What's your trick for getting people to dance?

Very interesting topic. I will have my first, small gig in one month so I’m very curious about hints how to get people on the dancefloor.

Gangnam Style by Psy ;D

I have a set of songs set up that have really good energy and that usually gets everyone pumping. Otherwise I play something that everyone knows for a bit then switch it up to something else later on.

I keep a very very special folder with tracks that have been tested upon various and contradictional audiences and they always seem to have the same effect – crowd goes wild. I call the folder very very special because it doesnt have more than 30 tracks in it – and I have also set the rule of not playing more than 5 tracks off that folder in one night! Then I go along pretty much like Phil or Terry!

90 bpm old school hip hop always works…

Or just go to the girls, and ask them what would make them dance…and once the girls are on the dancefloor…

I keep the volume pretty low as the the night starts but by middle of the night when its packed i have it at max value in which wont break the speakers. Then I always bust out some banger to let ppl know its time to dance. The cool thing about gangnam style right now is that its a big fad and a silly song. All the guys know it and some girls too. ppl usually get into a happy jokes mood and they are ready to start dancing after i play that song. Everyone knows the gangnam style dance 😉

Get the ladies to dance then the rest will follow. For me usually something latin influenced does the trick

The reason why I enjoy being the first dj on the line up is because I like to build trust in the audience’s eyes so they know the night will be a banger. It’s the calm before the storm..people look at me and know ok..a real head. He’s giving you “room to breathe and socialize before the more established djs get on and burn down the building”

Getting people to “move” depends on your ability to warm up the sound system..you have to ease people into your style most of the times and in order to do that you better take note of how drunk people are and their reactions to certain songs whether that be pop, hip-hop or deep house.

Personally I like to go with classic deep house because I always get people to turn around. Its different and definitely a more experimental sound especially among young people here in Philadelphia. In my opinion, if you just display a degree of intelligence in your mixes without going to far and boring people you’ll be able to get people dancing.

Some of those best moments for me aren’t involving people are “raging” its when you get those 2 or 3 homies in the room just boppin their head while they chill with their girl. Thats the only reason why I like being a dj..its not about tricks, gear, social status or any of that..its just a matter of having those few people who know why they came out..to enjoy music.

I have been experimenting with gimics recently. I have a couple of hand puppets (Sooty & Sweep) should see their faces when out of the top of your booth sooty pops up and starts head banging. I have also picked up a Chinese fighter pilots helmet from ebay for $25 it fits a small pair of headfones in them so I can mix properly with it on looks cool as f*ck with the black lens down top gun style 😉

Back to topic I like to always have a couple of crowd filler tunes of each genre up my sleeves just in case they drift off the dance floor.

Golden rule get the girls dancing if you do that the guys will come to dance and chat up the girls if they like the tune or not 🙂