Hey Guys, Im new to the Forum although I have been lurking here for ages, and have been Djing for about 3 years now. I have a Regular Gig at a Club in my area doing Friday and Saturday nights every week, been there I think a year and a half now. Im using Virtual Dj (I might be the only one here lol) doing Video Djing with a Pair of Audio Technica Turntables and an ADJ 10MXR Mixer. Iāll post Pictures of my set up in the other forum as soon as I get a chance.
Now for my question I wanted you guysā input and feedback on.
Thereās a Dj I work with at the club who was brought in to open up for me on Saturday night been there for maybe half a year. Now everytime he hears me play something in my sets, heās over my shoulder looking to see what song it is. Now whatās starting to irk me is everytime he does this, the very next week heās playing that exact song in heās opening set. One time he even went as far as to mix two very particular tracks at the exact point I usually drop them. So my question is should I be flattered heās copying me, step my game up cause Iām starting to get too predictable, or be like dude, wtf?
And I know I get paid to play other peoples music and everyone has access to whatever music I have butā¦ #deepbreathe. Just wanted to get some input on the guys that have been djing longer and probably come across such situations.
Secondly, I have the same thing happen to me, but whilst it can be frustrating, I just take it as a compliment as it means people are feeling the tunes I play. I always try and play brand new, upfront music and dig around for my tunes so to know people are appreciating that feels good.
What I did was have a secondary set of tunes in case of this.
It might not be the same guy but someone else playing what i wanted to play.
The way I sorted out the cat that was playing āmy setsā before me (and looking at me with a HUGE smile on his face), was to have a set of SERIOUS harder shit to play and just blew him out the water.
The guy playing before you should not be playing the intensity you areā¦ I found that once he pre-empted meā¦I had to play harder and did just that.
I then told him straight to source his own tracks and be his OWN DJ, not just copy what others played.
Sounds annoying. If heās been brought in to warm up he should be trying harder to play stuff that you wonāt be. In fact, A warm up DJ whoās good at his job should be trying to making sure heās leaving the guy coming on after him as much musical space as possible, and not stealing the tunes he heard the headline playing the week before. Sounds like he doesnāt quite get what heās supposed to be doing.
I suppose you could have a quiet word with him about what you both should be doing, and I suppose you probably should take it as a compliment (although nicking you tunes and your mixes seems a bit beyond that,) But I think the others are right - up your game. Dig out some real bombs and make them yours.
Story of my life, thatās why I always dig and find more shit. Make sarcastic jokes thatāll make him feel silly, offer to just give him your usb sticks since he loves your selection so much. Give him a mix cd you made and tell him heād play better at this rate if he just popped in one of your mixes, etc.
Thumper, I know and have tried to explain to him what hes supposed to do and play because I was a warm up dj for over 2 years before I headlined. Tried to tell him your goal is to play familiar uptempo hits mostly older stuff everyone knows to get people in the mood to dance, but I guess heās playing with that āI want the people to hear how I can Dj mentalityā. Another problem too is that when I jump on I have to play uptempo immediately to pick up his slack and hype up the crowd because they are mostly still sitting down.. and this is at midnight. Now Im spending 15-20mins building up the atmosphere #smh
Im always digging too though every single day and will still continually step my game up.
Hippie, Iāve tried to tell him man but to no avail. Like I told AllDay, I think Iāll just put tape on my screen to cover the track titles lol Hopefully heāll get the idea.
Welcome. I wouldnāt worry about it too much. Iām sure thereās a good reason why heās opening up for you. You could probably both play the same exact songs one night, and people would only notice that the 2nd dj was a lot better and never recognize the same songs were played haha
If youāre using Serato, thereās a key combination that hides your song info if I recall. If youāre using Traktor, you can just remove them from the deck layout and put the comments and BPM info there instead.
See I had the problem the other way around, I used to warm up for a guy, kept it generic 128 grooves, and Iād come in next week and heād start dropping all the mixes I played! Bastard!
Thanks for the input guys, sorry holiday celebrations had me disappear for a sec lol. I think Iāll just be like eff it. He can do what he wants, not my problem.
@Sambo. I use Virtual Dj. Maybe the new version will have a similar feature
I am super glad you brought these two subjects up! WoW this is so refreshing! I am at the cough, cough sister forum and I tend to rub shoulders with the other posters when I bring about these topics.
#1- It is not ok. We djs complain that the music is readily available and say djing has become easy. But then we say we should all āshare music and playlistsā and under the same breathe say we need to dig deeper. Do you see the contradiction? I am not calling out the posters on DJTT because I donāt know your patterns yet but do a search on other forums or dj sites ātipsā and you will see the 100 comments on everyone saying it is ok and give respect to the artist- but soundcloud is kicking back mixesā¦.. You see OP, what you are feeling is equivalent to the youtube commentators immediately asking for track names rather than first complimenting the video creator or the dj.
#2- I talked about this as well. Djs now are specializing too early- especially in dance in either only EDM aka Electro/hard style tracks or underground tech and not doing research- your opener is at least playing your tracks so he is playing to āyour soundā. But, many djs are not collecting as much different music to be able to adapt to the headliner dj and also according to the time of the night. They play their own sound as they want. But- and that is a big BUT- keep in mind, the headliner will always have a different sound the headliner will always have to adjust to the room himself in order to get the crowd to open up to his sound. The opener just minimizes the gap so that you are not starting off cold- that is why it called a warm up (not a hot meal on a platter)
But your complaints are valid and need to be addressed and tackled so that we change and rewire the current thinking.
and I tend to rub shoulders with the other posters when I bring about these topics.