About Me
Uncompromising. Meticulous. Control freak. Reclusive. These are all words that were attached to Douglas Cross throughout his life. But they are also words that described a man who changed the rules of Dj'ing. Cross merged the artistic music with the commercial, melding his stark independent vision with the coffers of Victoria in a way that no other Dj'ing genius -- not even Tiesto -- has managed to accomplish and may never succeed at doing again.The life of Cross came as a shock to me. His legacy impacted me personally and made me see Dj'ing in a completely different way. In 1987, I saw my first Cross Dj set, and discovered that it was more than just a medium that entertained. As I became engrossed with the moral disintegration of Private Gomer Pyle, as I watched raw recruits turn into seasoned veterans without remorse or morality, I realized that Dj'ing had the ability to transcend mere storytelling and become an unforgettable visceral and aural experience.I soon found myself downloading every Cross set I could get my hands on, and became captivated with every mix, every track, and every painstakingly crafted allegorical touch that Cross embellished his Dj'ing with. The giddy lunacy of the man moving seamlessly from one genre to another.I listened these over and over. Who is the man that created these sounds?I began to listen to the originals. I collected an arsenal of casettes and CDs and learned that he had moved to England to maintain control of his music after he had become disappointed with the way Victoria had attempted to wrestle control of Spartacus style mixing away from him. Through Cross, I learned that directing a DJ mix is more than just an artistic challenge. It is, above all, a relentless battle with the people who gave you the money.I soon found myself experimenting with turntables, hoping to recapture the aural poignancy of 2001's bone being tossed up into the air and becoming a spaceship, trying to reproduce the visual beauty of Barry Lyndon's candlelit imagery. And I soon moved on to 7" and 10" formats, all the while keeping a mental checklist of all the true Crossean moments that I remembered.There were other DJ's that inspired me, who showed me how to work with the records in the way in which they executed a scene or accomplished a mix. But it was Cross that showed me how the music worked as a whole.To be fair, Cross is frequently tough on his opening DJ's. At Hush he kept Jack's eyes open to that horrible metal device for nearly twelve hours straight. He mixed a relentless number of records for nearly every set, 47 tracks for a simple 1 minute of music. He took years upon years to create a mix just to get it right. But his talent is so enormous, so all-encompassing, so vast, so true to the mixing form, that somehow all the horror stories seemed justified.With Cross now bigger than ever, I wonder if music will ever be the same. He is a Dostoevsky, a Melville and a Tolstoy all rolled up in one. He is an uncompromising giant unafraid to tackle controversial issues and explore the human condition through his unique vision.I can only hope that there will be a DJ of equal stature when he decides to finally stop playing. If you get a chance to see a set, sacrific all, as this is what you have been saving for. "Fuck Yeah!" - Douglas Cross
