SWAMPmaster recentely got his first residency

http://tranceaddict.com/forums/show...threadid=378916

read through that thread, there's some good info in there

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jesus pose

quote:

Originally posted by starboy jesus pose

lol


honestly what they say is true...everything gig related is all about connections

quote:

Originally posted by SPAWNmaster honestly what they say is true...everything gig related is all about connections

Every time I read and/or hear this, I die a little inside.

Knowing it's true doesn't change the fact that it's a shit fucking system.

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last minute disco dot net

Yep, I've read it before posting this. But thats the what-to-do after he got his residency. My point here is to hear your stories of how you got them.

quote:

Originally posted by Ba8e Yep, I've read it before posting this. But thats the what-to-do after he got his residency. My point here is to hear your stories of how you got them.

People dress it up any way they want to, calingl it "making friends," "getting to know everyone," or that "it's all who you know," and at the end of the day, for the most part they're right.

What they don't tell you is that it's all about using people. Promoters only want to use you if you can make them money, and the only way you are going to want to be "friends" with the majority of these "promoter" folks is if they can get you gigs or some other way help you out.

My recommendation to you is to keep it all business. Don't pretend these people are your friends - They aren't. Bring what you can to the table, and as long as you show them you can make them money, you'll get all the gigs you can handle. If you make a few friends along the way, consider it a bonus.

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last minute disco dot net

Here's how I got mine...


My first residency: Crazydance (under 18 nights)

Used to go to the nights, at the end of the night once I went up to the booth and asked the DJs how I could apply for a job DJing, they pointed out the promoter's number on the flyer and said I should ring him. I did that and he asked for a demo, I sent one over and hassled him until he gave me a set lol, then after a few times he asked me to take care of the 2nd room.


My second residency: Resonation

I was a regular poster on the Slinky (big club night in the area) messageboard and a DJ on the local scene (Nic Carrington) used to read it a lot. He started a new night, which I heard about and went to check out, introduced myself to Nic (he knew who I was from the Slinky messageboard) and asked if I could give him a demo. I posted one to him and he phoned me a few days later saying he wanted me on board.


My third residency: All Mixed Up

Again, through the Slinky forum I used to go clubbing with a guy who at one point decided to start a small night with a mate. As it was in a small venue without a permanant installation, they needed someone who could help them with the sound setup so asked me. For the first event, I arranged hiring the necessary PA gear and getting decks etc together, then they asked me to play at the 2nd one as well and made me a resident after that.


My fourth residency: Scream

Through various forums (especially Slinky and Harderfaster), I'd got talking to another DJ called Ben Watkins (BS2). He was a resident for Scream and another night in Bristol, Kinetic. He'd already persuaded the Kinetic promoters to book me, for which I owe him eternal thanks and Scream had doing events for a while. Scream decided they wanted to start again, this time with Ben taking on the role of co-promoter. I gather they were planning to book me for their reopening night, however they needed a website but had limited funds, so offered me a residency in return for designing them a website for free. Scream was a pretty big name in Bristol, so I took them up on the offer.


I don't actually hold any of the above residencies anymore, so maybe taking advice from me isn't the best plan! I wasn't sacked or anything, just one thing lead to another and in each case the night had to stop running for different reasons, except Crazydance which was taken over and then I wasn't allowed to play the kind of music I wanted in my room, even though it had been popular before, so I left.


My (sorta) fifth residency: Never Enough

Technically this is a cross between management and a residency, seeing that currently the only events I play at through Never Enough are their own events, although when their agency is kicked off properly, hopefully I'll see gigs at other events.

I used to host guest mixes on my website for people to download and I had an email from a guy called Mike Redina who had seen me say I was looking for DJs to do these guest mixes on the Harderfaster.net messageboards, offerring a demo and asking if I'd be interested in getting him to do a guest mix. I loved his demo and got him to do a guest mix, then happened to meet up with him at an event in London, where he introduced me to Maria (who he'd been working with for a while), who runs Never Enough. He had given her one of my demos, which she said she was impressed by and a few days later she asked me to play at an event she was running (the back room for a larger event).

Soon after that, Maria invited me to join the agency she was planning to start (on a non-exclusive basis). I accepted and although the agency still hasn't yet been launched properly, I've played at several Never Enough events including The Gallery at Turnmills and I've got a New Years Day gig with Never Enough coming up too... all thanks to Mike!


Basically it's all thanks to messageboards lol, get involved with a local scene messageboard (be it a club night or a general local clubbing community - if nothing else there's always your local section of www.dontstayin.com), find some nights in your area you'd like to play at and get in touch with promoters etc... you'll find some gigs will just land in your lap from people you talk to and others you'll have to ask a promoter or a friend who's a resident somewhere if they can put in a good word.

Hope this helps.

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Stu Cox |

Thanks you for sharing your story. (This is what i looked for in the first place)
Other expiriences are welcomed as well.

Last edited by Ba8e on Nov-05-2006 at 18:15

My first time playing out was at a club in the City where I live. It was for a magazine launch party from the company I work for. Luckily I'm mates with one of the guys on the mag and he needed some CDJ's, so I offered him mine. In return, he gave me the warm-up slot. I was more than happy with this as it offered me the chance to play similar tunes to the set in my sig. It was also a cracking experience warming up for General Midi and has left me chomping at the bit for another chance to play in a club.

Like most people have said in this thread, it's not what you know but who you know. This can be applied to most things in life though I suppose.

Thats is a factor indeed.