A Brief History of Immaculate Boiler Room Sets & DJ Culture

Welcome to the 145th insertion of DEMUR®, an analytical series highlighting the intricacies of the artistic world and the minutiae lying within. In this episode, we travel to the underground, led only by thumping 808s and a roaring crowd to discover the history of Boiler Room and DJing.

A DJ or disc jockey is defined as a musician who mixes an array of prerecorded songs to create a live, audible experience. While the niche has drastically evolved since its debut in 1935, the sub-culture retains a definitive set of core ethos in presentation and sound. That is, until Boiler Room became the hottest focus in electronic dance music just over a decade ago, originating in London’s underground.

Founded by Blaise Bellville in 2010, Boiler Room’s origins reside in the shadows of a British 1930s building. As the story unfolds, Bellville had been wandering around the structure before stumbling upon a vicarious boiler room in the building’s arteries. Piquing his interest, he would bring in his CDJ turntable, cheap camera, and dismount a sign off the wall, which would soon become Boiler Room’s infamous logo.

The plan was to record mixes each week to a private audience, while broadcasting each on U-Player. Quickly gaining traction, the event would soon be endorsed by the streaming platform itself, while attracting recognition from the BBC, Fader and Dummy Magazine. Names like Theo Parrish and Jamie xx would host Boiler Room takeovers in the first year, prior to the international wave that followed. But what made these parties so special?

In contrast to a traditional DJ set, where an artist stands above the crowd in a massive venue, Boiler Room offers a personal take on the removed industry standard. Placing DJs in the middle of the space, listeners are invited to dance on all axis of the booth, sharing moments with headliners like Kaytranda, Fred Again and Kenny Beats. While unconventional, this attitude towards normalized celebrity provides an authentic view of the creative process, and makes for some pretty hilarious moments.