Diary Of A Club Guy Part 3
The DJ
DJ - Their role is to play and mix the music for the people attending the venue. While many think that it’s simply playing hits to keep people dancing, there is also an art to rotating the dancefloor. The best club DJs learn how to rotate a dancefloor to maximize liquor sales for the venue.
At the beginning of my career in nightlife, my goal was to be a DJ.
When I first started DJing, I was using my laptop, Virtual DJ software, and no mixer. After some time, I bought my first DJ controller, and then my second.
I was DJing house parties until a friend of mine opened up a restaurant where I played from open to close, 7 days a week. That’s where I got most of my practice, but it was never my end goal.
I wanted to DJ in a nightclub.
As I stated in part 1, the only way to get a job as a DJ, was to apply as a barback to get to know people in the industry so I would have a shot. That’s what I did and it worked.
Part 3 starts from there.
The Journey
After barbacking for a while at Stereo Nightclub, they started to let me DJ on Fridays. I had never DJ’d on CDJs (the club standard for DJ equipment) so Fridays were my practice time.
A bunch of other DJs use to come Fridays too and shared the slots. It was never more than 50 people there that night so it allowed the DJs an easy environment to make mistakes and try to find their style.
Eventually, after some time, I became better, and I was bringing more people to the club on Saturdays (our busy night). That led to me being able to open up Saturday nights for DJ Hollywood Hype.
It’s funny because even before I was 18, I heard about DJ Hollywood Hype because he was the only DJ that would play the music I liked in Winnipeg. When I turned 18, I went to see him first and loved it. Now, here I was opening up for him.
This was great because it gave me the chance to be critiqued and corrected by the best.
He ensured that my transitions were clean, the quality of my music was the best, and how to pick when to play what song. It was perfect for me because DJing a room with 1000 people was a lot different than a house party.
After opening up a few times on Saturdays, I started to get the opportunity to open up for headliners who came to the city such as Borgeous, which was an awesome show.
Opening up for artists gave me some more visibility, and as I became a better promoter, people wanted to book me in more venues. Since I was a good promoter, they knew that if I DJ’d, more people would come when I was playing.
My DJing was average, my promoting was above average. Not what I wanted, but it worked.
Over the next couple of years, I played in several clubs including TYC, Opera, District Stop and Greenroom.
I definitely enjoyed Greenroom the most because the crowd was all around you. You knew immediately if you picked the right song, or if you didn’t. When you did… the energy was the best.
Also, there was far more attention from girls in Greenroom than in any other club (if I’m being honest).
After a while though, my promoting surpassed my ability to DJ. Meaning that I would make more money if I took the pay of a promoter instead of a DJ, so I stopped and focused on promoting only.
At the same time, my brother had started producing music and was far better than me in that realm. I figured that if I focused on promoting, I would be able to help him with his career in the future.
It was the best for both of us. I would make more money, and be able to help him get opportunities.
It was in 2016 when I completely stopped DJing. I had just played Summer Of Sound for the first time, and we ended our night, Therapy, at District Stop. At the same time, I became a partner at 441 Main, and it was time to hang up the DJ gloves.
DJing was definitely where my passion was. It was incredibly fun and satisfying whether I was alone, or in front of 1500 people. I was happy regardless.
Memorable Experiences
One night I DJ’d 2 45 minute sets while being the only barback, in a room of 900 people. Pure chaos. It was fun.
Anytime someone reached over to try to touch the equipment thinking they were funny, which resulted in the music being stopped. I still remember their faces… don’t do this.
We threw a party at District Stop which had over 900 people. I was DJing while being shoulder to shoulder. Loved it.
I was the DJ for a car crew and we won best car crew of the year 2 years in a row. We were the only crew with a DJ, so at a lot of the car shows, people were dancing around us. A completely different experience which was great.
Opening up at Summer Of Sound was memorable. Although it wasn’t busy yet, DJing on the big stage was cool.
People would offer pretty much anything to get a song played. This has included alcohol, up to $200, drugs, and sexual favours… People are crazy.
A guy wanted to rap on the mic to Drake. Naturally, I said no, and he tried to punch me. He was carried out by security.
Takeaways
A good DJ is an extremely underrated asset. They’re the difference between a goodnight and a bad one and also the difference between people coming back or not.
DJs get a lot of attention. That was a lot of fun while it lasted.
Don’t touch a DJ’s equipment.
DJs get a birdseye view of the club. If you’re doing something odd, they probably saw you.
DJs love when you request Sandstorm.
Conclusion
DJing was fun and I was passionate about it, but I’m also glad I stopped.
You have to play what other people want and have a lot of pressure to be out late, drinking and partying. That just isn’t me anymore.
Nowadays, I prefer to sleep, read, build businesses and write. I’ll always value those days. They were some of the most fun of my life.
Ultimately at the time though, I quit DJing because I started making more money promoting. That’s where part 5 kicks off. First though, in part 4, I will talk about the few months I had as an assistant manager at Stereo.
Thanks for reading!
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