I am considering hitting the road and doing the nomadic vagabond thing and just traveling around and DJing where I can get a booking along the way. I have heard of a few ppl who have done something like that. Throw a small midi controller in your backpack and while you are out slumming it hit up a club or 2 in whatever city and get random bookings to make money to move on to the next city. Some would call this busking or vagabonding. Anyone do this, done this, know someone who has, or have any opinions.
BTW, been DJing off and on professionally about 15 years (got my first job DJing at age 14). Started on tables and dual cd players, moved on to CDJs, then back to tables with Serato, and now getting a compact, lightweight midi (VCI 100 SE probably).
VCI-100s are pretty solid (and therefore heavy). Plus no soundcard. I can still get mine plus an audio2 plus a 15inch laptop in my laptop bag, although I wouldn’t want to take it round the world.
Yeah I carried just serato box + a laptop around japan and I was hating it. Took an Audio 8 and VCI-100 to Miami and it was a pain even though I didn’t really move around a lot with it. I’m considering a Macbook Air to lighten the load; that along with a K2 should be all I need next time - no extra sound card needed as it’s built in. Ideally you could just carry your usb stick and the venue will have computer and/or CDJ-2000s, but things aren’t usually ideal.
Where are you going to be vagabonding?
So don’t get robbed. Seriously this is true no matter what you’re doing - if you get robbed you’ll be screwed so take whatever precautions you can whether or not you’re carrying a laptop.
this sounds like an awesome idea! only thing i can say is pack light i suppose, macbook air and usb stick seems like the way to go i suppose, but its really also up to your style too no?
I say grab a 13’ laptop, a S2, and a comfortable bag and hit the road man. I wish I had the balls to do it, but i love sleeping in beds and shit but more power to you.
Thank you for all the replies… I thought about the VCI or S2. I am really intersted in the VCI 380. Anyone know which one is bigger in size and weight?
I travel internationally regularly, and I use the UDG 21" trolley backpack. It’s excellent and fits everything I need. I sold my S4 cos it was to big to travel. I don’t get any issues with it at all. The only issue is taking out the gear for customs every time. I think it would fit most gear except the S4, NS6 and VCI400. Check it out.
So Far I have inside:
Kontrol S2 + Deacksaver
Kontrol X1 + X1 Bag
MBP 15"
Sennheiser HD 25’s
Audio 2
Crane Stand
All cables.
Back up CD’s,
2 USB’s
Mini maglight
Mags (For travel)
I book DJs for my residency and I also have a profile on coachsurfing.com (which among other things says that I DJ ). Last summer I got contacted by a guy from Austria travelled around europe backpacking and playing whatever venues he could along the way. By coincidence I had an open day so he came and stayed on my coach for the weekend and played. He said he had done so for over one month, in the beginning it was hard, but then he found out that DJs often knew DJs “in the next town”, so when he got a gig in one town, he could get a gig in the next town by reference. (I helped him with a place in the next town where I’ve played). In his backpack he had a PC, a Hercules (i think this was the name, smaller than my VCI-100), and some CDs with MP3 that he used on my Pioneer DJ800 players. He was perhaps not the best technical DJ, but he was OK at mixing skills and the manager at my club liked to have “something else” for the weekend. Got a postcards from him from his hometown three months later, guess he had survived on the road.
but more power to you.
). Last summer I got contacted by a guy from Austria travelled around europe backpacking and playing whatever venues he could along the way. By coincidence I had an open day so he came and stayed on my coach for the weekend and played. He said he had done so for over one month, in the beginning it was hard, but then he found out that DJs often knew DJs “in the next town”, so when he got a gig in one town, he could get a gig in the next town by reference. (I helped him with a place in the next town where I’ve played). In his backpack he had a PC, a Hercules (i think this was the name, smaller than my VCI-100), and some CDs with MP3 that he used on my Pioneer DJ800 players. He was perhaps not the best technical DJ, but he was OK at mixing skills and the manager at my club liked to have “something else” for the weekend. Got a postcards from him from his hometown three months later, guess he had survived on the road.