DIY videos are the launchpad for your new favourite underground house tracks

Men on Wall Street scream at each other on the trading floor. Nuclear families ride a 1950s rollercoaster. A sequence of grainy footage and 90s PC graphics flash onscreen. Everything is underpinned by the crunchy 4/4 thud of the latest underground house music. No, it isn’t some hellish/magnificent DMT trip. It's the world of DIY dance music videos.

Uploaded to YouTube by anonymous users who have a penchant for Adventure Time characters, tracks like Palms Trax’s ‘Equation’, Mall Grab’s ‘I’ve Always Liked Grime’ and Route 8’s ‘I Can’t’ have all soundtracked archive visuals to brilliant effect. All that’s needed to get into this game is some cheap video editing software and an extensive Internet search.

“I just figured if tracks are going to be put up online, on YouTube or anywhere, then they should be presented well.”

Otherwise known as Cheal, OOUKFunkyOO has established himself as one of the scene’s leading video creators. With a background studying film at university, he’s made over 1800 videos on his YouTube account, amassing 40,000 followers in the six years he’s been running the channel. Some might see it as easy clicks for what is essentially some weird footage whacked over a pumping track. But, while the editing process is fairly straight forward, Cheal’s videos can take anywhere from a couple of hours to three months to create depending on how quickly he gets an idea of which source footage to use. And anyone accusing these content creators of piggybacking on the hard graft of producers should know the music is always the priority.

“I have thousands of video things that could work amazingly for something in the future. But if the right track doesn’t come along then it’s not going to happen, you know?” Cheal says. “If the artist puts so much time into making the tracks then if people want to make amateur videos they should try to reflect how the artist would like that to be presented.”

Almost four years ago Palms Trax’s debut track ‘Equation’ came out on Lobster Theremin and was put up online with footage from a 90s skateboarding mixtape. YouTube user Hurfyd uploaded the video and in the process embedded himself in the legend of what is now considered a founding lo-fi house track. Was it legal? It’s a grey area. The case for a lot of these videos is that the footage probably isn’t but the song is, and there is now a precedent for dialogue between artists and video creators. 22-year-old student Marek Moskal, who operates under the username Moskalus, has made videos for tracks by J Albert, Huerco S and Bambounou and only uses music sent to him after running into copyright infringement issues with early accounts. But the decision to pursue this avenue of legitimacy hasn’t affected the material he has at his disposal.

“I don’t have the time to ask people for music because I have tonnes of messages asking me to do videos. But I’m lucky that most of the stuff the people are sending me is really nice sounding to me,” he says. “I upload music not based on what I like but trying to give the artist a chance to express themselves and I want to help them with promotion.”

On the outset, these videos are win-win. Various YouTube users have taken the free-market spirit (and the subscribe button) to become the source of new music for a new breed of dance music fans that discover tracks online. For artists, the promotion far outweighs any potential illegalities.

“Most producers in the underground dance music scene aren't strapped with large budgets to produce proper music videos. And with the influx of amazing tracks being uploaded or released everyday, it's of huge value to have guys like OOUKFunkyOO, Moskalus, & Hurfyd around. Their value to helping people discover new incredible music cannot be undervalued,” says Baltra.

The New York-based producer knows what he’s talking about. The video for his track ‘Fade Away (vocal)’, which was created by OOUKFunkyOO, has received over a million hits and led to the track being signed for a vinyl release on Scottish label Craigie Knowes.

“These channels are modern bards of the underground,” explains producer X-Coast, real name Bojan Cizmic. “Their role as a group is very important at this time, since I see these channels and the people behind them as promoters of underground sounds.”

Cizmic found himself with a whole new music project after he had a video put to his track ‘Mango Bay’. Another OOUKFunkyOO production, the 90s-inspired rave track is set to an old clip from MTV show The Grind and became popular because of an online gaming community who would blast it during their Twitch streams. The song became so popular among players it even spawned a batch of other fan-made videos, a trend that epitomises the internet culture that surrounds lo-fi house.

Last year it was dance music’s most divisive music genre. But before its time in the spotlight, people who were part of the community celebrated the scene’s DIY ethos, sending out a big fuck you to the over-polished, big money dance music establishment. Outsiders slated it for an ironic attitude, throwaway artist names and poor sound quality better heard on headphones than in the club. The latter point certainly links in with the way people consume music nowadays. And maybe for this new breed, getting a video made for a track sits above it being played in the club.

DJ Seinfeld, one of the most popular producers to have videos made for, doesn’t think the genre’s close association to the Internet is a bad thing.

“It’s a product of our time in this regard. Whatever you think of the Internet era, it’s consumed by a generation that is surrounded by it constantly. So, as a whole and at its best, I suppose these meme-ified productions can paint an interesting picture of how dance music evolves over time towards that internet matrix.”

When asked about this ‘meme-ification’, Baltra offered a pragmatic approach: “You'll never be able to control who listens to your music with how easy it is for people to share music online. I think it's great to have more and more people exposed to an interesting sound that isn't necessarily for everyone.”

“Some may feel that there is less focus on the actual music when a song becomes synonymous with a viral video that travels outside of that which is considered underground. Bojan's track may have gotten some support from the gaming community but it's really an incredible track and those plays are much deserved.”

There’s no doubt that the likes of Moskalus, Hurfyd and OOUKFunkyOO are not only injecting colour into the world of dance music with their videos, but also providing a service for the artists. None of the artists we spoke to are precious about their music being used in this way, and all believe the exposure offered outweighs any negative aspects. The popularity of these videos has even opened up new ways to premiere tracks. The Internet’s all-conquering populist ideals have brought together artists in an organic way once again and that should be commended.

“Yes, it’s really flattering to have people ask me for permission to do a video, a creative and visual interpretation of my songs, I mean, how can it not? It must have inspired them in some way. I usually have an idea or a story behind most tracks, but it’s always interesting to see how someone else interprets it,” DJ Seinfeld says.

The DIY video is adding a new element to a style of music that has mostly been listened to in dark clubs rather than watched in the comfort of your own home. It’s changed the way house music is consumed in the 21st century.

Louis Anderson-Rich is Mixmag's Digital Intern. He doesn't post to YouTube but he does to Twitter