While dance diehards have long been bemoaning the decline of vinyl use in clubs, the most recent changing of the guard has come at the expense of CDs with many DJs switching to digital formats like Traktor, Serato and the use of flash drives with the latest round of Pioneer decks.

The latest DJ to add their name to the list of converted followers is none other than Erol Alkan, with the British big gun explaining that he feels ‘liberated’ having made the switch to exclusively using SD memory cards in his sets.

“I definitely feel inspired by playing with SD cards, as I have more ability,” Alkan said in an interview on his website. “I don’t have to wonder where a certain song is on a CD in my pouch, I find it far more liberating…I can bring more music and it’s all organized to a degree. I could’ve done it with a laptop, but I don’t want to bring a laptop with me into a nightclub, personally. I’m afraid I’m gonna lose it or empty a drink on it. And also I’m not into all that wiring you have to do with Serato or Traktor, it’s depressing.”

Indeed, Alkan has embraced the new format and will show off just how comfortable he is working off SD cards with an eight hour set at Bugged Out on April 21st.

“I think it’s the coolest thing to just be able to turn up, pull your SD card out of your pocket, pop it in, bang, and that’s it,” he explained. “For me it’s revolutionary, the same way as when I moved away from vinyl. But now with this I feel like I’ve gone back to an element that vinyl had, which I’ve never had with CDs. The best gigs I’ve had playing this way have been twice as good as when I played with CDs.”

Food for thought for DJs out there, perhaps.