I need to know how to handle this DJ related issue
NiteKrawler45
1,062 Posts
So I DJ every first Tuesday of the month at a local club, it's an all funk night and I've been working on building it up, getting bigger and bigger email lists, flyering and such over the last 5 months. I'm a resident DJ so I've been DJing there for a while. I feel I have a good fan base attending tonight, I felt good about the musical selection AND I have a guest funk DJ driving down from Baltimore who will be flying out of the area soon. My time slot is always 8:30-close, unless there is a band then it is 9:30-close. I get a call only 30 minutes ago from the bar manager, who handles everything for the owner (he schedules everything). He tells me there is a band going on at 9:00 now, AND another guest band going on after them. Says he doesn't know when they'll be done, but expects between 11:30pm and 12:00am. This is a Tuesday, and the bar closes up shop upstairs round 1:00am, people are out by 1 or 1:30. I told him I'd call him back and I'm not sure what to say yet. It was a heated conversation to say the least. Basically, I've been scheduled over. I'm sitting here losing it more and more by the minute, please help me calm down and thow in suggestions on how I should handle this. thanks guys.
Comments
it is always the worst the first time.
it just takes time, very few djs are NOT looked at as expendable by clubs owners and bookers.
not much you can do but relax and make it clear to them that you will walk if they try and do this again to you.
Me and my crew have had similar times in Adams Morgan, and each time the manager or owner is like "oh my bad man, i was meaning to tell you sooner", or "I tried calling you and whatever". Still for them it's all about the money, so you gotta just remember that it's not personal.
Asking for proper communication never hurts though.
Good luck mayne.
peace.
It also might be helpful to partner up w/ somebody to do promotion for you if you're getting serious. This used to work for me cuz I'm pretty introverted and would just let my partner handle all of that stuff w/ the owners.
Good luck
thanks man, I really do appreciate it. Hopefully one of these days I'll have some more trades lined up....
I can relate, it can be a struggle with Wonderland(actually, in fairness ALL clubs), but they can be particularly...forgetful, an this leads to problems.
The best you can do, IMO, would be to work around them as best you can tonight and make a point of having them make it up to you later. They know when they've screwed something up, but yelling at them will go nowhere. So I would talk to Matthew and gingerly allude to how much you have had to go the extra mile for them, and see if you can get some extra work out of them, or get a better rate, whatever. Cuz tonight is spilt milk...the only thing you can do is try to make something good for yourself out of it or stop dealing with them period.
hope that helps man.
maybe someday I'll be that guest dj
my sister lives in DC, I'm going to be there before too long
I realize there is the money issue, but the club knows I have only this once a month funk gig, and that my other gigs during the month are hip hop related. They know I value this night and we have talked about how THEY thought I ought to have a set night so it would be easier for me to flyer and them to advertise. Somehow this is just different than in the past where I've been rescheduled here and there at the last second. It was so casual, and I'm supposedly a part of their organization. I think I'll call back and casually explain thet I'm not gonna come out just to DJ an hour, at most, set, and that I hope this doesn't happen again. Arrggh.
Thanks C***s, I just don't see how they could forget about the night, especially since the events page on their website had a linkable blurb about my night up on the May calendar and I had Matt write it in his little personal schedule book. They intentionally did this, and my respect for Matt has dropped a notch. I don't plan on quiting my residency there but I dunno what to expect now next month when my first Tues. comes up. Regardless of what Matt or Brandon tell me, how can I trust it to be true when they intentionally did this?
if he still comes to town to spin for this night i think you kinda owe it to him to let him spin that hour or whatever. i would try my hardest to get ahold of him to let him know the deal though.
is this a paying gig???
also dont you think its possible both of those groups might be done by 11?
one more thing, are these "funk" bands or are they totally unrelated to what youre doing there at the club??
Well, I don't know anything factually, but my impression of Matt is that he will give a go ahead to something in a momemnt of excitement or whatever, and the last person he talks to is probably who gets the night! I really would be surprised if this was something done with any malice at all, I just think that sometimes he doesn't stop to read his own scheduling! Now, that's strictly my opinion, so take it for what you will. In the end, it hurts them, because I think anyone who has DJed there more than once has been in the position of being "scheduled over", and all of us are a bit skittish about regular gigs there. Remember, Frank was trying to get a regular "Soul Strut" night, but it kept being pre-empted too!
For better or worse, it's just part of the reality of how that club runs. There are pros and cons to that, and tonight, you got nailed by the cons.
I can all but guarantee that they are anything BUT funk, or funky, bands.
so these two bands are totally going to kill the vibe of your once a month theme night. sounds like the owner and manager arent the most professional people in the world.
i think where it gets complicated is the guest dj situation, since you got this guy coming down you kinda owe it to him to be there, if only for an hour.
i feel for ya man, tough situation to be in
I do owe it to him, but I have no control over the situation. I emailed him and am hoping he gets it in time. After discussing it with the manager, I've found that the bands could go as late as 12:30 but could also stop at 11:30, but not likely 11:00. I don't really feel like driving out, then waiting around to see if I'll be able to play at all on what is my own night. And Wonderland is strange with crowds, if you don't draw people early, there could be no one to play for by 12:00. If the band fans (it's some kind of really really non funk rock) leave when I get on, Wonderland will close the bar upstairs and I'll just end up going right back home.
C***s, I realize there was no malice or ill will involved when Matt scheduled these groups, and that it was likely a spur of the moment decision. But keep in mind that he scheduled not one, but 2 bands during my time. I mean come on, what's that about. And why not call me when he writes the band down in his book, according to the manager they scheduled the bands a while back. Basically he had to have scratched out my name on June 7th and written these bands. Then not dealt with it. Anyways, thanks everyone for your feedback. I've got alot of views to reflect on, and see what I can come up with. Thanks.
Trust me, I feel you on this and agree 100%. I was not trying to defend it, just outlining the reality of the situation. I had a standing one Friday a month, which ostensibly I should be able to rely on being the last Friday of each month. I was so paranoid about being shifted without notice that I would call each Thursday before the gig, just so I would be spared the embarrassment of a-"dude, we have bands tonight, sorry I didn't call"-type situation! I like Matt and the managers, I like DJing there, but I have been slow to start scheduling there again after my recent hiatus because it's too much to keep straight.
I also like Matt as a person, and Brandon and the staff are great. I guess his non-professionalism was just building up pressure in my mind, finally causing me to lose it and speak out like this. You're definitely right in all your observations. I'm just gonna to have to stop relying and start branching out more.
the last thing I am gonna say is this, though....stay on him with this, because I think it's something he wants to support from most indications, and I think tenacity is a big plus with that place. If you can get it into people's skulls that every Tues is Funk Nite, after awhile, it won't be an issue. So I would capitalize on their boo-boo by trying to pry as much help from them as possible to get the funk nite established. It just may take some extra effort(duh, already has, right?).
I'd suck it up this time and then make it very clear to him that this can't happen any more. You don't get paid enough for that shit. Plus you have to drive in from Virginia, which is a pain in the ass.
I was doing this for a while too. It worked.
K****- that sucks. I too have had problems djing there with double booking. They have been better about it lately, but at the last Oh Snap!, rather than tell us (dave nada and myself) that the monitor speaker was too loud (it was apparently filling the room), the management just decided to turn it off, which led us into a scramble thinking it was a bad connection or somthing. Rather than turn the house speakers up and the monitor down, they just kept turning the monitor on and off, confusing the hell out of us and the crowd. After about ten minutes of near silence, most of the crowd left and those who stayed, stopped dancing. It totally sucked and kind of ruined our night. They finally came over to the booth to tell us what was up, but the damage was done. What they need, in addition to better scheduling, is someone to soundcheck.
Damn M**k, that's really horrible. I'm sure I would have freaked out and looked for something that came unplugged. They've told me to turn down the monitor and main outs before, but never have they done it themselves. I'll keep that in mind in case something similar happens to me in the future.