Corry BanksNAMM HISTORIAN, Dan Del Fiorentin, is the man behind NAMM’s DJ video chronicles entitled Oral History. NAMM and Dan Del Fiorentin spent nearly 2 years researching and putting in the ground work for this video series. It has been my pleasure to partner with NAMM in featuring these videos on BBoyTechReport.com.
To give us a bit of back story on their Oral History DJ series, I caught up with Dan Del Fiorentin to discuss the series in more detail.
How did the “NAMM Oral History – DJs” episodes come about?
The NAMM Oral History program began in 2000 with the goal of capturing the stories of those who have played a role in the growth and development of the music products industry. Over these last 13 years we have expanded our collection from company presidents to those involved with instrument design, retailing, marketing and promoting music education. In 2009, I began outlining the segments of the industry not well covered in this collection and began reading up on those topics to best understand who we should interview. With the help of many of supporters, many of which are interviewees, we created a list of the DJ markets key innovators.
Why did NAMM feel it was important to do this with these particular DJs?
The DJ market is powerful and forever growing, if we want to represent our industry and we want to do a great job including the key people involved we wanted to ensure the DJ market was not overlooked.
How long did this process take?
We spent two years researching the DJ market and calling on several friends to provide their views and ideas. Among the early supporters with this project was Money Marc!
What did you enjoy most about the process?
The first idea was to conduct interviews with DJ product manufacturers who exhibit at te NAMM Show. In mid 20011 I spoke to three such companies all of whom told me the very same thing. He said they were honored and would love to provide an interview but the place I should start is with the pioneering DJs who created the market! So, with their advice and the suggestions of people like Christie Z-Pabon, we set out to capture our first ten DJ interviews. During a trip to New York in Nov 2012 and set up in the DJ school Dubspot (who provided the space for free) we documented the amazing stories of ten pioneers! What I enjoyed most was giving an opportunity for these great legends to be heard, respected and honored for all they have done and all they have given to music!
What do you hope to convey through these videos?
It is our goal to preserve the history of our industry, honor those who came before us and inspire the next generation to get involved with the music industry and in making music!