… apparently, my two associates are “too good” to play at a venue.
2/3rds of our three-man DJ project had a 30 minute audition at a local club (I was playing at my residency down the road but popped up mid-way through for moral support), and after their set the manager took us outside for a chat. I quote, verbatim:
“It’s quite difficult to say this really because you’re probably the best DJs I’ve heard here, but you’re basically ‘too good’ to play here.”
The guy had a valid point tbh, they went in there and played a banging electro house set with some awesome tubular bellcore remixes of chart stuff and some esoteric bits and bobs as well, and it was technically FLAWLESS; but the whole way through, people were coming up writing on the request sheet things like Jackson 5, Jason Derulo, Wayne Wonder, etc. And basically, his point was that it’s too much of a “cheese” venue for stuff like their set.
i think he was just giving you the fluff
its my impression that personally HE likes your style but he knows what sells at his venue, and its not going to be you guys.
Sorry, but its much like Why are they letting Paris Hilton play in Ibiza… because the people will come for it.
Yeah that’s basically how I read it tbh. I kinda felt a bit sorry for the guy really; because as a club owner, you’ve got two competing goals essentially… 1) to get the best DJ you can, and 2) to find someone who fits into the venue’s music policy. Unfortunately, finding someone who ticks both boxes is often easier said than done, and it’s always difficult turning someone down for a gig when they’re actually talented, but has to be done from a business point of view.
Really depends what type of club it is. If this is a generic city centre nightclub they have one goal and one goal only… Find a DJ that plays the kind of music that keeps people in the club. Of all the club managers/owners ive met that have establishments that fit into this category not one gave a shit about who the dj was. Their MAIN priority was keeping the place busy and counting the bar sales.
If its a big name nightclub then its different because its the DJ that attracts the crowd.
He basically said as much later in the conversation, I think his exact words were “we just need a DJ who fills the room and uses the mic, not someone who focusses on the music/mixing etc”, so yeah; typical top 40 place tbh. Sucks for my mates though
hahaha, some how i find that so true and funny. The manager probably was sweating bullets thinking during the set “wth, why are they here? is this a joke? wrong venue dudes! now, how do i tell them they are not hired”
lol i just got back from Paul Van Dyke at Avalon and saw this haha. The promoter was being nice and turning you down. Insulting a DJ is not a good way to conduct business. What if you make it big and black list his club in the future lol (seen it happen). Straight up if the crowd came up and requested shit you should of switched the genres up. As an open format DJ i get offered alot of spots when house/electro guys bang it out to the wrong crowd. They should of droped cheesy ass club mashups. Then contract the residency and play whatever yall want for the next 6 months
It’s basically like your girlfriend breaking up with you saying “it’s not you, it’s me” and “you’re too good for me, you deserve someone better”, which actually means “Of course it’s you, I can’t believe it took me so long to figure out what an idiot you are. I know now I can do so much better, and good luck to you finding someone else yourself, 'cause you sure as hell won’t ever find somebody as good as me again!”
The best DJ is the one who rocks the floor best, not the one with flawless mixing. If you don’t understand that and just do your thing, even though the crowd clearly wants something else, you’re not ‘too good’ - you’re not good at all…
Well, I went down tonight for a 30 minute audition with my OTHER DJ partner, ended up playing for an hour and a half and the assistant manager said he was very happy with our set. He’s going to have a chat with the big boss and let me know what he says, but it looks like we got it
After what they said about the other guys I’m not sure it’s actually a compliment getting the gig haha, but I’m happy with the result anyway because we had a blast and the venue is great (1200 capacity).
