How/Why Did you get into DJing

[r08zy]

Hi all, Hopefully this isn't a thread that has come up before, I did use search but the keywords turned up a lot of unrelated posts.

I thought it would be good to read other people's stories on how you first got into DJing and why you wanted to do it.

For me I always used to listen to Drum and Bass DJ mixes and still do, I used to get bored listening to single tracks one after the other due to the long intros and outros. When listening to DJ mixes (on cassette at the time) I used to fast forward past the tracks I didn't like and eventually decided to try recording my own mixes using only music that I liked.

I bought a Numark DJ in a box and started hanging around the local record shop from the age of 15 spending all of the money I earned from my Saturday job. Eventually after months of very poor mixing my skills began to improve and I recorded loads of tapes to listen to at school and eventually at work.

I started a pirate radio station with a couple of older guys I had met and they taught me a lot more tricks and techniques.

[DJAdeSands]

How..
Loved music as a kid, in teenage years, was a bit of a loner, so I got picked on, bullied, and found my solace on the radio. The more I listened to music, the more I wanted to be 'in it' started producing when I was 17 on 2 commodore Amiga's, and actually had a lot of fun. My music collection grew, I was listening to DJ's mix tapes in the local area, started hitting discos with few friends, and saw what other DJ's were doing. Thought, 'I could do better than that' , ditched the production, bought cheap belt drives, made a few contacts, got a gig in local kid's disco, spent earnings on more gear, and more music, this then went onto a bar, and it went from there. 20 years later, doing all kinds of events now.. it's been good. Seen a lot and learned a lot more.
Why?.. cos I fookin love it.
Recently, met one of my idols.. GMF. Was a good day.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[Chael]

My interest in music started when I was around 7, I used to dig through my mum and dads record collection and sit listening to it on headphones. When I hit high school around the age of 11 I heard insides by orbital which really opened my ears and mind to a whole new world of music. Musically I was abit of a black sheep at school, everyone was into either hardcore, drum and bass or hip hop and when I they asked me what I was listening to and I said "the latest global underground by John digweed" I would get some really funny looks from people. I think I was always heading to the DJing side of it but the eventual nudge came when I met a like minded fellow at collage he was into all kinds of stuff but dj'd tech and progressive house. I had a dabble with his turntables and picked it up pretty quickly, a couple of weeks later I bought myself a set of numark belt drives and a 2 channel mixer and never looked back. We eventually ran a night of our own in our local town just so we could play in front of people, from there I gigged for a few years, mostly low key stuff but did manage to do a couple of warm ups for some big(ish) names, 16 years later I'm still at it but haven't gigged for a few years now, recently I'm thinking I need to get back on the horse

[Nicky H]

For the chicks & the free drugs obviously

[Lakrymist]

IDM changed my life and I wanted to share what I found.

[Kulture]

I originally got into DJing because DJ gigs are easier to book and more popular than live techno.

[Stazbumpa]

In 1992 I saw GE Real (R.I.P) on 3 decks at my local rave and I thought "I want to know how he does that", in 1994 I'm at the same rave listening to Fergus play hard trance and I'm thinking "I want to play this music". That was the year I got my first set of decks, I've not really looked back since then.

The first thing I learned was to diversify my music collection, but I still got all my rave vinyl just in case.

[calgarc]

I like trance music... alot of trance musicians DJ... enough said...

[daviedavedave]

For the chicks & the free drugs obviously

And to bring it up to 128.

[bergen]

I had dabbled in traktor a few times in the past because I was always really into music and I'd been told by friends I had good taste. I never really had any money to spend on traditional equipment, and at the time I really didnt understand why you wouldnt use all the help you could get when it came to djing (syncing, etc). But I never really spent that much time on it and it never became a passion.

In 2013 I moved to Berlin, and slowly I really got into the club scene here. After getting well educated watching most of the best DJs in the world (think I saw 60 of the top 100 RA list in one year) and meeting a friend who had started mixing vinyl a few months before, I decided to dive in. Didn't hurt that I actually had money to spend on a hobby finally. This was in february 2015.

Now me and the friend rent an apartment together with a full club setup in the living room (two decks, two cdjs, xone 92) and around 500+ vinyls collectively. We spend a lot of time mixing and are slowly getting opportunities to play out at clubs and smaller festivals, although we are in no rush. I really reaally love the act of mixing vinyl, since this is a hobby to me, something to spend my time on, something to get my mind off work (I'm a freelance designer) and something that I love doing. Everything else that will come with that is an extra bonus.

I love playing b2b with other talented DJs because it really puts you on your toes and forces you to adapt.... I love mixing different genres together and find a way to make it fit. I love long blends, building something new out of existing tracks. I love pitch-riding, makes everything so smooth. And I loove playing long sets. Everything under 4 hours feels just too short to really get a story groving, a journey.

Hoping I can find a similar entry point into producing as I did with mixing. But time will tell.