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Question For Djs Who Play Out
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| Mike123 |
I live in Detroit and they are very closed minded about alot of different styles of music. It is mostly techno and house. I play progressive and trance, and very little techno. I want to play at this one place, but they probally would not book me if I gave him a copy of one of my mixes. I have been thinking about possibly recording a set with all techno and giving it to him to check out cause I think my chances of playing there would be alot higher than if I gave him a set of my progressive and trance mixes. So, to wrap it up, my question is, Have any of you ever ran into this problem? If so, what did you do? And if you got booked, did you end up playing the music you really love, or did you change your style for the night to satisfy the club? Thanks for any input!
Rock On,
Mike |
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| Ryan0751 |
Ugh. If you show up and try to play your style to a crowd that's expecting something totally different, you will have a miserable time (as will the clubbers).
I played at a gay club here in Boston, and was playing some funky upbeat prog, and I had people asking me if I could play some Cher and Madonna.
Find a venue that your music will fit and everyone will be MUCH happier in the end.
| quote: | Originally posted by Mike123
I live in Detroit and they are very closed minded about alot of different styles of music. It is mostly techno and house. I play progressive and trance, and very little techno. I want to play at this one place, but they probally would not book me if I gave him a copy of one of my mixes. I have been thinking about possibly recording a set with all techno and giving it to him to check out cause I think my chances of playing there would be alot higher than if I gave him a set of my progressive and trance mixes. So, to wrap it up, my question is, Have any of you ever ran into this problem? If so, what did you do? And if you got booked, did you end up playing the music you really love, or did you change your style for the night to satisfy the club? Thanks for any input!
Rock On,
Mike |
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| Tony Morello |
| stay true to yourself and your style, if you want to play techno, then play techno but don't change your style for one night for one gig |
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| Konix |
I live in Detroit also, yeah Trance and Progressive are not well liked. Your best bet to play somewhere is club Bleu in downtown. That's about the only club that plays anything Trance and Progressive related. Everything else is Minimal/Techno and DnB.
You might want to check out www.detroitclubscene.com and get to know some of the djs and promoters that do events at Bleu. Saturdays are usually the Trance and Progressive nights. Definitely stay away from www.detroitluv.com |
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| idoru |
Here's my deal...
I didn't know that if I wasn't 21, I could play in a 21+ venue. So, I focused on Seattle's all-ages/18+ scene. After getting to know the promoters a bit that were closest to my style, I gave them a demo of mine that consisted of mostly Progressive House and a bit of borderline Minimal. They booked me to open the main room of a 16+ club that, by the end of the night, was going to be playing Happy Hardcore (although, after me was a Breaks duo and a House guy).
I tried to water-down my set as much as I could. For the most part, the kids surprisingly enjoyed it, although a couple of tracks confused them, and the look on their faces when that happened was priceless :p.
Basically, if they book you to play the style of music that's on your demo, then that means they think it will work. Try to adapt your set to what you know the crowd will be expecting as well as you can. And, if it's your first time spinning out, the one piece of advice that I'd recommend is that it's not hard to read a crowd, it's being willing to react to it that's tough. |
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| KilldaDJ |
| depends on the venue, if its trance, then play trance, old and new, if its techno, give them some ing techno |
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| Mike123 |
Nah, I'd rather not sell out to play at a club for one night. The place has really good sound, but I would never enjoy it if I am not playing something I like anyway. I've been thinking alot about this because its so hard to get in the scene out here with the type of music I play. When I play records I play them cause I love it. I don't do it for the crowd or anyone else. I never understood dj's who would play a style of music just to please the crowd. I don't spend hours on end listening or playing music to impress some people. Thats the problem with the scene out here is all these untalented so called djs spin a bunch of just because other people are spinning it. And half of them are just happy they can beatmatch 2 records and thats all they care about. They have no type of track selection or nothing. Thanks for the input and thanks for letting me rant.
Rock On,
Mike |
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| Acid John |
well... i think the "selling out" factor really depends on your like or dislike of techno...
for instance, if you absolutely despise techno, then i suggest you just dont play the venue if people will be expecting techno...
but.. if techno is not your first choice, but you'll still listen to it, then im sure you'd have some fun playing out.
or... you could play more tech-trance type stuff.. maybe try to meet the people half way...
oooor...
you could start off playing techno and get your foot in the door... play a few times of just techno... then slowly start changing your style into something you'd much rather do, and by then, hopefully you'll have made your name big enough in the local scene or at local bars/clubs that you can get booked easier even if the promoters know that youre not playing techno....
either way... good luck. |
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| Mike123 |
| thanks for the input. |
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| nrjizer |
Here's the thing:
If you're booked to play at a club or party, it's really up to the promotor to know who the he's booking, what they play, and what the crowd is going to expect. Make sure the promoter knows the styles you represent.
You can only bend your own style so far. |
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| idoru |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mike123
Nah, I'd rather not sell out to play at a club for one night. The place has really good sound, but I would never enjoy it if I am not playing something I like anyway. I've been thinking alot about this because its so hard to get in the scene out here with the type of music I play. When I play records I play them cause I love it. I don't do it for the crowd or anyone else. I never understood dj's who would play a style of music just to please the crowd. I don't spend hours on end listening or playing music to impress some people. Thats the problem with the scene out here is all these untalented so called djs spin a bunch of just because other people are spinning it. And half of them are just happy they can beatmatch 2 records and thats all they care about. They have no type of track selection or nothing. Thanks for the input and thanks for letting me rant.
Rock On,
Mike |
Well, then if that's what your scene is like, I doubt you'll get very far. If, and please note the if, the promoter booked you based off of a demo you gave them, then that means you can pretty much close to whatever you want, because the promoter obviously has faith. However, your thoughts in the first half of that post are fundamentally flawed.
You said you live in Detroit where the scene "is mostly techno and house" while you "play progressive and trance, and very little techno." Right there, that tells me that getting the crowd to react to the music that you will be spinning will be tough. You have to stop and understand the crowd for a second.
There will, of course, be people who will dance to whatever comes out of the system (those are the people who usually aren't there for the music, but that's a whole different matter). You will not get the type of crowd reaction you're looking for if you play something that they are not used to; most of the crowd is indeed there for the music, but aren't as knowledgeable of it as most of us on TA are and take time understanding new genres. Thus, if you play something that they're not used to hearing, the floor will be mostly clear (hence my example of being booked to play Progressive House/Minimal for an event ending with Happy Hardcore).
In my previous post in this thread, I mentioned that you needed to try and adapt your style to the crowd's tastes. By no means did I say that you needed to "[play] music to impress some people." Playing only what you want to hear will not get the crowd going . What you need to do is take your style of music and select the tracks in your record box that not only will YOU enjoy but hopefully are going to be something that the crowd enjoys as well.
If you choose to not pay attention to what the crowd wants to hear and play only what you want to and still get a really good reaction then kudos to you, for you have struck a big pot of luck. I'm speaking to you from experience here, and I'd hate for you to have to learn the hard way. |
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| Stealth |
| quote: | Originally posted by Acid John
you could start off playing techno and get your foot in the door... play a few times of just techno... then slowly start changing your style into something you'd much rather do, and by then, hopefully you'll have made your name big enough in the local scene or at local bars/clubs that you can get booked easier even if the promoters know that youre not playing techno....
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This is good advise IMO.
Play mainly techno at first but then subtly start sneaking in some tracks here and there that are more your style. Just make sure the tracks you're sneaking in fit with the overall vibe of your mix-- be creative!
Also, in my experience, the best time to introduce new/different music to a potentialy hostile crowd is toward the end of the night when everyone's had a few drinks;):D |
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