i know people have spoken of going through that “dark phase” in the past with dj’ing. but recently i have found that i dislike everything ive been doing. nothing seems to sound good to me anymore and i lose interest so quickly into my set that i get lazy and start doing dumb things. its weird cause i get so pumped up to play but as soon as i get up there i just dont feel it. all my friends say nothing has changed, and i still got my old sound its just as good as always. but to me i just cant get into anything right now. i lost all my good vibes.
anybody else get like this sometimes? im hoping it passes soon. i miss having fun behind the decks. genre change? equipment change? scene change? pull my guitars out for abit? any suggestions to get me out of my slump?
Sometimes you just need a bit of a break. Getting your guitar out is always a good idea (I always do this when I’m feeling a bit over it all, and in a few days/weeks I’m ready to mix again)
Instead of djing listen to music, just sit there and listen to it, find the tracks that make you happy, get you moving.
I have a spin maybe once or twice a week, but I sit and listen to music everyday, I make a point of it, putting a record on and just listen.
I also produce, so spend most of my time out of work on that, and browsing for new records.
I used to use Traktor with timecode, to be honest when I switched back to pure vinyl I found myself enjoying playing again, I’ve now been strict vinyl for about 2 years now.
Just hang in there, chill, do what ever, DJing will always be there.
Agreed, it gets boring when you do it just because people like it. You gotta play what you want to hear, before thinking what the crowd wants. Or else everybody will be having fun but you.
genre change sounds like a good idea, maybe click around on a music store listening to previews for a genre you don’t normally listen to!
when I’m feeling burnt out, I turn to labels that make a lot of really unique music that may not fit in with my sets (Night Slugs for example) and listen to their stuff for inspiration.
Take a break! And finding tracks that you truly love will make it so much more enjoyable. I tried forcing out a set with songs that I only liked hearing once (discovered this quickly during practice) and the mix was pretty awful compared to a new set which I really like. I actually think the transitions are indicative of how much I like the songs.
listen and mix music you like and not whats popular. you gotta please yourself. learn new mixing techniques. learn to scratch, learn new software. i dont think all djs mastered the art of djing.
I recently left my plug that connects my phone to my car stereo in a rental car and was “forced” to listen to the radio. Even though I have Sirius, I don’t like the dance stations they have and was “forced” to listen to other music. I couldn’t believe how refreshing it was as for almost the last year I’ve listened almost exclusively to stuff I’ve done or downloaded. It was nice to hear alternative, classic hip hop and…jazz! Some jazz is just so damn cool.
I’ve also gotten back into seriously playing the piano along with production which is always nice. If you play an instrument…whip it out along with some songs you love(d) playing. I’m currently going through a jazz fake book as time allows. Not only do these other genres sound refreshing, they also give me ideas on production/mixing.
+1 on the jazz, If I’m not listening to house and I just wanna chill, Jazz is what goes on, I can sit and listen to it for hours, it’s pretty much the only thing that gets played on the HiFi, well that and some classic hip-hop. There’s so much good music out there, check out Sonny Rollins, Dave Brubeck Quartet, John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon.