international news _ 28th March, 2007
Armand Van Helden's Pensioner Prediction
Text by Jonty Skrufff (Skrufff.com)
30-something US house veteran Armand Van Helden praised Junior Vasquez this week and hailed the New York legend for prospering at the age of 61 (Wikipedia says he was born between 1946 and 1949).
"You could be 60 or 70 years old, if people still wanna see you, then it's cool," Armand told Australia's 3D World. "(But) if you're 60 or 70 years old and 10 people are showing up, maybe it's time to hang it up."
In more veteran DJ news, the world's first DJ Ron Diggins celebrated his 90th birthday in Boston this week, some 5 years after retiring from a career that saw him performing over 20,000 gigs. Despite having first mover advantage, the disco inventor admitted he was surprised by the rise superstar DJs, in particular by their fees of $20,000 for a single night's work.
"I never knew how it would take off," Ron told Boston Today, "The most I've ever charged is $50."
Definitive superstar DJ Paul Oakenfold, who laughed off retirement rumours in 2004, telling the Liverpool Echo "I absolutely love DJing - that's what I do, where do they get these things?" was more circumspect, this week, telling the Miami New Times his main focus is movies.
"I deliberately took a step back from DJing about three years ago," he told Miami New Times.
"I've been on the road quite a lot of late because I was busy promoting my new album. But generally, I'm more into (film) scoring."
Related Article
News : Superstar DJs Facing Extinction?(09/01/2007)
Related Link
Armand Van Helden MySpace Page
