From: icehouse@RedShift.com
Date: Tue Aug 27 2002 - 19:12:32 CEST
Actually this has absolutely NOTHING to do with you being a budding DJ
unless you are really screwing up big-time! it really has to do with
people who have an opportunity to speak to the DJ and who want to have
their 5 cents worth, it has to do with wanting their own way, it has to do
with the state (or lack thereof) of inebbriation and fucked-upness, it has
to do with people who are unable to just chill and enjoy the music you are
spinning, it has to do with idiots who just have to insert themselves into
whatever situation they can, it has to do with people who ache for
control, it has to do with deep insecurities that some folks schlep around
wherever they go, it has to do with people who think they can do better
than you are doing, it has to do with all kinds of things but not really
with your abilities as a DJ since these people will come up to you and lay
their stuff on you even (and sometimes especially!) when the room is going
off totally and almost everyone there is totally diggin what you are
spinning. I cannot tell you the number of times over the last couple of
decades that I have had cd's shoved in my face as being the only possible
thing I could play next, I have learned to ignore these people in a way
that is not rude, crude or crass or even terribly offensive, I just nod
and smile knowingly and then continue on my merry way spinning what I
intend to spin, last week I got a heavy and unpleasant complaint from a
woman who claimed that she and her friends could only dance to disco and I
was playing utter crap and then the host came over and asked her to leave,
it turned out she was not even invited to the party and this is not that
uncommon an occurrence! More and more people want to DJ and they seem to
think that being the DJ is just a matter of spinning a few of their
favourite discs and that is it! Now I know that many listees know about
these situations and have experienced them as well and we all know that it
really has little to do with the quality of the DJ's work so V, just be
like the duck's back and let it all slide off! Now, on the other hand, I
have had a few people come over and ask me to play something that was
entirely appropriate and that fitted the mood perfectly but I usually
resist most of these intrusions, even the positive ones. Being the DJ is
not a question of arriving with a set list of what you are going to play,
it does require some connection with what is happening at the party or
event, what people are moving to and what clears the floor in a few bars
and that knowledge is only learned through experience and intuitive
ability although if you are way into a deep house set and the dance floor
is empty then perhaps the friendly soul trying to talk to you knows what
that crowd really wants, I usually assume they are off doing their drugs
somewhere and that they will return to dance when the chemicals finally
kick in or the smoke is smoked! Life can be tough even for a jaded,
seen-it-all DJ as well. My own weakness in this DJ thing is when an
attractive woman comes up to me and wants to hear something and I like her
enough to start thinking about how I can fit it into what I already have
going on! Some DJ's will not allow anyone to come close to them when they
are into spinning and that probably works for them, I personally like the
interaction with people and I have to just resist their suggestions and
play on!
the ls.dj Leslie Swill/The Power of Sound
-- from Leslie Shill vstewart@calpoly.edu wrote: > > I was spinning at a house party for the first time, playing some deep > house music. > > One guy comes up to me and gives me his Violent Femmes vinyl to play a > favorite song off of it ("Bitchin' Camaro," I think, was the song). > > Another guy comes up to me and says "Hey...I have some hip-hop in my car > if you want me to get it." > > Life can be tough for a budding DJ, ya know? > > V. > >
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