this for all the established djs out there.. im looking for some advice.. i duno what to spin... its a pain in the ass buying records, because altho i tend to buy all those "classics" or old tracks that other ppl may or may not know, i tend not to like the new stuff, and so when i make a set or a mix, its not like my tracks are played out (like so many djs tracklists) but most of them are a lil' old (for example, on a GU)... and have been played by at least one big dj, on a cd or a mix.

my question is... how do you really make your own style? i felt i had my own, those few TAs who have heard my mixes might or might not agree, but i have this problem with buying tracks that everyone knows, or everyone is GONNA know. i'll give an example.
iio - rapture (avb mix)

i think this is a really good track, but everyone hypes it so much that what would i be bringing to the table by putting it in a mix? a better example is orinoko - island (thrillseekers mix)
im in love with that track, but i won't buy it because its already played out.

another case is Riva- #2 (untitled)
- a decent track, normally i would buy this, but you just KNOW every punter on TA w/ 2 decks has already purchased this. see what i mean?

so instead i bounce around styles, prog breaks to prog house to classic trance, never establishing much and having a bitch of a time spending cash on such varied genres of music. what should i do...?

of course i'll mention that being in vancouver, im one of like only 10 vancity TAs, so most ppl dont know ANY old tracks aside from the usual suspects. putting together a demo, id be able to get away with using classix like moogwai - viola and pvd - namistai, this would maybe help me get noticed faster? or i could try and grind it out w/ my techie-proggie-light trance style, which is more MY OWN, and deeper to y'all but much less ... ear-catching to the average listener. understand meeh?

thoughts suggestions or ideas please... thanks for reading my bigass post...

___________________
what trainspotters are.

Patrick,
Style is more than just the tunes you play..it's how you play them as well. I know what you mean about not liking some of the new stuff. That's what happened to me in the early 90's. I stopped spinning for a few years because of it. The music that was coming out just didn't do it for me.
You are good. If the new stuff doesn't do it for you...the work with the stuff that does. As it is right now, you're not working in a club or anything like that, so you're not terribly pressured to have everything the day it's released. I will say, though, it's easier to keep up with the new stuff than it is to catch up with the new stuff.
Does that make sense? Anyway, my advice to you is...work with what is comfortable for you and the stuff you like....and keep doing so until mixing becomes second nature to you. (from the sounds of it, that won't be very long from now). Music seems to go in cycles...there will be a period of time where you don't really care for what is coming out and then there are times when there is so much coming out that you really like, you can't keep up with it all. Not to worry...it'll get good again. As for your style...that's something that sort of just comes as you go along. You're a natural...so let it come naturally.

well said, I can't really add anything to that. I have the same problem, especially since I'm on a even more commercial side of trance. But if I really like a track like "Club Bizarre (Scot Project Mix), I'll buy and play it. Doing something else would drive me mad. Often I will spin a tune at 2 or 3 gigs and on my CD, a month later it enters the REGULAR (not dance) charts in germany and I'll never touch it again (On The Move (Dumonde Mix)). That happens...
You will get the best results spinning what you love. I have had pretty bad nights spinning when the club owners told me what to spin. It just doesn't work....
Keep it up, I'm really looking forward to what's gonna come from you in a year

___________________

RetroActive 4

good advice.. on one hand tho, i wouldn't not buy a track because i thought it was gonna get played out.. fuck that!, if you are in love w/ a track, fucking buy it and spin the hell out of it, who gives a fuck if other people will play it out, as long as u like and the crowd likes it.. i don't see where the problem is.

quote:

Originally posted by hapamoto good advice.. on one hand tho, i wouldn't not buy a track because i thought it was gonna get played out.. fuck that!, if you are in love w/ a track, fucking buy it and spin the hell out of it, who gives a fuck if other people will play it out, as long as u like and the crowd likes it.. i don't see where the problem is.

agreed! go buy the tracks u really like! hate those dj's who only spin stuff ppl can like! wich offen are commercial sjiat! (here in denmark lots of those dj's apears!)

i can't thank you guys enough for feedback.. i'll take this to heart.. wonder if maybe other starting-out djs shared the sentiments, heh.

that point about "cycles" really makes sense johnny, i dunno why i didnt imagine that before..
djdawn, thats kinda what i mean about a commercial track, but the whole thing is at least you'll get to play it out 2, 3 times and put it on a cd mix..

in my case and other bedroom djs, we'd have to release it quickly in a demo before a month later everyone's heard and done with... get me?
heh

in any case, i hope this thread enlightens other ppl and not just myself, cuz y'all give some great advice.
thanks again.

pat

___________________
what trainspotters are.

if you are talking about what you want and don't want to put on a demo it depends on what the reason for the demo is.. if you are trying to put together a set for a demo that you're sending out to clubs and promoters, it might be good to through some commercial stuff on there IF AND ONLY IF you like it because the commercial stuff may catch the promoters ear and open his mind to the rest of your set.. just keep in mind that your demo is going to be a representative of you and your style.. also keep in mind that there are some very close minded promoters out there who only want to hear commercial stuff because that is what is going to attract people to their clubs.. if this demo is for your own purposes that you want to release to the public, then by all means play what is in your heart!

one of the southern california local dj's always says "open ears = open minds" and a lot of club owners and promoters don't have that.