Most big DJs were part of an event early on, like Pete Tong‘s Family Function, and Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez‘s Masters at Work parties. DJ Smash and DJ Nickodemus were part of NYC’s Giant Step, and Jason Bentley was part of LA’s Bossanova.

Step 1: Find A Need or Niche and Fill It

Finding a need or niche has two aspects: the music and the atmosphere, or “vibe.” Sometimes, the need is musical, other times, it’s merely the presentation or experience that’s lacking.

For example, there are always new types of dance music coming into existence – is there a new one that interests you, and that’s not represented in your local nightlife? Or maybe you have an idea for a memorable venue that offers more to do at an event than just listen to a DJ and drink? Figure out what you can bring to the scene. Do something that stands out, do something that people have been wanting, and everyone will remember your event.

Although most people probably know Jason Bentley‘s name from his association with KCRW (his show Metropolis was the first on the station to focus on forward-looking electronic music), he cemented his reputation by starting a club-night with other local DJs where you could dance to music he’d championed on the show. Eventually, they began to feature guest DJs whose music listeners had been hearing on the radio.

The event that people now know as Bossanova wasn’t playing music you couldn’t hear elsewhere, but it did allow people to come out and dance. Normally, other spots playing that music were non-dance locations (e.g., bars, restaurants, lounges), or events held in underground locations (e.g., raves, private parties). What Bentley and co. did was present the music in a more convenient setting for their audience.

In contrast, Pete Tong (now of BBC‘s Essential Mix) started out putting on events and later moved into radio. Pete made his name finding new music, so it was natural for him to move into radio, and consequently, his shows became the pre-clubbing staple for those getting ready to go out.

Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez played successful parties, and then got into music production, as did fellow New Yorkers, DJ Smash and Nickodemus. Because they started out as party DJs, they brought their DJ sensibility to the music they made. All of them are now in demand as both DJs and producers.

Step 2: Get to Know The Scene
Going out to familiarize yourself with the events and people that make up the nightlife in your area is intimately related to “finding and filling” the need or niche you’ll choose. You can’t fill a need if you don’t know what is or is not going on already. For instance, you need get a sense of which nights different events are happening on and of who is going to them. You don’t want to put on a new night of deep house on the same day of the week as the best-attended event of that kind.

Often, the best way to find this stuff out is by looking for club/event flyers. Music shops are the default place to look for these, but also go to clothing stores, cafes and any place where club-goers tend to hang out. Grab several flyers (the ones that look good and the ones that don’t), and do your research checking websites, MySpace, and Facebook pages.

When looking at flyers and profiles, pay close attention to names you see a lot and note who or what their associations are-often these people are the “movers & shakers” in the scene. Also analyze what gets your attention on the flyer and what doesn’t, because when you design your publicity campaign, you want to use all the techniques that make an event look hot on paper.

When you go to events, pay close attention to the elements you think work well, and the ones that do not-as with the promotional material, both the dos and don’ts are important.

DJ T-Bird

Meet the people who are involved in putting the nights on-promoters and DJs alike. You can never know too many people, and understanding how they all fit into your scene is important. If you need help with something, you want to know who the “go-to” people are.

Step 3: Promote Your Event

To put on an amazing party, you must have great promotion, a good vibe, a good venue, and good music. Notice that music is last and promotion is first-the most important thing when it comes to parties is promotion. Promote constantly! I cannot stress this enough. If no one comes to your party, then it’s a flop by default. There’s no way around this one, you have got to have a good turnout.

Once your date & venue are set, even before you have flyers or other promotional material, let people know when and where you’re going to hold your event. People’s memories are short and even your best friends need notice and reminding.

If you don’t have a lot of friends, find people who do, and figure out how to get them excited about your event. You need them to tell their friends, and get those friends telling other people that you may not even know or have access to. It’s long been said that “word of mouth is the best advertising,” and it’s true. Keep the event, date, and venue fresh in people’s minds often enough to remind them, but know when to draw the line. It is possible to over-promote, and annoy people into non-attendance.

Once you’ve got promo under control, it’s time to start to focus on actually putting on a great event!

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You’ve decided to be a DJ and perfect your skills. You’ve gotten your music, and gear or access to it. You’ve practiced so that your mixes are too smooth for even Sasha & Digweed to notice where one track ends and the next begins. Your flares & crab-scratches impress Q-Bert. This is all good, but how about your skills with handling requests? There are many important things you need to know to be a truly skilled DJ and we’ll discuss some of them here. Today we tackle requests.

Requests are something every DJ has to deal with, so it’s best to expect to receive requests until the day you hang up your headphones for good, which means you’ve got to learn the best way to handle them. Even if you reach superstar level (i.e., the crowd is paying money because your name is on top of the marquee, you need an escort to enter the club, and there’s a real “backstage” area), there are still people who can approach you and make a request, such as the venue owner, or the promoter who hired you.

The most important thing to keep in mind is: no matter what the request or how it’s presented, do not take it personally. If you’re a DJ who “doesn’t take requests,” there are still polite ways to decline without shutting people down. Remember, DJs (as a group) still have a questionable reputation with many people. Unnecessary curtness doesn’t help our cause.

Typical Request Scenarios

Most commonly, DJs tend to think of requests in terms of songs/groups/genres. “Do you have ‘song x’?” “Can you play something by ‘group y’?” “Are you going to play ‘genre z’?” These are easy enough to handle with a response such as, “Sure, I have ‘xyz’ and I’ll see if I can fit it in.”

I differ from many DJs who will tell you to always say “yes.” I only recommend saying “yes” if that response is actually true. If you don’t have the song or even if you do but don’t want to play it, an apologetic “Sorry!” will usually do the trick. Additionally, you can mention a DJ who might play the requested song/group/genre, especially if they’ll be playing the same night as you or they’ll be playing in the same venue another night. Doing this comes across as trying to be helpful and not merely telling them to “buzz off!”

I find that the most common requests tend to be quite vague: “Do you have any good music?” “Can you play something we can dance to?” Initially, your reaction to these questions might be to take offense, but generally, the questioner doesn’t realize how this sounds to us as DJs. From their point of view, they’re asking an unprejudiced question which put more simply is this: “Will you play something I/we like or want to dance to?” Given that they are paying your salary, even if indirectly (e.g., buying drinks, being the guests of honor, etc.), there is a certain amount of justification in their desire to influence the musical direction. If you can accommodate them and still keep your self-respect and gig by doing so, why not do it? If, however, they’re asking for hardcore hip hop or techno and the music has only been playing for 15 minutes, you might have to tell them that it’s a little early in the evening for that.

Attitude is everything when telling people you cannot accommodate them. It should seem more like a professional decision than a personal choice—you have to successfully communicate, “I cannot,” as opposed to, “I will not.” If people feel like you’re refusing for personal reasons (like you think the song/band/genre sucks), they will turn on you.

Peacekeeping Duties

Dealing with conflict is an important skill you need as a DJ. Confrontation is a bad thing in our business and I recommend deflating anything that seems like a future conflict. “No More Drama” should be our motto because what we do is set and maintain an atmosphere. We should be alleviating tension by our presence as DJs, not generating it.

If you’ve been strictly advised by the venue or person who hired you about the music policy, you can always use that as your explanation for what’s played during your session, “holding your ground,” and deflecting criticism, if necessary. However, I have had gigs where everyone seemed to want to hear the one thing I was told not to play.

If what’s being requested is something I have and don’t find inappropriate, I will approach “the boss” about playing it as follows: “I’m getting a lot of requests for ‘genre/band/song x,’ what would you like me to do?” Once again, this takes the pressure off you, as often “the boss” will reply, “Just get them dancing!” But if he or she is quite firm about the prohibition, then it’s “out of your hands.” By the mere fact that you asked the host, you can tell disappointed requesters that you tried, which takes the heat out of any possible conflict.

A DJ Bag Full of Tricks

The last skill relevant to requests: music choice. For those of you who are using a computer-based system which allows you to bring your whole collection (e.g., Serato, Ableton Live, etc.), this is generally a non-issue, but you die-hard vinylists & CD jocks out there have to decide what goes with you and what stays at home.

Here’s a tip to avoid a pitfall that newbies and even a few veterans get snared by: in addition to bringing music that would be appropriate for the gig, pack some that would be “inappropriate”—it just might save you if the crowd is different than expected. By “inappropriate” I mean music that’s different than what the gig is billed as, not music that would offend or annoy the crowd. For instance, I always recommend bringing a bit of funk and disco to house or hip hop gigs. Is there anything worse than getting multiple requests for music that you own, like, and didn’t bring because “it wasn’t that kind of gig?”

As a veteran of all sorts of events (weddings, parties, clubs, corporate events, etc.), I recommend having music that will allow you to chill out the crowd, pump them up, get them dancing, and then send them home—regardless of how the job was characterized when you were booked. You may be called upon to do any or all of these at a moment’s notice.

Although it’s unfair, in the minds of many people who will be paying you, the onus is on you to get people dancing and “make the party happen.” Knowing that ahead of time should guide your choices in what you bring. Personally, I think you should always have some familiar music in your DJ bag—look into remix versions closer to your sound if you’re not a mainstream DJ.

What Makes A Great DJ

Requests are a part of the DJ life and if you come equipped with the proper attitude and music, they can be signposts as to where the crowd is gravitating “vibe-wise,” and not “annoyances.” We all get into DJing to have fun, right? Take requests in stride, be as kind as possible, and even on gigs that aren’t that much fun, you will come across as being a skilled professional.

What’s your most awkward request story? Tell us, or let us know if you’ve got a question for our resident DJing expert, in the SW forums!

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