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Topic: How wrong I was about DJs!!

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I began life out as a bedroom DJ only 5 months ago, therefore compared to the majority of people on here I am a mere amateur. However, that being said I managed to successfully promote myself and have gained a residency in a local bar and have a number of bookings for family style parties.

Although i don't post that often i do use this forum to pick up tips, which i have found to be extremely useful. However along with some useful posts i initially noted a large number of negative posts describing a varied number of areas that djs have encountered. In the main these posts were what I thought no more than a general rant buy DJ's who for want of a better term were full of self importance. i couldn't understand why anyone would get angry over request for songs or indeed, what you guys classed as idiotic questions, such as are you the DJ?

I had a compulsion to simply put a post up stating you should be glad for the work, why complain? How wrong and how ostracised I would have been if i had followed that up, I now understand exactly your points of view.

Are you the DJ? standing behind the DJ booth with a my earphones on, its just so tempting to say no I am the glass collector!!

People booking a party, one person asks for a particular song, so out of courtesy I play it, the other person who booked the party kindly asks if i could play some older songs instead as the new stuff really isn't what they want!!! Sort it out hey!, I always ask for preference in music when they book and give the individuals the option to list any favorite tracks they may want to hear through my website.

Anyway the post in itself was merely to state that I am pleased I didn't post a thread having a pop at you angry DJ'S!!
 
Posted Mon 12 Jan 09 @ 6:59 am
hehe... Welcome to the life of the DJ ;)

Yes, you can not take all requests and play them, and there are stupid requests... Or better phrase, request for songs that doesnt fit the athmosphere, the hour of nite, or the concept.

If you're booked to do a 80s-90s pop/disco set, thats what 90% of the people there want, but there will always be that drunk stupid blonde saying "Hey, bad dj, play some new tracks, play some techno".

But that would put the rest off..

But most gigs arent even that easy... its usually not a concept nite, its usually not that 90% there likes one genre...
And thats where it gets even harder.... One needs to learn to read the dancefloor, see what the majority mood is, and if a request dont fit that mood, say you might play it later, or say that you dont have the tune ;) (if it totally crash with evertything).

:)
 
also take the request and stuff with a grain of salt but also learn from it. I do a sports bar on saturdays. far different than my club back ground. My first couple of weeks were filled with request from all over the place. I know get less request mainly just for specific songs that some wants to her fro thier girl or boy friend. bbut honestly the request helped to fill people out.....one thing to avoid is jarring the crown with the juke box mentality. also getting a list of request even if you do not play them will help expand your library and music vocabulary. But all in all welcome out of the bedroom to the club. Don't let your pride get in the way of having fun. Find things that went wrong in every set and improve...find things that went right an expand.
 
and for hevans sake dont get into the routine of playing the same song every time its requested. one of our residents plays his "big Tunes" 5 / 6 times a night. theres only so much of beyonce put a ring on it the staff can handle! we operate as a night club and its a destination. playing the same song over and over again will only drive people away. no mater how good the tune is!
 
oh damn ... i wanted to put whatever you like on every half hour .......

well maybe a golden oldie instead ....soulja boy
 
Now you have had that "Are you the DJ?" question, allow me to familiarise you with the next ten stupid questions you will hear:

1. Can I plug my ipod into your mixer, I have some great tunes.

2. I DJ at home, can I have a go?

3. My dad is the owner and he wants you to play "insert current hit here"

4. Got any drugs?

5. Can I go on Facebook on your laptop?

6.can I look thru your music for something good?

7. You should mix "insert name" with "insert name"

8. Can I please have a brandy and coke?

9. Can you play something with a bass line?

my personal favorite:
Can you play that song, i cant remember what its called but its got that woman singing on it, and it goes quiet in the middle?
 
How about...

"No, I wanted the other song by that other guy that dresses like a girl that sounds like this song"

"I printed a list of 30 songs I want you to play in a row" (coming from a guest)

"Wheres the bathroom"
 
This is not an embellishment....." Can you get on the mic and ask the waitress where my drink is? I'm too drunk to walk up the bar and find out myself." Um, call me old fashioned but, if you are so trashed you can't find out where your drink is yourself, perhaps you don't need another one.....
 
 
to follow on the things you might hear as a dj check this video out!

i also posted it in a another topic but here it goes again :P (for those of you who havent seen it)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VU8P5WPZaI


also id like to add, that starting and improving as a dj made me open my eyes to so many things i thought they were a given!
some might kill me but i went to see Paul van Dyk once, hes an awesome producer, love most of his music, when i went to see him live i had no clue of anything a dj really do, so when i was there, to me its like he was just putting cds and thats it ( i mean yes there were the transitions and such) but at the time i wasnt impressed and i was like i think i rather see a band live than this, id never understood when he turned knobs and other things and he just stood around and clapped i mean cool stuff, but yeah nothing to exciting, when i started to dj, everything made so much sense, and i look back and regret not understanding what he was actually doing
sad times
every time i hear a dj, famour or not, i try not to crit too much, since well one im not a pro either and too, understand that not everyone is perfect and i could be in the same spot at points
being a dj has made me understand so many things and i wish i could share with people who dont know anythin about! its so damn hard to tell everyone why you cant do their requests, or that this song might not do well in the dancefloor or y cant repeat songs
 
guess what, sometimes they even ask you more than once a night those stupid questions. I had it happen that every 2-5 minutes people where coming up to me (booth on floorlevel), not only to request, also to show respect or say hello. And every 10 min the famous "play some rap" while doing a electro-set in a edm-club. Those cliques that come on one after the other sending their friends. After 4 hours, yet 3 more hours to go, i was about to react like that:
" ddoonntt yyyooouuuu eeeevvveeeerrrrr dddddooooooo tttthhiissss aaaaaggggaaaaaiiiiiiinn"

(why doesnt [ youtube ] RuU9nr8-bs8 [ / youtube ] (without the spaces) work? tried it 3 times now)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuU9nr8-bs8

im so glad that those happy dancers on the floor made up for that, otherwise those stupid things could ruin a night.
 
This was at my friends gig a couple weeks ago, he had his headphones on and some lady asked him if he was on the phone. I laughed at him when he told me that, and the next night it happens to me :( Two totally different women. Out of all my DJ career, never heard that one before. Sorta funny.
 
edit

@ greatmesk just noticed sorry, i don't think you can post youtube vids because of your current status
 
thx anyway, must have slipped that when you explained how to post earlier. peace
 
dj-in-norway wrote :
hehe... Welcome to the life of the DJ ;)
"Hey, bad dj, play some new tracks, play some techno".



I would kill to hear that line...but it ain't happening in Phoenix. When you play techno all the blonde biaches look at you and say "nobody likes this stuff, play something faster....can you play kermit the frog..er I mean lil wayne"
 
Back in the 80´s I was a Dj in some discos, I stop doing it for several years and I came back a few months ago, first for fun now for money.
I went through the vinyl, the cds and now on mp3 and it's funny how somethings never change, you ll always hear things like that.
If you want a tip, always hear the request as if you intend to do it, be nice and tell them you ll see what you can do.... then forget it lol.
Or use it, if you are brave enough.
A few days ago I was DJing in a disco, house music beat and a couple asked me for a rumba, go figure... Well I did it, I played Jean Michel Jarre rumba of the concert in china and you don t even imagine the audience reaction, a complete hit.
So never say never you never know when a good ideia may come from what at first looks a stupid sugestion
The good Dj is not the one that makes the best mixes or that uses the best equipements, is the one who plays the right music at the right moment to the right audiance... and has fun doing it
Cheers
 
Skyghost wrote :


The good Dj is not the one that makes the best mixes or that uses the best equipements, it is the one who plays the right music at the right moment to the right audiance... and has fun doing it



Well said ;)

A great technical dj, that cant read the dancefloor, or take in what the crowd wants, is a crap dj ;)

Reading the dancefloor and athmosphere, and filtering out bad vs good requests, is one of the better dj skills to have.
Heck, I've heard DJs that where perfect at reading the crowd, but coudlnt even beatmix, and he rocked the place ;)
Music selection and using it correct, comes first...

But of course beatmixing and using other dj skills, makes it easier to keep the dancefloor and athmosphere, and sounds a hella lot better :)
 


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