Tips for Opening DJs – Josh Wink, Hector Romero, Mike Huckaby, DJ Dan, Shiftee +

[JasonBay]

Probably all of them started at clubs and bars.

Pretty much. Richie Hawtin used to drive to Detroit from Windsor just to open up for for this one DJ in a small basement club, nothing big and fancy. And he would be finished right before the place got full, just as the late night guy was going on. He was able to keep that gig because he did what was asked of him, to be the opener.

But it was from that gig that he was able to network and build a following until he started doing his own events. No DJ just wakes up and has a 3000+ strong following and scene behind them, they had to pay their dues and stick with it through the bad times.

[djlotus]

Do these idiots really think that the dj's who have gone big time didn't start somewhere? Like they woke up one morning in the 90's and said "Hey, I want to be a famous dj. I better start promoting myself and throwing my own parties. To hell with starting somewhere and meeting people and networking. I am a prime time dj only and will do it myself. To heck with playing clubs. Who gets noticed at a club?"

Fucking retards who are polluting the pool. Keep that attitude going and 10 years from now when you have sold off all your gear and resent the "scene", remember, you didn't need to appreciate music or natural progression of being a dj. You could do it on your own playing nothing but bangers from 7-4.

[mostapha]

A good opening set does not equal boring and not fun. Seriously how long have some of you guys been in this scene....

I can't count the number of times I've left when the headliner went on (either for another club or just to go home) because the opener was better. It happens a lot when the scene is based more on networking than music. It's happened at least as many times as I show up somewhere at 1 because I know the opener's going to blow his load too early and alienate the whole dance floor.

Do these idiots really think that the dj's who have gone big time didn't start somewhere? Like they woke up one morning in the 90's and said "Hey, I want to be a famous dj. I better start promoting myself and throwing my own parties. To hell with starting somewhere and meeting people and networking. I am a prime time dj only and will do it myself. To heck with playing clubs. Who gets noticed at a club?"

Fucking retards who are polluting the pool. Keep that attitude going and 10 years from now when you have sold off all your gear and resent the "scene", remember, you didn't need to appreciate music or natural progression of being a dj. You could do it on your own playing nothing but bangers from 7-4.

Lol.

[djbrokenrecord]

yall talk a lot about "the art of DJing" considering that selling alcohol is central to the things youre talking about. i would say that we could agree to disagree, if yall can admit that when you say "the REAL art of DJing like we used to do it" you actually mean "the art of selling alcohol."

i'm also kinda wondering if anybody here has ever seen a DJ perform somewhere other than a bar. its almost fascinating that we are having this conversation as if that is literally the only kind of dance music environment that exists.

also, lol to the example of 'legendary DJ' being richie hawtin. what about mancuso, kool herc, flash, bam? they were house parties and block parties and people went to them to PARTY, even in the middle of the afternoon. ancient history? ok how bout aoki, who started his own music scene out of HIS HOUSE? and are you guys saying that theres no such thing as underground legendary DJs? are underground/rave DJs not real DJs?

also, if your "paying dues" system was legitimate, you wouldn't have to enforce it. it would enforce itself. you wouldnt have to complain about seeing all these bad DJs. these bad DJs wouldnt be playing at your spots if your "paying dues" system actually worked. if it doesn't work, to the point where thousands of disgruntled "real" DJs are complaining about it on every single DJ website, then you need to re think your system instead of blaming kids who love music, are passionate about music, and are using the technology that is available to them, the same way you used the technology that was available to you when you started.

why aren't you putting the responsibility on the promoter to book a lineup that naturally flows throughout the night, based on the genres that the DJs love playing, instead of putting the responsibility on the DJs to play what the promoter wants them to play? What if the promoter did the work of researching DJs and booking tech/minimal/midtempo DJs for the first half of the night and all the high energy stuff for the second half? yall talk about how DJs who want to have fun are ruining the art of DJing? really?? it sounds to me, if anything, like the DJs that are willing to take the 'paying dues' gigs are the ones ruining the art because they're setting the standard that the DJ does whatever the promoter/owner/manager wants them to do. sounds to me like the DJs who are having fun and playing what ever they want are doing more for the 'art form' than anybody. there are DJs who, if given the opportunity to play ANYTHING they wanted, would play tech/funk/minimal/midtempo because that's what they love most. why don't we make promoters hire these guys to do opening sets? sounds to me like we're setting a standard that the DJ is a jukebox for the promoter/owner. yall are like the people who refuse to join the union because theyre afraid of the boss. if you're going to talk about DJing as a sacred art form, can we focus on the art instead of the "art of making a living?"

what yall are doing is throwing other DJs under the bus. "the art of DJing" is "the art of competition because we are at the mercy of promoters." if we supported ALL DJs, (and you know damn well that even the dumbest, most egotistical, ignorant beatport controllerist respects guys like you) we could be held accountable to each other and to dance floors, not to promoters and bar owners. we could play parties at 4PM and have kids going crazy. i know because i've built this scene in my city.

was DJing invented to make a living or to party?

why are you guys so terrified at the idea of starting a NEW scene? something different? a scene where people come out to dance at 9pm, sober?

also, shouts out to the person whose worst enemy is "the abercrombie fitch types with a controller and 40 gigs of music." i'm down to go party with those dudes, they sound like they have the right idea.

also it's funny that you say it like that, considering those are the people you're DJing to at your ultra lounge VIP opening sets.

also its funny that you guys hang out on this website. shouldnt you be hanging out at VinylAndSufferingAndDoingThingsYouDontWantToDoBeca useItsHonorableToTheArtForm.com?

also if you guys know any abercrombie fitch dudes with a controller and 40 gigs of music who want to DJ a party, lemme know, that sounds like fun.

[keithace]

Tl:dr

[coupon]

If you really have to ask, should you be playing a festival gig in the first place?

well so much for having a discussion and getting other people's opinion. i do what i do at festivals, just wondering if anyone else approached them differently.

[JasonBay]

You have a lot of valid points there, and a lot of them I agree with. But you can't go comparing 70's New York to modern times. But those people had the means to do it where as a lot of people don't have a huge loft, money or spare time to throw a huge party during the mid day. Plus a lot of laws have passed since then to make sure those don't happen. Like the "Crack House" law in WI, where it effectively killed the rave scene plus after hours scene as well.

Also, most promoters in my experience are either stupid, clueless, inexperienced or all of the above and shouldn't really be promoting as well. Plus the scene is over saturated with DJ's that a lot of people are offering their services for free, and what promoter wouldn't take that offer?

And you're right, the DJ is an over priced jukebox to a lot of club owners. But that's when you become a 'working' DJ as I like to put it, and not one who's doing it for the music you love. Or the "Art of Making a Living" as you put it.

And a lot of it doesn't even come down to who's a good DJ or not to a promoter, just who can bring the most people down. Period. So instead of the promoter themselves building a name and reputation for putting on good shows and well thought out DJ line ups and creating an experience for their guests, they take the lazy route and just book who ever has the most Facebook friends and hope that brings down a lot of people.

[shr3dder]

I get what your saying (please try not to say yall so much, it was painful to read), but I think your missing the point. Plus you called Aoki a legendary DJ.

Jason is right, its not 70s New York and we're not talking about some trailblazing DJ being held back by a conservative scene.

We're talking about the guy that gets up in front of an empty dance floor and proceeded to pretty much scare everyone out of the place by banging it out at the start of the night. Yes the promoter could book different genres so it sounded right but where I'm from thats not how it works. You have your minimal nights, your drum & bass nights, dubstep nights, house nights, trance nights etc. Every genre has a version of "banging" and every genre has GOOD music that isn't so intense (like the star ratings for tunes lots of people use here).

I think you'd be hard pressed to find an established DJ that didn't think of the opening spot as crucial.

Just out of curiosity how long have you been DJing mrbrokenrecord?

[mostapha]

you called Aoki a legendary DJ……Just out of curiosity how long have you been DJing…

Not long, apparently.

Aoki sucks.

I have my issues with some of the others…but Aoki just sucks.

[PeteWoods]

honestly, lads, i smell a troll. he seems far too informed to be someone who believes the shite hes spouting.