Gig advice/questions

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

Gig advice/questions

I’m djing at a party in 2 weeks time (It’s a charity event to raise money for Japan) and I’ve got a few questions…

I think there’ll be 150+ people attending and the venue is fairly small. I think I’ll be djing on a table or something at one end of the main room (This sucks because I’m quite tall and I don’t want to be bending down for the whole night). I don’t think the venue have got a PA system so I’ll have to try and rent one from somewhere (what is a typical price for a pa system, and are there any specs I should look out for?) I also think they want lighting but I have no idea what to suggest.

The organisers are a group of girls (18 years old) and after I’d agreed to DJ she said she’d want me to play mostly top 40 (which I can understand, in a way) because she went to a party there before and nobody was dancing (probably because they didn’t have a dj :roll_eyes:slight_smile:. I said I’d play a bit of everything, I’m primarily a dnb dj so I’m thinking of playing cheese for the first hour, then moving on to house, trance and finally dnb. It’s worth noting that everything I play is club-suited, I don’t play jump up or minimal dnb, it’s mostly all mainstream sounding stuff, I also have a LOT of remixes of popular tracks which I think will go down well. I said to her that I’d record a few ‘mini-mixes’ in different genres so she can have an idea of what kind of music I’ll play. I agreed to DJ for free (I haven’t played anywhere big before, just a few small parties, but I’ve met a promoter and I’ll be djing in a club soon at one of their nights) and I wouldn’t have agreed to do it if the conditions were ‘play top 40 all night’.

Do any of you have any tips on how to get people dancing and get people to come to the dancefloor? I emailed Phil Morse (editor of digitaldjtips) and he said play the music a bit quiet and turn it up a lot when I start playing one of my sets (let’s face it, I’m not gonna be mixing for 5 hours). But what if people are elsewhere and I want to start my set? How do I let people ‘know’ that I’m gonna start mixing?

Another thing I’m worried about is, if I’m just on a table in the corner of the room, I’ll have people coming up to me all night requesting stuff and being annoying. I only know 10-20 people that will be attending the party and a mate is coming along but I know I’ll be at the table on my own for most of the night. What if someone gets aggresive or starts messing with my gear?

I know that drunk people = dancing people but the only way of getting alcohol is from the bar at the venue so I don’t think people will be spending lots of money on booze. Do you think getting the organisers to buy a few crates of beer would be bad? the venue would probably take it off us but if there’s any tips you can give me regarding this they’d be appreciated.

I think that’s it haha, thanks in advance :slight_smile:

2

…

3

You can only make people dance by playing what they want to hear.

Give it a while, let them hit the bar and loosen up a bit and start dropping the big ones halfway through the night and try and keep them there.

What other stuff will be going on during this fundraiser or is it purely you mixing some tunes?

4

That sums it up for me. Basically all it is is a farmhouse style building/s with a pub and a big room where I’ll be, so yeah, socialising/dancing is all they can do. The facebook event page is dull too, it just says ‘a party to raise money for japan’, so when my mixes are finished I’ll get the organisers to post that I’ll be djing there and a link to my soundcloud.

5

Not much you can do then about music choice unless you had a specific genre advertised.

Just go for the cheesy dance/deadmau5/swedish house mafia angle to get people moving.

6

..

7

Even though you’re doing it for free your job is to play what they want and not what you want. If you start shifting into some things you like and they don’t dance then shift back to what’s making them dance.

8

I’m gonna regret saying I’d do it aren’t I…
I can just imagine the hordes of girls coming up to me while I’m in the middle of a set asking for katy perry or some shit.

9

Get a notebook and write requests on it real big. If someone has one get them to write it in there so they bother you less. If you’re real high tech you can set up a google voice number for requests. Then you just hang up a sign that says text request to 1-900-pleaseplaythiscrapysong. Go through them every once in a while and see if you have something on the list.

10

Wow that’s awesome, I’ll check that out.

EDIT: Only available in the US. I’m in the UK.

11

+1 …I do gigs at clubs and bars/lounges mostly and I never get to play what I really want to play. I add a little bit of my own taste in music at times, but not as much as I personally would like. What I play at gigs and what I play when I’m mixing at my place is very different. I play the music the crowd wants to hear and thats what I’m hired to do. Sounds like with the crowd that you will get a lot of the people arn’t going to be as music savy as yourself, and probably will only want to dance to music they’re familiar with and that will most likely be the commercial stuff you hear on the radio. Even some of the commercial house like swedish house mafia might be too much for them depending on the crowd.

One other thing I would advise against is not taking people song requests seriously. Use your common sense on some of them (obscure song from an obscure person I would disregard etc..), but you cant go into it thinking your above taking requests.

It’s up to you…you could say F it I’m playing what I want to play, but I’m sure the organizers will not be happy. In this business you never want to burn your bridges, even if it’s with 18 yr olds that have an unproffesional event set up.

12

I’m not stupid but like I said, If I knew I’d be playing top 40 all night (music that I don’t like, may I add) then I wouldn’t have accepted. As far as I’m concerned, if people don’t like the music I play, then either they’ve got crap taste in music (This sounds elitist but all the music I play is dancefloor-friendly, nothing obscure) or they only want to hear their favourite songs.

I know that I should play what they want but I won’t be happy… I’ll try to mix it up a bit and play requests now and then but I’m not going to be a jukebox for 5 hours.

13

AMERICA! ftw.

i do that all the time. fucking gets people off my ass looking over my shoulder for the most obscure Nate Dogg Freestyle (for example right after he died… all night some girl was bugging me about playing some natedogg)… bitch? i. dont. have. it. dont you understand that i am not the itunes music store or youtube? hmm?

if your a “real” dj youll mix for 5 straight hrs. shit. 5 dolla holla does. and look at how many bitches he has!

you do like the bitches dontcha? :wink:

14

DJ 5 Dolla Holla would comment on that if he were online, WOULDN’T YOU THEORY28???

15

I know that you said you havent done many gigs (excluding parties), and maybe with more experience you would know to ask about what type of crowd and music are expected at an event. Even though you didnt realize that they are expecting mostly pop music, doesnt mean it is right to just say F it I didnt know and I’m mostly gonna play what I want to play or even I’m gonna play a lot of pop, but I’m gonna make sure I play at least an hour of my type of music. You can surely do it and who knows maybe it goes over ok, but to head in with that mind set isnt good.

Putting a little of your own taste or twist in music is good and actually expected, and is why they hired a dj and are not using an ipod. Do realize however that you may be surprised at the reaction (maybe lack of reaction is would be better) that people have for the dancefloor friendly hits that you think are gems. People have the tendancy to clam up to new music and even worse a genre that they’re not famliar with. The dosage and when you mix in your style of music is very critical. You may get a cool crowd that thinks your shit is hot or you may get a tougher crowd…all depends. Be open to everything and proceed with caution.

I wanna post something that someone posted in another forum, because it’s very true and this person obviously knows what they are talking about. It doesnt apply directly to yourself, but it put things in perspective for those dj’s that don’t realize it’s about business for a lot promoters, club owners, event planners etc… Not for all but most

[quote] DJs…a penny for a dozen now, not even a dime. Get some guy who plays the hits girls like. Forget the guys in the club…they’re only here to give me money. If this DJ wants to “play the underground”, he’s out. If he doesn’t like to take requests, then he’s out. If he wants several hundred dollars for his “craft”, then he’s out. Just hire some loser who will take $50-$100 a night, play the hits, not think, not question, and just do as he’s told.

Bonus…hot girl DJ. Pay her more if you can get her. Eye candy in the booth sells.

Yeah…this all sounds very douche, but I speak from experience. Liquor is what makes the money in a venue. Hence why it’s prioritized. This is why you’ll see guys spend less on DJ/music and more on means to get more money out of booze.

[/quote]

16

I aspire to be as good as this man one day.

17

his mommy makes him go to school so he can get all the bitchez with supreme knowledge too!

fucking two pronged attack. the rest of us clowns are fucked.

18

Just pick the delicate balance. Every DJ in every scene at every club needs to suck it up once in a while and play whatever is considered an overplayed club hit for their events. It’s a part of the job, and it sucks.

Honestly, do the event with pride. It’s a good cause. Take a lot of those songs you hate and have fun with them. Find covers, remixes, mashups, etc., and give the crowd something interesting to listen to. If it’s meant as a dance party then you’re going to have to play music that is geared toward that crowd dancing.

Now, keep in mind that in general the crowd itself has absolutely no idea what they like. I mean, they know those individual songs that they want to hear, but you’re not a jukebox and are capable of doing something interesting with it.

As far as requests go, do what jojo said: notebook for requests. Make it a point to look it over. If people get beliggerent then people do (though they probably won’t) and you’ll need to deal with it. But I’ve rarely run into any issue beyond some angry patron flipping me off because I kept telling him I wouldn’t play his crappy requests that would have killed my dance floor.

Also, keep in mind you’re doing this for free. Take maybe 30 minutes, maybe two times during the night, and do your own thing. If nothing else you’ll give the crowd a break from same old same old, and enjoy yourself a little, and then go back to whatever was working. And if what you’re doing works, then run with it :stuck_out_tongue:

Oh, and the guy from digitaldjtips was right. Start a little low, loud enough so people can hear it, but soft enough so they can talk and socialize. And as the drinks start flowing pump the beats and they’ll start getting down. Also keep in mind key changes and energy of songs. Beginning of the night is great for slower, mellow stuff that sets a mood and slowly start tensing it up so people start WANTING to dance. You hit that sweet spot and it won’t matter what you play.

Good luck to you, sir. Welcome to never enjoying another party again :stuck_out_tongue:

19

mixing for 5 hrs really isnt that hard if your shit is organized and yoru tracks are all set. alteast the major ones you know youre gonna play.

also lookling like that helps… with mixing.

20

@Nesquigs - That video is hilarious. Typical disc jockey hey. haha.

@ManChild & DvlsAdvct - Thanks!