"if i did that id be out of a job..."???

[Quenepas]

My read of this is less generous than yours - it sounds like he's fronting; he doesn't have any house music or doesn't know what he does have, or he lacks confidence in his mixing skills for house and was worried since if you asked for it you might notice that he doesn't know what he's doing. Maybe I'm wrong but it seems to me if all the above were true, he'd (1) do a better job of mixing the music that he does have to play -- not necessarily flawless since it's not his style but certainly not what you describe, and (2) he'd find you a house song that would still be popular with this crowd and work it in. Hell there are so many different styles of house music and house remixes of so many different kinds of songs that you can lay down house next to pretty much anything these days. There are four on the floor house remixes of every pop song you can think of, as well as hip hop, funk, classic rock n roll, jazz, metal, punk rock, pretty much any damn thing you could imagine. You didn't say what kind of music he was playing but if he really loves mixing house I'd think he'd jump at the chance to work something in.

My guess, the owner hired the cheapest person he could find willing to play and this guy figures he'd fake his way through. Honestly I don't have a problem with that on its face as long as he actually wants to be there doing it -- before I knew what I was doing I certainly bluffed my way into a few gigs that were far above my talents and rode it out by the seat of my pants. But that's how I learned; it doesn't sound like this guy has any interest in learning, and it doesn't sound like the crowd is inspiring him in any way to want to bother.

Im with djproben on this one...

House music is made to be liked and pretty much the pop in EDM. Yes you can play top 40 but what you do when you reach #40? you revert back to #1? You should at least feel 10% of the crowd to now what is proper to play next.

I would make a mixtape to the owner mixing the top 40's on my style adding good house, electro and whatnot and find myself a nice part time. So sorry but this is a dog eat dog world and in the end everyone would benefit from it (minus the guy who is jobless).

[RickNash]

I duno if anyone else has seen this sort of thing? what do you do when you feel your not allowed to express yourself behind the decks anymore? Is it your fault for not moving with the clientel? or for not keeping them interested in your music? or is it out of your control when tastes just change as things progress beyond what your into?

Personally, I want to be able to quit gigging for cash when I'm 40ish and can't keep up with the music anymore. It's why I never want to DJ full-time (because then I'll be relying on it financially). One day, when it is passing me by, I wanna just sit back and say "I wanna listen to AC/DC and fuck today's music, it's not like it was in my day!"

I see older lads like this all the time. They're well past it, completely out of touch with the crowd, clearly hate what they do but love telling people they're a DJ.

Of course you're allowed express yourself behind the decks. The excuse he gave is a common one, but an excuse (not a reason) nonetheless. I play commercially but the beautiful part of gigging is taking the remixes that I source, the lesser known tracks that I listen to, then mashing it with an average Saturday night club's mood and taste. To me, it's finding that blend between what you enjoy, what you're good at mixing and what the punters want to hear, that is the real test of you as a DJ. Forget genres, gear, styles or gimmicks.

That said, is there a small possibility that you were that guy who went up requesting tracks that would never suit the venue or night? I try not to fob off these guys, personally, more enjoy the chance to chat to them (as long as they're not acting the know-it-all) and come to a compromise, but a lot of DJs will.