Hey DJ David from WA–I am in Tukwila, 29, and just now starting with DJing with a background in playing guitars and synthesizers. Keep up the good work, save up, and like DJ Vintage said, you’ll look back one day and be proud of where you came from. Not every DJ or musician can say they put on a good show with the minimal. It’s not the gear that makes you, and for now just think how much you’ll really appreciate the lighter load when you do upgrade. I know people with $4k setups who complain about lugging it around and have no idea what it is like to have a passive setup and a rack mount that they would never fit into their hatchbacks. Patience is key, and keep in mind that if you do upgrade you don’t need the best.
Did you build your own PC? I built mine, too, about 6 years ago with an original AMD Phenom. Check out RE-PC in Tukwila if you are looking for a laptop that won’t break the bank.
You’ll be amazed at how much money you can accumulate over time if you do odd jobs here and there. If you can build PC’s, go out and upgrade them for a little cash. Make a flyer and post it at your school: Tech Support/remove viruses/upgrade parts on older PCs (a lot of people have their parents’ older PCs and would love some more speed via RAM or SSD upgrades). Just charge a lowish flat rate and make them buy the parts if you’re comfortable with that kind of work. Even mowing lawns, pulling weeds, etc. is rough in the heat but people will pay for that if you bargain with them. If you’re a bigger guy, you can also offer to help people in your area move. Everyone needs an extra person for that if they don’t hire movers–just be fair in what you want to get paid and they’ll pay ya!
When you get some money going, check out getting an external audio interface and separate mixer if you like to produce music. You can do so much more with a setup like that compared to having a mixer with built-in sound card, and if you take care of it you can DJ just fine with something cheap like a Numark Mixtrack until you start doing multiple gigs every week. External audio interfaces will allow you to use your midi toys, instruments, plug in mic to record people’s vocals, etc.–simultaneously!
Good luck, dude! Keep at the production and have fun!
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