On Djing...

what kind of venue is it?

It's actually a very long but narrow room with booths either side. The strip of hardwood inbetween could be used for dancing, were one so inclined. I'm not sure how London licensing laws about people "swaying rhythmically to a beat" may constrict us, or not.

And did I mention it's in Camden?

call it chalk farm, it sounnds classier.

I really shouold sort out that place for yoink!

Spot on. My description was obviously v. accurate!

First three,

If you can scratch well(or not), here ya go:

1. Start it up with a sexy hip hop joint or a downtempo track. Nothing bangin', just sweet yet attention grabbing. Make it a track that people aren't exactly familiar with but you wanna make them curious. You must scratch/mix something with it you are sure of your abilities though.
2. Mystic Moods' "Cosmic Sea" is a massive cut to ease into as a second song. Flip it and mix/scratch with something comfy.
3. When the ridiculousness goin' off, the crowd should be into it, then really go into funky overdrive with something like "Theme from Blackbelt Jones" or your holy grail blaxploitation of choice. The party should be off to a good start at this point.

Then when they are getting drunk and frisky and ready to dance,"More, More, More" and "White Lines" are never disappointing spins.

try to keep it interesting, that's my only advice.

i opened my last set with the books' "enjoy your worries, you may never have them again" with robert ashley's "in sara, mencken, christ & beethoven..."... tried to keep it fun and strange.

closed with a bird songs record that i was messing with into the long intro to the colette no5 DFA mix of casiotone for the painfully alone's "baby it's you"... for me it's just something that makes my hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

i really want to do this in some form or another and i think i have a potential foothold at an older gay bar in town. i know/am casual friends with the manager and i've asked him a few times about an empty monday night slot. he's been a little cool about it so far but encouraged me to come on a monday and hear what the later guy was playing. i'm not really hip to popular gay classics or anything but i think some italo and etc. disco wouldn't bomb? (crowd is older gay dudes and random hustlers.) the manager is an ex-cattle-showing country guy who probably wouldn't get too excited if i talked to him in playlist-ese, which is how i'm used to talking to people about music. but i really think the bar (one of the oldest landmarks in the city but kind of "uncool" now) might benefit from something a little more interesting than what it plays right now -- bring in a younger crowd, etc., but also keep its current clientele psyched to come out.

really my question is how should i make this happen? (obviously the first step would be to go there on a monday night and check it out and talk to manager; i haven't yet because of the holidays and assorted stress.) any things to say / pitfalls to avoid? i really want to dj somewhere, somehow, and right now this seems like my best bet.

in general though, how pathetic and gauche is it these days to do the mp3jay thing with an ipod? i think at this particular bar no one would really give a shit, but if i want to keep it up / do something else... i need to invest in a turntable and start buying vinyl right?

re general dj-ing advice: what's the best way for someone who likes music a lot and likes watching people enjoy music and has music he thinks people would enjoy to start playing enjoyable music for people in a public (or any kind of) setting? keep in mind i'm not very good w/ people or schmoozing but getting better and i feel like this is necessary for my future uh happiness. thanks

do you have a laptop?

download traktor and use that.

Based on my experience I'd give two general pieces of advice:
1) Get used to people making ridiculous wishes for a tune, and generally not understanding you don't have every record they'd like to hear readily available in your bag.
2) Get used to people trying to hit on you.

I've DJed mostly in university student parties though, maybe your club is a more specialized setting so these things won't happen so often.

I am a rock guy that came to the DJ game pretty late. It's a fucking blast getting to play my records for other people.

Here's a few quick tips:

1) unless you are going to do dance nights, you don't need to learn to beat match, scratch, or show off any other "skills"

2) FLOW is the single most important thing you can provide. Don't fuck with the audience repeatedly, even if you're playing adventurous music. At least use the "punishment/reward" concept if you must satisfy yourself

3) Don't be embarrassed to pick up a really cheap and useful book called "How do Dj Right". I read great reviews of it, and was blown away at how simple and correct its methodology is.

***

Other than that, yeah--don't use mp3s if you can help it. That's gay.

BTW, you don't need to own turntables unless you're going to do a lot of gigs at places that don't already have them. I do recommend investing in your own cartridges though. That will run you around $60 and will save your records from harsh needles on public decks.

Also, in case you didn't get it, my mp3 comment was a joke. I rely heavily on my vinyl collection because I don't beat match or whatever. So I fall back on two things: my great record collection and my immaculate flow.

:)

Oh yeah, one more thing I've learned: the more drunk the crowd, the less adventurous music the probably want to hear. If you're playing at some club centred around certain genre(s) it might be different, but in general clubs people just want to have a bit of fun and not expand their musical horizons too much.

i've got good flow, thanks. gr8080, no laptop :(. do you think a cheap-ish notebook/laptop w/ traktor or whatever is a better investment for all-purpose dance-ish semi-weirdo dj-ing than a turntable in the future?

tuomas, i'm not gonna be too weird. if anything i'm too sensitive to crowd moods--that is, if i take advice from upthread and don't do it drunk.

And Nate is correct about not needing specialized DJ skills: if it's not a dance or hip-hop club, people probably don't care shit about such tricks. Basically you just need to learn to use the crossfader and try not to follow one tune with another one in completely different tempo (no slow r'n'b jams immediately after a fast house tune). The only things people will notice are blatant fuck-ups, like accidentally pressing the pause button. Which leads to one more piece of advice - don't get drunk, even if your drinks are on the house. A few drinks might be good to ease the tension, but if you get too drunk the potentiality of such fuck-ups is very high.

(x-post)

thx tuomas, good advice.

p.s. manager told me cds were the operating media here so i guess that would be best (though i think i can get away w/ an ipod since the mixing "booth" is like above and hidden from anyone and i could probably find a stereo in and bring some jacks). what i really need to do is check out the set-up tomorrow and see how they're mixing em.

i'd stay away from using your ipod and use cds if you can. burn your best sounding files to cd at least.

ok thx

if you're unfamiliar w/ the basics of using a dj mixer (or even if you are familiar but haven't used the specific type the bar has) see if you can drop in before they open and mess around for half an hour or so, so you can get comfortable with the basics of going from one cd deck to the next.

even if you don't plan on beat matching, the more comfortable you can get with compensating for volume variances between different tracks, minimizing dead air between tracks, perfecting your general flow, etc.

also, bring your own headphones if you have a pair with a 1/4" jack.

also, nate otm. at least stop by the book store and spend half an hour thumbing through "how to dj right".

ok. i'm not a total mixer n00b but i'm unfamiliar with dual cd mixers if that's really what they have. this is great advice + making me think about what i haven't actually thought about yet because i'm too self-deluded and arrogant. i'll check out the set-up tomorrow if i can and report back for everyone's reading enjoyment. and i've got to grab that book; it looks really really helpful. thx nate!

dont forget to have fun, too.

dont get too caught up in pre-arranging your music ("i'll play this track and then this track and then this track...") the best part of deejaying, even at a bar w/o a dancefloor, is connecting with the room and seeing where they're at with regard to what you're playing and how that influences your next selection.

if someone makes a request and you have it, play it. if you don't have it, be honest, but use their request as a springboard to a different topic, musical or otherwise. if people are super annoying and complaining about what you're playing or making vague and non-specific requests, tell them that the next deejay plays the kind of stuff they're into and he goes on in an hour.

also don't listen to tuomas; if you get to drink for free take advantage of that shit! its a bar, not a dance club, right?

always play 'you make me feel mighty real' by sylvester.

haha yes! sylvester will not be MIA

yeah gr8080 i just need to check their set-up and make that work w/ what i have +++++ the flexibility axis. this place is definitely NOT a dance place. people are drinking, eyeing other men and occasionally playing pool. some nights the bar just plays an xm radio station. monday is 'oldies' night but god knows what that means (general '70s/'80s). if anything i need to educate myself on some mainstream (gay) shit from that era to keep the crowd alive. and i am NEVER one to turn down a free drink.

<3 x2

I am hugely relieved that this situation has been so positively resolved. I enjoy posts from both of you. stirmonster, FWIW, I mostly tune out your professional life when reading your posts on here, as I do with the other regular poster on this board with a similarly well known professional life, so please don't be a stranger on this thread.

(Also, many years ago on this board, I was on the receiving end of a flippant/snarky judgement of something which I wrote for a national newspaper, posted by someone who didn't realise that I was the writer. It stung. They were embarrassed and apologetic, and we amicably moved on.)

hopefully table comes back soon after one of the most memorable "meeting your heroes" stories in ILXOR history. I hope and expect they have a drink together in Philly next time things line up.

This sadly reminds me I did not meet tabes when I was in Philly in May but then again I am neither a DJ nor a hero, so.

Well now you're just fishing for compliments

I mean you can make me a hero sandwich, it's all I need.

Look I really like you Ned and you have many great qualities, but I just don't think you'd make a tasty sandwich

Glad to see everyone is friends again :)

Wow, that was... something. ILM really is a great place.

I'm a shadow of a whisper here but having watched the whole thing unfold, and the resolution, got to repeat that ilx is the sanest place on the internet.

(New borad description)

In Philly it is more meet your hoagie.

Speaking of DJing, getting ready for the monthly radio show I do with the est. NickB tonight at 7pm (sorry Nick’s nerves ). https://www.slackcity.org.uk/special-treatment

I was going to just dip in for a little bit but I got hooked. Great stuff, you guys.

aww emily thank you! we miss you in brighton, you know that? <3

Glad to hear you enjoyed it :) One day we should do a Nottingham road trip from Brighton.

is there an archived version of this to listen back to by any chance?

Hopefully over the weekend, just need to collate the tracklisting and blurb and upload the file.

nice one, will give it a listen next week then!

Has Armand Van Helden: I Want Your Soul become massive again this year, or is this just a Yorkshire thing? I've been quite taken aback by its surge in popularity.

Any recommendations for carts? I’ve been limping along with spare home-listening stuff but should get myself a pair of dedicated DJ cartridges.

FWIW I don’t play EDM & I don’t scratch — it’s more “selecting” than mixing — genres run from 50s R&B to funk & Afrobeat to punk/indie. Some of my 45s aren’t in the best shape. I’d prefer to not spend the earth, but if there’s a good case for going higher-end I can swing it. Recos appreciated!

Has Armand Van Helden: I Want Your Soul become massive again this year, or is this just a Yorkshire thing? I've been quite taken aback by its surge in popularity.

― mike t-diva, Friday, September 27, 2024 8:28 AM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

this annoys me bc the song it samples is so much better, and half of armand's catalog is also so much better

For anyone who asked I finally managed to get the show uploaded for last week’s Special Treatment show: https://www.totallyradio.com/shows/special-treatment/episodes/special-treatment-26-sep-2024

Somehow we managed to get two tracks by Escape from New York played by two different DJs, which seemed to happen subconciously. I managed to play the wrong version of Jiraffe: The Crazy Club Dub Mix not the Crazy Vocal Dub Mix. Easy mistake!

The upload got a bit delayed because the next night myself and Celia did our italo-disco and all other things 80s disco night The Flex and recovery took a while… I did manage to make a recording of the night though and I am going to be editing it down to play on another radio show which is a prerecord going out next week and I can share that here too.

Tracklisting:

Ray Leman - Dansometer Reprise
Rheinzand - Slippery People (Chris Coco Extended Disco Version)
Escape from New York - Slow Beat (Dance Mix)
Vera - Special Treatment
Tippa Irie - Panic Panic (Express Mix)
Florio Time Dj - Time Out (Extended Mix)
Chandra - Stranger
Macdonald Duck Eclair - The Yellow Go
Angie Angel - Run Him Out
Cold End - Metropolitan Jungle
Escape From New York - Fire In My Heart
Jiraffe - Out'a The Box (Crazy Club Dub Mix)
Jaures - Cba Quake
Motion - Don't Stop (Remix)
Bronski Beat - Perfect Beat (Michael Lane Edit)
Private Class - Master of Love (Salon Acapulco Edit)
Wind - Luxury
Mala Ika - Fueralarm
Junior M - Barbara (Fabrizio Mammarella remix)
Digital Emotion - Get up, action (remix)
Bell Towers - Ecstatic (Dancing On My Mind)
Angela Werner - Cosmic Spiele (ASDX edit)
Atchoum & Grincheux - Demokousse
Daniel Monaco - Change
Sputnik - Dance Device
Telex - L’Amour Toujours
Xeno & Oaklander - Magic of the Manifold
Johannes Volk - Starlight Tunnel
Perfume - IMA IMA IMA
Future State - Future State
Kit Sebastian - Bul Bul Bul

That Digital Emotion song is one of my top get the party started songs. Any song that directs listeners to get up is a good thing. D.F. & Pam's On the Beat follows. And if in a more disco/boogie less italo/nrg vibe....Direct Current's Everybody Here Must Party.

Yeah it’ a good one that - I’d not heard this remix of it before though.

loving this so far, nice one guys!

love it, great picks again

'fire in my heart' is an all-timer among all-timers

ooh great, will listen tomorrow!

a couple of weeks ago I passed a brewery I'd never seen before and went inside.. they had decks and on a whim I asked the guy behind the bar if they needed a DJ. he said to email this other guy, which I did (!?) and he wrote back immediately and said he needed someone for the following Saturday night! Vinyl only, he couldn't pay me but he could feed me and give me free beer so I was like what the hell, why not, I enjoy playing records on a very loud system.. Friends I did it and this bar was fuckin DEAD. Like maybe 20 people, all sitting outside on one of the last nice nights of the year.. at 10pm they all had to move inside, so I was like, hey maybe things will heat up but no, half of them left. What I should have done is invited friends to come but I didn't know what the scene was going to be like. But I should have! They would have gone buck wild! In a way it was a confirmation that my friends are pretty fun and nothing really matters if you don't have an interesting crowd.

My city sucks music-wise. I’m friends with local acts Zombies in Miami and Sakro and they’re usually touring in Europe because there’s no scene in here. They play just a couple of events every year in here (which they have to organize and fund) because there’s no club or bars that will pay for them.

Cities like guadalajara or mexico city do have very interesting places pushing different genres and subcultures but my city… is more of a town culturally speaking. Resident djs are not paid a lot and they’re expected to play the same sort of things. There’s a couple of places more focused on techno and house that get packed but the audience sucks as consumers tbh they’ll pay for a couple of beers and that’s it. Clubs sell a lot but it’s the same boring reggaeton/pop/corridos tumbados in every spot. The audience say they want something different but I’ve tried it as an owner and it doesn’t work. The few places that have tried doing something more unique end up bankrupt.

There’s a place that opens this weekend that will try to do a cocktail bar/ vinyl djs thing. Hope it works well for them and it starts opening the path for another kind of scene.

well i've been bunted to an occasional thursday for "mlm visibility night" lol. (that's men who love men, not multilevel marketing.) good to know what "community" i represent. i mean it's not inaccurate. i hope it'll be a monthly but i'm not sure. still shaking off the hurt a bit but i'm actually excited to give it a go. weekly was burning me out tbh. no idea what to play on an "mlm visibity night". not sure my go-to of british dance with girly rnb singers is appropriate. what is butch dance music that doesn't suck? maybe i'll just play a bunch of raw / hypnotic techno. i'm reminded of this not-great recent josh wink track called "balls back"... lord help me.

to tracer hand's point my last thursday experiences at this bar were very hit-or-miss. long stretches with no one on the floor. i'm one who enjoys just listening to music on the system but otm that it can feel pretty empty when no one's on the floor. after a long stretch of that when one or two people venture out for a dance i always feel like i'm overeager to please haha. but i have no idea what to do really and usually they just want to move around for a minute or two. but occasionally someone's with me for longer. that's always nice.

A couple of weeks ago I signed up with a DJ booking agency because I'm just not good at networking and asking around for club gigs (which are pretty much nonexistent in my area anyway).

Last weekend I played my first gig, at someone's 40th birthday party. I bought myself a nice portable DJ booth and a small mixer beforehand, and borrowed speakers and a couple of lights from a friend. It went great! Started with mid-tempo tunes from 8.30, first couple of dancers on the floor around 11, massive party around midnight.

I already have three more bookings in October - as many gigs as I had in the rest of the year! This is the way to go for me from now on.

So many dis are so bad. Don’t ride your ego and fool yourself into thinking yore any good. You’re probably not

still miles better than being some drunk asshole though

One doesn’t preclude the other, douche

thats the djs sorted

I'm going back to my longstanding (11 years!!) bar/restaurant gig on Sunday after a summer hiatus, it was nice to file everything back in my stacks and then have to look through it all again to pull new things. I have been neglecting these Mantronix albums.

nothing really matters if you don't have an interesting crowd

this is it, isn't it. There's a lot to be said for being prepared, reading a room and reacting accordingly, but sometimes you just cannot win

Has Armand Van Helden: I Want Your Soul become massive again this year

I've not really heard it in the wild more but it's cropping up a lot in mixes frequently, I feel like it's in every other Boiler Room I hit play on just now

Daniel Monaco - Change

banger for days

Moka you have introduced me to so much great music over the years across various parts of ILM and I think it's a sad reflection on your city that someone like you can't find a space to be successful at this on your own terms.

ArchCarrier that sounds great!

map what did you go with for MLM night in the end?

my own update: a friend of mine recently got asked to play at a One Direction night (in 2024! who knew?) and said it was the easiest gig he has ever played because One Direction fans will go wild for anything by One Direction. The promoter was looking for someone to do their planned Taylor Swift event but nobody was available or keen so my pal set up a digital introduction for me. I'm not a Swiftie - I went to see her in Paris in May with a friend who is, and left feeling like less of a fan tbh - but I know her catalogue well enough to be able to do it and it turns out the money they are offering is VERY generous. They don't even want it to be like a "DJ Set" they literally want me to play it in the way the Eras tour is structured, pause/play cueing with filter sweeps for the singalong bits, padding out a 3.5 hr concert into a 4 hr playlist. I almost feel guilty agreeing to it because it feels like a con - it will take me maybe an afternoon to prep whereas when I'm in the pub I usually take a few evenings to prep and then rehearse. It's next weekend and it's a bigger venue than anything I've ever played at but I also do not see it being particuarly busy.

I re-recorded my set from the pub the other week at home because I thought it was a good set for showing what I do in the pub. It turns out I'm a better DJ when I'm in front of people and I've got a drink in me, than I am at home sober and trying to record something properly. There's two very obvious flubs. But after 2.5 hrs into a 3 hr set I wasn't in the mood to restart and re-record so I've uploaded it regardless, mistakes included, you can listen to it here. I am certain map and mike-t-diva will recognise some of these blends as they have been directly "inspired" by sets they've shared previously!

ArchCarrier: that all sounds very promising - good luck.

boxedjoy: I'll be giving your mix a listen over the weekend. One of my DJ friends did a Taylor Swift bottomless brunch set a few weeks back; it was very well attended, and very well received.

map: from my many visits to the Eagle in Manchester, I can report that older butch queens still go for uplifting commercial dance, pop diva remixes and all that sort of stuff; I've never heard any techno played there. ("MLM visibility" though! Wow, we've become a protected minority niche!)

Last night's house set went fantastically well again, this time with dancing on both floors of the bar, which rarely happens. It peaked so early this time, that I think I wore them out by the end - the floor thinned right out during the final section, only for everyone to mysteriously re-emerge for the last two tunes. The biggest tracks were Fisher: It's That Time, Pawsa/Nate Dogg: Pick Up The Phone, Oden & Fatzo: Tell Me What You Want, Young Pulse: Free (Disco Tribute Mix) and Michael Gray/Sultra Gospel Singers: Fly Away. I'm also using Optimo (Espacio) End Of The Night Choir: One More Tune (from How To Kill The DJ Part 2) as a useful pre-emptive bridge - it synchs down very nicely!

That Taylor Swift night sounds insane - sign me up for one of those!

I had to look up the meaning of 'bottomless brunch' - I was picturing people eating with their pants off.

Also, Calstars: hope you're doing okay and that you're able to find help with your issues.

Ooh, I love that Michael Gray track, Mike!

It might go well with Kathy Sledge's cover of 'Another Star' for a little Stevie medley.

Yeah, that Michael Gray cover of “As” has been one of THE big tunes of the past few months; it’s beautifully done, tbh better than I would have expected from him.