Adding To The Entourage

[Benny Smyth]

I have found myself in a bit of a pickle. My regular roadie has taken a big step back since getting married.

My back up roadie just stands there unless you give him step by step instructions.

About a month ago, Mrs. B nearly put a fork in the toaster to retrieve a jammed (pun intended) slice of bread before I intervened, so that rules out that option.

I have a 13 year old nephew, but I am very selective as to what gigs I take him to plus the fact that he is 13 - school is far more important.

So basically, the idea of this thread is to get some ideas on where did you find your roadies?

[DJColsie]

I am in a similar position to you.

I have had a crew of 4 to choose from including daughters, nephew and step son who would do it for £20-30. Now they are all in the range of 17-20 they are spreading their wings and have their own jobs and social lives.

Have taken to going out on my own which saves me money but adds up to an hour to the time away from the house. I miss the company and catch up on the journey and someone to chat to through out the evening.

Had thought of asking friends and work colleagues if they knew of anyone who might be interested.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Gumtree?

[ppentertainments]

Why do you need a roadie ?

[Benny Smyth]

Gumtree?

Not a bad shout. May find a diamond in the riff raff.

Why do you need a roadie ?

And that's the small show.

[soundmaster mobile disco]

I've always been lucky in that my son Alan wanted to help out from an early age. He was very keen and as a result of him coming out on the road with me he now is a working dj in the business.

saying that I find myself collecting his gear on a Sunday morning myself as he starts work at 6am on a Sunday

[alphawave]

I have had two roadies over the years,first was my mums friends son who was good but then he moved on.Next was my younger sister who was also good but cant lift heavy items then she packed it in,partys,boys etc.... I do find it ok to work alon,is harder work unloading etc but no waiting around or extra pay out... I wont bother again unless someone really wanted to learn the ropes but even then i would have to think...

[ckpr2]

On the first disco I worked for there could be up to 4 of us.
This made light work of all the gear being lifted in and out.
One of the gigs we did was upstairs so two lifting a speaker box was useful.

After I got married I started my own disco.
It was seriously hard work despite being a fit young man.

At 57 its just too much for me although I have looked at a laptop lightweight disco.
But my full time job involves working Friday and Saturday evenings so that rules out most gigs.

I have had my brother help me a couple of times but his wife objected a bit, she thought we were out on the pull !

My sons have never shown any interest despite me asking if they fancied a night out with the disco a couple of times.

[Les Brock]

I was in a similar position, I scaled my show down to suit both my target wedding market and my back and I was doint it all myself, then I went and added to it , re-think after crimbo hols to get it all back under control and make it easier to load & unload.

as you know, by the time you've humped it into the van, unloaded, set-up, de-rigged, loaded the van again, and unloaded at home, your well and truly well you know, at 50 I'm feeling it more and more.

Could you perhaps do the same ?

[yourdj]

Facebook groups, gumtree, local classifieds.

Treat it like a proper job interview and interview all of them on the same day and perhaps even use them all as a test to see if they "get it". I bet you can find someone who will be glad to be paid in just experience as after all you will be giving away your secrets and if someone is aspiring to be a DJ what better to way to learn (to go out and command a decent wage) in a short period of time (assuming you are any good that is)

I am Über fussy who come with me to help and at present only my roadie Charlie and my wife have stood up to my fastidious ways as everything has to be done the way I like it. Seveal other people have come along with me but I could not stand them being with me (they were experienced DJ's). In fact charlie has developed a completely duplicate rig to mine (its very unique) and does his own gigs (he dj'd my wedding) so i have a duplicate system and DJ as backup now, which is a great position to be in.

Being 17 he can also drive now too and in my opinion already worth £300+ wage as he really knows his stuff.
My wife still does a better job at setting it all up as she knows me best.