One generational divide separating young DJs from their more experienced counterparts involves set lengths: The older the DJ, the more likely they once had to prove themselves with three-hour-plus gigs. For these veterans, a one-hour set is merely a job; the real joy comes from going long.

Daniele Baldelli, 62, is one of the DJs who helped to make the Adriatic and Balearic coasts the stuff of discotheque legend in the '70s and '80s. He came up playing marathon sets on an almost-daily basis, and his eclectic style of programming was partly a result of having so much time to fill.

Fresh off a solid LP released earlier this year, Baldelli tells me that even though those extended sets have taken their toll—his hearing isn't what it used to be—he still gets the job done. He's married, has a son, and plays about 130 dates per year. He owns about 65,000 vinyl records, though he's switched to playing CDs so he can incorporate his own unreleased tracks and re-edits into his sets. Baldelli says he managed to avoid the worst nightlife indulgences along the way, and at this point he doesn't really party at all, save for the occasional Italian DOC wine.

Daniele Baldelli: "Cosmic Particles" (via SoundCloud)

Drugs and alcohol are unshockingly the number one occupational hazard for DJs, and there is a direct relationship between excessive intake and burnout. But 46-year-old Berlin DJ Daniel Wang knows the other extreme: He has never drank or done drugs, but he says he understands why geniuses like Miles Davis and Nile Rodgers have. “It takes a sensitive soul to dedicate their whole life to the abstract emotions and sensations of making and playing music,” he muses. “Who says that the only correct model of living is abstinence, austerity, and therefore longevity?”

DJ Harvey, an influential 51-year-old underground West Coast artist who has been called the Keith Richards of DJs, has gone from swigging a bottle of Jack over the course of one of his eight-hour sets to keeping it clean as a whistle. “Cirrhosis of the liver isn’t a pretty way to go out,” he has said. “It’s really not big or clever to be projectile bleeding from every orifice.”

Like Harvey, José Padilla, the 59-year-old Spanish DJ, experienced the repercussions of caning it a bit too hard for a bit too long and stopped before it killed his career. Padilla has become synonymous with the old, pre-EDM Ibiza: eclectic, breezy, balearic sundown sets at Café Del Mar. He recently released a very credible LP that found him collaborating with three younger producers. "To keep DJing in this business, you need to keep producing,” he says. “Otherwise you are dead."

Jose Padilla: "Day One" (via SoundCloud)

Padilla explains that too much partying led to some serious disappointments. “I regret not having a family,” he says. “I was very upset in my 40s—looking for a wife and a couple of kids; I always ended up with the wrong girl, the crazy one. You aren't aware when on drugs. I missed a few gigs a long time ago because of the drugs, too, which damaged my credibility. I was not there for the people who were waiting for me. Time goes so fast with drugs that you don't realize—it feels like I came to Ibiza yesterday, but I've been here for 40 years.” He laughs; Padilla is now mostly clean.