Trouble Getting First Gig

Hi young friend. I moved your post to the appropriate forum. Keep an eye out for where you post your stuff and help make our lives easier 😀 .

As for your post. You seem focussed on getting gigs while you are hardly out of the harbor. Buying the (new and improved since today I might add!) How To course was a great first step, the next one is practice, practice and then practice some more. Then starts the playing out, where you learn to read the crowd/audience and learn how to make that musical journey happening.

This will most likely be in places like house party’s and such. Frankly, if you have never played out, there is a fair chance you are not ready to play a decent gig.

The other things is that your message radiates a “I really only want to play the music I like”. And to be honest, DJ-ing is about playing music THEY like. And if in the process of that you can educate your guest a bit by cleverly inserting some of your favorite tracks into the mix, then more power to you.

I’ve heard more than once that if you run a “3 for them – 1 for me” kinda set (i.e. only one out of 4 is one of your personal favorites, the rest favorite of the people you are playing for), you have a good balance.

Cause really, people won’t come to see you personally or listen to your personal taste in music, they come to have a good time. And the DJ should help accommodate that by setting the mood using his music. Sure, you can be a very strict genre DJ and work your way in to what will usually be a relatively small scene to begin with. But you’ll have to accept you’ll be in your bedroom a lot more than out at gigs.

Choice is yours, broaden your (musical) horizon, start playing whatever opportunity you can get (house parties, family BBQs, corporate friday happy hours, friends birthday parties) and keep improving your skills to a level that will make you not only ready but comfortable and self-assured enough to land some actual paying gigs.

Good luck on your journey. Keep us updated on how it develops.

Hi Ar05,
before we start i will tell you that the Tech House scene is booming down south of England at the moment. I personally run and DJ an event at the moment in Canterbury which is only down the road to Essex.
We have actually been giving new DJs the opportunity to come and play an hour set which gives them some experience behind the decks. All of which have actually been impressive.
What i would say is that we try to sort the DJs so we have a mixture of house, for example, one guy will be a techhouse specialist, as i dont even play that much tech i tend to stick to vocal and bassline, then we arrange it for the appropriate vibe on the night. This gives a good mixture.

To agree with Vintage though, the DJs who have a broad horizon of musical knowledge and taste are the easiest to work with, reading a crowd and being able to control the atmosphere is a trick on its own!

Do you have a DJ profile ? I would be happy to chat with you more, and feel free to come to the event bro
(sneaky bit of promo there 😉 haha
-JimmyG-