When the Coronavirus shut us down, clubs and festivals ceased, and everyone was essentially forced inside with no definitive end in sight, DJ Times wondered: How is our tribe coping? How are DJs getting by? So, we sent out our “Coronavirus Questionnaire” to DJ/producers from all musical genres to find out.
During this period, DJ Times will continue presenting the questionnaire responses from talented music-makers from all over the world. Here’s our latest entry, this time from the Mighty Motor City, the Detroit-based Ghettotech master DJ Godfather (aka Brian Jeffries).
What’s it like where you’re living? How did you spend most of your time? Detroit is staying strong. Yeah, we were locked down for a few months. During that time, I got COVID, and had to quarantine as well – but I’m good now. All I did was work in the studio, hung out at my pool and learned how to play “Call of Duty” with my boys. [laughs]
Did you lose important gigs, or income-producing work? Oh yeah, lost out on a lot. I own a couple of nightclubs in downtown Detroit and we had to shut one down temporarily and the other was left with a strict-and-limited capacity. It pretty much wasn’t worth being open, but we got through it. I also lost out on a bunch of international gigs in Italy, Belgium, Ireland, the Lente Kabinet festival in Holland, and a few more. Nightmare!
Are you doing anything now that can or will produce music-related income? Have you learned anything in the downtime? Since March, I’ve produced, mixed and mastered almost 100 tracks that I will be releasing on Databass Records, Casa Voyager and Lapsus Music. I only learned a couple things: One, how to play “Call of Duty,” and two, that I’m a happier person living in the studio and ignoring the world!
What are you doing now that’s ultimately constructive to your music life/career? For example, any releases during this period? I’ve done tons. We’ve released my 44-track album entitled Electro Beats for Freaks on Databass Records, and I have a few other projects coming up with Gettoblaster, Keith Tucker, Lil Mz. 313 and more.
What’s the most surprising thing you’ve realized during this period of social distancing? That I actually like the downtime. I’m 10-times more productive in the studio with nothing else on my mind. I love it!
Have you done anything online recently? Have you seen any DJ video streams that impressed you? I’ve done multiple online streams from my Facebook page… every Wednesday night. I called it: “We Had to Sterilize the Population Series.” It did great – every video did over 100,000 impressions with zero promo. I also did a live-stream for Movement Festival/Beatport that did really well, along with some other streams for the City of Detroit and more. But I got sick of doing them after a while. Everybody was doing one and, to me, they didn’t seem special anymore because it was flooded.
Any theme tunes recommended for the moment? Puff Daddy & The Family’s “Victory” – we will beat this!
Any advice on staying sane & relatively positive through this situation? Engulf yourself in something you love. You won’t think about all the crap going on in the world if you truly do. It really worked for me and, in a strange way, I’ve never been happier! I’m beyond excited to unleash all of these tracks I have.
To check out more Life in Lockdown interviews, click here.
