Hey guys, Im a Dj over here in san diego trying to get booked for the local downtown clubs. Ive been giving one of the promotion companies out here demo after demo and it seems like i pretty much have my foot in the door but just a bit. The problem is that I love playing mostly trance music but they are telling me they are more likely to book me if I play or stick with House music. I am a little hesitant since I wanna play music more on the lines with Andy Moor or Gabriel & Dresden rather than Carl Cox or Eric Morillo. What are your opinions?

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Play what you wanna play

That's what I'd do !

but then these F*****s might not book me and I stay in my room with my collage of past club events. I dunno maybe im thinking about this crap too much....

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It is MY belief that a DJ is not a superstar until he/she has earned that title, and until you have established yourself enough to be able to play EXACTLY what you want and have people going nuts, you have to swallow your pride and play what you have to play to get your name out.

That is my opinion, however at the same time I don't think you should just sell your soul to the clubs and become a total top40 whore, if you feel yourself incapable of playing a different genre to promote yourself, wait for another opportunity, but they don't always come as often as we like.


And again, we aren't rockstars, we are DJs, at the end of the day we just play other peoples music and although we consider it an art form, we are more along the lines of "blue collar" types in the music world till we've had enough time to really develop our style in a club setting, bedroom < Club, huge differences and I have very little experience in the latter, but if you've gone clubbing before enough times you will realize how they work and what the DJ's true role is if he isn't super omega famous, or if he/she isn't already established in his/her town.

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quote:

Originally posted by Alex It is MY belief that a DJ is not a superstar until he/she has earned that title, and until you have established yourself enough to be able to play EXACTLY what you want and have people going nuts, you have to swallow your pride and play what you have to play to get your name out. That is my opinion, however at the same time I don't think you should just sell your soul to the clubs and become a total top40 whore, if you feel yourself incapable of playing a different genre to promote yourself, wait for another opportunity, but they don't always come as often as we like. And again, we aren't rockstars, we are DJs, at the end of the day we just play other peoples music and although we consider it an art form, we are more along the lines of "blue collar" types in the music world till we've had enough time to really develop our style in a club setting, bedroom < Club, huge differences and I have very little experience in the latter, but if you've gone clubbing before enough times you will realize how they work and what the DJ's true role is if he isn't super omega famous, or if he/she isn't already established in his/her town.

+1 to this. You gotta get your foot in the door. If that means playing a little house, I'd go for it. (At least they're not insisting on Rap, for example).

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Exactly, Trance/House is something you can combine in such a way that before the dancers know it you'll have switched from House to Trance and could be rockin their world, but if the promoter is insisting on House, there must be a reason mate, promoters tend to know their shit about their nights, otherwise they lose their jobs.

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Thanks. I guess I gotta do what I gotta do.

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HOUSE HOUSE & more f**kin HOUSE ! ! !

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first step

stop giving out trance cds at house clubs

step two

find clubs or venues that do/are willing to play trance

step three

give them your cd


play trance if you want to play trance, just know that trance isn't going to go over where the music is usually house

if you actually want to play house, then play house

don't get stuck playing music you don't like or can't get into

if there isn't any trance going on, give a venue that's willing to give you a shot your cd, but keep in mind they're thinking of the bottom line, people through the door and drinks in their hands

or work your way into a local rave promoter's good books

in the immortal words of ac/dc, it's a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll

it's not easy, you have to work for it

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Last edited by Tony Morello on Apr-24-2007 at 05:15

If the club is willing to give progressive DJs a shot, you can play more uplifting progressive trance a la Schulz or Andy Moor... Just don't play too much of it, or try it at a crowd that expects electro or stuff like that.

Just because you want to get a gig, don't play stuff that you don't want to. If you're not happy with the stuff you're playing, how can you expect others to enjoy your set? Most crowds are good at reading the DJ's body language and you don't have to dance around like mad chicken, but the constant frowns and annoyed look will turn off a lot of people.

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quote:

Originally posted by chinamon not true. i say "ugh" but i am a tranny.

quote:

Originally posted by kotsy lol colour me retarded

totally disagree. why on earth would you wanna play a style youre not totally into? how is that any fun?

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i have to disagree with some of the viewpoints here.

if what you play and love is trance, then chances are you're going to be a subpar house dj, and the world doesn't really need that just because you want to have people cheering for in a club.

my opinion, and it's only that, is keep promoting the stuff you really believe in on a personal level, because it's going to show through and make you stand out. don't expect it to be like the kind of thing where you give out a demo and that's it - you have to build yourself and grow in your passion and throw your own parties and build a following.

then when you go the club you tell the owner you'll play what he wants, and you can shift it over the course of the night to what you want with the support of your people, and you might have some leverage with the owner.



i'm by no means a beacon of success like many are here, but here's a more personal example of one way you can approach it. over the past two years I have gradually gotten to the point where i can play what i want at a club where I am and by the virtue of the lovely people who support me, turn a 50 person top 40 night into 150 person progressive house night. (yeah ithaca has shit nightlife)

i interviewed for a residency at a new club a year ago and was turned down in favor of human jukeboxes. but i established a relationship with the owner and gave him some demos, and got the chance to play a party on a relatively inopportune date (spring break in a college town), and managed to draw a fairly decent crowd since I do all the marketing myself and I had gradually built up a crowd.

building the crowd is just as important as building the set. on a college campus i have been able to do this by creating a student group and organizing the scene within the student body. It works well for everyone involved, some of us are producers, others djs, etc - we all support eachother and throw our own house parties every weekend and grow in our love for the music.

so after another year, it started to get ridiculous, with multiple parties a weekend, a radio station, etc etc i then was randomly asked by the owner of that club to fill in for a regular dj and used my base and marketing experience with my own events (also helps that i am a graphic designer) to pack the club with hundreds of happy, open-minded people. and those people make everyone else happy and ready to dance and drink, and that makes the club very happy. it was a huge night and i was asked to do it again in two weeks and possibly earn the residency that had once eluded me, even though my taste has gotten more obscure.

so i don't know your scene's situation but i'd say in summary you have two directions:

1. play what they ask youadn try to get good at playing music you don't believe in, or learn to believe in it.
2. keep your sights on what you believe in and throw your own parties and build up the support you need to stand on your own in a club playing your own shit

trance > house