Need Help in direction Lost Pro DJ of 7 years +

Hey man, hopefully Phil and some of the other more experienced cats like Terry 42 and DJ Vintage chime in.

Thought I’d just reply to say hang in there and use every experience, whether good or bad, as a way of sharpening your game, streamlining your shit, etc. Things happen for a reason. This will sound cliche but it’s true.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

I’m in a somewhat similar but opposite situation in that I’m a fairly new DJ but have been playing for over a decade in live bands. I went through something similar to your experience in that I put my heart and soul into every band/project I played in and when it didn’t take off (at least financially to support us) I also doubted myself, my passion, my purpose. But it also was a good experience because it showed me that while I was strong in certain areas (playing guitar, writing, producing female vocals), I was weak in others (marketing, networking, making songs easily mixable for DJs to remix, knowing your target audience/experience for them)

It’s a beautiful thing to express yourself and do something for art, but for business, you’ve got to be on point and have every avenue handled. Just from the short time I’ve been on this forum, I’ve learned that one has to balance being a commodity and being an artist. So from that perspective, did you really know your “market value” when things didn’t work out with the old owner? Was there a way things could’ve been worked out so that it was a win/win situation? There’s a really good book called 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey where he advocates “seek first to understand, then to be understood” Maybe if you had tried to FIRST see things from the old owner’s perspective, he would’ve been willing to see things from your perspective and you both could’ve come to a resolution.

As for the new gig, maybe you should’ve gone the very first week you had on that Friday night to check out the vibe, NOT just the Thursday before. You know clubs can vary wildly from night to night so that’s part of your game that could’ve been handled better. I hope this isn’t coming across critical because I’ve fucked up way more times. One example is my old band brought all this gear (guitars, keyboards, effects pedals) only to have majority of it cut off due to electrical problems DURING THE SHOW, to which we had to end the night playing an acoustic set. But I could’ve gone earlier or even the previous day to scope out the logistics.

It’s kinda like dating. I’m recently out of a long term relationship and the very first date I went out on, I was able to bring my girl back to my place. But guess what? I don’t have a bed and didn’t have snacks/alcohol at home so instead of closing the deal, we ended up sitting on my floor, going out to Jack in the box, and me throwing up. Kinda diff topic but still related. You gotta handle the logistics of whatever you do in life, however small the detail because it’s those details that will help you succeed. That’s why you see me asking a million questions on these threads because I’m fortunate to have found very talented, cool, experienced DJs who’ll tell me their fuckups so I don’t have to make them.

To end on a positive note, I’m almost a decade older than you and I feel the youngest I have in years, even when I was your age, because I stay inspired and push myself to learn new things. (I also hook up with hotter girls than when I was younger but that’s a different story) You said you wanted to produce more, there are some great courses here on Digital DJ tips but even online. Dubspot and Future Music has a bunch of good free ones on Youtube. Also, something I’ve enjoyed doing is researching my fave DJs/artists to see what/how they produce and mix so these are all things that can keep you fresh and on top of your game.

I’m in California but if you need someone to help with online stuff for free provided that you hook me up with some crumbs when you do get paid, lemme know as I’m always looking to learn and your post just gave me additional insight into how the club game works. If it means anything, I’m going through the same thing right now just for a small time lounge in some suburbia neighborhood. I asked to DJ on their off nights and he asked me how many people could I bring, haha. So I offered a night for free and if he was happy, then we’d talk money. What’s funny is that during the 10 minutes I was speaking to him, this girl asked him to change the music to something more upbeat as they just came from another venue.

Good luck man! Stay strong and hang in there.

One thing that caught my eye when you talked about your ambition, was the stadium-filler bit. For this to happen, you will have to be a producer, not a generic open format DJ. That last style, especially if you are good on the mic as well, makes you prime material for wedding/corporate event gigs. No worries about the crowd, they’re their already and good pay. 1000 bucks a night is not unusual (this will include some gear – you can rent). A few of those a month will have you taking care of the bills with lots of time leftover to become an active producer or ghost producer.

I think I have Facebook somewhere in the attic or so 🙂

Might have to dust it off and bring it back to life.