Pretty standard question, but I’m interested to see the answers on here. I’ve heard stories from 10 years to a week.
How long had you been spinning before you got a serious gig (at a club/venue) that you got paid at?
Not talking house parties here with your buddies, talking real club/festival. Playing what YOU wanted (even if that happens to be top 40). And actually getting paid for it, not just a freebie gig to help get your name out or anything.
Everyone’s got to have that one time where they know, they made that step.
I’m not anywhere where I want to be technically yet before I’d bring myself to play out, just interested in how long it took other people to feel comfortable at that point
I’ve been going 5 months, haven’t gotten into a club but I’m just now trying to. First band I was in, we had our first show within 1 month of forming, and let me tell ya, it’s nice to have all the time you need to prepare
Had my first gig after 6 months, then decided I needed more time, waited another 6 months and have been playing regularly ever since allowign for some downtime when I’ve moved around, it’s sometimes taken 3-4 months to get more gigs after I’ve relocated.(in the last 5 years I’ve lived in London, Melbourne and Adelaide)
These days I’m probably at a point where I “nearly” earn enought to live off it. I still work tho, this shit is an expensive job/hobby
few months after I took my “dj lessons”… when I felt I was comfortable enough with my skills. Called the guy who gave me the lessons and he tried me couple of days later. Never stopped since then. 30 ish years later, I don’t know what is a weekend without djing.
About 3 years. But that was when cdjs weren’t accepted in a Dj booth and your only option was records. In other words, you actually had to know how to Dj properly.
I originally bought a VCI-300 and two Mackie thumps…perfect little setup!
Highschool student here so spreading your name wasnt hard and there were a ton of girls throwing sweet 16’s n such at the time so i just threw out that i DJ’d to a girl looking and she highered me for a kindof cheap price of $150 but at the time i thought it was great. So then 3 weeks after receiving the gear in the mail i was doing very unsmooth mixes at her birthday party but no one seemed to notice.
about 6 months after buying traktor, learning to mix on that,
bought CDJs, month later i played for free with my mate in one of the biggest bars in the town on a friday night,
month later got offered a sat night spot, played there twice, got a residency
About 2 years now and still nothing. I still feel like I need more time to prepare to be honest, I’m not in a rush at the moment…though I’m hoping this year I’ll get one gig.
At the guy who said 10 years…that makes me feel better.
I’d say about 2-3 months. I went out and played at a local bar and got paid 15% bar tab. Which was about 75-200 dollars depending on the night. Then continued other places and now resident at about 3 places, ranging for about 50-150 bucks a night. Around 50 or so dollars an hour.
3 weeks, i covered a night, and was given a residency once a month, then another night at the same club weekly, now playing 4 nights a week, the money isnt great but it is paying me and although i do have to play some top 40 it is only a bit thrown it with what i like playing.
Don’t really count the first 2-3 years that I was playing on Virtual Turntables (old school PC software) and with a keyboard. Cueing thanks to a audio splitter (left was my headphones, right was the output).
So that’d be.. about 3 years from when I first got my own equipment. Had CDJ’s for the first 2 years, everyone considered it a joke back then… switched to vinyl, after 6-12 months I had a gig. Played progressive house (a la Sasha & Digweed) back then (in 2000-2001).
I had two portable CD players and a 2-channel mixer from Radio Shack. My band was supposed to play a frat party and our lead singer/guitarist had to go home for a funeral. I told the frat I was a DJ so they kept me.
They paid me $300.
I didn’t seriously get into DJ’ing until a year later but technically it was my first gig!
