What follows are two arguments by belmont yo and Uva LaGrape, respectively, detailing the less obvious aspects of being a DJ that most people take for granted. Enjoy. [Edited for continuity and content by lilith and authors.]
Original post: “Flirting, Dating, and Breaking Up With OXO” by Thor, November 19
belmont yo: on the most unsettling piss of your life
You have no idea how much pressure is put on a dj. I enjoy the challenge personally, but damn… sometimes, you know? Thing is, we wanna rock you, that’s the whole point, and if we’re coming up short, believe me, we’re feeling it. Think about the inifinite possibilities of musical taste in a room of even forty people. Now your challenge is to find the intersection of all those tastes, and the cumulative mood of the room, and then deliver 2-3 hours worth of soundtrack on the fly. And you have to do it all psychically! Got it? Good.
Now factor in that you have to think at least two or three songs in advance, and listen to two songs at once. No problem right? Thing is, you have to do it driving a rig with as many buttons as a small plane, any one of which, if pushed at the wrong time, will bring the whole affair to a grinding halt. So you’ve mapped out your next few songs, but what’s this? Amber, who’s deep into her fourth cosmo, wants to hear Britney! Right now! I cannot tell you how many times I have received what borders on outright threats masquerading as requests! “No one is dancing— they will if you play this!” “But you have to play it now, Im leaving in 10 minutes!” —All while dangling an exotic cocktail over some $2000 equipment that you have scrimped and saved your last nickel to purchase. One drop o’ vodka equals electric fireworks and no more parties for a while… but I digress. On top of this, these types of requests are usually the great big hit that everyone wants to hear, and I probably have it, but would prefer to save it for a more peak moment. But oh well. There will always be Ambers…
You’ve managed to get the crowd up and moving, but damn your bladder is feeling that beer you drank and now you gotta go. Time to work in a good long song so you can hit the head, but it has to be a good one so you don’t lose your crowd. Aahhh, your back teeth are floating but you finally edge into a nice, long crowd-pleasing cut, and you’re off to beg and whimper to be allowed to cut in the bathroom line. You manage to get in and you have the most unsettling piss of your life because you are worried the CD might skip, or someone will step on a cable or something and you are not there for damage control.
But you make it back! Woohoo! As the evening progresses, the requests get more and more arcane. Then it’s Skip Tripperson, the Obscure House Music Nazi, who just got back from fucking Ibiza or some such, and is mortally offended that you have never heard of dj Pulsematic’s remix of the Petshop Boys remix of “Sensation Blue Dogma” or some other crazy thing. I go through easily 300 songs a week trying to find the funkiest new shit I can, but somehow it is a crime against humanity that i don’t have that track in my hand when you asked for it…
You deal with the shame of your newfound ignorance and proceed along until the end trying out those new ringers that you thought, while drunk in your living room, would be instant peak time crowd favorites. Invariably, you fail about 50% of the time on those descisions and are faced with hard mixing-out early on the song, which is mostly new to you, and you don’t really know where the breaks are.
Then it’s time to wind it up with some grace. Something odd. Something final. Something epic, you know? Start working toward it. And that’s when you meet your last challenge of the night: the “eleventh hour requester.” You’re three minutes in on your last six-minute track, you have already called last call, people are already leaving, but this fellow wants to hear a song. You try to explain that it’s over, which invariably is met with either that dismissive dissappointed look or outright hostility. Should we really rewrite the Virginia liquor laws tonight just so you can hear Daft Punk? I wish I could, man, but you know it’s just not happening. Not my fault. Then it’s time to get your shit together and load the car while everyone else saunters off to the after-party.
And Skip, Amber, and Eleventh Hour guy… it may sound like I’m dogging you about the requests, but I’m really not. I’m just trying to explain it from my point of view. I really don’t don’t mind playing requests, especially if you leave a little something in the old tip jar, which, btw, is money which I use to maintain my ghetto ass rig. I’m not begging or complaining, but I had the joint hopping on New Year’s Eve and received one $5 tip. Another problem, which is my own, personally, is that I am often very disorganized with the old cd binder. Your request may be the *perfect* selection at the perfect moment, but if I can’t find it, I can’t play it. I really gotta get that together, but I work a 50/hr week job. Think about that. After Wednesday night gigs, loading and unloading, I’m in bed usually around 3 am. I have to be in an office at 8 am. But anyway.
Phew. Soapbox much? Indeed. But god damn is it all worth it when the party is clicking and you are able to drive a machine that is bringing folks so much inibriated kinetic funky soul-level joy. We dj’s love you and want you to have fun, and believe me that is why we do it. It’s not the astronomical money that local bar owners throw at us (snark), it’s your fucking booty and getting it wiggling. And it doesn’t matter if the dj is spinning house music, hip hop, mashups or flipping latvian corn festival folk songs. We want to urn you on and turn you out.
Two things that all dj’s have fragile egos and magnificent sideburns. Our side burns grow on their own, but our egos need your gyrating posterior to survive. It may be a disease. I don’t know. But I do know this. Cut your friendly neighborhood dj some slack. Give him a hug. He means well. Support him. Help him (or here where are all the lady jocks anyway?) grow with you for a more fullfilling party experience all round. Trust him. He can bring to you some sonic funkified goodness that is not on your 300 CD changer at home. He won’t be right every time, but who is? Besides, you’re probably on your third long island Ice tea anyway. In other words, namely those of the great George Clinton, “Free your mind and your ass will follow.”
Yo out, thanks for listening.
Uva LaGrape on bachelorettes with condom necklaces
If God is a DJ?!
No…DJ’s ARE gods. At least that’s what they think. I was a DJ once, and here’s a truth: Many DJ’s don’t give a fuck about what the crowd wants. They want to play what they like. They want to spray the latest unknown hits from Ibiza onto the face of a central Virginia crowd.
Those kinds of DJ’s annoy the hell out of me because they are fanboys, not DJ’s. A DJ, to me, in the Yellowpages sense of the word, is someone who plays what the client wants, the client being the one who pays you, or the one who dances in front of you. Many DJ’s don’t get this. They are either fanboys or frustrated artists. Hey, if you’re a turntablist who actually is a “beat poet,” then groove on, brother.
I’m with you. Create away. Just don’t think you can do it in front of a bunch of SNL Financial employees who were working late and decided to come dance their stress off. They wanna hear Akon. NOW. They paid ten bucks and drank 3 mojitos to get ready to step onto this smoky, sticky 10×10 jail cell of a dance floor.
Go create your art in your basement studio or in a big city club that hires people [and has a crowd yearning] for turntablism skills. But know that you are the turntable equivalent of a local band. If you want to make money being a Yellowpages DJ (also known as a “laptop DJ”), then drop the artistry and connosseiurism and get business-minded about it. If you’re the kinda DJ who gets tired of hearing Britney and JT, then you’re in the wrong business. People want to hear that, and if you resist that truth, you will forever be frustrated.
Here’s a truth nightclub DJ’s hate to hear: if you play other people’s music, you are a wedding DJ. Doesn’t matter if you only work in the hippest nightclubs and never play a wedding. If you’re playing other people’s music for pay, you’re a wedding DJ. No matter how snobby you get about it. Can’t you see all the bachelorettes with condom necklaces? If you think you’re better than a wedding DJ, I say to you who the hell do you think you are blasting your personal iPod playlist to a crowd of paying customers? Do your research. Watch your crowds. Good DJing is more work than just hitting Play on whatever you feel like hearing, as beautifully explained by belmont-yo in another post.
My rant is not against all DJ’s. But the way I handled customer requests was easy: play them immediately if they haven’t been played in the last half hour, or smile, give a thumbs up and say, “I’ll see what I can do, honey!” and then totally ignore it. I tend to avoid conflict, even if it means lying. Another trick was to make people write requests on a clipboard. That way, I interacted with fewer drunk people. Also, a must-have for any DJ is an iTunes (or similar) account. Any request you don’t have you can download on the spot if wireless is available (which it is in the majority of restaurants and hotels). The big thing about requests, especially for lame ones, ANNOUNCE THE REQUESTER. Drunken Amber is blamed for the lameness, not you.
Last note. Most important. The real cause of most nightclub DJ complaints is not the DJ but the venue management. Club customers come in with certain expectations, and it’s up to the management to control those expectations. If the management doesn’t control them, then the customers get disappointed because they don’t get what they expect. Venues have got to be clearer (to both the DJ and the customers) what kind of music will be played. If a venue wants a top 40 (or goth/hiphop/oldies/ambient) night, they should be clear about that to the DJ and in the marketing.
The problem comes (especially around here) when venues just advertise the DJ by name, or merely say that there is a DJ. The average Jane Grad Student does not know local DJ’s by reputation. Venues promoting a dance night should commit to one kind of music. And don’t try to promote by saying a DJ will play “every kind of music.” That’s frustrating too. Venues can peruse cable/satellite radio station categories to help decide their nights themes. Or, if you want a new dance music night, market it that way. Then DJ Disconysus can spurt the latest hits from Ibiza until her fingers are spent.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Tagged as: Blogs, Dance, Music, Questions, Rants
Awesome, awesome night at Escafe. Dancing on elevated surfaces happened.
I know Lilith spent a lot of time editing on this one. Please give her many kudos!
I spent a good thirty minutes one time hitting on an Actual Playboy Playmate at a party in Texas. Actual Playboy Playmate thought I was funny, but she *really* liked the DJ’s music, so she made her way over to his booth and spent the rest of the evening hanging out with him. Presumably, a discussion of woofers and tweeters then ensued at his apartment.
So, come on, I know it’s a job, and like all jobs it has its aggravations. But it’s also one of the few jobs that hot women love. I suspect a lot of those accountants jamming to your music would trade nights with you in a heartbeat…
Oh, and kudos on the formatting.
b-yo, i definitely want to get urned on by some latvian corn festival folk songs. please let me know the next time you’ll be playing them.
Grape, we are gonna be cool after this yeah?
Esteban. I have been doing 2 nights a week for over two years and I have yet to get any booty out of it. Not once. Flirtiness yeah, lots… but the woofers and tweeters bit you may be imagining. My after dj set sex involves hauling 50 lb speakers through my laundry room (and oooh man is it tight and wet - hah!). Then again, maybe Im just oogly.
bacon I’ll hook you up.
http://www.notam02.no/nood/taco/01UrbanLatvianStomp.mp3
baconfat, I never edit comments (except my own when they make zero sense), but I just edited yours so that you’re “turned on,” not “urned on,” because man, I almost Googled “urn on” to find out what I’m missing.
Lillith… the comment is a ref to an error in the article. Bottom of the 8th paragraph, last line.
And thanks for posting this, nice job! I feel all urned on!
Two reasons why I thought these two posts were interesting, juxtaposed as such.
ONE. If LaGrape has ever heard DJ ESC, she would know that what he’s figuring out in his living room isn’t for his own shits and giggles– it works extremely well at Escafe, which is pretty awesome for mid-week nights with an occasionally very homosexual scene. I don’t think his post was egotistical at all.
TWO. They’re good writers.
Ha! I’m not editing the post. It’s too funny.
now my comment seems (even) stupid(er).
*takes his ball and goes home*
B’yo…. errrrr….the club demographics may be working against you.
baconfat, it’s back in all its funny glory. Stay!
Flooz… Gay guys have the *hottest* straight lady friends. Have you learned nothing? Im sticking wit oogly and or crazy.
I think it’s the rusty car.
no comment
Thats a pity XSV, because one, I really wanted to hear your view on things and experiences and two, it was in response to one of your posts that I wrote that whole ridiculous thing in the first place.
B-Yo - I am fully aware of all that.
It just seems like no matter how much time and effort is put into something we enjoy doing so much it will never be good enough for some people.
So here we go since I am involved now.
UVA LaGrape - I pray one day I am able to meet you so I can smack in your genitals. Who are you to determine every DJ thinks they are a God. Last time I checked I am quite mortal. (I stubbed my toe getting dressed this morning) I don’t play “what I want to hear” nor do I lay down the newest crap that is on the the airwaves now a days. I’ll admit not everyone likes my style of spinning and not everything I play is something you can dance to but I’ll be damned if I don’t make sure the crowd is having a good time. I have spun for as little as no people to as many as 2000, when I was still in San Diego. You can’t find me in the Yellowpages yet I still get calls and emails to DJ for some of the weirdest groups.
I was spinning a set one night of nothing but 45’s. Just old soul and funk. I wasn’t letting each song play out and I was scratching and beat juggling a bit with them when I was approached by an older gentleman who asked if I did parties. Turns out the guy wanted to hire me for a law firms Christmas party. He mentioned he wanted me to do the same thing I was doing that night. The party turned out to be a blast and the people were amazed at what I was able to do. Goes to show you that even older folks can get down to a more modern take on older music.
Now I don’t limit myself to any one type of musical genre. So, when someone tells you I am playing everything that’s what you should expect. As stated in an earlier post by Lillith she heard quite a conglomerate of songs one night at OXO. I also watch the crowd and am always aware of what they are eating up and what they are walking away from. No Dj is perfect and can keep a floor packed from wall to wall the entire night.
So on to the fact that I have been classified a “Wedding DJ” now. According to your definition since I play other artists music I am automatically a Wedding Dj. I find this to be one the most asinine assumptions in your entire little rant. I would love for you to walk up to some of the pioneers of Djing and tell them they are a wedding Dj. Please walk up to Grandmaster Flash, Grand Wizard Theodore, Dj Jazzy Jay, Jazzy Jeff, Jam Master Jay the list could go on forever and tell them they are a “Wedding Dj”. Everyone who is in the djing game has played someone else’s music at some point or another. Grandmaster Flash didn’t wake up one morning and decide he was going to buy turntables start this whole thing known as hip hop invent scratching and be a legend. No he was a DJ in the Bronx who was rocking house parties playing other peoples music before any of that happened. And on top of it all the majority of music now is all recycled from older songs where the artists have sampled some part of some song from years ago and made it something new. So does that make them Wedding Singers?
So this must mean I am some kind of weird hybrid of a Dj. I mean I play other peoples music when I am Djing out in town whether it is at OXO, Rapture, Three., where ever. When I am djing with The Beetnix though we are playing our own original tracks. So what category do I fall into now?
I can’t express how much the term “Laptop Dj” aggravates me to no end. I feel I have paid my dues when it comes to lugging around crates of records or books of cd’s. For me personally the laptop is a storage device for all my music. I still manipulate it the same as vinyl. I can still beat match all my songs. I can keep a constant flow of musical ecstasy going for you all night long. I believe the term you were searching for was “Microwave Dj”. A Microwave Dj is one who goes out and buys all the latest and greatest equipment, jacks all the music from their friends hard drive, walks into a place and tells the owner, manager, booking person whoever that they will Dj for a bar tab and that’s it. Well the person booking them thinks that is just swell and fires the current Dj because this new guy will save them $200 - $300 a week. A microwave knows nothing of the history of Djing, knows nothing about the music they are playing, plays what they want to hear, and could care less because they have dubbed themself a Dj. Pop them in the microwave 30 seconds later you have yourself a Dj.
So in closing I would just like to say watch out how you refer to a Dj. A lot of people take the Dj for granted when they never really take a step back and put themselves in their shoes. It is not an easy job or hobby or whatever it is. Tons of time and planning go into every time I step behind the tables. So respect your Dj. Love your Dj. Next time tell him or her that you appreciate what they do for you.
disc jockey
–noun
1. a person who conducts a radio broadcast consisting of recorded music, informal talk, commercial announcements, etc.
2. a person who selects, plays, and announces records at a discotheque.
DJ XSV
hoooly cow, I never thought the topic of DJing could become so heated, but godDAMN this post is a good read. it’s urning me on.
there a few things I can say I am truly passionate about - Underwater Basket Weaving, Djing, Topiaries, you know the normal things but Djing is at the top
I’d love to see him work those urntables.
Now we’re talking! Very well articulated XSV.
As an interesting aside, unless you are quite famous, actual “wedding dj’s” make quite a bit more cash, and care quite a bit less. There’s equipment I would love to have, but cant afford. I theoretically could go spin a wedding and might make 500-1000 easy. Problem is, it might kill my soul (”alright, everyone on the floor for the chicken dance!!!!, and would somebody wake up uncle albert, he loves this one”). I’d rather practice at my *art* with my backup headphones held together with bits of string and my mixing console held together with a chunk of swimming pool noodle and two band-aides (this is literally my set up right now, what can I say?).
Is this a classic art-martyr psychotic complex? Maybe. But who cares cause when you get a big old hug from someone who has heard a song they never expected you to play, or when you have a whole room full of people just dancing their brains out, smiling and having a blast it is the best feeling in the world. It is love. Bigtime.
I paint (shameless plug: http://www.gallerysoco.com/cross1.ivnu ). I write (shameless plug: My upcoming The Man in the Iron Balaclava should hit shelves mid march next year - hah!). But of all of the ways I express myself, this music thing gives me the biggest feeling of concentrated and shared love of all.
And it means alot to me.
And I think what me and the X are saying is we, the dj’s that care, at least hope you all recognize that, even if you hate ‘latvian corn festival’ music or whatever.
And ou know whats wrong with microwave dj’s?
They just haven’t urned it.
(BTW… for the uninitiated. Go rent “Scratch” at sneak reviews. Good documentary. Learn a thing or two.)
Yowza. Much respect to BYo and XSV. I knew your job was a difficult one, but had no idea all the little things which added to the stress. Thanks for loving it enough to put up with it all. And thanks for keeping the urntables urning!
“Scratch” is what re-inspired me to start spinning again when I moved to Charlottesville in 2006. Amazing movie and it teaches you so much.
B Yo - Wedding Dj’s do make a crap load more money than any other type of Dj for the simple reason they know they can charge whatever because it is the Bride’s day. If she has her mind made up on a Dj she will pay the right price for him.
Wish the wedding djs would just disappear off the face of the planet, as they have made it near impossible for live bands to get any gigs around Central VA. I understand why folks prefer djs, as they can spin any sort of music and are less expensive than live music. But as someone who prefers live music (not to mention with lots of musicians), it makes going to weddings around here difficult.
LaGrape, you say you used to be a DJ? But you’re not anymore? That means you either sucked at it or didn’t care about it, or both. Keeping a room of people entertained with music is tough.
I used to (kinda still do) play guitar in a cover band. WE fit the mold of “wedding dj” way more than these guys do, only we’re creating the music. We play cover songs admittedly because a) it’s easy to play someone else’s music, b) there’s more money in it c) trying to be an original artist these days takes a long time, and none of us really have the time, writing skills, or most imporantly, passion for that. That doesn’t mean that we don’t love doing what we do. I have played gigs for bar tabs just for the high I get from creating a vibe in a room that gets everyone so excited about moving, jumping up and down, spilling drinks and having a good time that they forget about conversations, curfews and inhibitions.
Bottom line is that having done it yourself, you should realize that it’s not that easy. I haven’t seen either one of these guys perform, but it seems to me that they are pretty passionate about it. And if people keep coming back to hear them do thier thing, then they are probably doing something right.
So thats it then. Since I am a dj, and therefore a god, I will smite all wedding dj’s, enabling bands to get gigs. For Gobbler and the world!
And gobbler, my choons aint to everyone’s tastes, (I do play at mo-town) and sometimes I do just plain suck. Truth. I aint claiming my ability, just my love.
Funny anecdote: Once I was really cooking with the flaming disco remixes (which is not always the case) and one of 216’s drag queens (not in costume) came over and asked me, in all seriousness… “Could you play something, well, a little less gay?” Hah!
Still one of my favorite moments. So I immediately flipped over to a short techno version of Somewhere over the Rainbow as a joke. (no - because thats what i thought everyone should hear and i dont care what everyone thinks! I am god, remember. techno dorthy and toto too!)
This was one of the coolest cvillain.com days EVER. I think we’re all giving a round of applause from our couches and desks.
and now we go drink lots of wine right?
Careful, dude. Thor may spite you with his nerf mallet for your blastpheemays.
XSV - thats on the 24th….
oic…..
eh I can still drink some though
XSV,
Do you have a regular gig? Online mixes? Ever since I heard Brainfreeze I’ve been really into the whole funk 45/music I’ve never heard scene. I’d love to see a 45 set or rare funk next time you’re doing it.
While we’ve never had DJs, if we ever did, I’d want it to be something like Friday Nite Funk, or Sat. Nite Soul. Head-nodding as opposed to an ass-shaking. Stick your head in next time you’re downtown. I’d love to talk tunes.
thanks for the invite Dan. I’ll have to take you up on the offer. As far as a regular gig I am at OXO every Friday in January. I usually start out the night with some old school soul and funk before the crowd rolls in around 11. Pop in say hey sometime if you like.
Its threads like this that keep me coming back to cvillain. Kinda makes me wish I was a dj so I’d have something more interesting to add…now I’ll go back to gearslutz.com with all the other geeks who like to play with their faders in the privacy of a studio.
tidal: got a spare fader for a Numark cm200?
/never hurts to ask… heh.
Calling DJ Esc a wedding DJ is a crime. We used to have a handful of his older mixes at the studio and they were nothing short of sublime. Listening to these cds helped me and another local artist create some great art. Yeah, he spins techno-y stuff at the Cafe now but short and sweet, his mind is a dark library full of random and really great songs that he weaves together. Ew barf, I’m getting all poetic so I’ll stop. I’m gonna go listen to his Dolly Parton/Pat Benetar/Beatles mash-up now. Brilliant.
please burn me a copy of that!
Can do. You’ll get it if you come by and see me Saturday. Although, B-Yo needs to tell us what the title of the mix was again… all I remember is Dulcimus…something latinus
this is fantastic; i’m sorry i missed it real-time. i love it when the blood flows in eloquent rants.
Parlie just asked me to bring him a drink? WTF? Do you think I’m a bartender or something? How about one of you boys brings ME a drink? Just sayin’….
Shenan & Caroline re37
The mix is called “Dulcius ex Asperis”, which is latin for “after difficulty sweetness”. It is named that because I was creatively stuck for a while and then that cd, which is one my favorites of the 32 or so “downtempo” mixes I made btw 2001-2005, just popped out. It also seemed to be the favorite of all of the ones I have given out.
Cover and track list look like this (you are taliking about track 14):
http://img247.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dulciusjf2.jpg
Thats how I got into dj’ing in the first place. I would mix these, well sound collagy trip hop mixes. I would then print covers, and well just pass them out to friends, restaurants, strangers… whatever. I musta given out over a thousand cd’s just for fun. People said I should do it live, but I am terribly shy. So I decided to try at escafe anyway to overcome my fear of being in front of large groups of people. But escafe wanted up tempo… so I figured it out. I am still scared as hell every single time i hit play. But I digress…
I still have digital files of all those mixes and pdf’s of their covers. I would be happy to burn them for anyone who asks. I’ve done about 4 or 5 mixes of the escafe stuff too, if thats more your speed. Anyway, just let me know and please be patient because they get done one by one…
And thanks for the compliment Shenan. That meant a lot.
B Yo I’d love to have your music. Burn away, baby, burn away. Please.
DJ XSV has successfully defended the honor of DJs everywhere.
Hey if any DJ or musician wants us to feature some of their music on the site, shoot it our way. There are some cool embedded music players out there we want to play with.
Thor: I can send you any of it this morning. How bout that mix up there… its mellow. Want it as separate tracks or one long file (I am assuming you want an mp3)?
hey b’yo, I would be so happy to play some of your mixes at the wonderful Starlight Cafe Coffeeshop in Downtown Lynchburg, VA (shameless plug #102), please, please please burn some mixes (no techno please) for me, we can swing by and see you Saturday with the whole crew!
Guess I better fire up the burner… brb.
WOW!
WOW!
Never did I imagine that I would turned into The Bitch in this thread! Were the words “This rant is not against all DJ’s” and “beautifully explained by belmont-yo” not legible? Where are all the people who’ve experienced bad DJism saying “thanks for telling me I’m not crazy”?
Ok. I’ll be The Bitch if that’s what you need. I can play switch. I ain’t never ran from nobody and I damn sure ain’t gonna pick today to start runnin’. Remember you put me in this role.
1. Thanks lillith for making the post look good and for editing almost nothing. I know the work it takes to run this kinda site, so here’s to not burning out.
2. Esteban: DJ’s *are* accountants. And servers. And lawyers. It’s a second job for everyone I ever knew who made money at it except for the owners of the DJ service I worked for. And yes, we do get a lot of women if we’ve got our game on. Helpful tip: put a second stool by your booth.
3. b-yo: why wouldn’t we be cool–I called your words “beautiful”? If my rant doesn’t apply to you, then it doesn’t-only you can grok that. But I have heard DJ’s in this town that it does apply to. Helpful hint 2: try to get your flirter to do things for you: buy you drinks, check the bathroom line for length, help you carry record crates.
4. There are many different kinds of DJin’ that the skilled jock must be able to do. One is background DJin’–playing for a non-dancing crowd who want a particular ambience while they socialize (a la Escafe). There’s bar dance party DJin’–playing for a crowd that has a dance floor upon which to spill beer and flirt by dancing (a la R2). There’s DJcentric DJin’, where you show your skillz to a crowd of turntablism fans in a venue that might not even serve alcohol (but you can damn sure get elevated by other means). My rant was about the R2 kind of DJin’ (and its fraternal twin Wedding/Office Party DJin’), where you get the most interaction with customers, and where most people see DJ’s in their lives.
5. There are more things in heaven and earth, Gobbler, than are dreamt of in your assumptions. I stopped being a DJ because I started being a grad student at a prestigious Southern university. I started being a DJ at 16 when I took an “intro to DJing” workshop at University Union, if you can believe it. I never performed anywhere publicly until I started working for a DJ service while in college. The owners of that business were HIGHLY customer-oriented, and I got hired more because of my dependability than my skill. [The DJ business has a high incidence of flakiness, it seems.] But I learned from all kinds of other DJ’s, some of them highly skilled with their own real album releases. Because of that job, I’ve done the gamut, from feeling like a fucking movie star performing over a club of 2000 ravers with a giant poster of myself behind me, all the way to standing politely behind a mixer with a corded mic in an evening gown leading a limbo.
My rant was about bad DJ’s and bridging the gap of understanding between frustrated customers/clubgoers and DJ’s who wonder why they complain so much. Not about bashing the DJ’s on this website (whom I’ve never heard and I’m sure are awesome). No need to “defend honor,” DJ-san. I’m taking you behind the complaints, behind the lines, behind blue eyes. Where is the love? Do you really want to hurt me? I love music! Any kind of music…long as it’s swingin’.
Now…any reactions to what I said was the most important cause of DJ complaints: unclear marketing by the venue?
byo - send me your fav tracks.. I’ll figure out how to embed them on the site unless anyone has some good suggestions.
please keep in to one paragraph, I get bored easily.
Horatio: I feel you about wedding DJ’s vs wedding bands (even though I’m on the DJ team). It seems the only cover bands who make money are those with gimmicks (a la “Foo Fighters Polka Band”).
caroline: don’t be skerred to read
OK. Everybody breath.
Grape: I only said I hope we’re cool because it kind of seemed like our rants were pitted against each other vaguely. I took nothing personally, and hoped you didn’t either. For the record, in the world of dj’ing, I am completely nobody, with very little experience. The idea of a poster behind me would freak me out. I am not awesome, nor very skilled particularly. I just do what I do cuz I like it. I am a diminutive fish in a small pond, and I make no claims otherwise. I wish I had more flirters to help, but one, I dont, and two, my equipment is so old and jacked up that you have carry shit a certain way and whatnot. Its easier to just do it myself. The only point I would correct you on is that people *do* dance at escafé, not always, but when it on, its ON.
I have great respect for anyone that tries to do anything they love, (even at weddings). I only speak for myself.
thor It wouldn’t work that way. These are hour long continuous mixes, not “tracks”. They are cue’d into tracks, but alone they are not all mine to post. I could send you all the peices in parts, or I can send one big ‘track’ but perhaps neither will work for this kind of thing… Your call, though.
let me comb through the technology I would use and I’ll give you a response
Yeah, XSV–breathe!
Thanks for the clarification about Escafe, belmont. I can never tell that kinda thing because whereever I go I dance.
you know what I think is a sign of a good DJ? intuition. I’ll never forget hearing XSV’s mashup of raconteurs and gnarls barkley a year ago before going to lollapalooza and promptly seeing raconteurs cover the same gnarls barkley song. it was like deja holy shit.
if a dj has intution, there’s no label that will ever be able to hold him… wedding, microwave, yellowbook. he’ll simply be called inspiring.
i had to take off in the middle of the thread to drive 4 hours to see a band play, and i neglected to mention i’ve dj-ed two weddings myself, and at no time was the chicken dance (or any of the other wedding cliche songs) played. still managed to make sure people had a good time, though. not that any of y’all care.
my favorite dj in town is steve richmond, who used to spin great rock and mod tracks to pretty much no people at atomic burrito. but then again, i’m not much of a dancer myself.
well cVillains I invite all of you to OXO tonight if you want to hear me play. Not sure what direction the music will go because it all depends on the crowd. So come one come all. Make sure to say hello!
[…] On Being A DJ [a real look at the truths of DJing for the public] […]