I think what sets a good DJ apart from the rest is the ability to maintain some level of originality. Whether it’s mixing your own mashups, spinning original productions, or whatever else you might do (hell, you might even just be amazing with effects chains); what are YOU doing to be original?
Personally, I use acapellas and mix my own mashups. On a mix I’m working on now (which I’ll be posting in a little bit) I use acapellas from Dada Life, Chris Brown (don’t hate me for it), Sander Van Doorn, and Above & Beyond. Also, I’ll implement my own songs once I feel they’re ready.
I think, at least in my case, it comes down to track selection. I try and play hidden gems that still maintain a cohesiveness to the dancefloor crowd. When I get that positive feedback, that thumbs up, it just pushes me to dig further into that musical haystack. In the end, you are your own biggest critic because 95% of the time, no one knows what the fuck you’re doing up there anyway - they just wanna dance to some good shit. Oh, and in the middle of my sets, I usually start throwing my shit at people like a gorilla. 60% of the time, it works every time.
Well, I play Psytrance mainly and to keep myself original…I play the way I do.
No one else that I know of, plays like I do.
I have always been a busy body in the DJ box and hate standing around for the end of the track, in order to mix in the next.
However, Psytrance is not the genre you can play 2mins of one track and 2 mins of another, chopping and changing tracks.
So I kind of remix them now by Key Coding and playing in key firstly, then layer my tracks so that they never sound exactly like the original.
As I have been playing Psy for so long (Vinyls…CD…and now Digital) I really understand its flow, especially Full-on nighttime sorta stuff.
No one else really uses controllers (except for the S4) but even they are just way to tempted to jam as many tracks as they can after each other.
I tend to focus on playing the track to its fullest, but adding and remixing it on the spot.
I don’t believe is gadgets or gizmo’s or masks etc. I want to crowd to fuck out to my music and the way I twist it.
Mostly just make edits of tracks all the time. Usually tracks that work really well but the crowd are getting sick hearing them so i chop em up and edit them to give them a new lease of life on the floor. I play a weekly residency that i’ve held for nearly 3 years so i know what pretty much works on the floor of the club.
So nothing too fancy but still enough to stand out from all the locals apart from my fellow resident as we work together.
my sound