When I started DJing I played vinyl. CDs were unheard of in respectable house and techno clubs. And even my biggest back breaking record box would only hold 90 records at a push.
So if I’m generous and say that each bit of vinyl had 2 playable tunes on it, that’s an absolute maximum of 180 individual tracks I could possibly play out at a gig. But it was probably more like 120.
I did lots of gigs at lots of clubs all over the world to lots of different people. Lots of them danced. A few even went quite bonkers.
Now I use CDs. When I was sorting them out for my current Australia tour I realised that my small CD wallet could easily hold 120 tunes, even if I only put one track on each CD. So I tried to limit myself to about 200 tracks for the whole tour. Looking at them now I’ve actually ended up with about 240, but that’s much less than usual.
Because when I’m DJing, too much choice has left me paralysed. Any benefit I gain from having an enormous variety of music is eclipsed by the burden of choice.
Now I’ve had to find the courage to nail my colours to a much thinner stylistic mast. But isn’t that what being a great touring DJ is all about?