On Djing...

I've definitely been wondering about how to approach getting a first gig. I need to get a lot more exposure to the local scene, I barely have any concept of what's happening around here. Several years back I did a live PA at a hookah lounge as part of an Ableton users event, I'd love to do some more lowkey stuff like that just to get my feet wet and have fun.

I feel weird saying this, but I've noticed much more lately that every new-ish popular DJ I come across is either also a model or could easily be one. It's a little intimidating that there are so many super talented people out there who are also super beautiful, while I'm a short, balding, middle aged dude who wants to play some techno.

i am a bearish bodybuilder so that can get me some attention but maybe not the right kind for what i'm trying to do. i.e. the gay clubs here might not be the best fit for what i play.

there is one gay-friendly bar, only a few months old, that i'm going to focus on first i think.

xp i also feel old and awkward.

i have this recurring feeling that a business card would be really useful to have when i'm talking to bar owners, maybe with a qr code to my soundcloud. something to leave them.

that seems like a great idea

a business card seems like a good idea. linktr.ee is useful for consolidating your stuff into one link if you have mixes spread out over different sites

having a few motivated and extroverted friends who want parties to happen is the only thing that worked for me. i think if it were up to me to actually "network" i'd just give up and stick to mixing at my house. i started using instagram to try to increase my "visibility" but that devolved into almost exclusively posting my weird art which is not helpful

lol. yeah, having extroverted and party-oriented friends sounds key. i'm starting to realize this is almost 100% a social project.

put shows on every week with ppl on the regular int'l dj circuit and put your name on the flier

the best advice for this tends to be regional, and there are many diff ways to come up, but you'll find in most places that it's not only social but it's about having a lot of money to burn

to be clear, i don't give a fuck about 'coming up', i just want to play music i like to some people who want to dance to it and get some remuneration for my time.

i can't tell if you're being cheeky bongo, and i don't mean to be rude, but that sounds like a real fast way to fall out of love with djing, from my pov.

yeah lol I'm kidding in the context of your particular quest, but this is generally how people build names for themselves as DJs. Besides what's been said already you can also reach out to radio / online radio people to do guest sets and then mention that when trying to get gigs.

conincidentally, i just did that!

Good luck on this! My personal experience is that people generally don't care about online profile in terms of guest mixes or whatever, it's almost entirely social connections/people booking their friends.

Starting & growing your own night (and booking those gatekeeper DJs on it!) seems like the way to go, if you have the energy for it.

Also maybe just reaching out to those gatekeeper DJ friends and letting them you've been practicing all pandemic and looking to play out more? Can't hurt. I did that once with the people who actually throw events here and burned my cred by playing a noisy live set, so don't do that. I feel like now that I've finally developed some improved DJ sensibilities & skills, I no longer have any connections or opportunities around here, c'est la vie. It's ok though, I'm focusing on making tracks that other DJs play and living vicariously through their sets, which makes for much more reasonable bedtimes.

that's cool! the bedtime thing is so much more of a challenge for me than it used to be, lol.

i have this recurring feeling that a business card would be really useful to have when i'm talking to bar owners, maybe with a qr code to my soundcloud. something to leave them.

― Linda and Jodie Rocco (map)

very good idea, I have separate cards for business and personal, my personals have a nice design and say "Solar Designer/DJ/Pastry Chef" but the Soundcloud QR is a real step up from that

i agree w stirmonster that it is probably down to vibing off people and them vibing off of you, so like, however you can do that.

that’s super unhelpful on a practical level sorry lol but i do think that most great things in life are about shared experiences and feeling connections with people

map if there wasn't an ocean between us I would definitely be going to your party!

awww thx!!! right back atcha.

map, I started my own night. debut on Thursday!

coool... was it hard to find a bar or did you just know someone?

for real though i want to make it over there in a year or two... it really sounds like there are awesome parties happening on every corner in all the uk cities that aren't london that i get mixed up all the time

dog latin tell me all about how you started your night!

I spent a couple years floundering to get gigs then finally started to get popular by throwing my own parties, booking other local and eventually non-local DJs, and chatting up lots and lots of people (not just other DJs and promoters) at both my own and other nights. Once my own thing started popping (which didn't really happen until its second year), then the outside bookings started rolling in. Your own path and results may vary.

nice, thank you for sharing

are you still djing? would love to listen to your mixes if you're on sound/mixcloud.

I thought this was informative: https://www.mixcloud.com/mixcloud/posts/why-mixcloud-doesnt-offer-on-demand-video-vod/

interesting that they mention facebook and amazon but not youtube, which has had a very significant uptick in DJ sets over the past year

one thing I've noticed on recent youtube DJ sets is that the description of the video often contains track details for a portion of the tracks feature, which I assume is used for copyright/royalty purposes, but it usually only covers about 1/4 of the tracks played at most. Not sure how they decide which tracks get mentioned and which do not.

I've wondered about that too, since I've seen mine on there. I think it only applies to tracks already distributed to Youtube through official digital distributors, but I'm unclear whether they ID tracks through algorithms (because it seems like it would be hard to match wavs with blends and changed tempos), or volunteered by the uploader of the set.

I've been Shazaming various tracks from DJ sets lately and have been very surprised at how well it works

i have two little weekday gigs. there's another matt here so the person who holds court in the house scene here suggested i change my dj name from "matt pierce" to "pierce anthony" (my middle name is anthony, and he thought the piers anthony riff was cute). i've never read any piers anthony but it looks like he was a pedophile and a horrible writer and now i hate my new dj name. so i guess i'm going to change it again to 'anthony pierce' but it's annoying to have to explain and change it all again.

anyway, my boyfriend had this idea that i should do a fundraiser night for the first thing i do myself, which is honestly perfect. it will be for a local mutual aid group. i have some people interested in joining on, i'm pretty excited about it.

congrats! yeah that's a bad name, change it - maybe just "DJ Anthony" for a shortened version?

now I kinda wanna brainstorm DJ names for 100 posts

"DJ Multiplus"

(initials)

I am like a month away from resuming my monthly gig but tbh I think we're gonna have to lock down again so I'm keeping my expectations low

I had a whole plan to start checking out a techno night downtown last week and see if there might be opportunities to get booked one week, but quickly realized it might be best to wait it out a bit.

I like DJ Anthony, my grandfather's name was Anthony

he wasn't a DJ, but he did lead an all female concert band before the war: Anthony Bevi and His Ladies of Charm.

now that's a good name imho

yall thank you, "DJ Anthony" is great.

if someone does a weekly, weekday night thing that is a good place to start imo, but yes times are uncertain again right now.

<3

a voice from beyond ilx suggested "manthony" which i mean... definitely

LIKE

That's the one, babe.

THUMBS UP, thx

Matt + Anthony, it's a no-brainer but kudos to the person who came up with it.

so my boyfriend is saying that he originally suggested it but i don't remember lol
vah!d suggested it on facebook.
it's perfect

i remember looking it up and seeing that there are a few manthonys out there but i think that matters to me less now