DJing Discussion

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Ups & Downs of a Resident Gig

twinsouls 5:06 AM - 10 April, 2007
Was just wondering what are some of your opinions about this. I have a resident Friday night gig and don’t get me wrong I’m happy overall with it but there are some ups and downs that I have realized.Ive been here going on 3 months and its my 1st resident gig.When I was DJing when I was younger it was like heaven but since I got back in the DJ game a year ago (1 year anniversary SSL user btw) It feels different,It feels more like buisness now.


1. Time-
If you are the main DJ that means you will have to be there all the time which could sometimes get in the way if you like to make time for other things. Family,Friends and if you got a Girlfriend and/or kids. Some do it for the money and some don’t but for me personally, I hate feeling like it’s a job and sometimes I do. Maybe it has to do with my regular work full time schedule. I wake up at 3am and my gig ends at about 2am so if I don’t get any rest after work then it sucks.

2. Music-
If you happen to get a night off, you better make sure the backup DJ does as good a job as you. This happened to me last weekend. I had the night off to take care of some other business and the DJ my promoter got fu**ed it all up from what I heard. His music selection sucked and he didn’t mix good. I think this affected our crowd the following weekend as it was the slowest I’ve seen yet. It’s a small spot (bar) so we do have regulars who I would say are use to my style and the music I play. I guess they were asking about me and some people thought I quite or got fired.

3. Girls-
They say you shouldnt mix buisness with pleasure but as a DJ it goes hand in hand with each other.Sure I’ve met a lot of girls but will hook up with few. One thing I’m not comfortable with is some psycho chick knowing where Ill be at every Friday. I don’t want to get caught up with drama but I’m afraid I’m headed in that direction. This Fri. we got a big party going on and I got one chick showing up that I’m seeing (I didn’t invite her but her friends know the promoter) and I haven’t hit yet but yet there’s this other chick that will be there that wants to hook up and I want to get at her.Im just now trying to get over a stressful relationship and honestly feel like Fu** It. I want to take advantage of what I got going on now and not give my all to 1,I mean not get into another relationship soon but never really was the type to juggle around 2 or more chicks knowing where to find me. I guess pimpin really aint easy but how do you guys go about controlling this situation?

What are your thoughts about your own gigs and how do you deal with situations if you can relate.
Releaux 5:46 AM - 10 April, 2007
I had a more-or-less residency (long story) with the same crew for about 5 years starting at one club and moving later to another. I was doing "live remixing" with a sampler in the early 90s before it got easy. ;-) I'm amazed what I was able to do with a "fully loaded" Ensoniq EPS that had a whopping 2 megs of RAM and a big-honkin' 44 meg Syquest hard drive.

I was normally 3rd backup DJ (I generally got one 25-45 minute set per shift) and I'd also run lights when I needed a break from working the keyboards and dropping samples. Lasers with a joystick are fun. =-)

Everything you say is valid and there will be ups and downs as there are with any job. Regarding your specific points...

1. Even if you're only doing a four hour shift two nights a week, it really cuts into your "recharge" time if you also work a regular job. Unless you live next to the club, a four hour shift is, at minimum, 6 hours out of your life, which translates to 12 hours on a 2-night weekend, which is another day and a half of work in addition to the 40 hours you already did.

In my case, I nearly always considered spinning fun and not really a job, though there were certainly nights where I would rather have been doing something else. It's largely about your internal attitude. My personal opinion is that if its not fun anymore, it's not worth your time. Take a while off, get a different gig, do something to make it fun again.

2. On the one hand, having a stand-in do a bad job does lead to short-term problems. On the other, consider it job security - you look that much better in comparison. =-)

3. Man, don't tell me about this one. I dated my share of club chicks and luckily didn't run into any real psychos. Then I broke my personal rule about dating co-workers and went out with one of the club's waitresses...

...we've been married almost 13 years now. =-D
twinsouls 8:08 PM - 10 April, 2007
Anyone else?
Panic City 8:50 AM - 11 April, 2007
i wish i had a residency, thats all i gotta say about that
bumpsdick 2:08 PM - 11 April, 2007
Quote:
Was just wondering what are some of your opinions about this. I have a resident Friday night gig and don’t get me wrong I’m happy overall with it but there are some ups and downs that I have realized.Ive been here going on 3 months and its my 1st resident gig.When I was DJing when I was younger it was like heaven but since I got back in the DJ game a year ago (1 year anniversary SSL user btw) It feels different,It feels more like buisness now.


1. Time-
If you are the main DJ that means you will have to be there all the time which could sometimes get in the way if you like to make time for other things. Family,Friends and if you got a Girlfriend and/or kids. Some do it for the money and some don’t but for me personally, I hate feeling like it’s a job and sometimes I do. Maybe it has to do with my regular work full time schedule. I wake up at 3am and my gig ends at about 2am so if I don’t get any rest after work then it sucks.

2. Music-
If you happen to get a night off, you better make sure the backup DJ does as good a job as you. This happened to me last weekend. I had the night off to take care of some other business and the DJ my promoter got fu**ed it all up from what I heard. His music selection sucked and he didn’t mix good. I think this affected our crowd the following weekend as it was the slowest I’ve seen yet. It’s a small spot (bar) so we do have regulars who I would say are use to my style and the music I play. I guess they were asking about me and some people thought I quite or got fired.

3. Girls-
They say you shouldnt mix buisness with pleasure but as a DJ it goes hand in hand with each other.Sure I’ve met a lot of girls but will hook up with few. One thing I’m not comfortable with is some psycho chick knowing where Ill be at every Friday. I don’t want to get caught up with drama but I’m afraid I’m headed in that direction. This Fri. we got a big party going on and I got one chick showing up that I’m seeing (I didn’t invite her but her friends know the promoter) and I haven’t hit yet but yet there’s this other chick that will be there that wants to hook up and I want to get at her.Im just now trying to get over a stressful relationship and honestly feel like Fu** It. I want to take advantage of what I got going on now and not give my all to 1,I mean not get into another relationship soon but never really was the type to juggle around 2 or more chicks knowing where to find me. I guess pimpin really aint easy but how do you guys go about controlling this situation?

What are your thoughts about your own gigs and how do you deal with situations if you can relate.


lol @ number 3.
that is all.
cappinkirk 2:30 PM - 11 April, 2007
i work from 9-6 and i take an hour or so long nap before i go in to dj at 10. this will sometimes make me a little drowsy for the first hour after i wake up but i pack all my stuff before I go to sleep so I won't forget anything. then when i get home i usually pass right out at 4 am.

when i have someone fill in for me I actually give them a cd set from the week before (i record all my sets through the ttm 57) so that i am well represented plus there is no chance that another dj will learn anything new while I'm gone and it is obvious that he/she is representing me.

as for girls i am happy in a relationship and if you are not where i am feel free to bang out as many girls as you want! you will know it when you get there.
cappinkirk 2:35 PM - 11 April, 2007
whether or not it feels like work is all in your head
black sunshine 2:57 PM - 11 April, 2007
1) i kind of feel what you're saying here - sometimes there's a show or something i want to go to on Saturday night and i end up missing it. luckily, my residency is shared, so if i REALLY want to see someone, i can ask my boy to open that night. plus, we get a lot of great acts at the Drunken Unicorn anyhow, so i get to see them.

2) again, i'm pretty lucky in this respect - i share my night with another person, so if necessary he can do the whole night. we have a good pool of good djs that we can call on.

3) ooooh. yeah. promise nothing, that's my motto. in my experience, the worst ones have been on the nights i'm NOT dj'ing, not while i'm playing. i think it's also worse when you go out of town (or better, depending on your experience).
joerockets 4:17 PM - 11 April, 2007
One negative thing about having a regular residency is that I've had to adjust my sleep schedule around it even on nights I don't DJ.

I work during the day M-F from 9:30am-7:30pm and my DJ gig is on Thursday and Saturday from 9:30pm-2:30am (this includes driving to and from) which means I'm in bed around 3am.

Even on nights I don't gig, I'm in bed around 3 because I don't want to screw up my sleeping pattern. I don't know about everyone else, but when I hit 30, I found that having a regular schedule for sleep helps out tremendously in terms of overall health and sanity.
Jay-R 5:00 PM - 11 April, 2007
1. i feel what you guys have to say. i dj at a small club. only around 300 people on a friday night. i work mon-fri from 6:30 to 3:30. then i have to dj from 11-2. plus it's a 2 hour drive. this means i don't get home till about 4:30-5am. it does take a lot out of you. i have fun doing it. but it pays me well. there are some nights after djing, that i don't want to see another turntable for a day or two.

2. if your a resident, there will be days when you need your night off. thats the way it is. don't take 3 fridays and 2 saturdays out of a month off. every dj will have his flavor. every club has it style and it's following. i usually have a dj that knows the clubs' crowd. it helps a lot. tell your promoter who you recommend. that usually helps.

3. party chicks. just there to hear thier song or just trying to show off to thier friends. for some places, it is cool to know the dj. remember those t-shirts that say, don't bother me, i'm mixing.
twinsouls 9:28 PM - 11 April, 2007
Quote:

for some places, it is cool to know the dj. remember those t-shirts that say, don't bother me, i'm mixing.


LOL.Friends are 1 thing but when you got people your cool with but not really friends trying to kick it on the stage with you and talk to you while your spinnin,that bugs me.I knew one guy like this who had some girls at the spot and he was asking me to tell them that he kicks it with me and spins with me.lol.
Dj Ryme 9:44 PM - 11 April, 2007
My schedule is crazy, I work a 9-5 dayjob, dj on tuesday nights from 9-2, Friday nights from 9-2, Saturday durning the day from 3-7 then off to the club from 10-2. EVERY WEEK!! I also occasionally pick up wednesday & thursday gigs as well. My girl hates it but she knows it helps buy shit for both of us so she deals with it. I always say to myself I cant wait till I lose this spot but when or if I do stop spinning a resident spot, a week later im already wishing I was back there.

You can NEVER look at it as a job or you wont have fun.... I always say to myself, damn these people are stupid, they're paying me to do what I would be doing in my room ha ha. That always helps those nights when im ready to go home and its 11pm. I think there might be a thread on this already now that im typing all this..........
Alixx J 6:26 PM - 14 April, 2007
I was getting bored, so i decided not to listen to any music or touch my decks for a week inbetween weekends which was really hard to do, but when i got to friday, i finished the day job, rushed home and played all my favourite records nice'n'loud while i got ready for my gig, when i got to the club i was well up for it!

I have the odd night off but like to let the guy covering me do his own thing, yes it can have a short term impactif he's a bit crap or different, but the regulars do need a break from what you play too. If they are asking the management/cover dj why you aint there, that's a GOOD thing.

And if you didnt have a residency, how long do you think it would be until you were desperate to get back in the scene.
deepdjdanny 7:34 AM - 15 April, 2007
Quote:
And if you didnt have a residency, how long do you think it would be until you were desperate to get back in the scene.

the next weekend!
djkings_escobar 12:13 PM - 16 April, 2007
I have 2 residencies, a Friday gig and a Saturday gig, two different clubs. One thing I've noticed personally is I tend to get lazy. I'll leave a mix cd on much longer than I used too, just becuase I know when the party should officially start jumping. Also, trying to stay away from the same mixes or songs week in and week out. The upside its GOOD steady money, but dont get too comfortable, theres always another dj outhere ready to take your shit.
DJ CISCO 6:07 PM - 16 April, 2007
I have three residencies. Wed, thurs, and saturdays. I have had that schedule for about a year now and try to keep at least two but not more then four. Too much = burnout. Upside is that the money is good and the weekend comes fast..
TIME
The time factor is a definite problem. I usually dont go out unless its on fridays but I need a day off.. NAPS are must if you have a day job. If you only have one this shouldnt be an issue since you have the weekend to hang out with who ever. It does get to be a hassel after a while cuz some nights you just want to stay in.. but it depends on where your at. Three nights has actually led me to drink a little more, but hey, if they are free.. why not?
MUSIC
Its true of what has been mentioned before. Try to stay away from the same songs week in and week out, but most importantly, play some tracks for yourself. You need to have fun too.
GIRLS
Just be cool with the regulars.. you never know if she has that perfect 10 for a cousin or a friend. If your the only DJ it shouldnt be a problem when you have more then two chicks there cuz your working the whole night. But most girls know whats up.. If you let them know what your situation is and that your SINGLE, then they have no reason to b!tch. Either way, there are tons of haters out there and if you start pulling all the beautiful chicks like most dj's do, your bound to get some negative vibes.. But haters make the world go round.
Mr. Goodkat 5:40 AM - 17 April, 2007
3 mos and your already feeling the grind? Maybe you should rethink the resident thing and do monthlys. It gets taxing, but you gotta man up. I'm going on my 6 residency, 2 start this week, and the other 4 I've had for 6 and 4 months. Its tough, but c'mon its playing records.
dJ bMaN 7:23 AM - 19 April, 2007
I have had a residency at the same club since 2001 when I was 19. Sometimes I'd be the only dj. Can you imagine being 19 in a club doing 10-4am? It was fun for me and it still is seeing that dj'n is the only job I've ever had. I've never had a 9-5. As for being burned out, sometimes I do feel like that especially after doing different spots thursday-sunday. Sometimes I will put in one of my mixes but for the most part, I start at 10 and go until 3. As for girls, I flirt but that's as far as it goes. I never bring a woman from the club home. That's just asking for drama.
Mr. $weetlife 2:01 AM - 25 April, 2007
^^^Smart Guy!!!^^^