On Djing...

heh, so tonight i'm going in to train to DJ and host at a strip club here in Honolulu town. i spent the whole week digging for music, making playlists and doing lots of research via YouTube and podcasts. i am ready. time to check this off of the bucket list.

i will not use the strip club DJ puke voice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie0qwD2FYmA

tell us how it goes. do the dancers have their own entrance songs?

I was wondering the same. Asked a few of the entertainers if they had a theme song and none had an answer on the spot. IDK what mine would be, either, to be fair... Thinking about it makes me want to collaborate with individual performers who might be open to developing up their acts, work to broaden the scope of programming beyond the industry-standard tvrnt/ratchet domain... Put the SHOW back in Show Club, y'know? But first I'll need to get more than just my foot in the door.

Anyway, tonight was chill. I've done a ton of research and taken copious notes, and I think I'm ready to handle DJ duties (80% of which are ops and stage management) on my own, now. If I didn't fuck it up tonight, then I'll soon (happily) be there on the slow nights of Sunday and Monday. Fingers crossed. This spot is the only titty bar in town where I'd be glad to DJ—clean, high ceilings, minimal-to-zero sleazy/creepy/scary elements. Fuck going back to the software/tech industry.

I made my radio debut yesterday and it was a lot of fun. Was super anxious beforehand (and had an anxiety dream the night before involving not being able to find my records before leaving my flat, missing the bus, calling a taxi and it getting lost etc etc) but was fine when I started, as predicted by the folk that run the station

The main thing that surprised me was how bloody difficult it is to speak on the mic. I had planned on amiably chatting away to my listeners, dispensing fascinating wee observations about the music in the style of John Peel, when it came to it I was more like 'so erm, this one's by Arthur Russell, erm yeah, I really like it'. Getting super self-conscious even though there was probably only about five people listening. So DJs who can chat on the mic and make it sound easy and natural have gone WAY up in my estimation

For me it got easier after the first 10 shows. It's best not to think about what you're going to say while you're on the air and just talk, but that's hard enough!

Where can we listen to your show?

Congrats on yr debut, paolo! Speaking to an unknown set of listeners who you can't see, who can't respond (without calling you) and aren't even in the room with you... it takes a while to get used to it. It's much easier with a co-host, too. It takes courage just to get on the mic at all. Give y'self a pat on the back.

I forget whether you mentioned if this is gonna be a regular thing, but if I could offer any more advice for future shows, then I'd recommend listening to yr show's recordings for the talking breaks, and remember to just be yourself. Yr something special, be yourself!

Thanks folks! I'll stick the audio up in the DJs post your mixes thread when it's on Soundcloud

I've been pondering putting together a few 30 minute excerpts of my mixes that are more stylistically focused as a way to give booking agents something compact to check out that will give them a good idea of what to expect from me. I already have a solid House sampler:

https://soundcloud.com/moodlesmix/trip-house-excerpt/

I'm considering adding another for Tech House and Melodic Techno, and one that covers Hard Techno and Trance.

Is this a good idea? What is the best way to focus these to grab someone's attention? I don't really have a good idea of what a booking agent is listening for or what they want to hear.

Is the SoundCloud mix you posted set to private? I'm getting a 404.

As I understand it, the top 3 considerations for ppl booking talent are: 1) will they draw a crowd, 2) how well will the crowd receive them, and 3) are they reliable/professional/trustworthy?

You can get a foot in the door if the people doing the booking are confident about at least two of the three. A mix can help with #2—they'd be listening to see if your sound is a good fit for them—but it can be hard to get 'em to listen to it in the first place.

The common wisdom is that you should include demos in an electronic press kit (EPK), along with a bio, photos, videos, etc. Making one is a pain in the ass, but it can make a good impression and help you be more convincing about #1 and #3.

I updated the name and link and created a set of genre-specific short mixes:

https://soundcloud.com/moodlesmix/sets/sample-dj-sets-by-genre

I definitely will need to consider how to get some kind of real press kit together, but that will probably take a while to heppen.

3rd party last night. the best one yet. we actually made a little bit of money.

i took the 2nd set this time and honestly knocked it out of the park. i got a lot of compliments. i haven't rocked a night like that in .. 3 years? felt great.

getting better with fx. still do a high pass filter a little too much, it's a tic. need one or two other go-tos. even low pass / drop-outs or something.

local king of the mountain dj / frienemy who is difficult to work with came. i can't stress how unfriendly and up his own ass the guy is. but he's a scene fixture (missing stair) and has been for 20 years so everyone has to work around him if they aren't lucky enough to fall in his favor (which only lasts for a year or two at most anyway, he's a fickle one).

not sure what to do next. i have it in mind that i'd like to get someone from out of town to headline one of these, chrissy comes to mind, but that's a few parties down the line i think. i've been pursuing a weekly gig with a gay bar, but the owner is being flaky about it. i thought a sunday afternoon tea dance type thing might be a hit but now it feels like a gamble. i have to talk to him tomorrow.

i dragged my poor boyfriend into working the door, so i'm going to treat him to dinner tonight (he refused to be paid). honestly just super happy it went off. such a special feeling on the floor. took a gamble and went emotional for a track or two but enough to cleanse and then brought back the party energy. i made the warm-up dj's year pretty much, he's just starting out. he kept thanking me over and over. it was really sweet.

oh, and the featured dj we had is this guy who has only lived here for a year or two but had quite the career in l.a. has opened up for the likes of tony humphries. connected with dave aju, lots of california people. international gigs etc. really nice guy. brought two l.a. friends in the "industry" whatever that means lmao. played an amazing set of true cult disco, the kind of thing where every song is an incredible jam you've never heard before. "real soul" type stuff, beautiful. poor guy was on my xdj-rx2, called it a unicycle lmao. he really needed turntables for his set but yknow my shit is still pretty bare-bones.

that’s awesome your party was a smash map! woulda gone for sure if i’d been in town :)

missing stair - glad to know there’s a term for this kind of personality, i have a hard time dealing w/ ppl like that and usually just avoid them if i can, it’s such a pain when they’re someone you sorta have to deal with

looks like i may be DJing again in early march at that happy hour i used to DJ for pre-panny, which is happening at a fairly bourgie spanish restaurant just up the street from my house. the new venue is honestly worse than the previous one - hardly any room to stand and mingle with other ppl let alone dance. plus I’m DJing inside, which I’m fine with but nearly all of my friends here are still too fidgety about doing any kind of indoor activity so i probably won’t have too big a turnout. still, i’m just happy to get back out there and do a thing! mixes at home are fine but i miss in-person energy hugely

that's great news. anything is better than nothing. best of luck.

really enjoying these updates

Yeah same. It's been really fun hearing ppl share their experiences.

I just took my first gig since prepanedmic spinning after some bands at a small club in a couple weeks. In normal times this is one of my favorite kinds of gigs bc its low-pressure (ppl arent there to see you) but still a nice crowd, and people are lubed up from drinking during the show, plus I can get a sense of the crowd over the course of the evening and guess at what they might be into, if they'll want to keep partying or wind down, etc. Over the last 9 months I've been extremely careful, other than going to the (mostly empty) movies a few times I dont think I've done any kind of open-to-the-public indoor activity whatsoever, so I've definitely got some anxiety about that aspect of it, but it seems like a good chance to experiment with stepping out of my comfort zone and see how it goes (gig will be vaxxed-only and fully masked, so I'm sure it'll be fine.) Despite the mild covid-worry, I'm looking forward to it, I think it'll be really good for my soul & mental health to get out & share some records with people again.

that sounds ideal. glad to hear you're going to try it.

finally DJ'd a small party a couple weeks ago at a friend's house and had so much fun. several people mixed, including a guy who i didn't even know could mix who played a really fun freestyle set for an hour. then a couple of my buds went b2b playing acid, one of whom i always encouraged b/c i knew he could but he was always cagey about actually putting together some music and playing it out, but he sounded great! then we had a deepish house set, then some 90's house and techno, and then i went on from 3am and closed it out in a nice foggy living room full of friends. it was so cool having a bunch of people play a variety of music, just a lovely night all around

Sounds perfect

whew, things heating up a little bit in small lake city. i got asked to do the same slopeside gig i did in 2020 right before shit hit the fan, this saturday. complicated setup but i've done it before so should be easier this time and they're paying me a decent amount.

i staked a claim for pride friday in june at the bar we are doing my parties at. lo and behold i get a message saying the local kings of the mountain want that friday and saturday at the bar. so i talked to them and was like that's fine if i can dj and they said i could have a decent slot and i don't have to do the setup work myself. i will be eye rolly if they drop me into a warmup. they make me uneasy, lots of ego at their functions, not ideal for my dj-ing where i'd rather be relaxed and kind of running the show even if it's more low-key. but i guess i'll try it again and see how it goes.

after the above happened i rescheduled our party for early may.

and now i've got to start working on this tea dance weekly starting in late march.

feeling a little tired tbh, but satisfied that things are happening.

Nice work map!

after almost a 2 year hiatus I will be returning to my monthly restaurant/bar gig on Sunday March 6th, I am psyched

$1 oysters y'all

Yessss

This thread makes me want to spin again. The last time I played, a gallery opening way pre-Covid, ended with dancers stripping to their skivvies (in a gallery!) so you can see where I might want to return.

I have now built up a healthy collection of dance 12"s in the 125-140bpm range and I'm keen to mix them together at some point. Being more of a digital DJ, I know the theory but I have very little practice of spinning vinyl. Can't really get my head around accounting for that split second of speed-up/slow-down when you let the platter go. I'm going to practice on my housemate's decks soon though

do u know how to slip-cue? that takes care of a lot of that

(just enough pressure on the record to keep it stationary, while the turntable still revolves under it)

not really. i don't have much experience of vinyl decks at all really. I've done sets on them before, but it tends to be more ecelctic stuff that doesn't really involve much beatmatching

just practice a bit! it's pretty easy to figure out and the record starts instantly with no speedup intro

(I learned it in radio but it comes in really handy for me if I need to cue up a track where there's no gap beforehand, I don't beat match)

just make sure you have a slipmat!

oh yes, lol, good point

I think that with all half-decent decks the turntable should still revolve while the record stays still, you just have to press down gently on the record. It takes practise to learn how to give the record a little push when you let go so that it starts at the speed you want it to, but it doesn't take that long to learn

$1 oysters y'all

did my first gig in 2.5 years last weekend, spinning after bands at a club. was extremely strange being back in a room full of sweaty unmasked people hearing loud music, but it felt almost normal, and i didnt get covid, so yay. set was a bit disappointing in that i expected to be spinning for an hour or more of afterparty, but the club announced last call after about 15 minutes - people (& venue staff) in my town still arent used to staying out as late as they used to. i'm curious about how that will evolve.

an interesting thing though: i noticed one dude was conspicuously loving everything i played, & he eventually introduced himself to me as a big collector of the very-specific niche of records that i was playing. he was from europe & had been stranded stateside for the last 3 months due to omicron, and was flying back the following night. i tried to quickly clock whether he was a weirdo or creep, guessed he seemed legit, and took a chance inviting him over to my place for coffee the next day. he only had an hour to spare, but he brought a bunch of records and we had a great time gabbing and frantically trading records like two kids trading baseball cards. i ended up with some amazing & obscure european stuff that i never would have discovered on my own and hope to keep in touch. so that was really cool.

after missing gigs for so long, I had kind of forgotten that stuff like that can happen, and it was really pleasant to rediscover how, aside from the gig going good or bad, so much of the pleasure & fun of DJing just comes from the social connections you can make when you share what you love out in public. so, a good time overall.

what is the very specific niche?

yeah, forced social activity is such a great part of it. it pulls you in deeper.

xp yes I am curious about that as well! great story.

I did essentially my first live radio show in 2 years last Monday, it felt pretty good! I am back live for the foreseeable future.

i was spinning like 50s/early 60s mambo & rhumba-influenced r&b on 45, doo wop groups doing 'exotica' riffs, stuff like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNwdtirJUIo

(its not my main thing but its what i brought that night, figuring (correctly) that people weren't going to be looking for a big sweaty northern soul dance party. and apparently i met the one person in my town that night who absolutely lives & breathes that stuff.)

fuckin' rad

<3 <3 <3 !!!

I would totally come to this DJ night!

aw thanks sleeve & Dan. yeah i like the way that stuff sounds for certain spaces & crowds where like, theyre either done with dancing or havent gotten loose enough for it yet, but they still want to vibe

do you have any mixes of this stuff online at all?

apparently i used that track on this mix here, although the whole mix kind of oscillates between stuff with that sound & more traditional 60s latin jazz & boogaloo kinda stuff

thank you.

SO the sunday tea dance party i'm starting...

the bar has guaranteed i can use one active 12" speaker, maybe two. no subwoofer. i think this will be ok for the first few weeks as i doubt we will have more than 20 people out there at a time. if it's a runaway success we will obviously need more sound.

i am looking at purchasing a turbosound speaker on credit, the kind with a small sub and vertical tower line array. around a grand. BUT my plan is, see how this goes for a few weeks and make sure the income stream starts to flow ($100 for four hours every week, which is ridiculously low but i've got to start somewhere).

it is unclear if the bar speakers will be in use by the indoor drag brunch performers when we start at 4 pm. so i will be arriving before the drag show on 4/3 and moving at least one speaker out to the patio.

said patio is pretty cool! it is fairly small but comfortable and has pleasant seating and a nice view of the city. best of all, no concrete walls turning the sound into soupy garbage.

last of all, i need a name for this. i thought of 69th Ward Tea Dance (the ward thing is a play on mormon ward dances, the 69 refers to you know what (69, a sexual act)). is this too abstruse? the only other option i can think of is simply Sunday Tea Dance. your feedback on this matter is appreciated.