When Are You A DJ?

gbadegesin, post: 15200, member: 1507 wrote: For the old timers, when was the time that you felt ‘Oh Yeah!’ , now i am an acomplished DJ

I remember this moment perfectly and always will.

A little background:
A bunch of club dj’s used to meet at Denny’s after our Saturday shifts and compare notes about the night, what music worked, what the crowds were like, and to just generally make fun of each other’s clubs for being dirty dives full of skanky people… You know, typical dj trash-talk.

Most of these guys were also your typical “I am SO the man cause I’m a DJ” kinda guys – certainly no issues with self-confidence with this group. On the other hand, I tended to be a little less in your face about my nights. They were doing well and I didn’t feel compelled to brag. Because of this, I tended to get ragged on the most by the guys – because I’d just smile and take it…

Now for the actual story:
So we’re all sitting down having a meal and three ridiculously hot girls come over at sit at the table with the group. They knew one of the guys and came over to say hi. He proceeds to introduce the table to them, but instead of “this is Rob, and Colin, and Todd” he does the whole “this is D’Eros from Liquor Dome, and Lazz from The Other Side, and Oddity from…” That’s where they cut him off and turned to me. “Wait, you’re dj Oddity from On Tap?” I just smiled. “Oh my god, we love you so much – we come every week with all our friends and… blah, blah, blah…” Then went on like this for the next five minutes. The rest of the guys looked shell-shocked afterwards.

And that’s when it was official. They may have all talked the talk, but I was the king. And I just smiled and took it.

Hmmm Dayvue, just getting paid to DJ in public, well, that just makes you a paid DJ. Nothing special.

I concur with the first comment to a certain degree, but just playing two songs after each other doesn’t make you a DJ per se’. You could, in effect teach a two year old to simply ‘play’ two tunes one after the other. For me, my moment is when I started to purposefully SELECT and put two tunes together. Fundamentally that’s what we do and what differentiates us from the audience we play to, even if it’s just the cat. You pick a song for a number of particular, but specific reasons and then choose the next track for the same or a slightly different set of reasons, and play it. The fleshy part of DJing such as beatmatching, hardware format, marketing gimmickery, and all that bollocks doesn’t take away from the fundamental of what a DJ does, just enhances the listener experience and allows for creativity to be expressed.

So, bestow that title unto yourself dude.
LL

i think once you have the basic skills (beatmatching,scratching,mixing,blening,etc) you can call yourself a dj when you get paid to do a gig you are a “professional” dj (in the sense a professional gets paid to do what they do) but its a combination of both AND how you carry yourself,and how you react to any given situation. i got my first dj set up in 82 at the age of 9 it wasnt until i obtained the skills that i called myself a dj. but even if you are a professional it is a never ending process. there is always more to learn and you can always get better. once you are able to be called a dj undisputedly, the job is not done. just my 2 cents

So how do you hustle your first gig ? ‘excuse me mr club manager, i’m not a real dj (awkward laugh) because i haven’t been paid as yet, but if you give me a go and just give me ten quid, i’ll then be able to call myself a dj” …

or, someone who has thousands of listeners across the globe thru an internet radio station but just because he/she doesnt have people in a ”room toe tapping” oh he is not a dj…

ok, that makes total sense. I love sound reasoning like that.

LoveLand, post: 15367, member: 1225 wrote: So how do you hustle your first gig ? ‘excuse me mr club manager, i’m not a real dj (awkward laugh) because i haven’t been paid as yet, but if you give me a go and just give me ten quid, i’ll then be able to call myself a dj” …

or, someone who has thousands of listeners across the globe thru an internet radio station but just because he/she doesnt have people in a ”room toe tapping” oh he is not a dj…

ok, that makes total sense. I love sound reasoning like that.

You do have a valid argument regarding radio DJ’s, I did not consider that at all and I am stumped regarding how to tackle that one. I do think that DJing/Presenting on the wireless is slightly more advanced with regards to presentation so perhaps you could instantly call your self a DJ just by having the Balls to do it.

I still believe that Bedroom DJ’s are Bedroom DJ’s and that you become a DJ when can play out to a approving audience. DJ’s are performers, performing to yourself is practicing…. and you practice so you can do the real thing out there in front of people. And by doing the real thing over you perfect your style and track selection and everything else too until everything just ‘clicks’ and you have that DJ moment where everybody’s moving and the room is pumped…….
THATS WHEN YOU BECOME A DJ!!

(in my opinion)

Well I think of it as this, everyone can mix, everyone can call themselves DJs. I could buy my gear and call myself a DJ. The question should be: When are you a REAL DJ? or a GOOD DJ?. It’s simple, the challenge about mixing is beatmatching, and with the Sync button that challenge has been lost mostly, when you learn to beatmatch all you are left with is your gear, your music and your creativity, from there on you could be called a DJ.

I have not earned a wonga, in any job I’ve done. From Djing to retail, to security..nope. no wongas