Really Need Advice About Starting to Gig!

If you are starting to play out, the least of your worries should be CDJs. Just go to the gig with your controller and hook it up.
Even at mega big clubs like Ministry of Sound or the Korean Octagon you can show up with your controller and a house tech will hook it up for you… they even consider you more Pro if you do not just accept the stuff they have standing around.

Next go out and make friends in locations you want to play. For example you might not want to start in a club, then go to bars where they do lounge/deep house stuff events. Ask around there introduce yourself and be professional about it. Even if it is your first gig, do not play for free, but offer a discount on your “standard rate”.

And before you do anything read these articles:
http://www.digitaldjtips.com/tag/getting-gigs/

Listen keenly to the wise words of the moderators lol.

Another thing, as a beginner just starting out, its easy to fall prey to your own mind. It can create way more reasons why you shouldn’t than why you should. So its easy to talk yourself out of a gig, or progressing in general. Learn to control your mind and gain confidence, and after that, you’re unstoppable.

DJ Vintage is especially right about personal music taste taking a back seat. you can play 50-50 between what the crowd wants and what you wants, but honestly that’s just a rough number, as situations can be different.

Here’s my personal scenario, I live in Miami, Florida in the US. I play Roots Reggae. Dub and EDM(Electro-House/Big Room, Prog. House, Trap, Dubstep and a few randoms). Originally I wanted to play JUST those genres, with a some TOP 40 thrown in to keep the mainstream audience at my gigs happy without them coming up to me for too many requests.

Here’s the twist. I’m not from a latin/spanish descent and honestly, not to be too prejudiced, but it severely irritates me that the primary language spoken in South Florida/Miami seems to be Spanish -_-. So when I just moved to the US from Jamaica in October of 2013, I decided that “I’m going to make it as a DJ in Miami WITHOUT playing any spanish music(Reggaeton, salsa, bachata etc.) and I would be beating very big odds to be able to do that.

My ultimatum was shattered by pure logic. Firstly, I am NOT a superstar DJ, nor a DJ or any significant reputation, so the truth is that I don’t really get to make that choice. (Yet hehehe ;))

Secondly, more often than not, it is the venue owner/promoter who is paying you. They want to keep their audience happy, they don’t really care how. As long as heads are coming through the door, people are dancing and the bar is packed. Therefore, seeing that the majority of my audience is going to be from the Latin/Spanish demographic, I naturally have to keep the promoter/owner happy, and as the DJ that means making the audience happy.

Thirdly, requests are GOING to happen, in varying intensities depending on where you are. Now DJ’s have varying opinions on how to deal with requests. Personally, I detest them, however, if you have a friend to take them for you, or a notepad for the patrons to write their requests down. Then you have the option to pick and choose the tracks requested, that fit into the set (if you have them that is, because if you dont have them, then the punters are out of luck), also, taking a couple seconds to analyze the person making the request, ESPECIALLY if its a good looking female or group of females, will prove to be an advantage because in almost ANY situation, once the girls are dancing, then you’re making people happy. So requests may be a way to get the dancefloor full, or to get an idea of what the audience wants.

Fourthly, you’re a DJ and you want to get gigs again once you get that first taste of playing out in public, its addicting, trust me. So it would be in your own best interest to program your set in away that satisfies both you and your audience. There MUST be tracks that exist, which you like, that are in the genre most requested or preferred by your audience. Take my experience for example, I don’t really like spanish music, but I bought some Reggaeton bangers that I liked and that I always saw the crowd go crazy to whenever I went out, now whenever I gig i take the time to throw that into my set, simply because I WANT TO DO THIS AGAIN lol. I played a warm up set at a club from 11:30-1. I played about 20 minutes of the reggaeton at around 12:15 when the place was starting to get full, so that the audience could at least get their dose. The rest of the night I stuck to what I liked, which was EDM and some Top40. Let the other DJ play what he wants. But focus on YOU and find YOUR own compromise with the music selection. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “Dude, you’re a DJ in Miami and you don’t have any spanish music?”.

Lastly, but most importantly. If you find a level of compromise that your comfortable with. STICK TO IT. If you go out to a gig, and play your set, and the promoter tries to tall you to “Play more of this, or less of that”, then it’s best if you don’t play at that event anymore. Because at that point, then you lose your personal style and passion for the Art of what we do, and it loses its beauty. Don’t sacrifice your pride too much. Compromise is good because you are supposed to make the audience happy, but if they want you to be the DJ you’re not, then that’s not the right audience for you.

This was a bit long winded, but I think it’s solid advice hehe.

If you are getting paid for it, anything is a good start. You HAVE to get out there to do your thing.