Wow to say the least... Gambled and it payed off! ( a little motivational story)
Hey guys just another motivation story i had happen to me this wednesday at a big weeknight event called Wompy Wednesdays in St. Louis Mo.
I noticed a good friend/teammate of mine commented on there Event page listed as Open Decks night. Ive only played at this event one time before and am booked to play again the first wednesday of February but i figured id try to hop in one of the open timeslots. Talked to the Promoter/Event runner/Main Dj and he said they wanted only Ableton affiliated sets turntable sets and CDJ sets. I have not once djed on CDJs or even used ableton im not familiar with serato live 3 and dont have any original EDM vinyls. Thinking to myself "This is my fucking time to shine!!!!" Ive only ever seriously djed on my midi controller which im completely ok with. No sync! I beatmatch by sight and ear all the time with the help of traktors very nice beat grid. Talked to Dom about playing on the CDJs (What better way to impress a huge name in the STL Area than just hop up on some CDJs and throw down a solid set) Easier said than done, thats for sure.
Show up at the venue/lounge around 11. My time slot was at 11:50 - 12:20 (Which in it self was semi intimidating since this is when everyone starts show up and the crowd starts to dance and really feel the music.) My buddy played right before me on abelton. I walk up there to my setup (buddy is still playin his set), mind you never in my life have i touched a CDJ 1000 MK2 none the less a CDJ itself (except one time in Best buy :cool: ). Start to feel the sweaty palms and the heart rate increase. Put the Cd in and ask to be freshened up on all the Gear buttons par say. Dom (the promoter big name) Then ask me what cdjs i have practiced on recently. I of course threw some bullshit out there about a friends CDJs i had messed around with and apparently he caught on cause he looked and me said alright good cause the last thing we need is a trainwreck and walked out of the VIP area.
Next thing i remember is dom tellin me "Its all you! Go!" so we turn down my buddies volume fader and i press play. Paying great attention to what button i was pressing and how it effected said track. I started off with a very easy slow transition and slowly worked my way up. I had my Cds Numbered and the Track BPMS Numbered on the cd as well along with a list of all the songs in which cd etc. I had to be prepared like i said this was my moment to shine. Middle of my set my phone went off. I got a text from dom who was about 15-30 feet away. I nervously open it to read "There is no way you havent recently played on CDJs u liar. Your doing great! Awesome Set! This sent my confidence through the roof. The last few transition were me doin some nice hip hop slams into drops etc. Least to say... IT ALL PAYED OFF!
I am now on the radar. This one risk put me up there with some solid names who have been in the scene for years. Ive only been going to STL for about 5 months but have dj on midi controllers for 4+ years. So all in all DJ Tech Tools Forumers IF you get the chance to make a leap like this DO IT! If your confident in your skill and the Gamble is a reasonable accomplishment Take a deep breathe and take the fucking jump. Yes u could "Fall to your miserable doom and leave nothing but a bad taste in peoples mouths" but you could also redeem a major ammount of glory from it.. Shine Bright or fall into darkness or you could simply stay in the shadows and trail along. I chose the all or nothing and i fucking won!!!! :thumbup::D
Dwonka
