The Beauty of the Botched Drop

Some artists strive for perfection at the cost of their sanity.

(And creativity… And production.)

And then there’s Fox Stevenson: the most error-prone DJ I’ve ever seen.

I stumbled into his world recently—which is a delightfully upbeat and chaotic blend of drum’n’bass and punk rock vibes, unfiltered joy, glee, and happiness. 

But despite thoroughly enjoying his music, that’s not what really hooked me on him.

Rather, I’ve been swooning over the (impressive amount of) mistakes he makes during his live sets, on big, big stages, in front of tens of thousands.

He’s botched mixes, flubbed drops, and outright forgot to play songs in his setlist.

But instead of panicking and desperately trying to cover up, he owns his mistake.

He laughs, tells the audience what happened, then doubles down and carries on. 

And the crowd? They love him all the more.

I’ve long believed that perfection is the target, but imperfection should be expected.

Imperfection is connective, human, and reminds us that while we often say we want things to be perfect, we’re happier when we accept what is. The quirks, the stumbles, the unplanned moments, they reveal something real that we can relate to.

A musician who recovers from a mistake with a grin is more magnetic than one who never slips. A writer who leaves the occasional crack in their polish feels more honest than one who smooths away every trace of uncertainty. A person who embraces their own ridiculousness is more charming than one pretending they have it all together.

Fox Stevenson gets this. 

And he isn’t just playing music—he’s creating an environment where mistakes and imperfections aren’t hurriedly glossed over, but openly celebrated and welcomed.

The Japanese art of Kintsugi, where broken objects (usually pottery) are repaired with gold, silver, or platinum, is similar. The idea being that embracing the flaws and imperfections makes for a more beautiful piece of art, that breakage and repair are part of the object’s history to be honoured, and how there’s beauty in the incomplete. 

Perhaps we could all use a little more imperfection in our lives.

With love from the forest,

~ Alexander

P.S. You can find some of Fox’s live sets on YouTube, but this one in particular, rocks.