It just occurred to me that there will come a time when I can no longer DJ, simply put, being 60 and a DJ is something that I just don’t see anyone out there doing; and is honestly not something that I want to be renown for. Sure, I’d still love to put tracks together and home and post them on the Internet i9000g9000, but playing out to clubs? I wonder if I’ll have it out for that.
So that makes me wonder, what are we to do after we are done being DJ’s? Let’s say it’s someones FULL career, what do they do after they’re done as a DJ?
why are you concerned? i would worry about not evolving in life past djing by the time I’m 60.. Sure I love dance music, love partying and love djing, but everyone involved in that scene is 18 - 25, I’m 29 now and it feels weird enough being surrounded by random 18 year olds in clubs. Some people see djing into their 40’s and 50’s but they are mostly mobile and the idea of being a dj changes to being a celebration host playing the same lame rock, folk and pop songs every set. kill me if I ever go down that road!
There are DJ’s in their 60’s and older that are still playing clubs.
But I’m sure many that retired from the clubs are producing, managing, promoting, starting a DJ company and blog (not that Ean is old lol), or changing to a mobile DJ for hire.
I was like that, and I know it doesn’t seem glamorous, or ‘cool’, but I started doing weddings this year, and love it. You are always surrounded by people in a good mood, usually the food is amazing, you get paid very well, and the djing is usually very easy. I also dj dnb for my internet show, and get my artistic fix that way. Normally my show reaches 500-600 ppl a week, which is about what you would expect playing in a club, of course these listeners sought out my music, which makes it even more satisfying. If you love djing for djing, why would you ever want to quit?
In regards to niche, let’s say that when I start up in the scene here in AZ, will I eventually just gravitate toward something that deals with the nightlife? Like you said earlier about FOH.
I guess it all depends on how involved you are in the scene. Dj Harvey, Carl Cox and Sven Väth are all in their 50s, and they keep djing. Probably because of the money, but also because they keep getting gigs, due to their involvment. I wont imagine a regular 60 year old still getting gigs at that age.
Ask yourself how old james brown was when he did his final gig, 73 and stop worrying. If you love your music enough, it’ll be with you for life, mobility is unlikely to be an issue as we’ll be brain controlling it all.
