On Djing...

dr that all sounds like exciting news, wtg

so my sunday thing this evening was kinda weird. there's this funny drama where the new gay bar in town advertised a "tea dance" on their weekly lineup a couple of days ago, and like, no one owns that concept right? but the bar owner where i'm working got into it with them in their instagram comments, accusing them of stealing the idea. it is basically what they did tbr but it's not like i'm going to say anything about it online lol, people notice that shit imo? anyway rain set in an hour before my gig today which is usually on the patio, so we were inside, and like no one came today. AND i took a huge vape pen hit early on in the set and got quite stoned. somehow i played my heart out though.. my bf came a little later and said the bartender told him "he djs for himself and we love it," which the first half is absolutely true lol. people do seem to connect to it in a positive way, so that's good. i want people to feel what i feel, you know?

i know we don't really talk about music itt because everyone has their cache of records or tunes and their sound that makes them special, but i gotta say, gavlian russom's remix of "this bitch is alive" earns every fucking second of its 11 minutes, that track is straight fucking fire.

here's me in an empty room cutting shapes to grant nelson doing "the pleasure principle"

https://www.instagram.com/p/CdCJx7oAMCU/

FWIW (to stay on topic here despite the fact that I can't move on from the Terje talk) I consider Inspector Norse an "emergency" track - if I find the vibe faltering or I made a goof I drop that and the dance floor is right as rain again

there's always gonna be nights like that map, i've played to many nearly empty rooms through no fault of my own. do your thing, i'm proud of you for just keepin' on.

this whole thread makes me very nostalgic but also gives me no desire to dj live again lol

thanks for the kind words

tbh i have a lot of work to do prepping tracks, just going to focus on doing that work and getting better.

five hour set last night, the bar was PACKED for at least 90 minutes of that

table of old folks complained abt the volume, good thing the owner was out of town, he is much ruder to people about that than I am ("did you notice this is a bar?" is his stock response)

lol at bar owners that are ruder than anyone else

On Saturday I put on my big(ish) occasional night of global / outernational bass music. It was so much fun. Only a 100 cap venue but somehow we managed to get 250 payers on the door(!) Naturally I had nerves for the first hour or two - it was pretty quiet until midnight, but I went to the toilet and came out to an absolutely throbbing dancefloor.

I'm really enjoying inviting other DJs to go back-to-back with these days. The best ones are when you're really able to vibe off each other and egos are left at the door.

I've back-to-backed several times with two DJs. With one of them, it didn't work because we were kinda pulling in opposite directions. With the other one, where we've back-to-backed for three hour sets, we've been on the same page throughout and it's worked superbly well.

Yeah, it either clicks or it doesn't. Very frustrating when it feels like wresting like that. I've found that 2-3 songs on/off is the sweet spot. Other times we've done 20 mins on/off and I found that when someone tries to go in a different direction, it sometimes ends up plonking right back where it was

I've only ever found one person I could b2b with reliably and it was very much just an "I got something to follow this with" inspiration kinda vibe, whoever wanted to play played because we trusted each other's ideas. And while it's fun building a grand sandcastle of your own, I really like having something drift off in weird directions and be unexpected. I get bored when people wanna b2me and just wanna play one genre. Glad it's working out for you dog latin 'cause that sounds like the perfect sweet spot.

oof i want to DJ again, but also hate staying up past 11, so no thanks lmfao

I’ve got a gig in a couple weeks co-DJing with a friend, a very low-key thing, 2 1-hour sets at a night market.

I’m pretty stoked, because I’ve had an itch to do it for a while now. Last time I DJ’d was NYE. In my living room. Using 2 Dual changer tables and an ancient mixer. Audience was my daughter and her friend. It was awesome.

I'd really like to start doing gigs, but my social anxiety and advanced age is making it difficult to get the ball rolling, not sure what to do

I recommend happy hour bar gigs to ease back in and/or get yr foot in the door

I should look into that, I saw a cheese and wine shop that was looking to have a DJ brunch on weekends, but I suspect I'd be too noisy

I'd really like to start doing gigs

Love that Insta video above Map.

Re: B2B - for me I think it’s got to be kept for the end of the night and hopefully a spontaneous thing, I’m always worried that the DJs are having more fun than the dancefloor at a lot of B2Bs.

Obviously there are exceptions to this, and some very notable DJ duos ;)

I've ruined friendships due to b2b djing.

I was always a bit too much of a control freak. In my 20s on weeknights trying to get jaded crowds dancing I was too concerned with what was being played and would bully my partners for playing to weird, which would just make them play weirder or worse. Sometimes I felt like said partners would empty the floor and then I'd have to play a crowd-pleaser or two to get them back and then partner would empty floor again.

Obviously not the ideal partnership or scenario, and one at which it was all kind of irrelevant anyway because it was a tuesday night at 2am in a nearly empty bar.

On better nights/better times, I'm a big fan. I do find it a lot of fun, the surprises/challenges of figuring out what to play out of somebody elses thing. But I always wanted to do like 3 or 4 songs per, not an hour each or whatever, mostly because I'd get bored. It's one thing if my friends are there or I'm having fun dancing, but other times it's just like, I'm sitting there in the booth waiting for my turn to go back on. I know people want to do 40 minutes plus sets so they can really "go on a journey" or whatever but I don't want to sit there nursing a drink while you do it.

Ideally I play and if it's going well I keep playing and if it's not I quickly say let's tag team!

Generally though I've had good nights where I do a 40 minute to hour and a half set and then at the end of the night do 2 or 3 each for a while when things are really loose.

Sometimes I felt like said partners would empty the floor and then I'd have to play a crowd-pleaser or two to get them back and then partner would empty floor again.

haha, I heard back from the cheese shop asking about my rates for a 2 or 3 hour set. Guess we'll see how they feel about the totally arbitrary rates I pulled out of my ass.

"free cheese, lots of it, and two bottles of wine"

that would definitely be nice, and I'd probably play a lot of gigs for free right now, but this one sounds like they may need me to provide my own sound system, so I suggested actual cash money

my record store thing was a lot of fun! some friends came and a couple of random shoppers, just a very laid-back vibe. mixing vinyl is very hard if you’re a total novice but i managed to make it listenable. it was especially fun to play out these italian 7”s that i impulse-bought during the pandemic lol. my friend was a total pro and killed it with an amazing set of 50s/60s calypso tunes.

one guy who was browsing in the store for a spell came up to me on his way out and handed me a record, saying he thought i’d dig it based on what i was playing (i did end up buying it and, yep, he was right!). later he reached out on IG and told me he liked my set. i was really hoping i’d connect with someone and i guess i did! ended my set feeling like ok, i want to keep doing this.

nice! sounds like a great time

going on the lot radio tonight at 10pm for what it's worth. Not sure what I'm going to play. probably too many things

great to hear dr

the latest in the chronicles of manthony:

last two tea dances have been total busts - i hope i can just blame it on shitty weather and mother's day yesterday. also bar owner is being weird about paying me for yesterday, he's usually very prompt. next week will be sunny and 80 degrees so if that doesn't have a decent turnout idk what else to do to make it happen. one of my regulars wants to do his birthday at my party at the end of the month so i'll at least stick to it through that, hopefully it picks up some steam idk.

the local gay pride mafia org has been given my name to do their retro party on the sunday before memorial day, which begins pride week. i met them today to tour the space, it is very large and nice, there's a green room etc. i think that will be fun and i guess i'll be getting the whole reflex catalog (again) because i don't have the time or money to buy and rip vinyl for it, which makes me a little sad.

does anyone have thoughts on dj logos? i hate them and have been avoiding one like the plague, they look horrible on flyers, but most club djs here seem to have them. i think i might draft one that's just lower case in a typewriter font or something just to have on hand.

salt lake city is not a place where a culture of loving dance music and dancing to music exists - the kind of magic that inspires teenagers to drop out and devote their lives to it or whatever. there is not a dance club, by which i mean a club built around dance music. all of the clubs are social get-laid affairs blasting people with 1 minute and 30 seconds of something they recognize to keep them stimulated, OR the other end which is more "good taste" house and techno that's really just wallpaper for hip yuppies and "creatives" to look pretty to. you just never see the kind of enthusiasm of diehards anywhere, the ones that want to lose themselves in the music, who aren't afraid of it, who are open to it, it's dispiriting. anyway just a general gripe, i hate this fucking mormon shitsburg town lol.

i'm pretty sure i got caught in the crossfire of this bar owner's drama with the new gay bar and now he's been canceled and his clientele left and that's why he's not paying me, even though he said he was "just about to" via text twice. even if that's not exactly what happened, i don't deal with people who say they're going to do something and then don't do it.

so i'm already knocking on doors trying to find a new home for my little tea dance and getting no responses. all i want to do is play music and get a little $ for it. this city is not only conservative but more and more cutthroat. generally feel low about it all, $100 a week makes a big dent in my ability to make ends meet, and pay off the debt i accrued getting a new speaker and a controller in the first place. fml.

sorry bud :( hope you land somewhere that recognizes your value <3

thanks dr, i really appreciate the kind words. just going to keep on. it's not like i lost my main job. i can make it work.

something tracer hand said, on this thread i think, is always in the back of my mind - find the people you vibe with. i think i'm on the right track.

There's gotta be some ravers floating around SLC, right? Some kind of underground scene? Or is that just not a thing anymore?

sorry map, i totally relate to your frustration trying to get something going in a city that feels indifferent and out of touch, putting a round peg in a square hole. but you have good taste and you're sharing something positive with people, just keep at it. some of the best nights i've had over the past few years only happened because i plugged away at a mostly thankless bar gig until i made a new friend who loved what i played and wanted to throw parties. making real connections with people you vibe with is really all it is

hey, thanks karl!

i'm stopping by the other gay bar with a patio after work to see if i can talk to someone there 😅

making real connections with people you vibe with is really all it is

the more i get out there the more i realize this is true. it just takes time, consistency, not giving up, being open and social.

sorry for sharing all my drama on this thread lately, but i'd be interested in hearing what other people would do in this situation.

the bar owner has basically ghosted me since sunday. he texted me "i'll venmo u" then didn't, i asked him the next day, he said "i'll send it as soon as i get to the bar," then never sent anything. i sent one more message about this coming sunday and he didn't respond.

give that:
this guy is not paying me, but more than that is being really fucking weird about it
one of my regulars sent me some beautiful flyers which i was in desperate need of, my graphic design skills are awful
this sunday it will FINALLY be warm and sunny and i MIGHT get some people there, maaaaaybe 10-20.

do i:
quietly cancel.
say something online and cancel.
promote on my accounts and show up one more time, see how it goes, see if i can talk to the bar owner.

i kind of want to do #3 but maybe i should let it go now.

i'd go for #3 and then if he doesn't pay / continues to ghost go for a very emphatic #2 next.

do #3 but let him know you will only be playing on the condition that he first pays you anything you are owed

I have an opportunity to do a DJ gig at a local biergarten in June or July, but I'm a bit hesitant to send the promoter a bunch of material and tax forms until I scope the place out. I have a fear with this type of gig that I'll show up and find I play totally the wrong type of music. I don't want to be difficult in this type of situation because I'm not in a position to be real choosy, but it isn't worth it to me if people are going to be annoyed by thumping rave music while they try to drink beer and eat sausages. Is this reasonable?

hey moodles, i might think about playing some of the stuff you have that's on the deeper / more colorful side, my quick take is that it wouldn't be out of place at a biergarten. does the promoter know generally what you play?

i'd try to have a face-to-face with both the promoter and the manager if they aren't the same person, and i'd definitely go there and check it out at least once, maybe even twice. you want to have initial conversations so you at least know who's who and then check out the booth, the equipment and the power situation.

and thanks for the input moodles and stirmonster.

and congrats moodles, that sounds like a good gig

thanks for the advice, I think you are right, I definitely need to scope out the whole situation before committing to anything. I can definitely do something a bit more on the melodic/house end of the spectrum, but I only want to go so far in that direction. As much as I want to be open to whatever gig I can get, I need to also make sure I can play music that fits with my overall approach.

do i: promote on my accounts and show up one more time...

...and show up with an empty briefcase and demand to be paid in cash before performing, a la Chuck Berry.

lol

i'd go for #3 and then if he doesn't pay / continues to ghost go for a very emphatic #2 next.

agree w/this fwiw

yeah i think confronting him in-person will make it harder for him to weasel out.

went to the new happy hour venue for a tech run-through last night - the bar has a real actual DJ setup, CDJs, DJM-900NXS2 mixer and turntables. excited to not have to lug a laptop and bulky stand to the venue, but i also don’t have much CDJ experience so will have to play around with it a bit before the night starts to get my bearing. also need to figure out the whole rekordbox/USB business lol. pretty jazzed about this tho! think it’ll be a fun night.

be extra careful if you have a lot of FLAC files as that is often not supported by CDJs