durtyjerzy609
Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
durtyjerzy609
MemberD….. there comes a point when you have to stop being a “crowd whore” and do it as its supposed to be done and pay homage to thos ethat made the art what it is… sometimes its the dj’s responsibilty to teach the crowd as well as entertain them
MemberD-Jam, post: 15922, member: 3 wrote: To me, this is the usual “blame the owner/manager who booked him” rationale in my mind.
Unfortunately, if the crowd loves him and has no issue with what we see as “bad mixing”, then the market has spoken and we can’t do anything about that. This is like Gladiator, where the crowd holds the true vote.
I remember a hair stylist in Chicago who could not play well at all. He borrowed someone’s CDJs, mixer, and just went at it in his own sloppy fashion. Promoters would book him over and over though…because he had loads of friends in the scene who came out for him. Face it…if you’re the village idiot who can bring 500 people out somewhere, you’re more valuable to a promoter than the genius savant who perfected his DJ skills into an artform (but he has no fans).
I remember a guy who worked at an ad agency who just decided to start DJing one day. He would spend chunks of his work day on Beatport, exploring and buying tech house and prog. He learned basic beatmatching and would go out several nights a week. On weekends he’d be out all night into afterhours, where he’d hang out and get high with promoters. Not to mention when he did get booked he would get 20-30 people from his work and social circle to come out. Suddenly he’s opening for big names because he played the game, while guys pushing demos for years still couldn’t get a shot. He ended up quitting DJing a few years ago when his wife wanted him to stop so they could start a family.
Do you see what I’m getting at here? “DJ talent” (in my opinion) is a MYTH. We all want to believe that the guy who spends a load of passionate time picking the newest and most innovative music (and then spends more time perfecting his programming and blending) will be the one who becomes a superstar. Yet we see it’s the local socially popular guys getting bookings, and the guy with a funky sense of style who burns a turntable on stage becomes a superstar.
This is why I stopped pushing to play gigs, why I sound negative and cynical in my responses on the industry and scene, and why I push you guys on marketing and branding. I see guys now doing wild stage antics, making funky costumes, and having plenty of photoshoots with some unique image. These guys seemingly are blowing up while the basic DJs who work hard to craft their skills are left behind.
The crowd is king…that’s how you play this game. Win the crowd, and you win the game. If you’re the one the crowds come out for and will leave a venue if you leave…then you win. Promoters will book you. You all need to realize most promoters see DJs as a commodity and investment. They want to put their money behind the guy who either brings then a crowd or who won’t try to be innovative, but will keep their crowd happy no matter how lame and cheesey the music might get.
This is also why I never fell into the “vinyl purist” mode, and why I don’t see sync as a bad thing. The only people who really care about this are DJs. The people who really count in all this (the crowd and promoters) don’t care about it at all.
Sorry for the hard truth. Now take this truth and find your way to game the system into winning the big prize.
D-Jam… im sorry dude…but while some of what you say is true.. some of what you said is just plain b/s… i built my rep on hard work playin dives and makin my own nights…
dont be dismayed or let any of this ruin your dreams… if you have to … pony up sum cash outta pocket on a venue deposit.. and start you own thing… nothing is impossible… it just takes hard work and determination… and a lil creativeity
MemberIf you aint grindin’ you wont suceed…. feet on the pavement is how you get the work… its a numbers game… the more places you ask, the better the chance you have at gettn a yes.
Memberdepends on what style you play and what genre you specialise in…. if you plan on adding alot of midi traktor might be you best bet, but if you wanna use minor midi controlers and do more turbtablist type stuff, you cant beat serato’s GUI and easy of mapping
Memberdepends on your cash flow mate… kinda like most women… the bigger the wallet, the better the gear (lol)
Memberive been dj’in for over ten years now and went from proper vinyl, to serato ever since the SL1 dropped. this caused both excitement and a dilema… what should i have on my laptop… im mainly a hiphop/turntablist… so my hiphop folder is massive.. over 10k songs to date and alot of it ill never play out… but its part my collection and it aint ever leaving… then theres my funk/breaks folder which has the entire “ultimate breaks n beats” collection and a whole ton of others…you get the idea…. i work strictly from genres and BPMs…the rest is all feel and knowing your tracks…. i dont like “sync” style dj’in… so i have to work to make my mixes..and if i dont like the track, if it dont feel right..then i try another…. nothing will ever beat your knowledge of your music… i live and breathe this thing we call dj’in… and so i make sure every track i load onto my hard drive… i know (and at the moment its about 20k+)… i dont know if its OCD or just passion…either way knowing your crates (or folders) will always be better than any program or star system or whatever you come up with
Memberyou gotta have cajones..balls…steel ones.. cos you know sumtime u just gotta drop that mad track no one expects or knows, but you know it will crush the floor
good reaction time… just in case something goes wrong or u trainwreck.. you better know a way out
and gotta have a sence of humour… cos fat chicks in spandex will always make you laugh… just dont let em know ur laffin at them
Memberyou know like the japanese screens or the one some high spec clothing shops use like this…..
Memberevery get the feeling when you go out… and see the dj pull this “im not really dj’in ” routine… that ur watchin david guetta at an awards show? lol what a role model he is
Membertbh… i like the stand i built from an old speaker riser.. it doesnt fold down, it weighs a ton, but holy christ is it indestructable
Memberi like midi i like having all my music i like quick loops and cues and loop rolls and efx i like fish n grits and all the pimp sh*t
Memberi suggest isolating yourself with sum cheap screen panels, they will keep the sound from bouncing of the hard walls and keep your equipment seperate from the rest of the world
Memberif you want a shot, you have to approach it as a business man. go in and explain to them how youve been there a few times and seen what the place was like, tell them youve talked to patrons about the music and what they thought (even if its a itsy bitsy lie) and be prepared to low ball the price to get in the door… tell them about your online presence (facebook and whatever other sites ur on) and explain to them .. hey this is what i have to offer.. ask for one or two nights a week at a given price… have em try you out for 3 months and if there bar sales dont increase of if the floor starts to empty… youll walk with no hurt feelings… but if you do well and there wallet gets fat… youll expect a few more nights and a lil more money…. bar/club owners really could care less about what a dj plays or how they play… as long as they make money… and if you can show em that you can make them more money than they are gettin… youll be in there for sure
Membersamples like that are well easy to find on the net google is ur friend with this one mate… one love
Memberdo it porn star style… ur first pets name and the name of the first street u lived on… but that would make me flame tontanava
-
AuthorPosts