Tips for obtaining residence at clubs?
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 15
  1. #1
    Tech Wizard DjBeetz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Morrison, Colorado
    Posts
    59

    Default Tips for obtaining residence at clubs?

    Anyone have tips/ideas that you would share with the rest of us? Thanks..

  2. #2
    RGAS Guru Xonetacular's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    South Florida
    Posts
    4,088

    Default

    Residency is over rated and I would much prefer not to have one. It sounds good because Djs make a big deal out of having a residency like it is something really special and the ultimate club DJ's goal.

    In reality having a residency can either be great or in many times crappy and you could do better without one. Your pay is pretty much fixed which can be good or bad, and if you have skill and bring a crowd you can make a lot more by DJing at several different clubs as more of a headliner event instead of being locked into a particular gig. You cna do both, I just hear from a lot of DJs who hated their residency due to bad club/bar managment, not getting paid nearly as much as if they were a normal 'guest' DJ, and generally being taken advantage of. That's not to say a residency can't be great, they can, just think about what you want first.


  3. #3
    Tech Mentor
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Maryland
    Posts
    327

    Default

    What xone says makes good sense. I'm going to go ahead and say that I've no idea what would help you get a residency anywhere, as the only place I spin music outside of my bedroom is at my school on occasion, or for some friends.

    However, the following things are what I've heard, or would assume would be good ideas:

    Get to know your club scene. Make sure people know how you are, and make sure you know who the important people are. If you're on good terms with the owner of the club you want to play at, you're more likely to be offered a position.

    Hand out promo discs. Pretty self explanatory. There's some debate over whether you should have an hour long mix that would show what you're likely to play in a club's timeslot, or a shorter mix to keep the listener's attention span and show off some of your tricks. However, a few things I'm sure we can all agree on are: 1: Make sure your demo mix(es) is/are absolutely perfect before turning them in. The reason for this should be pretty obvious. 2: Stick with what you know! Don't put something on a mix tape if you're not sure you'd be able to pull it off perfectly with a blindfold on and one hand tied. (slight exaggeration, but major bonus points if you could actually do it.) 3: Make sure the music on the mix tape matches up to the music played in the club. Not the exact same tunes you heard the night before, of course, but the same genre. Don't submit a rocking powernoise/aggrotech mix tape to a top 40/hip hop club's promoter, as funny as it would probably be.

    Be persistent! Chances are good that there are a lot of DJs in your area who also want the job you're shooting for, so you might not get it right away. Be patient, polite, and persistent, but not annoying. Asking if they've got any free slots coming up maybe once a month or so would probably be acceptable, but not every night you're there. Show them you're serious about the job, but don't become "that guy" to them.

    Have a facebook group or twitter thing-y that shows you have a fan base, and that you would be able to bring people into a club if you played. This could possibly the most helpful thing you could have, as a shitty DJ who brings all 200 of his friends in every night he plays will probably be hired over a much better, but unknown DJ who wouldn't bring anyone in. It's the paradox of "gotta get gigs to get fans, gotta have fans to get gigs." My tips for getting fans: Do a weekly (or so) podcast of mixes you do, make fliers for it, leave the fliers around the clubs, have links to your FB group on the fliers. If you're good, people will (hopefully) follow your releases, and you'll have something to show promoters that says "I rock, and these people think I rock."

    Like I said, I don't have any experience in this kind of thing whatsoever, but I've made plans. Oh how I've made plans, and this pretty much sums up the core concepts. Hope it's helpful!
    I'm not good at things, but I like to pretend I am.
    :Project-Segfault:

  4. #4
    Tech Guru Liambo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    N.E. Scotland
    Posts
    726

    Default

    A few things that helped me get into places are things such as:

    Know your club scene and whats going around the area about you, such as, know what music the club plays, when they play it and what the crowd likes to hear. Also know the clubs that's round about that area, because if your not playing the music they other clubs will get the business!

    Get to know people! Get to know the managers of the club and DJ's, forget about bar staff and/or glass collectors. But as the post above me said, don't become 'that guy' to them, they find it irritating. After you have made yourself known to them, approach them with a few different styles of demos BUT make sure you include a demo that you have quite enjoyed recording that is similar to the stuff the club plays!

    Next on the list is once you have became friends and a frequent visitor of the club that you are aiming for, maybe take a chance and ask to do a warm up slot or fill in if somebody is busy. Also make sure they always have a contact number for you. Even if it was unpaid, in my eyes you have to lose money to make money, simple as. This may get you a few warm ups which may come to bigger things.

    Now back to knowing your club, as Xone said, resident DJ's don't always like where they spin or what they spin or the money they get for spinning. Luckily enough i havn't had a problem yet! I have been resident DJ in three different great clubs, one was very badly organised but a great place to work, other two were a properly run business.

    Guest spots can as Xone said, be better more interesting and better paid! I guest DJ at some spots and its great fun! But also the pay as a guest DJ could also suck!

    But anyways, just be yourself, know your people, clubs and music and you will be fine!

    Good luck.

  5. #5
    DJTT Moderator bloke Karlos Santos's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Next to a canal in England.
    Posts
    9,019

    Default

    Having residences is great.
    I have 4 and ive had one for over 7 years.

    I get offered loads of guest spots and im pretty well respected in my City despite doing a few Student gigs playing crap chart music (to about 3000 people a week) i still get to do cool gigs.

    It is very easy to be a commercial DJ and a respected 'scene' DJ if you do it right.

    A guy asked me for a guest spot playing Dubstep a few months back. I said i would try sort something out and told him to leave it with me.
    Hes since blabbed to 3 different people saying that he is the new resident at my club and he even told one guy that i was getting pushed aside for him to take over.

    Unfortunately for him the Flyer Girl he spoke to is my girlfriends house mate and she told me what he said. The last guy he spoke to is a guy I DJ with quite a lot and he played dumb to get the guy to talk by saying "Isnt there a guy that does that gig, dunno his name" the idiot chimed in "yes its Karl and hes getting the sack".
    Needless to say my mate told me all that was said.

    The upshot of this is that this loser will NEVER DJ in any of the 4 clubs that i have residences at or any of the clubs that i guest at (i live in a very small city) because i have told everyone what he has been saying about me.

    Because im not a cunt and i was respectful of the established DJs when i was trying to get gigs and im friends with many promoter and now i am one of the established DJs and promoters i can pretty much prevent this dick-wad form getting any DJ work in my city.
    This is all because he couldnt be cool and had to blab and slag off an established DJ. I mean telling people that i have been sacked is really fucking serious.

    Hes been thrown out of one club for wrecking a mixer. Another club for blowing a monitor and now hes gonna be barred from everywhere that i have any influence, which is pretty much everywhere.

    Lesson is, dont be a douchebag. His opening line to me was "Hello Karl, Im xxxxxx and im the best new Dubstep DJ this city has ever seen"


    Where was i going with this...???

    Oh yeah residences rock.

  6. #6
    Tech Guru LanceBlaise's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    USA, Where Techno Is Scarce
    Posts
    1,460

    Default

    You really need to look at your overall goal when it comes to DJing. Do you want to be a local DJ who does well in the local area, or do you wish to be bigger than that? That being said I am assuming that right now you are looking to get bigger locally. So a residency is good now, and i think most DJs who are now traveling as a DJ in their career has had a residency, of course there are exceptions to that. Now that i travel and play basically anywhere but my hometown a residency would be bad for me, for many different reasons.

    So I had 2 residencies my whole career... both were in Philadelphia, and honestly I was in the scene for many years and not just known as a DJ, I wore many other hats as well. So I was lucky and knew lots of the club owners... When I was offered the residencies I was just beginning to get recognized as a producer so i had something to offer really, aside from DJ skills I was becoming known outside my hometown of Philadelphia...

    For someone like yourself I would really try and plant your feet in the scene locally. I had one kid who I used to let open for me at the one residency I had, and it was also the most popular club and afterhours joint in town. So this kid would open for me for nothing, no name on the flyers, just to get exposure and gain experience... but nowadays i know he has residencies at many clubs around philadelphia... so for him doing something like that got him known around town, gave him valid experience in a good club, and got him on the track to many residencies. So if being a local powerhouse resident DJ is your thing then i think you should really get out there and see what you can get into as far as opening for residents of your hometown...

    good luck =)

  7. #7
    Tech Guru MaxOne's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    London, UK
    Posts
    2,942

    Default

    Promote your own parties, make yourself resident of those.

    Book 1 - 2 name djs who you know will bring a crowd.

    Then you have control over when you play on the night etc, what kind of vibe.

    Also you can make more money by being a promoter too.

    That's another way to go.

    I actually think a good resident is one of the most important jobs to play in the success of a night.

    Pretty sure this article was raised on here before but it's very interesting:

    Check it out

    http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1095
    CLUB OF JACKS - RELEASES >>TRAXSOURCE
    Club of Jacks are a London based House & Garage production / DJ duo with releases on a number of underground labels including Plastik People Recordings, Blockhead Recordings, Hi Energy!, Pocket Jacks Trax, Soul Revolution Records and their own Club of Jacks imprint.

  8. #8

    Default

    haha karlos that post was amazing. Made me laugh out loud. What city are you in?

  9. #9
    Tech Guru sarasin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    5,079

    Default

    I agree with Karlos. Residency is great. I think it has to do with the kind of person you are. You either a person who likes the risk of freelance work.....or someone that likes the security of the regularity. I pretty much only play one style and play the bigger parties only cuz its more money and a higher status than the smaller ones. Also...if i played every weekend...i would be overplayed....and would not get the bigger gigs. I like my residency because its the most professional Psy event production company here in Cape Town and they fit my style perfectly. I have been with em for three years now and will not leave if you paid me.
    APC80:STR8-100's+Ortofon Concorde Scratch\Electro:ButterRugz:TSP2-NI Audio4DJ:Xone22+Innofader:MacBook Pro 15"
    www.soundcloud.com/djsarasin
    www.youtube.com/adriansarasin

  10. #10
    DJTT Moderator bloke Karlos Santos's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Next to a canal in England.
    Posts
    9,019

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by djmaxone View Post
    Promote your own parties, make yourself resident of those.

    Book 1 - 2 name djs who you know will bring a crowd.

    Then you have control over when you play on the night etc, what kind of vibe.

    Also you can make more money by being a promoter too.

    That's another way to go.

    I actually think a good resident is one of the most important jobs to play in the success of a night.

    Pretty sure this article was raised on here before but it's very interesting:

    Check it out

    http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1095
    Yeah if you can get in a club and put your own nite thats grand.
    Ive done and still do it. Its very rewarding if it does well.

    Its a LOT of hard work. More hard work than anyone can imagine especially to get it promoted and in press without which your nite will fail (unless your doing it for a small crowd).

    I see lots of guys come and go putting new nites on here and there (especially at one of my clubs) and they splash out on getting name DJs and their promotion is terrible and they lose lots of money.
    They all have the attitude that you can just put a new nite on and people will come flocking. The reality is that people are pretty ignorant of what going on. You need to ram it down their throats (gently that is).

    Facebook is no way to promote a nite. Its useful, but you have to do Press and the old school entry/exit Flyering of other clubs and whacking up posters. These guys i see just send out 10000s of facebook invites which everyone says yes to then they forget but if you pass a poster everyday on the way to Uni or work it sinks in.

    Digital promotion is too easy and is only partially effective.

    Start small, get a few mates together to DJ and spilt the cost and just put partys on and build from there.

    I stil dont know where im going with this thread. Im very distracted today.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •