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Originally posted by Inertia i disagree though. you will get experience, but not the type of experience you need. fighting 10000 kickboxing matches will get you a lot of fight experience, but you're still gonna be a n00b when you're asked to fight a submission wrestler. in other words, that's not the type of experience you are after. do it for the money, plain and simple, if you need it. otherwise, don't bother. it's hard enough for DJs that have a specific style within EDM to have to stretch out. i don't get to play all the tunes i'd like when i play out. but it's a whole other ballgame when it comes to completely jumping out of EDM.

I think you're wrong and believe every experience helps shapes an artist. Discounting any of your previous experience and influences is unfair to who you are as a person/artist/dj.

In my humble opinion...

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Fortuna Favet Fortibus.

quote:

Originally posted by Allied Nations I think you're wrong and believe every experience helps shapes an artist. Discounting any of your previous experience and influences is unfair to who you are as a person/artist/dj. In my humble opinion...

well, sure, everything can be experience, but the amount of usefulness he'll get out of playing these types of things (i know, because i used to do it) won't translate very well at all when it comes to playing what he wants to play. 10 of these full night gigs with him playing top40 music only won't hold a candle to a 3 hour set of ihm playing the trance he loves, seeing how the crowd reacts, learning when to bring the energy level up, when to chill, etc.

from playing top40 parties, all i was beginning to learn was how to hit on chicks because you are the DJ (didn't go down too well, as i learned in this country, DJ = more or less the same as janitor) and how to cope with someone who keeps nagging you with requests. "reading the crowd" was pretty much null, as if you wanted them to dance, all you had to do was drop the latest dancey poppy hit. or any reggaeton track with offensive lyrics. BAM, dance-a-thon. didn't really help me when it came time for my first REAL gig.

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check out my guest mix for OndaSonora Podcast (aug.2009)

quote:

Originally posted by Inertia well, sure, everything can be experience, but the amount of usefulness he'll get out of playing these types of things (i know, because i used to do it) won't translate very well at all when it comes to playing what he wants to play. 10 of these full night gigs with him playing top40 music only won't hold a candle to a 3 hour set of ihm playing the trance he loves, seeing how the crowd reacts, learning when to bring the energy level up, when to chill, etc. from playing top40 parties, all i was beginning to learn was how to hit on chicks because you are the DJ (didn't go down too well, as i learned in this country, DJ = more or less the same as janitor) and how to cope with someone who keeps nagging you with requests. "reading the crowd" was pretty much null, as if you wanted them to dance, all you had to do was drop the latest dancey poppy hit. or any reggaeton track with offensive lyrics. BAM, dance-a-thon. didn't really help me when it came time for my first REAL gig.

I could'nt agree more with you on this one. I don't think it would be of any benifit to play music that you don't love, to a crowd that is not your crowd, except if it's for the money, if you need it. I have been thru the same thing, and I stopped playing at this certain location because of it. It did not benifit me in any way. It would of been pointless wasting my time playing there, staying up all night, then having to sleep the whole next day when I could of spent that time either working on new promos to pass out or trying to get gigs somewhere else. Thanks for sharing.

Mike

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And The Beat Goes On

I haven't DJ'd at all yet. But from what you guys are saying, it would be annoying for an EDM DJ to be playing other than EDM. I would hate playing Justin Timberlake or Nelly Furtado...I would just love to play trance and/or prog house.

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Originally posted by akadama888 I haven't DJ'd at all yet. But from what you guys are saying, it would be annoying for an EDM DJ to be playing other than EDM. I would hate playing Justin Timberlake or Nelly Furtado...I would just love to play trance and/or prog house.

Actually there's some decent Justin Timberlake material, but your point is still valid in a general sense.

I really have to agree with Inertia. For me, playing at a top 40 club would be the equivalent of how I imagine most women view stripping. Yeah it brings in money, but it's really degrading and gets you nowhere in the end. Also, it's that much more time that you're not doing what you want to be doing.

I really can't believe you are expected to bring speakers. I'd tell them to fuck right off. Any respectable club should have at least a mixer, two turntables, and a speaker system, bare minimum.

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'People cling to their rotten memories, to all their misfortunes, and you can't pry them loose. These things keep them busy. They avenge themselves for the injustice of the present by smearing the future inside them with shit. They're cowards deep down, and just. That's their nature.'
-Louis-Ferdinand Céline
"Journey to the End of the Night"