Becoming a Club DJ

[DJ Nihil]

Hi folks.

I have a serious question here, although I expect it will wield a crazy answer.

Is it really hard to get into DJing in goth clubs, here or anyplace else? I currently am doing a goth show on a local college station and am looking to keep doing the show, but I'd like to try to get a job once or twice a month doing an actual DJ gig.

I've been a fan of this music for a very long time, so I know my stuff, and the experience DJing on the radio is well over 8 years total. Are there too many DJs here? Or do I just have to know people?

[Darus313]

Simple...

Just ask....!

Be polite - bring Demo CD of your music you spin.... to the night club manager / promoter / etc.. and say i would be interested in Djing for your event / nightclub.

Yes it helps to know people - in the business but just comes down to can you work with others.......

That is my 2 cents.....

D

P.S - Having your own Dj gear and speakers to do house/loft partys is a starters and a way to network.

Edited March 31, 2010 by Darus313

[PlasticPassion_a2]

Every month we do a Plastic Passion, someone who has an interest in DJ'ing approaches me and asks if they can DJ a PP party. I give the same two-part response every time:

1. Come out and support as many of our nights as you can. Dance, mingle, introduce yourself to folks and show us that you're genuinely interested in what we do and not an occasional tourist.

2. Bring me a mix cd. Nothing fancy, just a 1-hr example of what you'd probably play if we gave you a time slot.

After inquiries from dozens of people these past ten months, how many mix cd's have I received to date?

ZERO.

Here's my point: it's really easy to get into provided you show real initiative, consistency, and can follow simple instructions. If you do that, you're already way ahead if the competition.

Good luck.

[synthier]

I second all of the above.

In a different city, I had a college radio station show that ran for a bit. At the time, I frequented the clubs quite often. I happened to mention my radio show while chatting with someone at a club, who mentioned it to a friend, and before you knew it, I was invited to submit a mix cd (actually, a tape, but it was only a few years ago, I swear!!)... which I actually did. After I did that, boom, I was in like flynn. This was spinning at an established night in a big city.

Found out I actually liked being on the dance floor instead of above it, so I didn't do more than a handful of 'gigs.' I kind of wished I liked it more!

Of course, I can't speak for Detroit, but that was my experience.

Best of luck

[DJ Saint]

First of all you need to STOP hosting your music blog and offering any bands hard work for free download.

If you're going to be a DJ you should purchase a good amount of your music and/or rely on promos. I don't want to get into a debate about downloading and file sharing (as even I have downloaded a few things before purchasing ).. but most DJ's spend a hefty amount of money on PURCHASING things in turn supporting the bands.

Ok rant done...

Now then...

Detroit has too many goth-industrial-whatever DJ's to begin with.. anyone with a copy of Traktor and VNV, Covenant and Apop mp3's claims to be a DJ. Breaking into the clubs around here is a bit difficult. Having personally spun at just about every club that's done an industrial night, you need to work your way up through the ranks. I started off spinning to small crowds when the Labyrinth first opened. Progressed up to an alternate at City Club, then a resident, then onto guest sets in Europe twice in front of thousands and am currently still at City Club while still continuing to do guest spots. Get involved with supporting a night (such as Plastic Passion) or join a group like the Collective who host events monthly. Then see about an opening set. Take what you can get even if it's a half an hour when the doors open. Shitty I know, but if you're a good DJ people will take notice, want to hear you spin more and you'll work your way up to bigger and better things.

Yes do loft parties, do house parties, Bah Mitzfahs - whatever to get exposure.

Find a mentor. I was fortunate enough after a few years of working on my skills on my own gear and doing a few club gigs to meet DJ Hellraver who kind of took me under his wing showing me a few tricks of the trade involving mixing. Also, just talking/watching/listening to him DJ helped a lot in shaping my own goals/style/attitude as a DJ. This led to going out on the road as an opening DJ before his performances. DJ Scary Guy who is local has always expressed a willingness in helping anyone interested in DJ'ing. He's part of the collective mentioned previously. I've been listening to DJ Nocker for a year now and encouraging him. That kid can spin! Nice to be able to give something back AND I still learn a TON from listening to other DJ's mix.

As others have mentioned make a mix CD. I second this. I still make mix CD's to sharpen my skills and introduce people to new music and get my name out there more. Make it interesting and unique. Learn how to mix. Make the transitions interesting, if you can beat match all the better in my book (as it is club music - but not everyone is into beat matching). Make your song selection unique. If you're spinning the same selections as every other DJ in town, what's the point? I can't stress enough - DO SOMETHING NEW. I've been handed a few demo discs at City. I've listened to every single one. Only 1 struck my interest as having great songs and decent mixing and welp he's a new City Club DJ Understand what music can do such as setting a pace, "telling a story", will it make people go crazy on a dance floor, etc... Be a DJ, not just a player of music who pushes the buttons and crossfades...

Be self-motivated and professional. It's another job really... so treat any gig as such.

And most importantly... HAVE FUN!

Wishing you the best of luck.

Cheers!

[n0Mad]

That's one way to do it. Another way is to own your own club, or manage one your friend owns. At the club I managed in Colorado, we had our sound system hooked up to a computer that accessed the internet. We had a streaming music service and we'd use that most of the time to build genre playlists at random. We could also look up requests and drag and drop them into our current playlist. We also purchased a bunch of MP3s so when the internet went down we still had several hours of music we could play. There was no crossfading, no beat matching, not even building playlists with rising and falling energy. We just pushed play and let the computer do its thing. Even had two seconds of dead air between every song.

Now, three other clubs in town hired pro/semi-pro DJs with their own equipment, music collections, and a buttload of talent mixing, crossfading, and beat matching. One DJ in town even spun vinyl and he was damn good at it plus he did a lot of his own remixes. Oddly enough, those clubs struggled every night with very low turnouts while our club flourished.

Why? It's not always about the music, though sometimes it helps. What we played was better than the other clubs (we catered to most requests, no matter how much we personally hated the music) even though the other clubs played their music better. Our sound system kicked some major ass though and that definitely helped. And we had a TON of lights. Mostly though, it was all about atmosphere. Music is part of that, but not all of it.

Anyway, I have no idea what point I was getting at when I started. It's past my bedtime and I'm rambling. I guess it's that DJs put a lot of stock into the music and their art because that is their life, but honestly, most people in a crowd couldn't give two shits as long as there's a beat they can dance to and the alcohol is cheap and plentiful. Sometimes it is as simple as pushing play on an iPod with Pandora and walking away.

[Darus313]

First of all you need to STOP hosting your music blog and offering any bands hard work for free download.

If you're going to be a DJ you should purchase a good amount of your music and/or rely on promos. I don't want to get into a debate about downloading and file sharing (as even I have downloaded a few things before purchasing ).. but most DJ's spend a hefty amount of money on PURCHASING things in turn supporting the bands.

Ok rant done...

Now then...

Detroit has too many goth-industrial-whatever DJ's to begin with.. anyone with a copy of Traktor and VNV, Covenant and Apop mp3's claims to be a DJ. Breaking into the clubs around here is a bit difficult. Having personally spun at just about every club that's done an industrial night, you need to work your way up through the ranks. I started off spinning to small crowds when the Labyrinth first opened. Progressed up to an alternate at City Club, then a resident, then onto guest sets in Europe twice in front of thousands and am currently still at City Club while still continuing to do guest spots. Get involved with supporting a night (such as Plastic Passion) or join a group like the Collective who host events monthly. Then see about an opening set. Take what you can get even if it's a half an hour when the doors open. Shitty I know, but if you're a good DJ people will take notice, want to hear you spin more and you'll work your way up to bigger and better things.

Yes do loft parties, do house parties, Bah Mitzfahs - whatever to get exposure.

Find a mentor. I was fortunate enough after a few years of working on my skills on my own gear and doing a few club gigs to meet DJ Hellraver who kind of took me under his wing showing me a few tricks of the trade involving mixing. Also, just talking/watching/listening to him DJ helped a lot in shaping my own goals/style/attitude as a DJ. This led to going out on the road as an opening DJ before his performances. DJ Scary Guy who is local has always expressed a willingness in helping anyone interested in DJ'ing. He's part of the collective mentioned previously. I've been listening to DJ Nocker for a year now and encouraging him. That kid can spin! Nice to be able to give something back AND I still learn a TON from listening to other DJ's mix.

As others have mentioned make a mix CD. I second this. I still make mix CD's to sharpen my skills and introduce people to new music and get my name out there more. Make it interesting and unique. Learn how to mix. Make the transitions interesting, if you can beat match all the better in my book (as it is club music - but not everyone is into beat matching). Make your song selection unique. If you're spinning the same selections as every other DJ in town, what's the point? I can't stress enough - DO SOMETHING NEW. I've been handed a few demo discs at City. I've listened to every single one. Only 1 struck my interest as having great songs and decent mixing and welp he's a new City Club DJ Understand what music can do such as setting a pace, "telling a story", will it make people go crazy on a dance floor, etc... Be a DJ, not just a player of music who pushes the buttons and crossfades...

Be self-motivated and professional. It's another job really... so treat any gig as such.

And most importantly... HAVE FUN!

Wishing you the best of luck.

Cheers!

Well put.....!

The above is golden advice........

D

P.S - Never to many Djs in Detroit - now good Djs is another story...!

Also - You know you are good when the dance floor is packed and nobody is throwing stuff at you!

[Epic_Fail_Guy]

First of all you need to STOP hosting your music blog and offering any bands hard work for free download.

If you're going to be a DJ you should purchase a good amount of your music and/or rely on promos. I don't want to get into a debate about downloading and file sharing (as even I have downloaded a few things before purchasing ).. but most DJ's spend a hefty amount of money on PURCHASING things in turn supporting the bands.

I personally liked all your advice and kinda agree with you on the downloading thing.

Yeah it's wrong... yes I do do it, however.. I follow 2 rules I set for myself.

I only keep songs or albums that I have already purchased before downloading but have been lost/stolen

And for the songs i download that I haven't bought yet, it's purely a taste test.

If I like them, I'll go out and buy the album(s)

If I don't, I make a mental note they suck, delete the mp3's and never bother with that band again.

[DJ Saint]

That's one way to do it. Another way is to own your own club, or manage one your friend owns. At the club I managed in Colorado, we had our sound system hooked up to a computer that accessed the internet. We had a streaming music service and we'd use that most of the time to build genre playlists at random. We could also look up requests and drag and drop them into our current playlist. We also purchased a bunch of MP3s so when the internet went down we still had several hours of music we could play. There was no crossfading, no beat matching, not even building playlists with rising and falling energy. We just pushed play and let the computer do its thing. Even had two seconds of dead air between every song.

Now, three other clubs in town hired pro/semi-pro DJs with their own equipment, music collections, and a buttload of talent mixing, crossfading, and beat matching. One DJ in town even spun vinyl and he was damn good at it plus he did a lot of his own remixes. Oddly enough, those clubs struggled every night with very low turnouts while our club flourished.

Why? It's not always about the music, though sometimes it helps. What we played was better than the other clubs (we catered to most requests, no matter how much we personally hated the music) even though the other clubs played their music better. Our sound system kicked some major ass though and that definitely helped. And we had a TON of lights. Mostly though, it was all about atmosphere. Music is part of that, but not all of it.

Anyway, I have no idea what point I was getting at when I started. It's past my bedtime and I'm rambling. I guess it's that DJs put a lot of stock into the music and their art because that is their life, but honestly, most people in a crowd couldn't give two shits as long as there's a beat they can dance to and the alcohol is cheap and plentiful. Sometimes it is as simple as pushing play on an iPod with Pandora and walking away.

Hmmm. very interesting to read. From 10 -11pm at City before the crowds get there, one of the dj's usually plugs in their Ipod and let's it go at random. It works that early on and I could see that working in some clubs certainly. My own preference (even if there to just hang out and not DJ) would be to have a DJ in the booth doing something creative and providing a uniqueness to the night.

Sadly I think the crowd at City has forgotten that each of the 6 DJ's there each have there own personality, likes, dislikes and DJ'ing style. Pleasure Kitten tends to play a lot of request and loves Depeche Mode. Elektrosonik often plays more guitar driven stuff. I like the noise and crunch. Void 6 plays Lady Gaga (LOL). Often times the crowd overlooks that all and simply expects the DJ to be like a jukebox or an Ipod, play the same songs and have it be nearly identical from week to week. There's a few out there that realize the DJ's role and have an understanding of what each of us tries to accomplish. A DJ brings that human element to it, a dj reads the crowd, acts almost as a 'director' for the evening...

good question for discussion - can (or should) an Ipod replace the role of a DJ? pros? cons? (please don't all answer yes cause several of us need/love our jobs at City )

Be well Spook.

[Epic_Fail_Guy]

Hmmm. very interesting to read. From 10 -11pm at City before the crowds get there, one of the dj's usually plugs in their Ipod and let's it go at random. It works that early on and I could see that working in some clubs certainly. My own preference (even if there to just hang out and not DJ) would be to have a DJ in the booth doing something creative and providing a uniqueness to the night.

Sadly I think the crowd at City has forgotten that each of the 6 DJ's there each have there own personality, likes, dislikes and DJ'ing style. Pleasure Kitten tends to play a lot of request and loves Depeche Mode. Elektrosonik often plays more guitar driven stuff. I like the noise and crunch. Void 6 plays Lady Gaga (LOL). Often times the crowd overlooks that all and simply expects the DJ to be like a jukebox or an Ipod, play the same songs and have it be nearly identical from week to week. There's a few out there that realize the DJ's role and have an understanding of what each of us tries to accomplish. A DJ brings that human element to it, a dj reads the crowd, acts almost as a 'director' for the evening...

good question for discussion - can (or should) an Ipod replace the role of a DJ? pros? cons? (please don't all answer yes cause several of us need/love our jobs at City )

Be well Spook.

Good question... i'm not anywhere near a dj but i do have a broad taste in music. So i can only answer this as if i were in the DJ spot. I'd take considerable notice in requests, play what seems to keep the crowd on the dance floor, and lastly, if I have some personal favorites that I have room for, slip those in on ocasion and see how well it fits the crowd and pleases management with keeping up with the theme.

One thing I can say, is I'd never play Lady Gaga at all at a goth bar/club. That's just... uh.. weird....

[DJ Nihil]

Hmmm. very interesting to read. From 10 -11pm at City before the crowds get there, one of the dj's usually plugs in their Ipod and let's it go at random. It works that early on and I could see that working in some clubs certainly. My own preference (even if there to just hang out and not DJ) would be to have a DJ in the booth doing something creative and providing a uniqueness to the night.

Sadly I think the crowd at City has forgotten that each of the 6 DJ's there each have there own personality, likes, dislikes and DJ'ing style. Pleasure Kitten tends to play a lot of request and loves Depeche Mode. Elektrosonik often plays more guitar driven stuff. I like the noise and crunch. Void 6 plays Lady Gaga (LOL). Often times the crowd overlooks that all and simply expects the DJ to be like a jukebox or an Ipod, play the same songs and have it be nearly identical from week to week. There's a few out there that realize the DJ's role and have an understanding of what each of us tries to accomplish. A DJ brings that human element to it, a dj reads the crowd, acts almost as a 'director' for the evening...

good question for discussion - can (or should) an Ipod replace the role of a DJ? pros? cons? (please don't all answer yes cause several of us need/love our jobs at City )

Be well Spook.

Good question... i'm not anywhere near a dj but i do have a broad taste in music. So i can only answer this as if i were in the DJ spot. I'd take considerable notice in requests, play what seems to keep the crowd on the dance floor, and lastly, if I have some personal favorites that I have room for, slip those in on ocasion and see how well it fits the crowd and pleases management with keeping up with the theme.

One thing I can say, is I'd never play Lady Gaga at all at a goth bar/club. That's just... uh.. weird....

LOL I like her music, but I'd never consider playing Gaga at a goth night, even that Aesthetic Perfection remix of Lovegame. *STOMP*

Well, I can see I have my work cut out for me. At least now, I have a rough idea of what to expect. Thanks for the advice.

[DJ Nocker]

As far as getting in the scene in detroit, you have to know someone or get lucky. I got lucky because Wilhelm took me under his wing and gave me a shot at the Lab, now I that I know what im doing, I just try and learn from DJ saint as Wilhelm and him are probably the most talented DJs in the city NO OFFENSE TO THE OTHER DJS, YOU ALL ARE COOL!). We are over saturated with DJs...lets make a list of the goth/industrial/spooky ones.

Myself (DJ Nocker)

DJ Siant

Joey Deadcat

Wilhelm K

Scary Guy

DJ pleasure Kitten

Void 6

Electosonik

DJ Jynx

DJ Brad

Jon Noble

DJ Glamazon

DJ Meta

Those are just off the top of my head, and I know I am not naming like 5 simply because I cant remember a few of there DJ names. Especially with there only being like...3 "goth nights" currently (plastic passions is 80 with a tiny bit of goth, mostly new wave). You may want to try a different genre, or stick to DJing on a laptop when your at a party :/ . Oh yea, and dont Download, Even I feel bad when I do it, support the bands you are playing. good luck though.

[phee]

I DJd and nectos here and there on occasion years ago...

using my mothers maiden name "DJ BOOTH"

[DJ Nocker]

It also matter WHAT you will be DJing, like old school industrial, old school goth, EBM, futurepop, noize, punk, rockabilly ect...certain people will love or hate you depending on what you spin. And dont say you will play everything, because NO ONE does. Its damn near impossible to mix terrorfakt into stray cats into VnV nation, lol.

[PlasticPassion_a2]

And dont say you will play everything, because NO ONE does. Its damn near impossible to mix terrorfakt into stray cats into VnV nation, lol.

But I have been known to mix J. Geils Band, Autograph, Morris Day & The Time and Journey in with Nitzer Ebb!

Come to think of it, everything mixes well with Nitzer Ebb, though I have yet to attempt any Foghat or Tiny Tim

[DJ Nocker]

But I have been known to mix J. Geils Band, Autograph, Morris Day & The Time and Journey in with Nitzer Ebb!

Come to think of it, everything mixes well with Nitzer Ebb, though I have yet to attempt any Foghat or Tiny Tim

Nitzer ebb is one of the best electronic bands ever, so of course you can play them anytime, lol.

[n0Mad]

Hmmm. very interesting to read....

good question for discussion - can (or should) an Ipod replace the role of a DJ? pros? cons? (please don't all answer yes cause several of us need/love our jobs at City )

Be well Spook.

Thanks for that response. After writing my post last night and going to bed, I tossed and turned for a while thinking that you (and other DJs) may take my post as a slam against their talents. That's totally not what I intended and I'm glad you didn't take it that way. I have a lot of respect for all you DJs and can appreciate your talent. The point I was getting at was probably 80% of the crowd doesn't know enough about music and DJing to tell the difference between an iPod on shuffle or even care. It's a shame really but something I've had to live with for decades in other fields of entertainment. I'm thinking I may create a spinoff thread to address this.

[DJ Saint]

But I have been known to mix J. Geils Band, Autograph, Morris Day & The Time and Journey in with Nitzer Ebb!

Come to think of it, everything mixes well with Nitzer Ebb, though I have yet to attempt any Foghat or Tiny Tim

LOL - Join in the... Slow Ride... Burn Burn!!! FIRE!!! FIRE!!! Take it Easy...

[DJ Nocker]

I used to be like the mass crowd and didnt really pay attention to how good the dj was until I heard more than 2. It sucks that the crowd doesnt appreciate what Djs do as much around here. Especially after I learned how to dj, I started to really appreciate good transitions and pick up on train wrecks ect. WHich is why I praise Wilhelm alot as he is one of the only Industrial DJ's around here that actually beat matches. I know its different in Europe but at least in MI...playing a mix cd probably would be enough for alot of the crowd around here (YOU GUYS SUCK BTW).

OMG..

Join in the slow ride!

join in the slow ride!

wow.

[Joey Deadcat]

Me - I've always seemed to fall into dj gigs and been fortunate that each venue had their own equipment already.

[Beta Max]

Interesting topic. It seems we all have our own perspective on how to get into club djing.

My own personal experience was that I came up to the club alot, request tracks, BS with the dj about song selections.

It's all about mingling. Randomly walking up to a DJ and saying "I DJ, here's a demo." Doesn't work these days.

Submit a demo CD [always a must] But even when submitting a demo CD, DO NOT USE A PROGRAM TO MIX. For the love of god, DON'T.

Why?

What if you get the job and the only thing you know is a computer screen, the sync button and a mouse. Hardware is a must to not only practice but the hone your skills.

It's always good to gather every ounce of knowledge of each dj you hear and if you like a track or SEE an interesting response, ask for the track.

How do I know?I DJ at Necto on Mondays for 2 years + and also dj in Bowling Green a few. Took me awhile to gain my own personal style and even a rhythm.

and that's my personal experience.

[Jinx]

As far as getting in the scene in detroit, you have to know someone or get lucky. I got lucky because Wilhelm took me under his wing and gave me a shot at the Lab, now I that I know what im doing, I just try and learn from DJ saint as Wilhelm and him are probably the most talented DJs in the city NO OFFENSE TO THE OTHER DJS, YOU ALL ARE COOL!). We are over saturated with DJs...lets make a list of the goth/industrial/spooky ones.

Myself (DJ Nocker)

DJ Siant

Joey Deadcat

Wilhelm K

Scary Guy

DJ pleasure Kitten

Void 6

Electosonik

DJ Jynx

DJ Brad

Jon Noble

DJ Glamazon

DJ Meta

Those are just off the top of my head, and I know I am not naming like 5 simply because I cant remember a few of there DJ names. Especially with there only being like...3 "goth nights" currently (plastic passions is 80 with a tiny bit of goth, mostly new wave). You may want to try a different genre, or stick to DJing on a laptop when your at a party :/ . Oh yea, and dont Download, Even I feel bad when I do it, support the bands you are playing. good luck though.

Some of the DJ's listed are are no longer DJing. Others have no clubs that they play in at all. If you can get 10 people to hear you play and send me a PM with 30 min demo I'll book you at Necto. I respect the fact you are playing new material and have a closet love of trance myself included. We have an amazing night busier than many clubs on the weekend. Hit me back everyone has to start somewhere might as well start with us.

Jinx

Edited April 11, 2010 by Jinx

[Darus313]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm..........

Trance you say....

http://soundcloud.com/d-ru5/trip-2010

D

P.S - probably not as good at the chicken mix which i am dying to hear...!