On Djing...

That is rad J.

Mike: feel you on the dave lee / reflex reliance.

Heh I posted it to two threads already and have been feeling bad for self-promo, but it's this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBM1bZwjbbA

Dope

thanks!

a new record store just opened up in my neighborhood, and they put out a call on their IG for DJs to do weekend in-store sets. i volunteered to do one and they got back to me today, offered me potential dates, and said they'd prefer it if i had a crew or friends who wanted to dj with me because they want to create a cool hangout spot vibe for the store. which i get, but the problem is...i honestly don't really know very many DJs? like i have maybe one or two people i could ask but i'm still relatively new to doing this and i don't have a ton of connections let alone a "crew." but i volunteered for a slot anyway so i have about three weeks to think of something lol. still, i'm excited to branch out beyond the happy hour i've been doing!

if i were you i'd ask some friends if they wanted to hang out while i mix and they can put some records on if they want, who cares if they actually dj

Last week's relaunch of my Friday night bar residency went so, so well (and the bar's pleased, because they had post-lockdown record takings). My new lighting rig, which replaces the much loved £12.99 Lidl desktop mirror ball, illuminated both the main room and the upstairs mezzanine, which was cool. Swapping from vinyl to digital made for a bigger dancefloor, with no needle-jump red zones to police, also aided by the bar removing some of the seating for the night. The bar has also been refurbed, so the whole place felt different, and better.

As it was my first public outing using digital, I played a pre-planned set, mostly consisting of tried and tested favourites from the pre-pandemic era, which I'd fine-tuned and practiced many times over, so there were no fuck-ups on some of the more complicated transitions. Although massively nervous beforehand, I quickly got into a calm state of focus, and so was able to fully appreciate and enjoy what was happening around me.

The track which first got the floor full was, to my surprise, The Doobie Brothers "Long Train Runnin". The night is advertised as "vintage disco, funk and dance from the 1970s onwards", which in practice means very little after 2000, but I took a punt on "Inspector Norse". It was the only track to lose most of the floor, but plenty of bystanders were into it, so what the hell.

As usual, it was a very diverse crowd: mostly early 20s to mid-50s, but two of my best dancers were well into their 70s, which I loved. Loads of friends turned up, plenty of regulars from the old days resurfaced, and there were a lot of new faces. Warm and friendly atmosphere, smiles all round, no bad vibes from anyone. It really couldn't have gone better.

Nice one! I am shocked that Inspector Norse would lose most of the dancers, no matter where you're playing

it is 8 years(!) since I last heard Inspector Norse played to a dancefloor when Mr. Terje played it live. The crowd reaction was one of the wildest I have ever seen as can be witnessed in this video. The sound quality is awful but the energy is a delight. Skip to the last minute for an unalloyed distillation of pure joy -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tgK5tfG9ps

ps - very happy to hear it went so well Mike.

Man, my co-DJ dropped Inspector Norse just the other week while we were going back to back and everyone loved it

i'm going forward with that in-store i mentioned the other week, asked my friend/neighbor if he wanted to share the day with me and he said yes. he's a veteran reggae/dub DJ (who's literally been collecting/DJing since before i was born lol) and i mostly play disco/boogie/italo stuff so it'll be an interesting mix but i think it'll be fun!

for my set i'm leaning towards going all-vinyl which would be my first time ever doing that. my vinyl collection isn't huge but i have enough for an afternoon. the shop has a pioneer XDJ setup with two turntables - i've read that most pioneer mixers don't support FLAC files, which is unfortunately a big chunk of my audio collection. on the other hand, i have also never attempted to mix with vinyl before, so this would be a little bit like throwing myself into the deep end of the pool. but it's also just like...a casual record store thing so i'm trying to not stress over it. i'm hoping i get to meet some other folks who DJ and make connections, there are so many DJs in my city and i'd love to start linking up with some of them.

also the happy hour i'm one of the rotating DJs for is moving to a *much* better location that has cheaper drinks/food, space for people to theoretically dance, better sound (i mean, i'm guessing? the sound was atrocious at the last venue so if it's somehow worse that would be terrible lol) and just a better overall vibe, which i'm very excited about!

that sounds great, I say jump in the deep end

for my set tonight they have finally gotten the speakers properly installed and a friend told me it sounds "kind of amazing" so I am psyched.

on the minus side, I appear to have sold or lost my half speed master of "Fly Like An Eagle" which is bumming me out way more than it should, was really looking forward to hearing "Wild Mountain Honey" on the new setup

it is 8 years(!) since I last heard Inspector Norse played to a dancefloor when Mr. Terje played it live. The crowd reaction was one of the wildest I have ever seen as can be witnessed in this video.

I saw him drop it at Public Works in SF live back in 2013/14 or abouts (same tour I think) - and that remains one of the most insanely euphoric experiences I've ever had on a dance floor.

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!