The entire reason to go on SubwayTakes, Kareem Rahma extremely viral internet series, is to fire off some possibly uninformed opinions that will annoy people who are scrolling on their phones. That's what movie star Andrew Garfield did when he appeared last week on SubwayTakes Uncut, the longer iteration of SubwayTakes. Garfield prepared eight different takes for his appearance, and his first was one that he described as "soft." That take: "You can't legitimately call yourself a DJ unless you use physical records."
Very few DJs spin vinyl these days. Physical records are heavy — hard to lug around, hard to store. They get scratched or break. You lose them. They're expensive. Technology has rendered that setup largely obsolete, though there are still plenty of DJs who are still happy to let you know that they use vinyl. Garfield, who usually does quite well in these internet-interview scenarios, elaborated:
I was in Berlin recently — shout out to the [upcoming Sigfried & Roy series] Wild Things crew in Berlin — and our boom operator, sound engineer, amazing guy — he has 12,000 to 15,000 vinyls at home. He threw a little impromptu Berlin rave for us after a long day on set, and it was this beautiful, generous act. I was like, "How did you choose?" He was like, "I spent the whole weekend going through my 12,000 vinyls, thinking about who might or might not be at the party." You know, it requires time and energy and care and love.
For the record, Rahma gave Garfield the coveted "100% agree," and the two of them agreed that the current form of DJ needs a new job title. Garfield said that he doesn't mean to put down the non-vinyl kind of DJ and added, "Please don't hate me!" But then he also did big scare quotes when he said "DJ community" and told them to come at him. They did!
The comments on that Instagram video have since been shut down. Before that happened, though, some members of the DJ community chimed in to express their displeasure, and our own Scott Lapatine kept a record of them. Here's a selection:
Darude: "I guess I’m not a DJ then, Mr. Garfield."
Marlon Hoffstadt: "Always wanted an actor to tell me what real DJing means, thanks so much ?"
Fish56Octagon: "You're not a real butcher unless you created life on Earth"
ELIF: "I felt mansplained by a dude who went to berlin once and thinks he knows what djing is ?"
Wuki: "This guy def smells his own farts"
DJ Me Time: "This is either some brilliant rage bait or the most uninformed Unc take. Do you really think djs don't go through thousands of songs to curate a vibe, we just plug in a USB and it plays on shuffle?"
Cadence Weapon: "100% disagree. This is like saying that only people who write books with a typewriter are real authors. Having a ton of records is also not necessarily the measure of a good DJ. I’ve seen people rock parties with an iPhone and I’ve seen folks totally flop using turntables. It’s all about being situationally aware, I don’t care what technology is being used."
Sam Alfred: “[potato emoji]”
Also, DJ Stretch Armstrong was correct when he commented, "Hahaha this is going to drive some people insane with the pluralization of VINYLS ?????"
Here's the full SubwayTakes Uncut video.
