DJing Abroad
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D-Jam.
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April 13, 2013 at 8:28 am #39077
D Homei
ParticipantThis biggest thing is you lose the shared cultural experience of what a “hit” is. You can’t count on ‘everybody’ remembering ‘that’ song anymore. Some hits are truly international, but you never know. It probably depends on how ‘foreign’ France is from your native country. England vs. Fance. Hmmmmm.
I’m a US guy living in Hong Kong, huge cultural differences. I’ve been at parties where a Canto-pop ‘hit’ will start playing, and my Chinese wife and her friends will shriek with joy and start singing along and dancing. Meanwhile, me and the other Westerners sit around awkwardly listening to a song we’ve never heard before, unable to share the nostalgia or fun.
From my limited experience (only one public gig) it also matters how open your crowd is to hearing underground stuff. If they only want the “hits” you might have a hard time. However, there was a DJ playing hip-hop in Japan, and he was saying on this thread that obscure stuff in the US was really popular in Japan, and vice-versa. So all bets may be off.
I DJ’ed at a beach festival a few months back. I live on an island off Hong Kong with a large expat (read Western) population, but mostly European. I went on the DDJT forums here to get a sense of Euro vs. US hits. Even so, I played “Gangnam Style” just to make sure I had a sure-fire crowd pleaser!! My gig went really well. As I spun, I found the crowd was open to all sorts of music as long as I mixed it well. So I ditched PSY & LMFAO and got away with lots of deep house, etc. Mix link here if you’re interested.
Another factor is how you’ll be viewed as a “foreigner” music-wise. In Hong Kong, foreigners are viewed in such high regard its even a little awkward. I’ve heard local Chinese DJ’s complaining that the club will fill up the moment a ‘foreign’ DJ shows up, and if a Chinese DJ follows after his/her set, the club clears out. And this is mainly behavior of Chinese people!!! I know the French and British don’t get along culturally, but maybe being a Yorkshire DJ in France will be a bonus.
April 13, 2013 at 9:15 am #39081Terry_42
KeymasterTry to contact people.
If you move to france look up their radio stations and listen to what people there will most likely want to hear.
For example in France I like to listen to “FG Radio” (it has internet streams) they have big name DJs on their sets and some really good music on there. You will notice what tracks hit it off and get some feeling what to play.
But stay yourself and be true to yourself and what you play.April 14, 2013 at 8:35 am #39143Ess Jay
MemberThanks very much for both your input. The most likely case is that I would be playing deep house and lounge music in a bar as back ground music.
April 14, 2013 at 9:16 am #39144jamesk7916@gmail.com
ParticipantShout out to DJ Homei for linking my previous post! (I might come to China/Hong Kong area this summer – hit me up so we can kick it)
If you do check out the post Ess Jay, DDJ did an article about DJing abroad. If you don’t feel like digging for that, I’ll just give you personal advice from being an American DJing in Japan:
-DJ Homei is right, the hits WILL be different, especially if you are not playing mainstream (read: Top 40) music. Ways around this are a) ask the places you will play at what kind of music THEY would like for their bar (they want to sell drinks, so cater to them if you will be more of an atmosphere setter than the main attraction); b) go to the bar on a night you are not playing and listen to what’s playing. Are people tapping their hands or feet while they drink at this bar, or is the speaking atmosphere more important?; c) play the stuff you like and try to throw in some tunes they might like every now and then – you are best at the stuff you know, so better to cater to that than to put a bunch of time (and potentially) money to prepare for some gigs you will just have over the summer.
-Be social: Talk to the customers if you are allowed to by management and if you don’t know any French then practice a few phrases and do your best. The crowd/management works with you a LOT more if you can/attempt to speak their language. When they warm up, they might even give you advice on how the night is going or what sort of stuff they want to listen to. (France = maybe Disco House?)
-Overall, just play a good set whether they like the music or not. No going into the red, avoid train-wrecking (back spin or cut if you need to), and make sure people can hear each other talking since it is a bar and make it about the people.
[TL;DR] Try to speak the language, check the environment and try to play to it, play a good set.
If you have any other questions just free free to hit us up
-Shoni
April 14, 2013 at 9:26 am #39146MemberThanks very much, that is really sound advice. Yeah my french is limited, but I know enough vocab to have a relatively coherent (if not grammatically correct) conversation.
None of the bars currently have a DJ, or really much music playing at all, so this would be a new thing for them. And they are definitely talking bars. So my music would have to fit into the background with the head nodding / feet tapping effect.
I am currently out in france now for a few days, so gonna get a french CV written up, and try and see if any bars are interested.
Surely just a whole set of Daft Punk would suffice. 🙂
April 14, 2013 at 9:33 am #39148ParticipantHaha save the Daft Punk for the moments there is a lull in talking volume!
And that sounds like a good plan – make sure you know what kind of speakers/sound system they have available and try to check their websites to get a better idea of their night life (if they have a page).
If you have any other concerns, hit me up!
-Shoni
April 14, 2013 at 4:32 pm #39158DJ Vintage
ModeratorMany countries have dance charts. I know of at least one here in Holland that goes back to 2000. Charts like that can give you a clear picture of what exactly was succesful dance music over the years (an dusually help you derive a bit of the taste for that country).
In the old days the local record/CD shops were a good source of information. When I did my first stint abroad (4 months in Germany) I practically live in the local record shop.
Good luck and enjoy!
April 14, 2013 at 6:48 pm #39161D-Jam
ParticipantI wrote this a while ago. It might help
April 15, 2013 at 10:21 am #39183MemberD-Jam, post: 39317, member: 3 wrote: I wrote this a while ago. It might help
Damn, I am normally pretty good at using the search function. Sorry D-Jam
April 15, 2013 at 4:29 pm #39193ParticipantEss Jay, post: 39339, member: 2540 wrote: Damn, I am normally pretty good at using the search function. Sorry D-Jam
It’s ok. That’s why I’m here. 😉
Ask questions if you have them. Discussion is still a wonderful thing.
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