Goddamn that MOBILE DJ made my day...
SouthCrackalack
3,853 Posts
any mobile DJs in here..or even mobile DJ business owners? I have been interested in getting in the game$$$$$$$and would like to talk with someone that is/has been down with it
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OMFG.... COSIGN.[/b]
get ready for backaches and headaches.
it "builds character" though.
backaches from lugging equiptment around? I am sure...but around my way..it has to pay WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY better than just DJing at some fucking stupid club. I am thinking about $....nothing else. I just thought a few dudes on here might be in that business. It seems rather cheap to start up (under $10,000 I am guessing?). As much as I hate to think about playing the Macarena and shit...I could definately swallow my pride(along with some Ben Franklins for dessert).
weddings are hard work. but i can't ever see myself pulling that$ at club gigs.
It can pay....but it is hard work.
It requires looking at DJing much more like a bizness than if you exclusively do club nights. You need to have (or rent) your own equipment, you have to network,advertise or otherwise set up your engagements, and you have to be dillegent and dependable, and smile and nod to people who otherwise might not be your cup of tea. And if you are looking at weddings/events, you mos def will be playing SOMETHING you either wouldn't play out at a club or may even completely HATE. Guaranteed.
If you are a DJ who has only a couple of genres worth of records/cds/knowledge, it probably ain't for you. If you like more than you despise, it can be a lot of fun. At my last wedding I mixed Garth Brooks into Billie Jean, previously rocking Afrika Bambatta and James Taylor earlier in the evening. Biggest song of the night? "American Pie"...I took a break for 8 minutes and had some dinner while the whole place sang and danced. Then "Girls Just wanna Have Fun" kept them dancing after that. If this sounds like hell, you might wanna keep looking for ways to make $$.
Good news is, the next likely gig I have in July sounds like a couple with good taste who want lots of old reggae. But I have heard this before, then they start to tell you 'bring plenty of 80s!'.
I guess so...I invested in a portable sound system(2 powered 15s and a bass amp/cabinet) and have done a few weddings now, and am currently booking more to pay for the initial investment. Your the first person I have heard call it being a Mobile DJ.
Really? What else is it called?
Round my way I just refer to it as DJing, or maybe a wedding DJ. Most of the DJs I know in DC play parties/weddings/events/fundraisers that require that they provide a system and their own tables/mixer etc. So I guess I never thought of it as 'going mobile', just expanding the horizon a bit.
oh yeah, have a car/truck/station wagon with lots of room for yer gear. I would have been screwed if my wife didn't have a bigger car.
yeah I hear what you are saying, its just around here..you have "DJ's"..then you have these guys. These guys don't mix or anything like that..just play shitty music and wear a smile(and get paid more).
And yeah..I would definately have to upgrade the car to a van or something. what all equiptment do you use when you play these gigs?
Thanks to Fatback, my mobile DJ mentor, he refered me to this system
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/602070/
It's great for functions, but one downside is no monitor, so if that is important to you you may wanna look for a more elaborate system. But it sounds nice in a reception hall or even outdoors, and is super easy to set up/take down. I also use 2 turntables and a CDJ because there is now way to lug everything(or even FIND everything) a client may request to be played. I have also thought about investing in another CDJ so I might have the option of even a lighter load, but part of my selling point is that I am spinning vinyl. People dig that, but they also don't care when they are in the throes of their wedding reception and they wanna hear Styx.
But that's the system.
The biggest song at my last wedding was the Georgia Satellites.
Shit! I gotta pick that up...was it "Battleship Chains" or "Keep Your Hands To Yourself"?
still you can slip in "cool" songs like a we are family/celebration rap blend. wait, my standards are all fucked up
By the way, mixing/technical skills are always better to have[/b] than not have. But I will say the reason that these guys you refer to get paid more is pretty much because they play whatever the client wants and smile. The trick is to get known for doing what you do[/b](DJ Marco, I am looking at you), then folks come looking to enjoy what you are bringing to them. But if you advertise(as opposed to just being refered/discovered in a club) be prepared to make some silk purses out of sow's ears, cuz most people planning a function have THEIR idea in mind, and they are going to expect you to work with that, not the other way around.
my friends mom actually owns a HUGE mobile dj biz down in FLA (PartyTenders, Inc), where i got my start and inspiration as a youngin, she started small, but has basically built an empire out of it, and is definately making that proverbial fat cash...she started out as just a dj, but now holds down an entire party with casino games and the like...shes definately on the grind, but she always talks positive about her job.
Agreed, but you do/did live in DC. Here in NC, the people who contact me consistently start balking at the $750-$1000 mark, unfortunately. "That's more than we planned on paying." Boo hoo. Talk to daddy and get back to me. Otherwise stop wasting my time.
I think in general, what people expect when they start paying over $700 is more than I am prepared/willing to deliver(MCing/party planning,etc) so I am looking for more of the $400-700 median market at this point. I think that each scenario is different, so I satnd by Marco's model of by-the-hour breakdown. That is easy for most folks to digest.
expect less than $500 to start. unless you have a website and over $5000 worth of sound and lighting. if you go into it thinking you'll pull $1000 per gig right off the bat, you'll be hating it. people _will_ balk --even the marrying kind -- and they'll find someone else who'll do it for less. you live in DC (?) so i'll bet there are DJs crawling out from every crack. there _will_ be someone who will charge less.
still, you can make good money, especially if you already have a car to transport equip. (do you?) when i started i bought some used 1200s for $400 total, $50 stanton needles, a simple mixer, two JBLs, a QVC amp, and had about 500 records already collected. an investment of only $1500. i made that back in about a month and i never played weddings -- always big house parties in Oakland, SF, or near UC Berkeley. if you want to avoid buying and playing a lot of music you dislike, avoid weddings and pass out business cards to folks who might be throwing large house parties or college events, to friends and friends of friends. you'll make a little less, but you'll be playing more of whatchalike, you'll need not invest in cheezy lighting or a P.A. system, and you'll deal with a lot less bullshit.
i hate to say it but if you think clubs are cheezy already, you may want to think twice about the Mobile DJ gig.*[/b] unless you can stick to parties hosted by your VERY generous homies, you _will_ find that mobile dj gigs can be just as, if not more, of a bummer. like in the club, you'll always have knuckleheads who want you to play shit you don't have or who tell you "play something we can dance to" which translates into "why won't you play Madonna like we asked?" believe me, you'll become bitter.... especially if the money ain't as good as you'd hoped.
on the up side, you aren't dealing with promoters, bar managers, and any other DJs... so you'll have a hell of a lot more creative license. just be sure to stipulate that you are to be paid before you plug your shit in.
sorry, man. not to discourage you.... it's just a rough job. i know i loved that shit especially the first few years of it. i didn't care about the back pain and the sweat. i _loved_ djing for 5 hours for a house full of folks crammed into every corner like the Nuthin But A "G" Thang video. priceless.
9 years later, i'm a bitter club DJ. go figure.
*[/b]it's called "Mobile DJing" in the west coast... especially here in the Bay where Mobile DJ kings -- and queens[/b] -- rule.
you didn't do weddings?
You ain't that grizzled.
very true birdman. i do like 10 weddings a year and that pays all my bills, so i don't have to chase around small money bar gigs anymore. the people are always referred to me by a friend or another wedding i did, and they know what they are getting because they have seen me dj before. i'll consult with them once or twice at a cafe, dump a bunch of their CDs into ITunes and make a playlist for Serato and I'm ready to go.
once you get over playing their shitty music and having to carry speakers, weddings are fun to dj. everyone there is ready to have fun, they are drunk, and it is the happiest day of their lives. if you can read a crowd, you're set. in the end with the toasts and cutting the cake and all, it isn't even that much djing. and it's almost always jazz/ sinatra/ soul/ latin/ downtempo/ loungey stuff during cocktail hour and dinner (just press Play when the song starts to fade). then for the dancing part no matter what they tell you they want, their guests are going to dance to disco (to be real) and eighties (pyt) and dee-lite, rob base, britney spears etc. you have to field stupid drunky requests (2 weeks ago this fine as hell mafia trophy wife requested heavy metal at her friend's wedding) but that is nothing new for djs. and at a wedding you usually get fed well, entertained by flirtatious bridesmaids, and tipped $100-$150 when it is all over.
I'm doing a wedding next weekend, actually, and as soon as I start thinking, "Why the hell am I doing this wedding?" I remember, "Oh yeah: the money's nice." If you're working at the store on Sunday, prepare to be the beneficiary of my payday.
Still, I keep asking for more money each time I do a wedding in hopes that I'll eventually price myself out of it because weddings require all the mobile DJs hassles described above, and I really don't like doing all that shit.