Comments on: Landing DJ Gigs

By: DJ GOOD GROUND

DJ GOOD GROUND — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:58:37 +0000

Thanks

By: DJ Emir

DJ Emir — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:42:49 +0000

That’s good advice, I started out Hip Hop then added house music and hard progressive house and trance. Eventually my favorite music to play was Hard House, trance and Hardcore gabber techno but when I moved to Denver from New York there really weren’t that many techno clubs and to make matters worse the Record stores didn’t et you listen to the records before you bought them so buying new techno and house music imports was next to impossible without calling friends in New York asking what to get. As I did still love spinning Hip Hop and Reggae I started DJing for tons of Hip Hop and Reggae nightclubs and started making some mixtapes as well . The only problem I found was eventually some newer people in the nightclub industry didn’t realize my styles had no limits and in their eyes they could only see me as a HIP HOP DJ. Breaking out of that stereotype can sometimes be difficult but really all it takes is a few good well rounded mixes that you give to various key people around town. If you really want to make it these days you have to be versatile or you need to have a community that supports the music you wish to play.

If I would have only played what I wanted to play IE: House, Trance and East Coast Underground Hip Hop I’d have never landed any real gigs or I would have had to build the community myself. What I have managed to do instead is infuse the East Coast Accapellas with more mainstream beats so I can give mainstream audiences a small taste of stuff like Camp Lo “Luchini (This Is It What)” and Das EFX etc without scaring them away. An added bonus to doing this is people that know the music and appreciate the underground classics will be happy to hear them and usually give respect to your remixes.

If you really want to DJ exactly as you want you may have to travel, as you said to Milwakee, research the clubs and talk with the owners, be willing to come in at a trial price and be willing to travel for it. Eventually you either road trip it once a week to do your gig or if it becomes more permanent and lucritive you move to that location and try and land a few more DJ gigs as well.

DJ Emir Santana
http://www.djemir.com
Real DJs Do Real Things
mixtapes

By: DJ Advice

DJ Advice — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:02:05 +0000

This is a problem for many people. I would play to the crowd. If your local crowd wants hip hop, play it if you want to make money. You can throw in a few house-remixed versions of hip hop tracks once in a while to try and open their minds to a house beat. But don’t force it on them. The best DJs are well rounded in all forms of music, even if they have one favorite genre. Read a bio from the biggest DJs in the world and you’ll see that most of them played something else in the beginning. You could also try and start a house music night in your own town. Ultimately, you’ll have a better chance making a living from DJing in a large city though.

By: DJ GingerVirus

DJ GingerVirus — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:35:41 +0000

Love the truth, now tell me how to land a gig in the upper peninsula of Michigan, the nearest clubs or bars with House Music, is probably Milwaukee. So what do I do?

By: Fun House Twins

Fun House Twins — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 10:11:19 +0000

Yo man,I’ve got your DJ Guide book, and it’s good, real attention to detail, but I’ve been smacking everything you say in there, and still no big gig’s.I know we are good enough, as we have supported BIG headline acts, DJ YODA -MISTA JAM – UTAH SAINTS – DAN GARCIA plus plenty plenty more, and had brilliant feedback.Let me know of any idea’s.Many thanks,THE TWINS p.s congratulations on you engagement.