Advice for Young DJ’s finding gigs?
Hey!
I am Rhys (lacking a DJ name, lol), and I am a House/Dubstep DJ. I am only 14, and kinda trying to find a gig, maybe even ones that are paying gigs. Any advice? Good ideas on finding gigs, or setting up tracklists? I would appreciate it if you had some advice.
Thanks for helping. 
Rhys
PS:
I live in a metro area, any advice for researching a gig in an urban area could help. 
Don’t expect to play clubs you have to be over 18 or 21 depending on where you live. A good way to start is by giving people your mixes or productions.
Yep, at 14 any club owner is just going to laugh you out the door. When you’re 16, you might be able to land a test slot for an under 18s night or something, but the sad fact is that management will just think: “He’s a kid, he’s gonna be crap.”
If you just wanna play music to a crowd, do friends’ parties and school discos and stuff like that; don’t even bother trying to get a residency somewhere until you’re older, because it just won’t happen 
im 17 years old and have a trial at a nightclub and if i do well i get permanent residency. Gotta have those connections, but yeah under 16 you have to be extremely lucky.
Just spend the time practicing and doing house parties with friends. Honest.
school talent show and …
you’re 14, keep practicing, you dont have the income or the reliability to do any actual clubs
this industry will destroy most people your age if you try to get in too young, jacked up on all kinds of drugs, you’d prolly be taken advantage of by shady promoters or owners, robbed, killed etc etc
grow up a bit, stick to student functions if you can (like school dances or whatever) but even then most schools will hire and bring in outside talent who have better equipment than most 14 yr olds will have access to.
hell i bet a lot of us here have been DJing longer than you’ve been alive and would work a highschool spot for just a few hundred bucks
Honestly, a school talent show won’t really get you anywhere I don’t think.
People like the music and all, but they aren’t going to view it as talent unless you’re finger drumming or scratching. People are just going to see it as button pushing.
I’m just theorizing anyways though.
i think a lot of younger djs today focus too much on finding gigs than perfecting their craft, i think you should just have fun, jam, build up a solid song library, work on your signature sound (and what makes you you) etc, stuff like that takes time
and… “setting up tracklists” is the easiest part!
I just take the music I need that night with me, and play it in whatever order feels right at the time. And if anyone requests a song I either tell them “sorry, but I don’t have that” if it’s a reasonable request, or “fuck off” if its RnB or Dubstep.
Like people have mentioned, I would start small. You will get good practice that way, and it will most likely lead to bigger things. Also, take what other DJ’s tell you with a grain of salt. Some of them will try to bring you down.
Where I live you’re not allowed inside a club for another 4 years.
Play at your school’s parties or throw your own with your friends!
Thank you!
Thanks for the advice!!
Just a quick question: What do you think is a good way to get mixes out and get that kind of attention? How did you do it? And any other tips like that.
Thanks 
Social media is your friend. Sound cloud/ Youtube.
Don’t go around spamming though. If you’re good enough, it’ll spread on its own.
id first throw a party if you really cant get anyone to hire you
make mixes, and practice alot before you make them. like someone mentioned perfect your craft and find your style. itll change over time but find it now and make it good enuff that even if its not perfect its consistent.
give your mixes out at school.
people have to know you dj for you to get hired, so start telling people you DJ
summer is coming up and people will have graduation parties, do those for cheap.
expect to be underpaid for a year or two.
Practice more. Once you think you have it practice more. Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do. Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do. Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do. Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do. Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do.
Make a mix that your proud of and one that you would like to post on SC, burn 20 or 20 copies, hand em out.
Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do. Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do. Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do. Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do.
Since a few years have passed, start mingling with other DJs/Producers in your area. You could probably find them at local events and clubs. Check out the DJ and see what kind of techniques he does.
Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do. Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do. Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do.
Then, find a promoter or local DJ to hand your mix to. Start connecting via FB, SC or other social network sites. Show your face to the same clubs every week. Let them know your passionate, but dont be needy and start mouthing off to other DJs or promoters. Theres a fine line between annoying and assertive.
Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do. Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do. Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do. Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do.
By now, you have played a few times at some clubs or bars. Most likely did a few house parties. Now your in what I call, the sweet spot. Your not being bombarded by “promoters” or high school kids that want you to DJ. Your getting a few gigs a month, maybe an outdoor festival of some sort. Maybe you get to open for a big local. Perhaps you get to play at an event thats hosting a BIG DJ.
Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do. Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do. Expand your music collection. Then improve your music collection. Download podcasts, live sets and studio mixes from your favorite artists. Practice more, try to master the techniques that your favorite artists do.
etc, etc.
Honestly, this is how most careers start. Producing can help speedup the process, but not by much. Learning how to produce a clean track, and being able to make multiple tunes takes just as long if youre passionate enough.
Or you could be lucky and be Pauly D.
I really respect your ambition.
Before I got my first club gig at 16 I would sit outside of a club just listening all night and peer through the windows, watching people. I ended up meeting a few people from my school who were 19 that helped me into the club scene, so to speak. They put the word in the bartender’s ear that a kid was outside, every weekend, until closing, just enjoying the music. Then one night the resident DJ came out for a smoke, and I started talking to him. He became my mentor. I followed this guy everywhere. I made mix tapes every week for him to listen to, and I’d get quite a bit of critique from him.
If you can find a mentor, it will be so much easier; and just watch what your mentor is doing and try reading the crowd for yourself. One day they’ll let you spin.
However you go about trying to acheive your goal, just keep practicing.
ps. I should mention that I never got paid to be in the club. I was still underage for the bar owners to pay me.
This sounds so beautiful 
Wow. Thank you!
The advice means alot.
Rexx.
You just need to do alot of asking, Emailing and advertising. If your mixes on soundcloud then you will
have a higher chance of performing. The thing about under 16s not being able to perform at over 21 gigs as DJ Elle Morgan (13) performs at over 21 clubs mostly and she
has had more gigs than martin garrix and she is endorsed by Steve aoki. She started performing at those clubs when she was 11.
I am 13 and I have a gig coming up. This is because I joined this DJ club and there are 8 weeks of training then you have a gig. That’s how I got a gig.
Remember:
•Asking
•Emailing
•Advertising
from, DJ Harry Parker