So I'm trying to get a bar to hire me (DJ)

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

So I’m trying to get a bar to hire me (DJ)

Hey all,

So I live in Newquay on the UK. It’s supposedly the UKs “Ibiza” resort. Basically in the summer everyone who is too poor to travel abroad heads here for the beaches and nightlife.

However… imo I hate the nightlife. If just pop club crap that’s in the top 40, the DJs have no skill or creativity and when your core listener is drunk people off their face why even bother.

But there is a slight ray of hope for me.

One of the local bars may be looking for a DJ. Now I quite like my Electro and DnB. However this isn’t really that kind of bar. It’s mainly surfers and the like. So they have iTunes playing rock, indie, ska, some popular metal. I actually listen to a lot of rock and while it’s fun to listen to it, unless I am going to create a 3 hour mashup everyweek, it seems a bit dull while mixing it. They already have a hiphop resident DJ so I can’t take that genre. Which pretty much leaves me with the rock, indie stuff.

So I need some help from you guys.

Firstly, how do I go about being a bit different when mixing these types of music? Is there any other DJs or mixes which you could link me to for inspiration?

Secondly, I need to email the manager but I don’t really know what I should put in it. I don’t have any experience other than I study Music & Sound Technology at Uni and I bedroom DJ. Do I bluff it?

Lastly, I’m a little scared that I might not own enough music. My Rock folder has over 170 artists, 60 in Metal, 30 in Indie (big fan…). If I took requests I feel I might not have 3/4 of the stuff they might request.

Thanks for reading and any help would be appreciated. :slight_smile:

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Go in and talk to the guy, rather than email.

and yeah. bluff it. and bring a pad of paper for the requests you dont have. after 2 or 3 times, youll have SHITLOADS of new tracks that they wanna hear.

or tether your phone to your laptop the first time and DL on the fly. lol. did that once. (cute girl wanted a song i didnt have…)

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Actually there are quite a lot indie/rock tracks that you can DJ with, it only depends on whether you want to or not. Or let me get it straight - want cash or not? :smiley:

Look for trentemoeller stuff, some justice’s songs, etc… Electro is actually pretty close to indie/rock. For me at least.

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Feel your pain regarding nightlife in Devon/Cornwall. Our club were asked to come and do a night in Torquay recently in The Attic, it was busy, we made money, the setup was amazing (one of the best rigs I’ve ever played on, inhouse Xone 4D), the clientelle on the other hand…It was like being in a town full of stag/hen dos. We’ve decided that we aren’t going back there.

Good luck with the gig.

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If they’re using iTunes now then they probably don’t care a whole lot about mixing. They just want someone to take requests and press play. You can look for edits of classic rock tracks to get more danceable stuff, but if they’re not dancing then you need to play what they want to hear, not what you want to hear. At least if you want to keep the gig.