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Moving out of the bedroom

Hope I don't get crucified for starting a topic, but I honestly can't find an existing thread about this, namely, how did you guys move from just DJing in your bedroom to DJing at clubs?
I've become interested in music beyond just listening to it around three years ago. It began with very lame productions, but with time I got decent at it, but never made anything to impress anyone other than my friends. In the process I learned a bit about the music and I realized people I'm surrounded by love my music. From my girlfriend and friends, to even my parents and their friends, people always ask me for CDs of "your music", so I began making mixes with Virtual DJ.
In the process I got my friend who shares similar passion for the music into DJing also.
So in August, when we felt we learned almost everything we could on VDJ, we got some extra work, saved up money and bought a used DJ set up, namely 2 CDJ200's, a DJM600, along with 2 Samson xp200 speakers. We've been obsessed with DJing for the past 4 months, and we would love to get a gig somewhere, anywhere, even free of charge... so my question is, how do we go about this?

Go out to clubs and talk to people: promoters, owners, bar staff and other DJs.

Make a demo CD and hand it out to people.

And support promoters's nights and fellow DJs

Make connections.

Get to know people, not just promoters but party go'ers too. Send out your mixes to lots of people and if you become good enough friends with djs that play out invite them over to mix. This is my first year playing out and I have been spinning in the bedroom for three so have patience.

quote:

Originally posted by s3nate Get to know people, not just promoters but party go'ers too. Send out your mixes to lots of people and if you become good enough friends with djs that play out invite them over to mix. This is my first year playing out and I have been spinning in the bedroom for three so have patience.

You should post gig logs more often. Done any since that hardstyle crowd one?

Personally I'm quite happy at the moment (even though I'm a total attention whore), and I certainly get a lot of satisfaction from those few weekly net radio things I used to do, which I will probably end up doing again in the future. Hopefully eventually I'll get good enough to move onto D.I... and idk... psy wise... I think I'll try and get into the scene with productions since that is something I most definitely very much want to do. Or idk... maybe those super secret aussie ta psy raves will still be going on when I'm old enough to actually goto one, and they'll let me play a set there :P

I'd be happy playing a good house/electro/even hardstyle set for my friends at a party or whatever... but total randoms... I'm not so sure.

As mentioned, I think I'm quite content with the net radio/forums crowd... and I'm not really prepared to play more acessable stuff/otherwise make sacrifices to get an actual one.

Thats slightly offtopic though, and more information on this subject would be great.

quote:

Originally posted by Darkarbiter You should post gig logs more often. Done any since that hardstyle crowd one?

Yes I have played 2 since then. One got busted (it was illegal) right after my set which was complete win

The other one after that was a legal one and me and my buddy got the first slot. We did surprisingly well and there was quite a few people on the dance floor. This actually got us a slot at an even bigger upcoming event here.

I recorded the whole night of the legal rave so click here to download it.

quote:

Originally posted by Yohan And support promoters's nights and fellow DJs Make connections.

this is where you start to spend a lot of money, this time on tickets and booze

you have to be out at the nights you want to play at all the time, get to know every single dj and promoter and when you run into them at a party, make sure to stop and say hi, make sure to bring friends

after a little while of making said connections, record a killer demo and get it in the hands of everyone, djs, promoters, clubbers, everyone

if they get people coming up to them and asking if they've heard your cd and that they want to hear you play, they'll have to book you

it's not just about playing out, you have to create a following that will be more than happy to come out to hear you play

a dj that doesn't get people through the door is useless, no matter the skill level

Thanks for the responses, but now I got another problem.
I live in Brooklyn, New York. There's plenty of clubs here, but unfortunately... not a single place to listen to any good Trance, Techno, or even Electro or House. Basically every club I've ever been to plays garbage.
Last week I went out to one of the nicer clubs in Brooklyn and expected to find a little bit of a different vibe, but it was the same thing, namely:
There were two DJs in their 30s switching on and off, they literally didn't really know how to beatmatch properly... song were often played too loud or too quietly and I was able to hear them adjust the volume as they were playing... Their musical selection wasn't much better, they started off with some really bad hosue I can't identify, then moved on to House remixes of old Russian songs (I dont know why Russian, it's not a Russian neighborhood or anything...) then they had a David Guetta marathon, and I shit you not they played 20 David Guetta songs in a row, including about 5 remixes of "Love is Gone." Then they moved on to Reggeton and then to Rap.
Personally I mainly play Trance with a twist of House and Electro, and I know there's a big crowd of kids in their lower 20's that love my music, but I feel like no promoters or DJs in the local clubs would apprieciate Trance, so I don't know how I can make a connection with them... Anyone had a similar dilemma?

Have to strongly agree with Tony Morello

quote:

Originally posted by Tony Morello this is where you start to spend a lot of money, this time on tickets and booze you have to be out at the nights you want to play at all the time, get to know every single dj and promoter and when you run into them at a party, make sure to stop and say hi, make sure to bring friends after a little while of making said connections, record a killer demo and get it in the hands of everyone, djs, promoters, clubbers, everyone if they get people coming up to them and asking if they've heard your cd and that they want to hear you play, they'll have to book you it's not just about playing out, you have to create a following that will be more than happy to come out to hear you play a dj that doesn't get people through the door is useless, no matter the skill level

Very true, but very sad. It climaxed (at least in London) to talentless pricks getting headlining sets because they could bring x amount of people in to the club. This means that DJ's with real talent but not a huge following of people (that go with to any night they're booked for) will miss out.

I remember a while ago, I fixed a bit of kit for a well known promoter. He wanted to pay me for it but I said just please listen to my demo instead. He said he didn't need to - as long as I played the right genre (which he already knew I did from conversations), he was willing to give me a slot if I could bring a load people to the club. This was a for a musically well respected club, which had a good name and regularly booked big dj's.

My advice for you, Leniu: Do your own small club night! You've got to be able to find a way to get 50 people out, and book it in a small venue and beg borrow or steal the kit, blag you're massive older brother (and his mates) to be the bouncers, get a keg or a load of beer bottles cheap and sell them cheap (more fun = more success).

I know in NY this might be a problem due to the police state like rules on clubs but seriously, you could end up finding a load of like minded people, just desperate to hear the same music.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN My advice for you, Leniu: Do your own small club night! You've got to be able to find a way to get 50 people out, and book it in a small venue and beg borrow or steal the kit, blag you're massive older brother (and his mates) to be the bouncers, get a keg or a load of beer bottles cheap and sell them cheap (more fun = more success). I know in NY this might be a problem due to the police state like rules on clubs but seriously, you could end up finding a load of like minded people, just desperate to hear the same music.

The problem is it costs about $1000-$2000 to throw a small club night here in Brooklyn. Yes, maybe we could get the money back by charging at the door and overcharging for the drinks, but otherwise it would be grim.
Also, it's true, I could probably get about 50 of my friends to come support me, but what good does that do?
I feel stuck, like the only way to get to spin anywhere here is to play the same garbage they play and then slowly try to convert people... Is that really what I have to resort to?

i wound up starting up my own night that ran very successfully (we were touted as the top electronic bar hour night) until some shit went down with the owner (long story, not my fault though)

if there isn't anything available for you to play at, start it up yourself

it's going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of pounding the pavement but it's possible, if you build it they will come

Be different from everyone else. Help out promoters, get to know everyone at your local night, do not kiss ass though as you will never get respect. It�s better to be in a you scratch my back I scratch your back situation.

Promote yourself online, aimed at your local area; get a good myspace, facebook group etc�

If you can, start your own night/concept, but be realistic of how good you actually are. Be different from all the other nights that is going on around you, add a theme or something, offer free cd's, t-shirts etc..

I would say, if you don�t have the cash to fund a night, you can always get a bunch of people together and do a joint venture.

Do a budget on what a night would cost, see how you can lower costs but without lowering quality, be realistic, always count for the least amount of people for breaking even.

You can get international DJ's at a lesser rate if they are in surrounding cities etc, it also cuts down flight prices if you can do flight shares with surrounding cities. Do not cheap out on things like flyer's and promotion, the first thing a person sees is your advertising, if its rubbish then they may assume that your night is rubbish. Don�t be to cool with your selection of guest DJ�s either in the beginning.

If you have your own night, you can offer other DJs a slot to play for free and do deal where you get to do their night for free as well, it gets your name out more.

quote:

Originally posted by Yohan And support promoters's nights and fellow DJs Make connections.

Yep pucker those lips and start getting your nose brown. Either that or work on DJing and music because you genuinely love it. Save up your money to move somewhere that there is an actual scene that will support fringe artists and open up a small record label. Break some good artists and contribute to electronic music by producing good music.

Nevermind go back to sucking up and brown nosing it works a lot faster and gives you a nice illusion that you are a good DJ and actually doing something/getting somewhere.

edit: I see you live in Brooklyn. There are definitely enough people to support there. So get started on the hard work.

quote:

Originally posted by Leniu Thanks for the responses, but now I got another problem. I live in Brooklyn, New York. There's plenty of clubs here, but unfortunately... not a single place to listen to any good Trance, Techno, or even Electro or House. Basically every club I've ever been to plays garbage. Last week I went out to one of the nicer clubs in Brooklyn and expected to find a little bit of a different vibe, but it was the same thing, namely: There were two DJs in their 30s switching on and off, they literally didn't really know how to beatmatch properly... song were often played too loud or too quietly and I was able to hear them adjust the volume as they were playing... Their musical selection wasn't much better, they started off with some really bad hosue I can't identify, then moved on to House remixes of old Russian songs (I dont know why Russian, it's not a Russian neighborhood or anything...) then they had a David Guetta marathon, and I shit you not they played 20 David Guetta songs in a row, including about 5 remixes of "Love is Gone." Then they moved on to Reggeton and then to Rap. Personally I mainly play Trance with a twist of House and Electro, and I know there's a big crowd of kids in their lower 20's that love my music, but I feel like no promoters or DJs in the local clubs would apprieciate Trance, so I don't know how I can make a connection with them... Anyone had a similar dilemma?

huge lol

try looking harder or taking the train a little farther

Hmm perhaps you have a point... maybe I should turn my attention to Manhattan, the problem with that, on the other hand (aside from money) is the fact I'm not turning 21 for another year =/

Throw your own parties. Start off by getting together enough money to throw two to three small parties because you mostly likely will not recoup any of your losses from them. Flyer like crazy and throw it for free, asking only for donations. At the end of the night at your third or so party let everyone know you'll start charging at the door (make sure you have this on the new flyers too) and go from there.

You already have djs so for a venue find a small bar with a decent dancefloor in a midly populated area (next to a college campus helps).

This worked in a small farm village in the middle of some hole in Virginia, and you have New York. It should be a lot easier unless you're competing against other nights (in which case be creative).

Building up a following is key. You need that core audience to make it work.

How much did it cost u to throw one of those parties?

if you're only 21, i wouldn't worry about playing out too much just yet, especially in the states

worry about building a following for the time being

Find raves and get to know the promoters. Either that or throw your own parties.

Well thank you all ofr the advice I'm feeling more optimistic now .
Out of curiosity though, how did you come to get your first gig as a DJ? I just can't imagine what that would be like yet at this moment.

We probably put in $2,000 for the first month. The venue let us in for free and we provided the entertainment.

quote:

Originally posted by Leniu Hmm perhaps you have a point... maybe I should turn my attention to Manhattan, the problem with that, on the other hand (aside from money) is the fact I'm not turning 21 for another year =/

check out the NYTA forums man...some great events posted even though there are mostly house events right now... there's also a promo company that has run events in philadelphia called Mid-Atlantic Trance which has moved their focus to NY. ive heard good things about their philly events and hope to eventually be a part of their NYC events 11/29: M.I.K.E. & Martin Roth @ Love, definitely stop by if you havent been to the CORE events @ love at all...great nights thats for sure

my first gig came from one of my best friends

I am in the boat of the Original poster, trying to get out of my house.

quote:

Originally posted by s3nate Yes I have played 2 since then. One got busted (it was illegal) right after my set which was complete win

What exactly is an illegal gig? lol

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