarchy, a world where no one asks anymore, where people are no longer truly human, but have regressed into “animals”.

Much of what I’ve said here is also the reason why I support daytime events — often in the Netherlands — where even organizers themselves refuse during weekend’s to play music after midnight out of respect for others. 

Yet when I wrote multiple times that “Strictness is Freedom,” this is exactly what I meant — another example from the Netherlands. The strictness exists to support the understanding of human rights and freedoms as they truly are. To me, this reflects the idea that human rights and freedoms function better in Western societies, and because of that, these societies are better freer for everyone. 

 In short: European Free Tekno Scene

 In Britain, where free tekno originated, the free tekno scene was already broken in the 1990s by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. In the Benelux—Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium, there is no identical law like the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, but authorities commonly classify these events as illegal raves and quickly disperse them—often seizing sound equipment, towing vehicles, and issuing fines.

The behavior of the free tekno community in these countries is considered socially unacceptable, disturbing public order and the lives of local residents. This is at the core of the concept of “anti-social behavior.” In Luxembourg, rapid interventions are also supported by nature protection laws.

Contrast with surrounding countries

 • While in Luxembourg or Belgium the police may arrive with dozens of vehicles, helicopters, and immediately seize equipment, in the Czech Republic monitoring and oversight are the standard response.

 • In the Netherlands or England, the mere fact of a free tekno gathering with music is enough to trigger inevitable intervention.

 • In the Czech Republic, events often last several days, and the police usually address related issues (traffic, drugs) rather than the music itself or another anti-social aspects. 

Result: 

While the scene in Britain practically disappeared after 1994, France and the Czech Republic became “safe havens” for exiled sound systems, where free tekno not only survived but grew into a mass phenomenon. From there, the culture spread further into Italy, Germany, Spain, Slovakia and Poland, but the main core remained in France and the Czech Republic. While it’s true that France (Bretagne, Occitanie, Marseille, for example) has the largest free tekno community in absolute numbers, when adjusted for population size, Czechia has the largest. It’s a central hub for the European sound system scene.