DO NOT FEED THE DJ isn’t really a new concept. I have been a DJ for almost 10 years. That’s longer than reality TV has existed. I started with two unresponsive Gemini CD players and a crossfader neither crossed nor faded. I’ve DJ-ed huge Auditoriums with domestic house speakers, and little house parties with 800 watt crown amps. Over the year’s I’ve worked many gigs, from Gay Proms, to straight weddings, to opening for DEVO and Anime Raves. I have a full time gig working in Television Production, so while spinning isn’t my bread and butter, it is definitely the jam to my toast. Early on it’s important to ask what kind of DJ you want to be, far beyond a genre or scene, it’s important to figure out what your goals are and why you do it in the first place.
To Gear or Not to Gear
Ford F150, or Mazda Miata? It has nothing to do with your taste in cars, and everything to do with how much gear you can carry. Most of my DJ peers either sold their amps and speakers, or never owned them to begin with. Going down the route of ‘Mobile DJ’ opens up the doors to more paid gigs, but it has it’s drawbacks. If you’re in love with the Idea of owning the biggest speakers and the brightest light show, that means that your chaining yourself to hours of set up and take down, and you’re most likely going to book personal parties and banquet halls. If your goal is to make money and pay off you’re equipment and start making cash, then this is the perfect direction for you . But if your ultimate goal is to be a performance DJ, then you’ll most likely be setting up at clubs, concerts and festivals, where you plug into a bigger and better system than you could ever fit in your car.
Hang Out With Other DJs
The more you know the better. It’s easy to be a bedroom DJ, hop on YouTube and leave comments that everyone’s mixes suck. It’s a bit more productive to actually get out and hear some locals DJs spin and exchange information. You can also get a little collective going, perhaps your destiny is to be a part of a group. Being in a collective not only opens you up to a whole network of gig possibilities, but it expands your music collection, and you can pick up all your DJ buddies’ good habits, and dump all the bad ones.
More Poking, less Craigslist
Craigslist is a great concept, thousands of gigs are posted daily, but bare in mind that there are equally thousands of DJs fighting for the same spot. Craisglist is also a cesspool of phishers and spammers. There’s a good chance that when you apply for a gig that you’re simply giving up your e-mail address for some promoter’s list serve. Ever notice that after you apply for a gig, your e-mail box is suddenly bombarded with invitations to night clubs? Aside from all that pleasantness, Craigslist tends to create a fever mentality, and you may be tempted to simply apply for all the gigs you see and lose focus of what you really want to do.
It’s better to get out to events you’d like to be spinning at and meet people face to face to network. You can apply to a hundred gigs online and never hear back, but sometimes adding 4-5 new people onto your Facebook profile can be a more meaningful transaction leading to gigs that are directed to your genre.
Work it. Own it.
I don’t flex the word ‘elite’ very often. But I know talent and hustle when I see (hear) it. Every great DJ I know has a deep understanding of music, not only playing it but creating it. If you’re ready to take your love for electronic to the next level, then it’s time to hit those loops and timelines and start producing. It seems daunting, but even a rudimentary knowledge of Garage band can open up a new world to play with. When it comes to creating electronic music there are hundreds of tools to use, so don’t be afraid to learn what a measure and a phrase is, or what key a song starts in. Creating music can only make you a better DJ, you’ll learn to appreciate every bass line, filter, and hi-hat in every song you hear.
Dream a Little Dream
Everyone starts out with the dream of spinning beats to massive crowds all over the world while being paid unreasonable amounts of money. But as artists we all have to settle on who we want to be. We’re all going to start off with a mix of of backyard boogies, weddings, nightclubs, and festivals. But the decisions we make along the way will funnel our talent into one direction or another. There was a time when I played radio pop music in nightclubs night after night, ad nauseum until I couldn’t take it anymore. I realized that the ‘working DJ’ wasn’t my bag. I started over and went back to my house music roots. I now fancy myself a “Performance DJ,” not tethered to working for cash, and perfectly honest about not accommodating requests. I consider being a DJ a privilege rather than a right, and it’s taken a long time to figure out exactly who I wanted to be when I step up to the decks.


















