Over the weekend I was lucky enough to be brought down to Pittsburgh to play at S Bar with the homes Dj Zimmie & Dj Nugget for www.TheSwitchPittsburgh.com.  I ended up playing for a room full of DJ’s, and it got me thinking, do we play differently in front of that kind of crowd?  For most of us I’d say the answer is some degree of yes.  If you say you don’t play any differently, I’d say you probably change something up on an unconscious level.

It’s not easy playing for the competition without feeling a little extra pressure.  You probably feel like you need to show more of your technical skill.  You break out your 2-click orbit flare or your crab more than you normally would.  You try to be just a little more creative.  Push your song selection limits.  You play that song you never play because you think it’ll impress the DJ’s.  You fly through tracks to show you can quickmix with the best of em.

Some of these things are great for pushing yourself to the next level, but I’d argue some of the tendencies are having the opposite effect.  You might find yourself catering to the DJ’s and taking the focus off of the crowd that’s actually there to dance.  Those extra scratches may not have been placed well in the mix.  That song you played for the DJ’s, nobody else knows, and maybe it slowed or cleared the dancefloor.

Maybe none of this happened.  Maybe you held your composure and just did you.    In my experience over the weekend I don’t think I changed up my style too much, but I did feel some of the pressure of playing in front of a group of DJ’s I hadn’t met before.  For me, the biggest factor was being told to play whatever I wanted.  There was no format to the night because it was service industry night.  I ended up playing more oldskool hip-hop and more of my older remixes than I normally do and it seemed to go over well.  Having no boundaries like that can make your mind race in all sorts of directions.

At the end of the day it was a great experience!   I got to meet a lot of really dope DJ’s and make some new friends.  Pittsburgh is a fun city and I hope to get back down there soon.

–Dj JD–
www.facebook.com/therealdjd

Drinking On The Job

We’ve all been there.  You just finished playing the last song of the night.  You feel like a superhero!  And the when you wake up the next day you can barely remember what the last song was, or the 10+ songs leading up to it.  Then you think about what you said on the mic.  What did you say again?  Damn, I don’t remember either.  I just hope it wasn’t TOO stupid.

I’m not gonna take sides on this debate of whether or not to drink on while you DJ.  I’m simply going to tell you some of my experience, first hand or otherwise, as it relates to club environment, although many of these things relate to all venues and events.

When I first started DJing in clubs I would drink every night I worked.  Not in a frat party way, but at least enough to get a decent buzz going.  I’d usually have to drive home, so I’d make sure I had my last drink and hour/hour-and-a-half before we closed.  It’s possible there may have been an occasion or two where I shouldn’t have driven home.

This started as a weekend thing.  I’d open on Friday’s and Saturday’s and have the rest of the night to relax… and drink.  Then I started getting more weekday gigs.  And I drank more.  Not more in the “got drunker” way, just more days of the week.  Pretty soon I’d be drinking 4-5 nights a week!  When you think about it, it adds up.  I’ve never been an alcoholic, no I’m not in denial… lol, but I enjoyed having a few Rum and Cokes when I was at the bar or club.  It really didn’t occur to me NOT to drink at these types of events.

Something I’ve noticed recently after being in the club scene for a while is you start to see the club scene as being normal.  Most of the people you see every day are either club workers or club goers and that atmosphere seems like the whole world.  Everyone must go out and drink like that.  “My friends do it all the time,” you say to yourself.  The problem with that is this.  It’s NOT normal.  Most people DON’T go out to the club and drink a few nights a week.  But it’s REALLY hard to see that sometimes.  It’s easy to get tunnel vision.

It took me a while to realize I didn’t have to drink every time I went out.  I know at this point some of you are saying, “but you’re a grown man, you could always make your own choices.”  And yes, that’s right.  Sometimes your just not as smart as you actually are.  You can quote me on that. hahaha.  In all honesty, it took seeing someone like AM come to the club and not drink for me to see that some people actually don’t.  Someone as high up as him didn’t do shots of patron with the guys.  When I first saw that I was floored.  And he instantly gained a lot of respect from me, as I’m sure he did from a lot of people. Why?  Because he could exhibit such self control.  Of course that control wasn’t always easy as his good friend Kevin Scott explains.

“His addictive nature made it hard for him to be in clubs, that’s why he would always show up right at showtime and leave the second he was finished, but I think for Adam DJ’ing was always about the music and bringing it to people in a creative way.  He found a way to do that sober and his career really soared after he stopped using & abusing.”

Recently, I’ve barely drank while I DJ.  I’ll have the occasional shot that someone brings me or a drink or two early in the night if I really feel the need.  But I stop far short from having a lasting buzz.  Not to say there aren’t any crazy nights.  There are!  But they are far fewer and much farther between.  Maybe part of it has to do with growing out of that phase, but I think most of it has to do with the realization that going to far one night could easily lose me my job.  And that’s not cool!!

We have one of the few professions where drinking is tolerated if not expected, but you always hear horror stories.  So many horror stories.  Dj’s blowing away their allotted tab/not paying their tab or saying something stupid on the mic or to a manager to name a few regular topics.  The fact is, this is our job and if it’s your sole source of income, you should treat it that way.  Be professional.  Think about your image.  Once again, I’m not saying don’t drink while you spin, just be cautious and pace yourself.  There are SO many other DJ’s eager to take your place.  Don’t give them the opportunity because you did something stupid while you were drunk.

There’s so many things I want to say on this topic, but I’m not out to write a book.  I’m sure that’s enough to get some good conversation going.  So what’s your take?

     Ever since JD and I started this site, we’ve been getting numerous emails (please keep them coming!) on a variety of topics.  But one of the most common, is from younger remixers, who want to know how to get their remixes out there.  We also run into some DJs who question whether it’s worth putting their mixes out there in the first place.

If you are looking to build your name beyond the local scene, then the answer to that last question is almost always YES!!  For DJs who are just starting out, you obviously want as much exposure as possible.  Nowadays, thanks to the many DJ/Remix related sites on the internet, it is relatively easy to get noticed — if you are consistently putting out quality stuff.

     Another thing that the internet has made easy, is the ability for up-and-coming to DJs to find sets played by the DJs they look up to.  When you catch one of these sets, you may very well hear an exclusive remix which the DJ has yet to make available to the public.  DJ AM is a prime example.  Anyone who’s watched the countless AM videos on youtube knows that he had some crazy material which he never released.  Now let me state the obvious:  You (nor I) am DJ AM.  AM was a rockstar.  He was one of the few DJs in this country that could really draw a crowd.  He had a crazy schedule of bookings all throughout the globe, and people were really interested in what he played.   You already how big AM was, but my point is, he didn’t have to release his mixes.  He had enough people making the effort to go to his shows, and find his youtube videos, where he knew the people who cared would find a way to hear his stuff anyway.  He was that rare DJ. 

     Now of course, the main point of being a DJ is to be heard.  So unless you are on top of the game like AM was, where people are gonna search for your live sets, you’ll have to make the effort yourself to get noticed.  That means making dope remixes, and putting them in everyone’s hands that you can.   Being on the remix sites are dope, because your name is there for all to see.  If you build a reputation that way, then people can go to the site to find your whole catalog.  Plus, if you are consistent, you can make a nice little sum of cash.  Still, many of the DJs on the sites have a good understanding of  the previous concept I discussed.  They already know that if they make a remix that’s especially dope, it’s likely in their best interest to give it out for free as well as put it up on the sites.  In other words, the money you can make from selling a mix on a site is good, however the exposure you gain from giving a dope remix out for free, and getting it in as many hands as possible, can be PRICELESS!!

     We all know that marketing is a very important aspect of being a successful DJ.  However, business cards, flyers, and social networking, are only a small part.  Putting dope remixes out on the web will likely trump all those.  Ask Discotech or Rock-It Scientists.  Ask DJ Scooter, who recently saw Def Jam put out his dancehall remix of Rihanna’s “Rude Boy”.  It’s every DJs goal to work with the major labels, and Scooter agrees that if it wasn’t for his music being up for free on sites like DJCity.com and NewMusicServer.com, his mix wouldn’t have had the same success.  “In retrospect, I’m defintely glad I had the music on those sites, or it might not have worked out like it did”, says Scooter. 

     Now thanks to sites like Beezo and Freakonomix, DJs can share more than just their remixes online.  Because of sites like those, DJs can actually put up their live sets for fans to download.  Hence, the same questions arrise with this as with remixes, and really, the answer is exactly the same.  While you may be hesitant to put your best sets for download on the net, you have to understand the same issue.  You do want as many people as possible to hear you, right??  And unless you are travelling the globe, and have fans posting youtube videos of all your performances, putting up your mixes for download is definitely the answer!  Still not sure this is a good idea?  Look at DJ Scene.  He’s one of the top travelling DJs in the country, with a solid fanbase, yet he still makes the effort to give out his remixes and put up his live sets for download.  If someone like Scene is still working for exposure, you should be as well!!

—-Spring—-

Imagine if we asked every DJ who visited our site to sit down, spend a few hours thinking, and come up with the perfect playlist for us.  In other words, the perfect 4 hour set, that would work better than any other set, for TODAY.  With time to think, I’m sure most of us could formulate a pretty dope night.  Every hot song and classic track would get played right in a row.  Each song would have a purpose, and would mix perfectly with the next one.  It wouldn’t really be too hard to come up with, because most DJs have small mini-sets that they know work well — so the night would mainly consist of tying those sets together, plus finding a way to fit the hot new songs in.  And then, you would have it:

The Optimal Night.

For any serious DJ who hasn’t thought of his/her optimal night, it is likely that you’ve atleast had one night, where you felt everything really came together extra well, and you’ve likely gone back into your Serato history to relive it and take notes of what really seemed to work.  If you haven’t done that yet, remember — it’s still there waiting for you

Anyway, the whole point of the above paragraphs is just to point out that whether we’ve thought of it or not, The Optimal Night DOES EXIST!!  Although it would be a little different Read more…

Club owners and promoters would like you to believe otherwise, but you, as a DJ, are worth something.  The service we provide has a value no matter how much others try to undermine it.  Everyone’s worth is different depending on their skills and history in the game.  The key is to know where you stand in the scheme of things.  Figuring out your place can be a challenge, especially for those new to DJing.  Even a few years into it you might not know your place for sure.

Now, I’m not writing this to tell you what your worth is.  It’s just not possible for me to do that.  I’m writing this to put the concept of worth in your head so the next time a gig comes up where the promoter offers you half your normal rate you can have the piece of mind to tell them NO!  It’s OK.  You’re allowed to do that.

I believe, and I think most successful people would agree, that you should not take every opportunity that comes your way.  You undermine your worth by doing so.  For you to establish worth in other peoples eyes you have to demonstrate the things you will and won’t do.  You WILL do the event that pays your going rate or more.  You WILL NOT do the event that doesn’t meet your going rate.  If you take every gig that come your way you’re showing everyone you’re a pushover and they can take advantage of you.  That’s not the image you want out there.

Of course there are always some exceptions to the rule.  I’m not going to pretend every gig I do meets the price point I’m aiming for, but the fact that I know my worth helps me determine which lower paying gigs may be worth my time.  I also have no problem turning away the ones that aren’t.  Sometimes exposure/a fun party/friends party trumps money.

That said, if you DJ a club on a Friday night for $150 when you usually get $400, there’s a problem.  Why would you take that gig?  You had a free night?  I’m sorry, but staying home and practicing is worth more than letting every club owner/promoter in town know you’ll DJ for $150 instead of $400.  Yes, if you turned down the $150 gig you might not DJ there, ever…  But who cares???  Do you really want to DJ somewhere that thinks you’re worth 2/3 less than everywhere else you play?  That’s not a repeat gig I’d want.

I could go on for days on this subject and I’m sure I’m missing some key points I’d like to make, but remember this.  You don’t have to take every gig that comes your way.  All money is not good money.  You could be hurting yourself more than helping.  You are worth more than the club owner/promoters want you to believe.  Don’t forget, they’re making a killing!!

We all know every DJ’s goal is to someday become a traveling DJ.  Who wouldn’t love to be paid good $$ to be flown to the hottest clubs in the world just for doing what you enjoy??  However, unless you’re in the small and fortunate group of DJ’s who ever achieve this goal, when you work, it is likely that you have a residency at a local spot.  JD and I both have residencies, and many DJs who do lots of traveling have residencies in different places too.

There is definitely a bright side to being a resident somewhere.  If you have been at a place for a while, you tend to get a feeling of comfort.  Once you have built a reputation as a DJ who’s on time, can hold the crowd, and know what you’re doing – you can breathe a small sigh of relief.   You know if you accidentally run late to your 200th gig, or if your computer crashes at gig #373, you probably won’t lose your job.  You have earned the owners trust, and he/she will likely understand that accidents happen.  It’s not nearly the same thing as if you’re flown out to NYC and something goes wrong your first time there.  In that case, you likely won’t be asked back.  Residencies are also fun because the workers can seem like family.  Over time, you’ll build relationships with the bouncers and bartenders, and going to work could even seem like hanging out with friends.  With that said, there is one BIG danger of being a resident DJ:  you likely are playing for the same group of people over and over again!!  How can you avoid sounding STALE??

As a resident, I’ve discussed this topic before with different owners and staff at some of my clubs.  I’ve actually heard conflicting statements.   Some owners have told me, “Oh, don’t Read more…

As you all know, remixes are COOL!!!  And FUN!!!   If DJs, including myself, didnt play them, this site wouldn’t exist.  Like I’ve mentioned before, most people expect DJs to play their own remixes, and of course, hot ones that other people have made.  I can’t imagine it’s possible to spend a night at a bottle service club and not hear the DJ play any remixes or party breaks which were made by either themselves or other DJs.  But is there a limit to the amount of remixes a DJ should play at the club??  Of course!

The whole “Burning Bible” thing became a very popular subject on twitter.  But discussion on ”The DJ who plays too many mash-ups” is something I also noticed alot of on the social networking sites.  Therefore, I thought it was time to address this topic as well.  No one in their craft wants to be the object of ridicule by their peers — so what amount of mashes/remixes puts you into the category of “the DJ who goes overboard”??  It’s not very easy to define.

First off, not all remixes hold the same weight in this discussion.  Playing three “redrums” in a row is NOT the same as playing three DJ Scooter segways.  Playing three “Hype Intro” mixes in a row is NOT the same as playing three Bmore remixes of hip-hop songs.  So when I hear a DJ complain that another DJ at the club is playing nothing but songs off of CrooklynClan, I’m still not sure exactly how bad a situation it is.  There is definitely a limit of remixes one should play, but it’s a tough thing to specify.

Read more…

What’s the one thing DJ’s can’t live without, yet constantly ignore the importance of?

Their hearing!!

We are in a profession where hearing loss is the norm.  We’re constantly in  loud environments, whether it’s a club, car, headphones or the studio.  We can’t get away from it.  We leave work feeling like we have cotton balls stuffed in our ears or we hear a constant ringing.  It’s a huge problem, but it’s rarely talked about and I’d say, rarely thought about as well.

I’ve been a musician my whole life, so my view on the importance of sound and hearing may be different from people who got into the music scene at an older age.  Music is and has been at the center of my life since I can remember and I plan on keeping it that way.  Because of this, losing my hearing is NOT an option.  I doubt anyone thinks any differently.

I’m not saying I haven’t given my ears a good workout throughout my lifetime.  I certainly have, and I continue to.  It’s part of the job.  But I have come to realize that I need to be much smarter about how I listen to music.  It’s not like I’m at a club 1 day a week or at a loud concert once a month.  I’m in the club 5-6 days a week!  If you are too, you need to do something about it!

First and foremost, you need earplugs!  And I don’t mean the little yellow foam things you get at walmart.  You need professional, fitted earplugs.  I got them recently and they are amazing!  What you need to do is search google for an audiologist (hearing doctor) in your area.  Make an appointment for a hearing test and to get fitted for earplugs. Read more…

In today’s Editorial Edition of Remix Report, I’m gonna break down what I feel makes a good live DJ.  Obviously, you need to know how to mix and how to read crowds, but that isn’t breaking news so I won’t really get into that.   Instead I’m gonna try and get into the stuff that separates the elite from the average.

1)  KNOWING YOUR MUSIC/PREPARATION:

Volumes – Even if your mix is on point, if the next song comes in too low, it sounds awful, and ruins the vibe.  Consistent volume is key to maintaining a high energy level.

Intro Lengths – For songs where you don’t have pre-made intros, its important to know how many bars you have before the songs starts.   I’ll discuss this in more detail in the next section.

Energy Level – For lack of a better word, some songs just sound “empty” to me.  I don’t mean that in a demeaning way.  “Get It On Tonight” by Montell Jordan is a dope song, but try playing it after a song like “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira and you would know what I meant.  I know that’s a random example, but it’s just to give you an idea of what I’m talking about.

Read more…

Those of you that are too young to have actually bought and spun vinyl may not understand this post.  Today I ask the question, are we connected to the songs we play anymore?

I started thinking about this when I was reminiscing about the “good old days” when I was in high school, spending my hard earned cash on a few vinyl singles every week.  I’d go down to the local record store and flip through everything twice to make sure I didn’t miss something good.  There wasn’t a huge selection, but that was the only store around.  I’d only have enough money to get 4 or 5 records, if that, so each selection was an important, often long and meaningful process.  There would be times I would just sit records next to each other in the bins and stare at them, hoping that one would jump out and say, “pick me!”

Because of this process, there was a much deeper connection to the songs you played.  You only had those records and you were going to play them at your parties, whether anybody else liked them or not! Haha.  In those days you would listen to every track on that record.  You’d interrogate every remix of a song.  You might even play the b-side.  You were connected to the music you had, because you owned it!

I think a lot of that connection is lost these days.  Sure, it’s great that all this music is at our fingertips.  It’s nice not having to leave your house to get the hottest remix of a song.  You don’t have to pay a dime for your music if you really don’t want to.  But the connection with the song is gone.  And if not gone, then it’s substantially less than it used to be.

If a song gets deleted from your iTunes you might not ever notice, but if you lost a record… you’d be going all over the place looking for it.  Times are always changing and I’m not saying it’s been for the worse.  I’m simply making an observation.  What’s your experience been?  Do you still feel the same connection to the songs you play?  What do you miss about the vinyl days?