DJ GIGS WHERE YOU GET TO PLAY DOPE SHIT
deezlee
298 Posts
The last few years I've been djing more and more weddings. I spin records that I really like and people are feeling it. I get the gigs by word of mouth so they know what they're getting.
Old records, a lot of obscure shit (by mainstream standards) that's gonna be dope.
B/w
Spinning records at a local bar (3 monthlys) where everyone is down to vibe out to good music even if they've never heard it before. And people pumped to see real records like never before. I had a good wedding gig last night (WESK Lords crew) so I'm celebrating good gigs/crowds. You folks get gigs like that?
Let me know what's good out there!
Comments
About once a month some of my friends and I get to DJ openings at the Torrance Museum of Art. Talk about gigs where you can play pretty much whatever you want... Those art people are super open minded and appreciative. Except for the one hater who told me to turn down Laraaji because it was interrupting the conversation he was trying to have.
That dude gets the gas face!!!
I get to play exactly what I want at the gigs I take on, luckily I play at nights/venues where it is expected im going to turn up with new shit no one has heard yet, and older obscurities.
Thing is the cash I make out of doing these gigs is almost non-existent, luckily I love doing it and have a good full-time job to pay the bills.
In the past I've earnt good money djing underground kind of stuff but the amount of folks happy to DJ for free or a few pints really fucked up the game in my city.
I play what I like while also throwing in stuff people know, or cool versions of stuff people should know.
I play nothing but the real schitt at my paying gigs, but I limit it to merely slipping in the really real schitt, typically to a great reaction. But they don't really want me playing pitched down Fat Pat, Big Moe, and Z-Ro the entire night.
I've completely switched to only playing these type of gigs. I'm sick and tired of lame pay gigs. DJing in Las Vegas is a complete waste of time. Every shitty job I've ever had pays more than being a DJ out here. I realized I just don't give a fuck anymore. No more requests.
I play whatever the fuck I want.
- spidey
Ok, good!
I only take good gigs these days too.
I read the Serato forum and wedding DJ forums and the "mainstream" DJ world sounds like a nightmare.
Places where you have open minded ears are the best. I DJ for a living and play 4-6 "gigs" a week. I've been doing this long enough that I've learned to balance feeding them vs feeding myself. If I really play my cards write I can reel them in with the classics/ staples then hit them with something new. There is that rare occasion where I'm fully open to get vibey with it. Usually pool side or background music spots where I'm not holding a dance floor. Anyways, I've had to make a effort not to go off the deep end in order to appease the lowest common denominator. However encourage everyone to keep fighting the good fight.
This sums it up for me. I'm only playing about 7-10 gigs are year these days, but it's always me playing what I'm into. I have no problem saying no to a gig if I don't feel it's going to be a good fit, or if the person/ party that asks have never heard me play before. Ain't nobody got time for that.
I've only played one wedding for a friend, many years ago. I get that it's good/ great money, but it's not my cuppa.
Does any one here DJ using cds?
I know a few people who do / still do that and its really something. Racks and racks of CD burners and spindles and spindles of cdrs.
For the record (HA!() i do maybe 6 fully vinyl gigs per year and always play whatever i want...usually for nothing or a paltry sum.
Life is too short for "pay-gigs" anymore and i am so disconnected from the mainstream stuff that people would expect that i would look like a fool.
Yeah man if I wasn't clear when I say records I mean real records.
Between the rehearsal dinner party, the wedding and the Sunday brunch I played about 14 hrs.