I hate DJing 21st birthday parties!!!I hate it!

paddylonglegs

Couldn't think of any other thread to put this in...

I'v just come back from gigging a 21st and am thinking of throwing in the towel cos of it.I just had to get this off my chest as these parties wreck my head so much.
1.Started off ok,was told to turn it down as there were a few oldies there,then was asked 10 mins later to turn it up as no-one could hear it.

2.Was asked to play lively stuff to get people dancing,at about 9.30 or so.This does not happen anywhere,people don't get up to dance until they are plyed with drink and have no inhibitians.

3.No one appreciates mixing!I mixed a couple of tunes really well and you just want someone to come up and say "nice mix man",but alas.

4.Asked to play some oldies for the 5 older people that were at the party to "keep them happy".No one else in the place was liking it and got complaints.

5.And finally,playing ****ty commercial music like the proclaimers and sugababes.

Ok thats off my chest now,sorry for the rant.

Would love to find out if there are any DJ societies where DJ's meet up and share an interest in the art of DJing and mixing uncommercial music.God would love it.

AARRRGH

Surely you need to do what the customer wants? It's just like any other job really...

^CwAzY^

I hope you played la gasolina That would have got them up.. anyway commercial music is (in general) what people wanna hear.. it's music that can appeal to anyone.. I'm not a dj myself but I love clubbing.. just have to ask are you only new to djing? If you are in college there is usually a dj soc, I know there's one in DIT anyway..

carpothepunk

would you believe i think i know the 21st youre talking about

red_ice

^CwAzY^ wrote:

I hope you played la gasolina That would have got them up..

Oh god, that song drills through my head in the students union - all the wanna be chickenheads put that on and think its the best song in the world... What a genius that chap is, killing the music, revving a bike, then bringing it in - i mean, thats pure creativity..

If they had any taste in music that would have got them up alright, and out the door!

fade2black

I stopped doing those things a good while ago. They're usually set in pubs...starting at 9 and finishing at 1ish...Problem is...from 9 until 12 people just sit and talk, starting at ya and probably bitching about ya. Then they get drunk and decide to dance a few minutes before ya have to finish up. When you do they just abuse ya.

You have to play crap music and the saying you can't please all of the people all of the time applies more so here because the kids want the charts and the oldies want nothing but oldies. You can't win, so I stopped trying to.

The Muppet

paddylonglegs wrote:

Couldn't think of any other thread to put this in...

I'v just come back from gigging a 21st and am thinking of throwing in the towel cos of it.I just had to get this off my chest as these parties wreck my head so much.
1.Started off ok,was told to turn it down as there were a few oldies there,then was asked 10 mins later to turn it up as no-one could hear it.

2.Was asked to play lively stuff to get people dancing,at about 9.30 or so.This does not happen anywhere,people don't get up to dance until they are plyed with drink and have no inhibitians.

3.No one appreciates mixing!I mixed a couple of tunes really well and you just want someone to come up and say "nice mix man",but alas.

4.Asked to play some oldies for the 5 older people that were at the party to "keep them happy".No one else in the place was liking it and got complaints.

5.And finally,playing ****ty commercial music like the proclaimers and sugababes.

Ok thats off my chest now,sorry for the rant.

Would love to find out if there are any DJ societies where DJ's meet up and share an interest in the art of DJing and mixing uncommercial music.God would love it.

Time to hang up the headphones mate or at least not do family orientated events. Your attitude is all wrong for this type of event.

eoin5

One thing I learned from DJing is that theres no way in hell of pleasing everyone, its a fine art of humouring the right people at the right time. Dont do everything that everyone says, just give them a good reason not to, this works better at the start of the night .

Remember your getting paid to be a scapegoat too, "oh noones dancing coz the dj is crap" reads: "I love this song but I scared stiff to dance because no-one else will, ill just blame the dj", but from the pubs point of view its better to have the tunes on at 9.30 than off so its just something you have to deal with.

Just remember that your getting paid for doing basically pressing play and taking some ****, its not that hard man.

nobodythere

All the pubs in Galway usually have one CD of commercial songs that they play over and over again for weeks, one downside to working there. It's uber-annoying and when you see all these girls pretending they're sexy with their unsexy dances and devil horns/bunny ears I want to curl up and die.

da da da da gasoliiina, da da da da gasoliiina.

tman

its time to draw a line tbh.
either you're going to have to put up with this ****, and be nothing more than a glorified jukebox (but get paid for it...)
or you've got to stick to your guns and only play parties (and possibly clubs) where people actually want to hear proper mixing and good tunage.

take from the people or give to the people... your choice

sweetie

Ye gotta think of the cash man! I presume you have some outlet for your more creative djing? I had a stint djing in one quite popular city centre establishment that was going thru some quiet times. From 10 till 11 I would play a mix cd that I found on the web and read my book. Class!

paddylonglegs

sweetie wrote:

Ye gotta think of the cash man! I presume you have some outlet for your more creative djing? I had a stint djing in one quite popular city centre establishment that was going thru some quiet times. From 10 till 11 I would play a mix cd that I found on the web and read my book. Class!

But i'm sure you didn't have auntie maureen coming up to the dj box asking you to turn the music down.Or,"do ya have any oldies there to get the older crowd up".Aw,cringe

I'm sure I'll be able to make a bit of cash from my more creative Djing in the future.Patience my pretties,patience

sweetie

Hey man, if you're lookin for someone to takeover that work send me a pm!

Savman

GIMME A BREAK!!!

Seriously, you probably only got a coupla hundred quid for playing CD's of a load of crap music you didnt even write eh? My heart bleeds

paddylonglegs

Savman wrote:

GIMME A BREAK!!!

Seriously, you probably only got a coupla hundred quid for playing CD's of a load of crap music you didnt even write eh? My heart bleeds

Yes,I did.







Whats your point?

Savman

my point is, its not exactly the most stressful job, or in fact the most difficult job in the world is it? I mean its not like you clean s*** off toilet floors, you're pressing a couple of buttons and lifting a few speakers, a monkey could do it (and judging by some of the DJs I've come across, monkeys would be an improvement)

I'll never consider party DJs to be musical martyrs, you say you "hate DJing 21st parties" well there's a simple solution if you hate it that much...:rolleyes:

irishthump

paddylonglegs wrote:

Couldn't think of any other thread to put this in...

I'v just come back from gigging a 21st and am thinking of throwing in the towel cos of it.I just had to get this off my chest as these parties wreck my head so much.
1.Started off ok,was told to turn it down as there were a few oldies there,then was asked 10 mins later to turn it up as no-one could hear it.

2.Was asked to play lively stuff to get people dancing,at about 9.30 or so.This does not happen anywhere,people don't get up to dance until they are plyed with drink and have no inhibitians.

3.No one appreciates mixing!I mixed a couple of tunes really well and you just want someone to come up and say "nice mix man",but alas.

4.Asked to play some oldies for the 5 older people that were at the party to "keep them happy".No one else in the place was liking it and got complaints.

5.And finally,playing ****ty commercial music like the proclaimers and sugababes.

Ok thats off my chest now,sorry for the rant.

Would love to find out if there are any DJ societies where DJ's meet up and share an interest in the art of DJing and mixing uncommercial music.God would love it.

Ok, here's MY $0.02.....

My response to points 1, 2 ,4 and 5 - You're getting PAID for it, so do as you're told! Simple as that.
You did plenty of bitching and moaning but I bet you still put your hand out for your money at the end of the night......

As for point 3..,.. Awwwww, poor baby! You sat there pressing buttons with a face on you all night then you decided to "create some art" and nobody noticed?! Tough! Suck it up! You were NOT being paid for that, as you said you being paid to play good old fashioned "chessy hits", so stop whinging and get on with it. Or quit, one less DJ in the world is fine by me.

One last thing...... DJ SOCIETY? Ha! Are you serious, what would you guys do, sit around and talk to each other in that silly DJ voice that you guys all put on?

SOMEBODY GET ME VIOLIN!:p

paddylonglegs

Savman wrote:

my point is, its not exactly the most stressful job, or in fact the most difficult job in the world is it? I mean its not like you clean s*** off toilet floors, you're pressing a couple of buttons and lifting a few speakers, a monkey could do it (and judging by some of the DJs I've come across, monkeys would be an improvement)

I'll never consider party DJs to be musical martyrs, you say you "hate DJing 21st parties" well there's a simple solution if you hate it that much...:rolleyes:

Ah yes,the ignorant ones always have the best replies.By the sounds of things you're quite up on what happens at 21st parties.the fact that you say a dj presses a couple of buttons is the most ignorant,laughable comment I'v heard.Experience it mate and you may realise what exactly goes into it.As a mobile dj,not only do you deal with a differant venue every night,theres a completely differant crown to consider every time.You need to be able to predict the type of music they will be interested hearing and make sure everyones happy.

You have a bunch of people who have arrived to see their aunty mary whom they haven't seen in years(hurray!),and end up talking to them for the whole night - wahey,lets get pissed!Its not like being in a bar with a load of pissed up twenty-somethings,drinking since 7 that night,who can't even tell the differance between one song and another as they're that sauced!Now when was the last time you saw a bunch of seven year olds running around q-bar,with uncle mick in the corner asking you to turn the music down?Not too many I'm sure

Savman

Seriously boss, you take your profession waaay to seriously!! I mean you're a DJ for christ's sake

Oh so you're a "Mobile DJ", well excuse me I didnt realise you had it so hard, and that awful "Auntie Mary" in your ear she really should just leave you well alone to play what you want, screw everyone else what would they know anyway? You have your DJ Degree and you know what they want even if they dont.:rolleyes:

Doctor J

Savman, I suggest you keep your ill-informed slagging to yourself. This isn't the place for stirring ****.


Paddylonglegs, I've been in a similar position, playing bass for a blues cover band. Not my style of music by a long shot and it used to get on my tits, just playing twelve bars over and over while the guitar players did their thing. The crowds always seemed to dig it though. It wasn't helped by having to lug a big bass amp through huge crowds of pissheads in Temple Bar at 3am on Saturday nights back to the car park.

If the money isn't enough to keep you happy then stop doing it. You'll just kill your enthusiasm for what you love to do.

Savman

Doctor J wrote:

Savman, I suggest you keep your ill-informed slagging to yourself. This isn't the place for stirring ****..

Who's "ill-informed"? Does he or does he not get paid to play whatever the crowd wants to hear? Anything else is irrelvant and you'll excuse me if I don't express any sympathy whatsoever for what is a relatively simple job.

Paddyonlegs might be a good mixer or a great man on the decks for all I know, but his approach to parties is stupid when he probably gets very good money for doing it. If he was a professional he'd just do the job without silly rants like above, but in my experience most party Djs aren't professional anythings - just fly by night money grabbing chancers.

I used to think DJing was a skilled art until I crossed paths with some wierd individuals in the last few years. In fact, I can think of at least 2 occasions when the DJ who showed up to a party/function had absolutely NO previous experience and was simply there because the original DJ (probably his brother) double booked and passed the job on rather than cancel with the clients.

Its only slander if its not true...:rolleyes:

Doctor J

You're contributing nothing to this thread. You don't know the OP and you don't know his level of competence. You're just engaging in idle name calling disguised as an insight on the world of dj'ing. You don't like dj's. Well done, you've made your point. The only place your comments are leading is into a flame-fest, which nobody wants, so let's leave it at that, yeah?

Savman

Doctor J wrote:

You're contributing nothing to this thread. You don't know the OP and you don't know his level of competence. You're just engaging in idle name calling disguised as an insight on the world of dj'ing. You don't like dj's. Well done, you've made your point. I don't expect to see you use this thread as an excuse to slag dj's again.

What are you on about? Is it now standard that anyone who disagrees with a new post should not post anything at all? The OP still hasnt responded to any criticisms with any valid points and you have the cheek to say I have "contributed nothing"?!?!?

pfffff :mad:

fade2black

And you're also generalising...to say that DJing is a simple job is a tad ignorant if you ask me. Like security, bar work and taxi driving, which have to be regarded as easy, in your book, as DJing...Any job that involves dealing with the drunken public is far from easy.

Also, playing the right songs at the right time is not as easy as you would think. On many occasions I've challenged people to come up to the DJ box and play do it...sometimes they have and always they've failed.

irishthump

paddylonglegs wrote:

As a mobile dj,not only do you deal with a different venue every night,

Ah HA!

So THAT'S the reason "mobile" DJ's always have crap sound!

irishthump

fade2black wrote:

And you're also generalising...to say that DJing is a simple job is a tad ignorant if you ask me.

And YOU'RE biast!

For a DJ to say that DJ'ing is some kind of art form is a tad slanted, if you
ask me.:D

Savman

fade2black wrote:

Any job that involves dealing with the drunken public is far from easy..

True. But I dont see any posts from Toilet Attendants ranting about drunken fools and think of the crap (excuse the pun) they have to listen to.

Doctor J

Enough of this crap. Thread closed.