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?