network

go out, everywhere, all the time, meet anyone who matters, get to know them, this is where you meet promoters and give them your contact info, get theirs too, let them know you're a dj but don't bother them with a cd unless they ask for it

promote

people are always saying give cds to promoters... don't waste your time and theirs
i literally have stacks of demos that i'll probably never listen to
don't give your cds to promoters, give them to the crowd, they're the ones who are paying the money and dictating what the club does
promoters get feedback and info on who to book from djs they know and if they're getting hassled enough to book a certain dj

which brings me to my next point,

become friends with as many local djs as possible
working djs are a tight community, they all know each other, at least in calgary, but i'm sure it's like that to an extent pretty much everywhere else

it takes a LOT of hard work and YEARS of commitment

definitely not an easy road to go down, but hard work does pay off, believe me, just be prepared to work

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Agreed with morello. A couple of things I thought i should add.

Promoting: Now ill start off by saying promoting is the first step to getting your self booked and known. By promoting, I mean actually promoting for parties. Get to know the promoters, tell them you will be willing to pass out there flyers, if they would consider booking you. Now out of a deal like that you get a couple of perks. First you automatically start networking from there, second your showing that you are willing to work to play at first. Its hard work and there are way to many Djs.

Adding to that, Promoting your self. For every 1 promoter you give a CD to give at least 100 cd's to people. **DONT WRITE ON THE CD WITH A PERMANENT MARKER*** For about 20 bucks you can get label stickers that comes with the software. Before you start duplicating a grip of cds, give some to co-workers, or people out of the scene. I give my Cd's to my mom and dad, family, people that think anything electronic is techno. Because if they can enjoy your mix you got somthing (btw my dads a big supporter of mine). On your CD make sure you put an email address, People will Email you about your mix. Its good to keep in touch with them on a personal basis. Alot of the people that were coming out to see me play were people that i always kept in touch with.

Skills: If you think you are ready to play out, ask your self these questions.

*Will you be familiar any mixer you face?
*Can you keep songs beatmatched up?
*Do you understand how to "open" or "close" a party?
*Do you have your own pair of needles and headphones?
*Are you Comfortable mixing with only your headphones, or no monitors?

Becuase playing out.. its not always going to be your dream setup. But you need to be professional and know how to get around setups that are not ideal.

Cockyness: On the contrary I think a little bit of selfesteem goes a long way in your performance. I've played at parties where i felt i was the most experianced dj there, and I tore it up. there have been clubs where ive played after a big name DJ, and just sucked ass. Confidence in your self and your mixing is essential. Like most things you will start to have problems when you get TOO cocky, and you forget where you come from.

Networking/relationships: Be yourself,


***im at work , so ill edit later on my break***

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Last edited by michaelconway on Jun-26-2006 at 20:55

quote:

Originally posted by michaelconway Agreed with morello. A couple of things I thought i should add. Promoting: Now ill start off by saying promoting is the first step to getting your self booked and known. By promoting, I mean actually promoting for parties. Get to know the promoters, tell them you will be willing to pass out there flyers, if they would consider booking you. Now out of a deal like that you get a couple of perks. First you automatically start networking from there, second your showing that you are willing to work to play at first. Its hard work and there are way to many Djs. Adding to that, Promoting your self. For every 1 promoter you give a CD to give at least 100 cd's to people. **DONT WRITE ON THE CD WITH A PERMANENT MARKER*** For about 20 bucks you can get label stickers that comes with the software. Before you start duplicating a grip of cds, give some to co-workers, or people out of the scene. I give my Cd's to my mom and dad, family, people that think anything electronic is techno. Because if they can enjoy your mix you got somthing (btw my dads a big supporter of mine). On your CD make sure you put an email address, People will Email you about your mix. Its good to keep in touch with them on a personal basis. Alot of the people that were coming out to see me play were people that i always kept in touch with. Skills: If you think you are ready to play out, ask your self these questions. *Will you be familiar any mixer you face? *Can you keep songs beatmatched up? *Do you understand how to "open" or "close" a party? *Do you have your own pair of needles and headphones? *Are you Comfortable mixing with only your headphones, or no monitors? Becuase playing out.. its not always going to be your dream setup. But you need to be professional and know how to get around setups that are not ideal. Cockyness: On the contrary I think a little bit of selfesteem goes a long way in your performance. I've played at parties where i felt i was the most experianced dj there, and I tore it up. there have been clubs where ive played after a big name DJ, and just sucked ass. Confidence in your self and your mixing is essential. Like most things you will start to have problems when you get TOO cocky, and you forget where you come from. Networking/relationships: Be yourself, ***im at work , so ill edit later on my break***

The first time I played at Spundae was the first time I ever played on an Allen & Heath Xone 62 mixer. I was so intimidated. And the turntables had that center click on the pitch slider. My setup at home is the djm600 and the m5g turntables with no center click. Also it was my first time playing on a loud system...i never knew the concept of a delay in sound until that night. I think that I learned a lot from that experience even if I wasn't full ready to play out yet. It sort of forced me to do well. Because I got thrown out in the deep end and it was either sink or swim. I swam...although a sort of retarded doggy paddle. LOL.

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quote:

Originally posted by SVGmethod The first time I played at Spundae was the first time I ever played on an Allen & Heath Xone 62 mixer. I was so intimidated. And the turntables had that center click on the pitch slider. My setup at home is the djm600 and the m5g turntables with no center click. Also it was my first time playing on a loud system...i never knew the concept of a delay in sound until that night. I think that I learned a lot from that experience even if I wasn't full ready to play out yet. It sort of forced me to do well. Because I got thrown out in the deep end and it was either sink or swim. I swam...although a sort of retarded doggy paddle. LOL.

oh man i have been there, this one desert event i played at. The sound guy had flaked, so they called someone last minute to bring there home set up. Belt drive turntables, oldest gemini 2 channel mixer i had ever seen. We had 3-4 djs trainwreck every mix, Finally when I got on, I was like shit!!! but I kind of worked around it, No trainwrecks clean mixing. Granted i couldnt get all into it, but mixing got done. I got paid double :-)

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what I did was that i actually accepted a gig for free to do the first time...:-)

how it went...first there is a local chat here...where I meet some friends (from real life ) and we thought like "hey let's make a meeting of chatters, so they can get to know each other etc."
I was like "ok let's do it in a club and I'll DJ that"
then we found a few clubs which wanted to host a party like that (the thing that matters is that we had 150 people to come!)
almost every club wanted us...so we decided for two and had parties in those in 2 months...

now I have residency in one of them and am host of each saturday night in the other...they seen me play first time for free and liked it, that's how it went for me

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i warn every single one of you that has very high hopes and dreams

be prepared to sweat blood and tears

if you persevere, you'll love it, if you honestly suck, you'll just plain suck and quit

it's a VERY tough road, but the finish is just that much sweeter

if you truly and honestly want it and keep at it long enough with the proper know-how, you'll get what you want

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you guys are right...promoting and hook-ups deff plays a large role...in fact it explains why i find these dj's with very little skill djing at club events...i now never need wonder how they got hired...

right now i am at that point in figuring out if i should bother continue into the clubs or just continue getting a regular job like everyone else...

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quote:

Originally posted by spdandpwr you guys are right...promoting and hook-ups deff plays a large role...in fact it explains why i find these dj's with very little skill djing at club events...i now never need wonder how they got hired... right now i am at that point in figuring out if i should bother continue into the clubs or just continue getting a regular job like everyone else...

you can do both. regular job during the day...and if you have a desk job you can spend some time during work researching and listening to music. then at night you can DJ at the clubs. theres plenty of time for both. career and a hobby.

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