Shakermaker Promotions
26-08-2008, 12:23 AM
Ok guys, here it is. I've done it in 2 parts and it's kind of blog like. I may well have forgotten some stuff and also, there may be some spelling mistakes in there too so forgive me. It shouldn't be that bad.
If you don't like long posts, don't read it ok. I hope some of this interests you in one way or another.
Someone asked me the other day how I got into DJing and Mobile Discos. I don’t think they were quite prepared for the very long story that followed but they found the whole thing interesting and commented that maybe I should document it so, here it is.
For as long as I can remember, I have always been into music and entertaining people. I used to like dancing about and doing impressions of TV characters when I was a toddler and I can remember quite clearly even at the age of about 5 years old, dancing all night in front of the Disco at a family night out down the local club. The DJ gave me one of those horrible Banana sweets for my dancing and I was over the moon. As I got older I got more interested in the Discos and on one occasion at another family night Disco when I was about 8 years old, the DJ actually let me behind his set up and showed me how he did everything. I was absolutely chuffed with that experience and remember telling my mum that one day I wanted to do that. She laughed!!
I was always into my music and listened to the Top 40 countdown every week. I used to tape it whenever I could and listen to it over and over again until the following week when I would tape over it with the new chart. In 1978 when I was 10 years old, I got a portable record player. It actually ran on batteries too and I used to take it into the garden with my handful of 7” records and play them as loud as I could. The poor built in speaker distorted when it was up too loud and the likes of Boney M and the Bay City Rollers, which I was listening to at the time, sounded even worse! It was in 1979 that my world completely changed. I was listening to the Radio one day when I heard a song come on that was totally different to anything else that I had ever heard before. I wasn’t quick enough to get it on tape and I didn’t hear the DJ say who the song was by or what it was called so for the next few days I listened to the Radio constantly to find out what it was. After a few days I found out that it was by a band called Tubeway Army and the song was called ‘Are friends Electric?’. I loved the song but could understand why other people didn’t as it wasn’t danceable and was quite long and repetitive. When I saw the song performed in Top of The Pops, a programme that we all used to watch religiously, and saw Gary Numan, the lead singer… that was it for me, I was hooked. I have documented my whole Gary Numan experience in my book “Numan and Me’ so I won’t bore you with any of that here.
The Discos that I had been to coupled with my infatuation with Gary Numan made me the person that I am today I guess. I saved up as much money as I could from my morning and after school paper rounds to buy a better Hi Fi and my record collection began to grow and grow. Again, in 1979 in my first year at secondary school, I did my first bit of proper Djing as an 11 year old at the school disco. I actually stood behind the decks and traffic lights with one of the teachers who was spinning the tunes. I loved it and it made me even more determined that later in life I would do it for a living. I hated school. I went through the years getting grief, mainly for liking Gary Numan. I was also into my Ska music at the time and a big favourite of mine were the band Madness. I loved them. In 1983, halfway through secondary school, we moved from Basingstoke back to London. I made friends quickly and I am not sure how it happened but on various occasions at various house parties etc, it was me that would be responsible for the music. I had a collection of early Rap/Electro music alongside my Ska and Numan records so the play lists were a bit eclectic to say the least. I also bought myself a big ghetto blaster with money that I saved from working in a chip shop after school (No, I didn’t claim my name was Elvis) and I would often take it out with me, playing my tunes as loud as I could, much to everyone elses disgust.
Whilst living in London I also met a number of people that were involved in an entertainments agency. As I mentioned earlier, I used to do impressions etc…mainly Frank Spencer hahaha and I joined the agency and was compere on the mic whenever there was a show on. These would generally be at social clubs with quite a big audience so it was quite nerve racking as a 15 year old. I did quite a few of the shows and ended up making mix tapes for the show music. We left London a year later and came back to Basingstoke. I had left school now and was looking for a job. I joined a YTS as a painter and decorator and did that for a year before I got my first proper job working in a double glazing factory. I was there for nearly 3 years. In the factory they had the radio coming out through speakers that were around the building. Whenever we did overtime, the radio was turned off and one of my mix tapes would be put on. People would be jigging about behind their work benches and it was quite funny. Whilst I was working at the factory I met a guy who was just starting a band. We became good friends and I ended up joining the band and we did really well in the end, playing allover the UK and in Europe aswell. This is also documented in my book so once again I won’t bore you with any of that. I left the band as it was very tiring and I just wasn’t enjoying the constant gigging if I am honest. Don’t get me wrong, it was enjoyable and there is no better feeling than when you are playing music that YOU have made to a huge crowd (30,000 in Belgium for example), but I had, had enough.
It was a bit of a luck that I actually got into Djing properly. A local club that I used to go to were thinking of starting up an Alternative night. I was actually going on holiday to Greece with a girlfriend so I was disappointed that I was going to miss the first 2 weeks of it. I was into my music more than ever. My collection had grown over the years and was more on the alternative side. The DJ that the club got was actually someone that worked at the same factory as I did. He was german and his name was Dieter and he was into his rock. He used to turn up at work in spandex trousers all the time which was quite funny. Anyway, me and the girlfriend went on holiday as planned. It was quite funny actually because we thought we were self catering but we weren’t, we were half board so I came back with loads of unspent money. This came in handy as you’ll hear in a second. I met up with a mate one night and we decided to go out to the club. It wasn’t the alternative night though, it was your usual night down there and I got talking to the manager. I asked how the alternative night had gone and was surprised when he said that they were looking for another DJ already. Apparently the people didn’t like the music that Dieter had been playing and told him so. Someone also smashed the windows on his van and slashed his tyres to make a point so he walked away from the night. To cut a long story just that tad shorter, I was asked to do the night. I had never ever DJ’d before and the minute I agreed to it, I began to get nervous. I wasn’t confident that my collection would be to everyone’s cup of tea and went into Woolworths in town one Saturday and spent my remaining holiday money (£200.00) on loads of vinyl LP’s. I remember one of the staff saying “I bet you’re a DJ” and with a massive grin on my face, I said “Yep!”. The club re-launched the night and on all of the posters it had my name on it and underneath the name of the band that I had been in. We were big and their idea was that it would pull in the punters - it did! The first night I did was absolutely packed and I remember being sick with nerves hours before I started. I was panicking and saying that I couldn’t do it and nearly pulled out. I’m glad I didn’t as it went better than I could ever have dreamed. People dancing to the music that I was choosing was such a buzz and I knew right then that I wanted to do it properly. The sound was amazing and coupled with the lights and attention that I was getting from everyone, it was my dream job. The thing is, I wasn’t getting paid for it as I was working full time, this time at another Double Glazing firm.
The Alternative night was on a Monday night and started at 9pm, finishing at 2am. I used to get free drinks and also a taxi home as part of the deal. It was hard work getting up at 7am to go to work the next day but I was young and somehow I managed it. The Double Glazing firm I worked for was on an industrial estate and also situated there was another nightclub. I was sat on my workbench one day when I noticed an advert looking for DJ’s whilst I read the local paper. As the venue was literally around the corner I decided to nip out in my lunch break and go and see what it was all about. The club was also a 24 hour snooker club so I knew it would be open. I spoke to the manager who looked at me like I was an idiot as I was dressed in my work clothes and covered in crap. He said that they were holding auditions at the end of the week so I would need to pop back. I had to take 3 tracks with me. When Friday came I went straight to the venue and was surprised when the doorman told me to go and wait with the others and pointed me in the direction of a waiting room. As I walked into the room I was met by 4 other guys, older than me who weren’t even talking to each other. As I sat down, a guy who had obviously just finished his audition, came into the room through another door, looked at all of us, laughed and said “No chance, don’t bother!”. I didn’t realise what he meant but now I know he thought that he had one up on us all. Anyway, time went by and I waited for ages. I was last to go in and was starving hungry too and when they finally called my name, the nerves set in. I walked through the door and into the club and by the dance floor was a table. Sat behind it was the manager, the owner and also the assistant manager. I went and sat down in front of them and answered all of the questions that they threw my way. I remember saying to them, “I don’t think you’ll like what I do because I do things differently and play different music” - They looked at each other, smiled and then said “Well, we’ll tell you if we don’t like it”. I went up behind the decks with my 3 records. ‘Loaded’ by Primal Scream, ‘The Lovecats’ by The Cure and ‘Cars’ by Gary Numan. I started the Primal Scream track with the talk over bit at the beginning and just as it said “We are gonna get loaded’, I started the Gary Numan track. They stared at me and smiled and I wasn’t sure if they were taking the mickey or not. I was halfway through the last track and the manager put his hand in the air signalling me to stop what I was doing. I then had to go back over to where they were sitting and answer more questions. “Was that ok?” I asked… “That was fine!” answered the assistant manager.. “I knew you wouldn’t like it” I replied laughing. This experience was quite a daunting one and I hated it. They said they would contact me in the week to let me know whether I was successful or not and I left it there. As I hadn’t heard from them for a while I assumed I hadn’t got the job but was surprised one day whilst standing outside the factory getting a sandwich off the sandwich lady. The manager walked towards me and said “Don’t you answer the phone then?”. I didn’t know what he meant. He said the club had tried to contact me but the phone wasn’t being answered. It turned out that there was a wrong digit in the number they had taken down so they weren’t ringing me at all. Anyway, I got the job and had to go and see them again in my lunch hour on the Monday to go through ideas. They were a bit surprised when they heard that I was also working for the other club too as they were in direct competition. The difference with this club was that this Alternative night was going to be on a Saturday night. Once again, free taxis and as much free drink as I wanted (as long as I didn’t get slaughtered). It was very tiring doing 2 nights a week as well as my day job and I was surprised one day when I had a call from the Tax Man. My name had been in the papers as I had done interviews regarding the new nights and with them being Alternative nights and something different, there was a lot of interest. It was quite scary having to convince Mr Tax Man that I WAS actually Djing for free drinks and taxis and as far as I know, they contacted the clubs too who confirmed this. I wasn’t getting paid therefore I was doing nothing wrong but I felt like I had.
I am sure it has happened to other DJ’s too but getting up for work on the Monday and Tuesday was getting quite hard. There were numerous times I was late and I didn’t have any excuses. I was more or less told that if I didn’t had in my notice to the Double Glazing factory, I would get the sack anyway due to lateness etc..so, that’s what I did. It was shortly after that, that I met a guy one night whilst I was doing the Saturday night slots. We got talking and he more or less had the same plans and ambitions as me in that he wanted to do Discos etc as a business. We ended up working together on a fruit and veg stall in a branch of Kwik Save and that’s where it all began to change. He had a game plan and we would cover each other on the stall when he used to go off for a few hours to get things moving, like seeing the bank manager and getting equipment etc etc.. It wasn’t long before he had a couple of set ups. The equipment wasn’t great but it was a start. He got a big loan, did a big advertising campaign and before long, people were calling up for parties etc. We also approached a local venue about doing an Alternative Night there. It was an Ex Serviceman’s club and needless to say, we didn’t last long there. The regulars hated the loud music and lights and even though we got 200+ people in there when normally they had about 10 at the most, they decided to pull the plug. It worked out to be a good move because about a week later we got talking to someone else who owned a club/bar type venue who wanted to do something a bit different. We were given free reign on what we wanted to do and so we decided on an Alternative Night. I had to come up with a name pretty quickly and decided on the name SHAKERMAKER. It was because at the time, Oasis had made guitar music more popular and were the biggest band around. The name just seemed to work so we used it, started the night and it went up and up from the first night we started. The venue only held 200 people but on almost every night we did there would be more than that outside waiting to get in. We had to turn loads of people away and it may sound harsh but it was great. I learnt then that it was the best form of advertising for the night. If it was that popular that people couldn’t get in then it would make people more interested and more determined to get in next time.
The Shakermaker nights went down in history in the town and I’m glad to say that they are still going just as strong to this day. I ended up working for my mate full time as a DJ and it was all rosy for a few years until I actually realised that I was lining someone else’s pockets when I could be lining my own. Unfortunately I didn’t have any savings or anything and I was Djing for my mate on average 5 nights a week, sometimes 6. I was compering quiz nights, karaokes as well as Djing and running around setting up equipment allover the place. Before long we were flat out and had other DJ’s working for us too. We would set up the equipment for them and go off and DJ at our own functions and then after packing down our equipment we would often go to the their functions and pack up theirs too which meant we would have very late nights. If we couldn’t get the equipment on the night, we would do it the next day. I was in danger of losing the plot at times and started to lose interest when it no longer became enjoyable. One night I was Djing at a party for some students and one of them came up to me and asked if I did club work. I said yes and she put me in touch with a club in Bournemouth. The club were getting bored with their regular DJ who had been there for a number of years. Numbers through the door were falling because people were sick of the same songs being played week in, week out. Someone actually commented that you could set your watch by Rage against the Machine!! In my opinion, club work can get like that because at the end of the day you are there to get people dancing and if people ask for the same tracks week in, week out and they will dance to them, then you play them. You are in a dodgy situation because you want to please the people that have requested the tune but you also would like to play something different but risk no’one dancing. I used to watch lots of DJ’s do stuff like this and I remember having a bet with a mate on a night out one night that the DJ would play such and such a song next. I won the bet by the way. It used to make me laugh because if they played a Blur track it would always be ‘Parklife’, if they played an Oasis track it would always be ‘Wonderwall’ etc etc…. How many albums and singles have these bands made? There are loads of tracks that DJ’s could play by these two bands yet the DJ’s in question stuck to these two because they were safe. One thing I don’t do and never have done, is play safe. I experiment and chuck in tracks that I think will work well and most of the time I succeed. This particular club in Bournemouth was an instant success for me. The numbers went up and it got back to being one of THE places to go for Alternative music in Bournemouth. It was hard work though travelling down there on a Thursday night but was enjoyable. I didn’t like handing over my cash to my mate though as it was all done through him. I was on a set wage which at the time I thought was ok, afterall I was doing something I loved but looking back on it now, it was poor. After around a year of doing the Bournemouth night, the club was bought out by developers and I left and started at another club in Bournemouth, All was going well and the same deal was on but it wasn’t the same. This time it was a Friday night and I was Djing until 3am. By the time I got home it would be daylight and I would have a couple of hours sleep before doing all the setting up etc for the functions on Saturday as well as Dj that night too. It was also around this time that the children’s parties became more and more popular with us and I would end up doing one of those on a Sunday too. I was getting more and more disillusioned with the whole thing.
I thought to myself one day that the whole reason I wanted to DJ was because I wanted to be different. I didn’t want to do children’s parties or karaokes and if I did, I would do them for me and earn the money for me, not someone else who would give me a cut. I liked the fact that I was doing something different and not having to get up early every day, better still..I didn’t have to work in an office or something like that BUT if I carried on doing what I was doing then I was in danger of being put off the whole idea totally. I have DJ’d all over the place and there have been some really cool moments and also some very bad and scary moments, most of which I will list at the end of this story. I was actually on a night off when I met my now wife. We had been friends for a couple of years and always liked each other but never got round to doing anything about it, We had planned to go out on a date a number of times but I was always working. When we actually got together I was working 5 nights a week for my mate. I soon cut that down as I wanted to be with her and after talking loads and loads about how I felt about my job etc, I made the decision to stop working for my mate and get a proper job. We didn’t fall out or anything and all was cool. He actually decided to cut down his business as he was taking far too much on and making himself ill. He wasn’t from Basingstoke originally and moved back to the midlands to do his work there, concentrating on the mobile bars, race nights and casino side of things. He is a lot happier now and we still keep in touch regularly.
The problem I had at the time was that getting another job wasn’t as easy as it seemed at the time. I was out of work for around 2 months so did temporary work for that time. My plan was to save enough money so that I could get my own equipment but that didn’t happen. Just before I stopped working for my mate, we were approached by a venue in Surrey to do all of their entertainment. A quiz night on a Monday, Karaoke on a Thursday and Disco on a Friday. I was doing all 3 nights and getting my wage from my mate for doing them as part of my weekly wages. However, one night he went into the venue on a night off on his own and was apparently quite rude to them whilst drunk so they told him that they didn’t want him to supply the entertainment anymore. As it was me that was doing the nights, they approached me and said that they would give me the same deal as he had. I was amazed at what he was getting paid and was paying me but thought “Yeah Ok, it’s busines”. The problem was that I didn’t have any equipment. I wasn’t sure what to do. To be fair to my mate though, he actually hired me the equipment cheap so that I could carry on with the nights. I knew I had a years contract at least with them as I had signed up for that so I decided to re-mortgage so that I could get money together to get my own equipment. Everything went smoothly with that and it was about a month later that I went out and got my own stuff. I couldn’t believe how expensive it was but I knew what I wanted and looked at it as my first step on the ladder and that it would pay for itself in no time at all. It didn’t really work out like that if I am honest. I did a year at the venue and felt good knowing that I was my own boss and responsible for the entertainment. The nights were all good ones every week as it was a good venue. In the end though it was taken over by a big company who didn’t want any of the entertainment that I was supplying, much to the regulars disappointment. Now I was in the position of having a small set up of my own gear but nowhere to use it. I saw an advert in the local paper one day from a company that were looking for customer service people on an IT helpdesk. I went for the job and got it and did it for 18 months. I actually enjoyed it for the first few weeks but most of the time I was there I was thinking of how I could possibly get myself doing what I really wanted to do. In my lunch breaks I would look at other DJ companies on the internet to get ideas and I would also ask for quotes on advertising etc etc. I didn’t actually DJ for nearly a year and was getting withdraw symptoms but I also hated getting up early every morning, getting into my suit and driving for 30 minutes to a job that really didn’t interest me. Office politics really got on my nerves and I am not one for keeping my mouth closed if I think something is wrong. I was never late and had never had any complaints. I was complimented on my work and actually had a pay rise for my work too. It was the biggest salary that I had ever had yet I wasn’t happy. One of the last straws was when I was late by 2 hours one day. It was the first time ever that I had been late and there was a very good reason for it. I had been stuck in a queue of traffic because there were fatalities following a pile up on the road I was on. This didn’t seem to matter to my manager at the time, the person who had complimented me on more than one occasion and given me an un-scheduled pay rise too. Nope, I was in her office as soon as I entered the building and given a warning. Her face was a picture when I turned round and told her in the nicest possible way that she had actually made my mind up for me and I handed in my notice there and then. I told her that I wasn’t interested in the job at all, hated all the politics of the office etc and wanted to leave as soon as possible. I left her office and went to my chair. My colleague asked if everything was ok and I was in the middle of telling her when my manager walked in again asking to speak to me. Back into her office I went and I was surprised when she told me that I could leave there and then. I had to hand in my security pass, clear my desk and say a quick goodbye to everyone. Apparently this was down to security measures as we dealt with Borough Councils. I had a couple of weeks holiday due and was also told that I would be on gardening leave which meant that I would actually be paid for doing nothing. Add to that my month in hand and I was going to get a big pay packet. The relief I felt when I walked out of the building was excellent and as I drove away from the building I gave them the two finger salute. Don’t worry, they didn’t see me (the car park was a fair old way away from the building!).
When I got home and told my wife it finally dawned on me that I was now out of work but funnily enough, I felt so much better. She was a diamond and was totally behind me 100%, I remember her exact words and they were “Do what makes YOU happy and don’t worry. If you want to set up your own business then do it - We’ll cope!” It was at this point that I actually used my brain for once. It would have been easy to just have a few weeks off doing nothing and waiting for the big pay packet come in but I didn’t. The next day I went round the temp agencies again and actually got myself a temporary job starting the following Monday. I was also lucky with that job as I sat around for the first week with nothing to do. I used the opportunity to design myself business cards and adverts and also made a huge list of venues to contact. I printed out an introduction letter and made photocopies and did whatever I could to start the ball rolling. I was sat at that computer all day and when I got home at night I was back on my own computer looking around the internet again for ideas etc. I kept up the temp work for as long as I could but I just couldn’t get it out of my head that I wanted to work for myself. One day I decided to call the hotel near to me to ask if I could arrange a meeting with the manager to see if they had a supplier for their Disco entertainment. This was in December 2004 and was a case of being in the right place at the right time. I had my meeting with the manager and it was a good one too. I was told that they did have a supplier but were not happy with them as they had received complaints. I wasn’t told what the complaints were but I was surprised when I was asked if I could start as soon as possible. I could not do this as it was too short notice for me and I didn’t have enough equipment to cover the nights. I was offered there and then the Christmas parties but had to turn them down. There was no contract apparently with the other suppliers and ideally the hotel wanted me in and them out as soon as possible. By the time I had left the meeting I had arranged to supply all the entertainment to the hotel from the new year. I had my first contract and I was chuffed, it seemed like easy work. I couldn’t wait to tell my wife.
Over the months I taught myself basic web design so that I could do my own website and get people out there knowing I was around. I got myself an advert and signed up to various websites. I did my own business cards and some mail shots and it wasn’t long before the work started to come in. I went self employed on February 1st 2005 and have never looked back thankfully.
So, that’s how I got into doing what I am doing now but let’s explain how a typical enquiry works for me. Enquiries generally come to me in 3 ways. By phone, Email or Recommendations. If an enquiry comes in by email, if there is a phone number on it then I will call the person back as I believe that face to face (or voice to voice if you like), is much better than email. I am quite confident when I am speaking to people on the phone and like to think that I am pleasant enough with them in order to convert an enquiry into a confirmed booking. I prefer phone enquiries personally. Sometimes phone enquiries are a pain because sometimes you will get someone on the other end of the phone that just wants the cheapest price that they can get. It’s fair enough shopping around, that’s common sense but it doesn’t help me / us out. Generally they will just say something like “Do you do Discos? How Much?”. They don’t tell you what the occasion is, when it is, how long it is etc etc… You know full well that as soon as you mention the price they will say “Ok, I’ll get back to you” when you know that they won’t. It’s wasting their time and mine. That isn’t meant to sound harsh, it’s business and that’s the way it is. I don’t mean to contradict myself but sometimes, even though I hate to admit it, if someone like that phones up and it’s an enquiry for a date that I don’t have a booking for, I will drop my price a bit because I would rather be working and earning money instead of sitting their twiddling my thumbs with all of my gear sat in the lock up just for the sake of sticking to my guns. Email enquiries are good if you aren’t that great on the phone but you have to be careful in the way that you reply. A simple couple of lines giving the price can sometimes not be enough but an essay type reply can be too much. I have a template made up which I simply ammend to suit each enquiry. I change the duration, venue, names, prices if necessary etc..
So, say for example that the person who made the enquiry now wants to go ahead and book me on the strength of the details that I have given them. What I do is as follows: I call them back and get as much information from them as possible in order to complete the booking forms. I also arrange a meeting with them to go through the booking forms, their expectations for the evening including their specific song requests and the ‘Don’t plays’. The reason I do this is because I personally think that it is giving the customer that extra bit of personal service. They get to meet me, the DJ and likewise I get to meet the clients. It doesn’t matter what type of function it is, I will do this every time. I go through as much as I can with them to reassure them that they are in good hands and have made the right decision in booking me. I generally get the deposit during the evening and write them a receipt for that too. Both parties sign both copies of the booking forms and retain a copy each. I am amazed that some companies out there do not do this. How can a customer have total confidence in a company if something is not signed such a booking form which at the end of the day, is a contract. I know that the clients will be in touch with the venue regarding their own preparations but I also say that I will do as much as I can regarding what I need to do on their behalf so that they don’t have to worry about what I am doing, when I am setting up etc etc. After my meeting with the clients I will send them an email confirming everything that was said in the meeting and I will also be in touch with them on a regular basis in order to keep up to date with any changes etc.
Once I have all of the details on the booking form which should include the venue details and contact at the venue, I will call them up to let them know that I have been booked to do the Disco. The function may be months away but I will still do it out of courtesy. I will also ask them if they need to see proof of my PLI and PAT documentation and if they are required, I will email them to them so that they have them for their records but more importantly that I don’t forget them nearer the time or on the day itself. I am quite surprised at the number of venues I have been too, hotels included, that don’t actually bother with any of this. I still do it anyway as I am safe in the knowledge that I am covered.
Generally when it comes to setting up the equipment for the function, I like to set up in the morning. The reason being is that I think it gives me plenty of time to get everything how I want it and sound check etc but the main reasons are that (a) I don’t like being rushed if I have to set up when the hotel clear the function room after the wedding breakfast, and (b) I don’t like the wedding party and their guests seeing me carting loads of equipment about. Most of the time I am allowed to set up in the mornings if local and if the venue is not far away I will do the same thing. Some people may not agree with this and I know a lot of DJ’s don’t like to travel backwards and forwards all the time. I don’t mind it personally and just want to make life easier for myself. I would rather get up in the morning, go and set up and then have the rest of the day to myself safe in the knowledge that everything is fine and that I don’t need to rush around later on.
As I am documenting everything I may as well be a real anorak and mention how I set up the equipment. I use a 4ft goalpost stand to put my equipment on. The base of this without the T-Bars actually sits in my van comfortably erected (ooer!). I place that where I want it first of all and then start to assemble the lights on the crossbar. I generally use a couple of Scanners along with a couple of small LED lights and then two centrepieces which are dance floor fillers. I also have a haze machine and half LED mirror ball which looks really cool. It means that you don’t have to have a mirror ball plus a light shining on it to get the effect. When the lights are all in position and clamped tightly, I will then connect the kettle leads to them and back into the 8 way switch box which is usually underneath the stands and on top of the amps. I will also DMX up the lights that need doing but sometimes I don’t bother DMXing to be honest. Some DJ’s are really anal when it comes to the neatness of their leads etc. I must admit that I like it to look as neat as possible so I tape the leads around the back of the uprights so that they can’t be seen. It makes a lot of difference. Some people may disagree but I think the lights are what take up most of the time when setting up. I won’t position them properly until I do a sound and light check. The next thing I do is connect the speakers to the amps. Sometimes I may use bass bins as well as my full range speakers just to fill out the sound a bit more or if the party is for 120 people or more. Not sure why I picked that number as the full range speakers seem to be plenty but I just do. More often than not I will use the full range on their own but I always take another amp and that is placed on top of the one I am using. Why?? Well, I believe in taking back up with me and don’t see the point of having a spare amp in the back of the van. What’s the point? If one amp was to go down then I want the delay to be as short as possible. I don’t want people waiting around while I nip outside to the van and then connect it all up. If the amp is there already then it simply a case of unplugging the leads and putting them in the back up amp - easy eh!! Once the speakers are connected and everything I will then set up CD players on the bottom shelf of the stand and then put the Denon HD player on to the top of the stand and connect everything up. The amps go on and I check the sound. Volume is set to maximum on the amps and the volume is controlled by the mixer as that’s the way I was always told to control the volume. Once I know everything is working as it should be, I will then tape down any leads with gaffer tape and then cover the whole set up with a black silk cover to cover any wires etc and make it look presentable. Any cases or boxes are stored underneath tables or put back in the van so that it doesn’t look scruffy. In my view there is no point having a really tidy looking set up and then being surrounded by empty cases etc. It kind of defeats the object but hey, that’s just me.
If I have set up in the morning and I have nothing else to do I will generally go home and try to chill out. I am not one for sleeping in the day. I have tried it and I just can’t do it. I will more than likely get on my computer and print out any play lists, requests etc and my DJ form which has all the information on it that I need for the function. I don’t tend to eat anything after midday. That may sound silly but I have a dodgy stomach and don’t want to risk any mishaps shall we say. Close escapes in the past have taught me that it’s not a good idea! I will have a shower or bath around half hour before I leave as I like to feel clean and awake before I leave. Dress wise, no matter what the function I always try to look as smart as I can. A shirt and trousers usually does the job. If it is a wedding then I will add a tie as well because I feel better and think that it gives a bit of respect to the occasion. I know other people do things differently and that’s their choice, this is mine. I think everyone likes to look smart when they are representing their company…don’t you? When it actually comes to the evening’s entertainment I will start off with some nice background music on and just a couple of lights to get an atmosphere. I stick to a love theme but stuff that I actually like playing too to make it a bit different. Stuff like Madness ‘It must be Love’, Jack Johnson ‘Better together’, Paul Weller ‘You do something to me’ etc etc..It sets a nice atmosphere and also enables the bride and groom to meet and greet their guests without having to shout at them or be blinded by mad disco lights doing their thing. I also try not to bother the bride and groom on their special night so ask that everything is co-ordinated via the best man or chief bridesmaid, this means that they will tell me any announcements to make including when the first dance is happening, when the buffet is being served and when the bride and groom are leaving the party.
When it comes to first dances etc I will usually make an announcement about 10 minutes before to let everyone know that it’s coming. I’ll say something like “ladies and gentlemen, shortly we will be having the first official dance of the newly weds. Please make sure you have your cameras with you to capture the moment and join us by the dance floor”. This usually gets the excitement going and when it comes to the actual dance, the guests are usually in full force around the dance floor. I will also say that the song that they have picked means something special to both of them and wish them all the very best for the future. First dances always differ. Some grooms don’t like all of the attention so they ask in advance for me to play around a minute of the track and then invite the guests on to join them. Some bride’s and groom’s love the moment and will dance to the whole song on their own. Some work out dance routines and some don’t even have a first dance, everyone is different and that’s what makes it good. I will always ask in advance if there are any tracks that may upset anyone because they bring back bad memories etc so that I know what I shouldn’t or can’t play. Once the first dance has finished and the bride and groom have had the dance floor to themselves, I will generally say “Ladies and Gents, the newly weds!” and there is a round of applause. I generally like to kick the party into full gear from that moment on. The volume goes up a few notches and the lights go on full effect. I like to start off with something that will get everyone up. It could be the Scissor Sisters or Disco Classics but once everyone is up then in my view it is easy. The hardest thing is getting people up in the first place. Not everyone likes to dance and that includes me too. If I go to a party then I will be sat at the table drumming and tapping my feet if I like the music being played but I will not get up and dance as I just don’t like it. Just because some people don’t dance at parties does not always mean that the Disco is rubbish. Ok sometimes it may well be if the DJ doesn’t have a clue but think to yourself that there may be quite a few people there that aren’t into dancing. People watching is a favourite of mine at parties because I do get paranoid if the dance floor isn’t even half full. If I see people enjoying the music but they aren’t dancing, it makes me feel slightly better… just slightly. Another thing I do (with the bride and groom’s consent) is put out request slips. Sometimes I will do this at the beginning of the night before they even enter the room so that they are on the tables already or sometimes I will pop out quickly and go round the tables and give them out and say a quick hello to people too. My view is that even with years and years of experience, sometimes it can be a bit of a mission trying to work out what the guests like. Why go to that trouble when you can more or less make them tell you. You then get a good idea of the kind of music that they like and work off that adding in your own choices along the way. It works wonders for me and I have had 100% feedback from the people that have used them. Sometimes I may not get any request slips back at all and do the nights the hard way…Everyone has their own opinion on these slips. Some like them, some don’t.
When it comes to buffets this is where I kind of lose the plot. If people are happy to just carry on as normal and eat their food with the party in full swing then that is fine with me. That’s how it should be. It does my head in a bit when people ask for the music to be turned down because then you get the old scenario of Stop/Start/Stop/Start all night which doesn’t help the night flow nicely at all. If I have a list of songs that the bride and groom have requested then I try my hardest to play as much of them as I can. If some aren’t really suitable then I will leave them as long as I can until / if I am asked to play them. I believe in giving the customer what they want and that is my main selling point but I also advise in advance that they should take their guests into consideration. Luckily, a lot of the people that book me leave the music up to me “You’re the professional” they tell me… Thanks, I hope so. I do have a kind of formula as I am sure everyone else does. I don’t believe in switching from the 90s to the 50s and then back to the 00’s so the set is all over the place. For one thing it confuses people and another, the tempos can differ quite a lot. I try to do sections so that everything fits in. I’ll do chart, 60s,70s,80s, Party Classics, Motown, Indie, Dance routine stuff etc etc in different sections and generally try to please as many people as possible. If someone comes up and asks for some 60s, I won’t put one on and then play something up to date. I will play a whole bunch of 60s tracks so that they get what they want. They could be at the party for 4 hours but that 20 minutes of 60s or whatever it is that they ask for could make the night a good one for them, I am sure you know what I mean. When the night is coming to a close I generally announce the last song of the night 10 minutes before I am due to finish. The reason that I do this is because on most occasions people will shout out “One More!!”. If I finish dead on time and then they ask for another one I could end up annoying hotel or venue staff for playing over my time slot. Doing it this way still means I finish on time. There are different ways to end the night. Sometimes the bride and groom will leave early and in my experience, once they leave, the guests start to leave. Sometimes the bride and groom will stay to the end. Sometimes they want the traditional archway and walk out of the venue under the arch to their favourite song.
CONTINUED IN PART TWO
If you don't like long posts, don't read it ok. I hope some of this interests you in one way or another.
Someone asked me the other day how I got into DJing and Mobile Discos. I don’t think they were quite prepared for the very long story that followed but they found the whole thing interesting and commented that maybe I should document it so, here it is.
For as long as I can remember, I have always been into music and entertaining people. I used to like dancing about and doing impressions of TV characters when I was a toddler and I can remember quite clearly even at the age of about 5 years old, dancing all night in front of the Disco at a family night out down the local club. The DJ gave me one of those horrible Banana sweets for my dancing and I was over the moon. As I got older I got more interested in the Discos and on one occasion at another family night Disco when I was about 8 years old, the DJ actually let me behind his set up and showed me how he did everything. I was absolutely chuffed with that experience and remember telling my mum that one day I wanted to do that. She laughed!!
I was always into my music and listened to the Top 40 countdown every week. I used to tape it whenever I could and listen to it over and over again until the following week when I would tape over it with the new chart. In 1978 when I was 10 years old, I got a portable record player. It actually ran on batteries too and I used to take it into the garden with my handful of 7” records and play them as loud as I could. The poor built in speaker distorted when it was up too loud and the likes of Boney M and the Bay City Rollers, which I was listening to at the time, sounded even worse! It was in 1979 that my world completely changed. I was listening to the Radio one day when I heard a song come on that was totally different to anything else that I had ever heard before. I wasn’t quick enough to get it on tape and I didn’t hear the DJ say who the song was by or what it was called so for the next few days I listened to the Radio constantly to find out what it was. After a few days I found out that it was by a band called Tubeway Army and the song was called ‘Are friends Electric?’. I loved the song but could understand why other people didn’t as it wasn’t danceable and was quite long and repetitive. When I saw the song performed in Top of The Pops, a programme that we all used to watch religiously, and saw Gary Numan, the lead singer… that was it for me, I was hooked. I have documented my whole Gary Numan experience in my book “Numan and Me’ so I won’t bore you with any of that here.
The Discos that I had been to coupled with my infatuation with Gary Numan made me the person that I am today I guess. I saved up as much money as I could from my morning and after school paper rounds to buy a better Hi Fi and my record collection began to grow and grow. Again, in 1979 in my first year at secondary school, I did my first bit of proper Djing as an 11 year old at the school disco. I actually stood behind the decks and traffic lights with one of the teachers who was spinning the tunes. I loved it and it made me even more determined that later in life I would do it for a living. I hated school. I went through the years getting grief, mainly for liking Gary Numan. I was also into my Ska music at the time and a big favourite of mine were the band Madness. I loved them. In 1983, halfway through secondary school, we moved from Basingstoke back to London. I made friends quickly and I am not sure how it happened but on various occasions at various house parties etc, it was me that would be responsible for the music. I had a collection of early Rap/Electro music alongside my Ska and Numan records so the play lists were a bit eclectic to say the least. I also bought myself a big ghetto blaster with money that I saved from working in a chip shop after school (No, I didn’t claim my name was Elvis) and I would often take it out with me, playing my tunes as loud as I could, much to everyone elses disgust.
Whilst living in London I also met a number of people that were involved in an entertainments agency. As I mentioned earlier, I used to do impressions etc…mainly Frank Spencer hahaha and I joined the agency and was compere on the mic whenever there was a show on. These would generally be at social clubs with quite a big audience so it was quite nerve racking as a 15 year old. I did quite a few of the shows and ended up making mix tapes for the show music. We left London a year later and came back to Basingstoke. I had left school now and was looking for a job. I joined a YTS as a painter and decorator and did that for a year before I got my first proper job working in a double glazing factory. I was there for nearly 3 years. In the factory they had the radio coming out through speakers that were around the building. Whenever we did overtime, the radio was turned off and one of my mix tapes would be put on. People would be jigging about behind their work benches and it was quite funny. Whilst I was working at the factory I met a guy who was just starting a band. We became good friends and I ended up joining the band and we did really well in the end, playing allover the UK and in Europe aswell. This is also documented in my book so once again I won’t bore you with any of that. I left the band as it was very tiring and I just wasn’t enjoying the constant gigging if I am honest. Don’t get me wrong, it was enjoyable and there is no better feeling than when you are playing music that YOU have made to a huge crowd (30,000 in Belgium for example), but I had, had enough.
It was a bit of a luck that I actually got into Djing properly. A local club that I used to go to were thinking of starting up an Alternative night. I was actually going on holiday to Greece with a girlfriend so I was disappointed that I was going to miss the first 2 weeks of it. I was into my music more than ever. My collection had grown over the years and was more on the alternative side. The DJ that the club got was actually someone that worked at the same factory as I did. He was german and his name was Dieter and he was into his rock. He used to turn up at work in spandex trousers all the time which was quite funny. Anyway, me and the girlfriend went on holiday as planned. It was quite funny actually because we thought we were self catering but we weren’t, we were half board so I came back with loads of unspent money. This came in handy as you’ll hear in a second. I met up with a mate one night and we decided to go out to the club. It wasn’t the alternative night though, it was your usual night down there and I got talking to the manager. I asked how the alternative night had gone and was surprised when he said that they were looking for another DJ already. Apparently the people didn’t like the music that Dieter had been playing and told him so. Someone also smashed the windows on his van and slashed his tyres to make a point so he walked away from the night. To cut a long story just that tad shorter, I was asked to do the night. I had never ever DJ’d before and the minute I agreed to it, I began to get nervous. I wasn’t confident that my collection would be to everyone’s cup of tea and went into Woolworths in town one Saturday and spent my remaining holiday money (£200.00) on loads of vinyl LP’s. I remember one of the staff saying “I bet you’re a DJ” and with a massive grin on my face, I said “Yep!”. The club re-launched the night and on all of the posters it had my name on it and underneath the name of the band that I had been in. We were big and their idea was that it would pull in the punters - it did! The first night I did was absolutely packed and I remember being sick with nerves hours before I started. I was panicking and saying that I couldn’t do it and nearly pulled out. I’m glad I didn’t as it went better than I could ever have dreamed. People dancing to the music that I was choosing was such a buzz and I knew right then that I wanted to do it properly. The sound was amazing and coupled with the lights and attention that I was getting from everyone, it was my dream job. The thing is, I wasn’t getting paid for it as I was working full time, this time at another Double Glazing firm.
The Alternative night was on a Monday night and started at 9pm, finishing at 2am. I used to get free drinks and also a taxi home as part of the deal. It was hard work getting up at 7am to go to work the next day but I was young and somehow I managed it. The Double Glazing firm I worked for was on an industrial estate and also situated there was another nightclub. I was sat on my workbench one day when I noticed an advert looking for DJ’s whilst I read the local paper. As the venue was literally around the corner I decided to nip out in my lunch break and go and see what it was all about. The club was also a 24 hour snooker club so I knew it would be open. I spoke to the manager who looked at me like I was an idiot as I was dressed in my work clothes and covered in crap. He said that they were holding auditions at the end of the week so I would need to pop back. I had to take 3 tracks with me. When Friday came I went straight to the venue and was surprised when the doorman told me to go and wait with the others and pointed me in the direction of a waiting room. As I walked into the room I was met by 4 other guys, older than me who weren’t even talking to each other. As I sat down, a guy who had obviously just finished his audition, came into the room through another door, looked at all of us, laughed and said “No chance, don’t bother!”. I didn’t realise what he meant but now I know he thought that he had one up on us all. Anyway, time went by and I waited for ages. I was last to go in and was starving hungry too and when they finally called my name, the nerves set in. I walked through the door and into the club and by the dance floor was a table. Sat behind it was the manager, the owner and also the assistant manager. I went and sat down in front of them and answered all of the questions that they threw my way. I remember saying to them, “I don’t think you’ll like what I do because I do things differently and play different music” - They looked at each other, smiled and then said “Well, we’ll tell you if we don’t like it”. I went up behind the decks with my 3 records. ‘Loaded’ by Primal Scream, ‘The Lovecats’ by The Cure and ‘Cars’ by Gary Numan. I started the Primal Scream track with the talk over bit at the beginning and just as it said “We are gonna get loaded’, I started the Gary Numan track. They stared at me and smiled and I wasn’t sure if they were taking the mickey or not. I was halfway through the last track and the manager put his hand in the air signalling me to stop what I was doing. I then had to go back over to where they were sitting and answer more questions. “Was that ok?” I asked… “That was fine!” answered the assistant manager.. “I knew you wouldn’t like it” I replied laughing. This experience was quite a daunting one and I hated it. They said they would contact me in the week to let me know whether I was successful or not and I left it there. As I hadn’t heard from them for a while I assumed I hadn’t got the job but was surprised one day whilst standing outside the factory getting a sandwich off the sandwich lady. The manager walked towards me and said “Don’t you answer the phone then?”. I didn’t know what he meant. He said the club had tried to contact me but the phone wasn’t being answered. It turned out that there was a wrong digit in the number they had taken down so they weren’t ringing me at all. Anyway, I got the job and had to go and see them again in my lunch hour on the Monday to go through ideas. They were a bit surprised when they heard that I was also working for the other club too as they were in direct competition. The difference with this club was that this Alternative night was going to be on a Saturday night. Once again, free taxis and as much free drink as I wanted (as long as I didn’t get slaughtered). It was very tiring doing 2 nights a week as well as my day job and I was surprised one day when I had a call from the Tax Man. My name had been in the papers as I had done interviews regarding the new nights and with them being Alternative nights and something different, there was a lot of interest. It was quite scary having to convince Mr Tax Man that I WAS actually Djing for free drinks and taxis and as far as I know, they contacted the clubs too who confirmed this. I wasn’t getting paid therefore I was doing nothing wrong but I felt like I had.
I am sure it has happened to other DJ’s too but getting up for work on the Monday and Tuesday was getting quite hard. There were numerous times I was late and I didn’t have any excuses. I was more or less told that if I didn’t had in my notice to the Double Glazing factory, I would get the sack anyway due to lateness etc..so, that’s what I did. It was shortly after that, that I met a guy one night whilst I was doing the Saturday night slots. We got talking and he more or less had the same plans and ambitions as me in that he wanted to do Discos etc as a business. We ended up working together on a fruit and veg stall in a branch of Kwik Save and that’s where it all began to change. He had a game plan and we would cover each other on the stall when he used to go off for a few hours to get things moving, like seeing the bank manager and getting equipment etc etc.. It wasn’t long before he had a couple of set ups. The equipment wasn’t great but it was a start. He got a big loan, did a big advertising campaign and before long, people were calling up for parties etc. We also approached a local venue about doing an Alternative Night there. It was an Ex Serviceman’s club and needless to say, we didn’t last long there. The regulars hated the loud music and lights and even though we got 200+ people in there when normally they had about 10 at the most, they decided to pull the plug. It worked out to be a good move because about a week later we got talking to someone else who owned a club/bar type venue who wanted to do something a bit different. We were given free reign on what we wanted to do and so we decided on an Alternative Night. I had to come up with a name pretty quickly and decided on the name SHAKERMAKER. It was because at the time, Oasis had made guitar music more popular and were the biggest band around. The name just seemed to work so we used it, started the night and it went up and up from the first night we started. The venue only held 200 people but on almost every night we did there would be more than that outside waiting to get in. We had to turn loads of people away and it may sound harsh but it was great. I learnt then that it was the best form of advertising for the night. If it was that popular that people couldn’t get in then it would make people more interested and more determined to get in next time.
The Shakermaker nights went down in history in the town and I’m glad to say that they are still going just as strong to this day. I ended up working for my mate full time as a DJ and it was all rosy for a few years until I actually realised that I was lining someone else’s pockets when I could be lining my own. Unfortunately I didn’t have any savings or anything and I was Djing for my mate on average 5 nights a week, sometimes 6. I was compering quiz nights, karaokes as well as Djing and running around setting up equipment allover the place. Before long we were flat out and had other DJ’s working for us too. We would set up the equipment for them and go off and DJ at our own functions and then after packing down our equipment we would often go to the their functions and pack up theirs too which meant we would have very late nights. If we couldn’t get the equipment on the night, we would do it the next day. I was in danger of losing the plot at times and started to lose interest when it no longer became enjoyable. One night I was Djing at a party for some students and one of them came up to me and asked if I did club work. I said yes and she put me in touch with a club in Bournemouth. The club were getting bored with their regular DJ who had been there for a number of years. Numbers through the door were falling because people were sick of the same songs being played week in, week out. Someone actually commented that you could set your watch by Rage against the Machine!! In my opinion, club work can get like that because at the end of the day you are there to get people dancing and if people ask for the same tracks week in, week out and they will dance to them, then you play them. You are in a dodgy situation because you want to please the people that have requested the tune but you also would like to play something different but risk no’one dancing. I used to watch lots of DJ’s do stuff like this and I remember having a bet with a mate on a night out one night that the DJ would play such and such a song next. I won the bet by the way. It used to make me laugh because if they played a Blur track it would always be ‘Parklife’, if they played an Oasis track it would always be ‘Wonderwall’ etc etc…. How many albums and singles have these bands made? There are loads of tracks that DJ’s could play by these two bands yet the DJ’s in question stuck to these two because they were safe. One thing I don’t do and never have done, is play safe. I experiment and chuck in tracks that I think will work well and most of the time I succeed. This particular club in Bournemouth was an instant success for me. The numbers went up and it got back to being one of THE places to go for Alternative music in Bournemouth. It was hard work though travelling down there on a Thursday night but was enjoyable. I didn’t like handing over my cash to my mate though as it was all done through him. I was on a set wage which at the time I thought was ok, afterall I was doing something I loved but looking back on it now, it was poor. After around a year of doing the Bournemouth night, the club was bought out by developers and I left and started at another club in Bournemouth, All was going well and the same deal was on but it wasn’t the same. This time it was a Friday night and I was Djing until 3am. By the time I got home it would be daylight and I would have a couple of hours sleep before doing all the setting up etc for the functions on Saturday as well as Dj that night too. It was also around this time that the children’s parties became more and more popular with us and I would end up doing one of those on a Sunday too. I was getting more and more disillusioned with the whole thing.
I thought to myself one day that the whole reason I wanted to DJ was because I wanted to be different. I didn’t want to do children’s parties or karaokes and if I did, I would do them for me and earn the money for me, not someone else who would give me a cut. I liked the fact that I was doing something different and not having to get up early every day, better still..I didn’t have to work in an office or something like that BUT if I carried on doing what I was doing then I was in danger of being put off the whole idea totally. I have DJ’d all over the place and there have been some really cool moments and also some very bad and scary moments, most of which I will list at the end of this story. I was actually on a night off when I met my now wife. We had been friends for a couple of years and always liked each other but never got round to doing anything about it, We had planned to go out on a date a number of times but I was always working. When we actually got together I was working 5 nights a week for my mate. I soon cut that down as I wanted to be with her and after talking loads and loads about how I felt about my job etc, I made the decision to stop working for my mate and get a proper job. We didn’t fall out or anything and all was cool. He actually decided to cut down his business as he was taking far too much on and making himself ill. He wasn’t from Basingstoke originally and moved back to the midlands to do his work there, concentrating on the mobile bars, race nights and casino side of things. He is a lot happier now and we still keep in touch regularly.
The problem I had at the time was that getting another job wasn’t as easy as it seemed at the time. I was out of work for around 2 months so did temporary work for that time. My plan was to save enough money so that I could get my own equipment but that didn’t happen. Just before I stopped working for my mate, we were approached by a venue in Surrey to do all of their entertainment. A quiz night on a Monday, Karaoke on a Thursday and Disco on a Friday. I was doing all 3 nights and getting my wage from my mate for doing them as part of my weekly wages. However, one night he went into the venue on a night off on his own and was apparently quite rude to them whilst drunk so they told him that they didn’t want him to supply the entertainment anymore. As it was me that was doing the nights, they approached me and said that they would give me the same deal as he had. I was amazed at what he was getting paid and was paying me but thought “Yeah Ok, it’s busines”. The problem was that I didn’t have any equipment. I wasn’t sure what to do. To be fair to my mate though, he actually hired me the equipment cheap so that I could carry on with the nights. I knew I had a years contract at least with them as I had signed up for that so I decided to re-mortgage so that I could get money together to get my own equipment. Everything went smoothly with that and it was about a month later that I went out and got my own stuff. I couldn’t believe how expensive it was but I knew what I wanted and looked at it as my first step on the ladder and that it would pay for itself in no time at all. It didn’t really work out like that if I am honest. I did a year at the venue and felt good knowing that I was my own boss and responsible for the entertainment. The nights were all good ones every week as it was a good venue. In the end though it was taken over by a big company who didn’t want any of the entertainment that I was supplying, much to the regulars disappointment. Now I was in the position of having a small set up of my own gear but nowhere to use it. I saw an advert in the local paper one day from a company that were looking for customer service people on an IT helpdesk. I went for the job and got it and did it for 18 months. I actually enjoyed it for the first few weeks but most of the time I was there I was thinking of how I could possibly get myself doing what I really wanted to do. In my lunch breaks I would look at other DJ companies on the internet to get ideas and I would also ask for quotes on advertising etc etc. I didn’t actually DJ for nearly a year and was getting withdraw symptoms but I also hated getting up early every morning, getting into my suit and driving for 30 minutes to a job that really didn’t interest me. Office politics really got on my nerves and I am not one for keeping my mouth closed if I think something is wrong. I was never late and had never had any complaints. I was complimented on my work and actually had a pay rise for my work too. It was the biggest salary that I had ever had yet I wasn’t happy. One of the last straws was when I was late by 2 hours one day. It was the first time ever that I had been late and there was a very good reason for it. I had been stuck in a queue of traffic because there were fatalities following a pile up on the road I was on. This didn’t seem to matter to my manager at the time, the person who had complimented me on more than one occasion and given me an un-scheduled pay rise too. Nope, I was in her office as soon as I entered the building and given a warning. Her face was a picture when I turned round and told her in the nicest possible way that she had actually made my mind up for me and I handed in my notice there and then. I told her that I wasn’t interested in the job at all, hated all the politics of the office etc and wanted to leave as soon as possible. I left her office and went to my chair. My colleague asked if everything was ok and I was in the middle of telling her when my manager walked in again asking to speak to me. Back into her office I went and I was surprised when she told me that I could leave there and then. I had to hand in my security pass, clear my desk and say a quick goodbye to everyone. Apparently this was down to security measures as we dealt with Borough Councils. I had a couple of weeks holiday due and was also told that I would be on gardening leave which meant that I would actually be paid for doing nothing. Add to that my month in hand and I was going to get a big pay packet. The relief I felt when I walked out of the building was excellent and as I drove away from the building I gave them the two finger salute. Don’t worry, they didn’t see me (the car park was a fair old way away from the building!).
When I got home and told my wife it finally dawned on me that I was now out of work but funnily enough, I felt so much better. She was a diamond and was totally behind me 100%, I remember her exact words and they were “Do what makes YOU happy and don’t worry. If you want to set up your own business then do it - We’ll cope!” It was at this point that I actually used my brain for once. It would have been easy to just have a few weeks off doing nothing and waiting for the big pay packet come in but I didn’t. The next day I went round the temp agencies again and actually got myself a temporary job starting the following Monday. I was also lucky with that job as I sat around for the first week with nothing to do. I used the opportunity to design myself business cards and adverts and also made a huge list of venues to contact. I printed out an introduction letter and made photocopies and did whatever I could to start the ball rolling. I was sat at that computer all day and when I got home at night I was back on my own computer looking around the internet again for ideas etc. I kept up the temp work for as long as I could but I just couldn’t get it out of my head that I wanted to work for myself. One day I decided to call the hotel near to me to ask if I could arrange a meeting with the manager to see if they had a supplier for their Disco entertainment. This was in December 2004 and was a case of being in the right place at the right time. I had my meeting with the manager and it was a good one too. I was told that they did have a supplier but were not happy with them as they had received complaints. I wasn’t told what the complaints were but I was surprised when I was asked if I could start as soon as possible. I could not do this as it was too short notice for me and I didn’t have enough equipment to cover the nights. I was offered there and then the Christmas parties but had to turn them down. There was no contract apparently with the other suppliers and ideally the hotel wanted me in and them out as soon as possible. By the time I had left the meeting I had arranged to supply all the entertainment to the hotel from the new year. I had my first contract and I was chuffed, it seemed like easy work. I couldn’t wait to tell my wife.
Over the months I taught myself basic web design so that I could do my own website and get people out there knowing I was around. I got myself an advert and signed up to various websites. I did my own business cards and some mail shots and it wasn’t long before the work started to come in. I went self employed on February 1st 2005 and have never looked back thankfully.
So, that’s how I got into doing what I am doing now but let’s explain how a typical enquiry works for me. Enquiries generally come to me in 3 ways. By phone, Email or Recommendations. If an enquiry comes in by email, if there is a phone number on it then I will call the person back as I believe that face to face (or voice to voice if you like), is much better than email. I am quite confident when I am speaking to people on the phone and like to think that I am pleasant enough with them in order to convert an enquiry into a confirmed booking. I prefer phone enquiries personally. Sometimes phone enquiries are a pain because sometimes you will get someone on the other end of the phone that just wants the cheapest price that they can get. It’s fair enough shopping around, that’s common sense but it doesn’t help me / us out. Generally they will just say something like “Do you do Discos? How Much?”. They don’t tell you what the occasion is, when it is, how long it is etc etc… You know full well that as soon as you mention the price they will say “Ok, I’ll get back to you” when you know that they won’t. It’s wasting their time and mine. That isn’t meant to sound harsh, it’s business and that’s the way it is. I don’t mean to contradict myself but sometimes, even though I hate to admit it, if someone like that phones up and it’s an enquiry for a date that I don’t have a booking for, I will drop my price a bit because I would rather be working and earning money instead of sitting their twiddling my thumbs with all of my gear sat in the lock up just for the sake of sticking to my guns. Email enquiries are good if you aren’t that great on the phone but you have to be careful in the way that you reply. A simple couple of lines giving the price can sometimes not be enough but an essay type reply can be too much. I have a template made up which I simply ammend to suit each enquiry. I change the duration, venue, names, prices if necessary etc..
So, say for example that the person who made the enquiry now wants to go ahead and book me on the strength of the details that I have given them. What I do is as follows: I call them back and get as much information from them as possible in order to complete the booking forms. I also arrange a meeting with them to go through the booking forms, their expectations for the evening including their specific song requests and the ‘Don’t plays’. The reason I do this is because I personally think that it is giving the customer that extra bit of personal service. They get to meet me, the DJ and likewise I get to meet the clients. It doesn’t matter what type of function it is, I will do this every time. I go through as much as I can with them to reassure them that they are in good hands and have made the right decision in booking me. I generally get the deposit during the evening and write them a receipt for that too. Both parties sign both copies of the booking forms and retain a copy each. I am amazed that some companies out there do not do this. How can a customer have total confidence in a company if something is not signed such a booking form which at the end of the day, is a contract. I know that the clients will be in touch with the venue regarding their own preparations but I also say that I will do as much as I can regarding what I need to do on their behalf so that they don’t have to worry about what I am doing, when I am setting up etc etc. After my meeting with the clients I will send them an email confirming everything that was said in the meeting and I will also be in touch with them on a regular basis in order to keep up to date with any changes etc.
Once I have all of the details on the booking form which should include the venue details and contact at the venue, I will call them up to let them know that I have been booked to do the Disco. The function may be months away but I will still do it out of courtesy. I will also ask them if they need to see proof of my PLI and PAT documentation and if they are required, I will email them to them so that they have them for their records but more importantly that I don’t forget them nearer the time or on the day itself. I am quite surprised at the number of venues I have been too, hotels included, that don’t actually bother with any of this. I still do it anyway as I am safe in the knowledge that I am covered.
Generally when it comes to setting up the equipment for the function, I like to set up in the morning. The reason being is that I think it gives me plenty of time to get everything how I want it and sound check etc but the main reasons are that (a) I don’t like being rushed if I have to set up when the hotel clear the function room after the wedding breakfast, and (b) I don’t like the wedding party and their guests seeing me carting loads of equipment about. Most of the time I am allowed to set up in the mornings if local and if the venue is not far away I will do the same thing. Some people may not agree with this and I know a lot of DJ’s don’t like to travel backwards and forwards all the time. I don’t mind it personally and just want to make life easier for myself. I would rather get up in the morning, go and set up and then have the rest of the day to myself safe in the knowledge that everything is fine and that I don’t need to rush around later on.
As I am documenting everything I may as well be a real anorak and mention how I set up the equipment. I use a 4ft goalpost stand to put my equipment on. The base of this without the T-Bars actually sits in my van comfortably erected (ooer!). I place that where I want it first of all and then start to assemble the lights on the crossbar. I generally use a couple of Scanners along with a couple of small LED lights and then two centrepieces which are dance floor fillers. I also have a haze machine and half LED mirror ball which looks really cool. It means that you don’t have to have a mirror ball plus a light shining on it to get the effect. When the lights are all in position and clamped tightly, I will then connect the kettle leads to them and back into the 8 way switch box which is usually underneath the stands and on top of the amps. I will also DMX up the lights that need doing but sometimes I don’t bother DMXing to be honest. Some DJ’s are really anal when it comes to the neatness of their leads etc. I must admit that I like it to look as neat as possible so I tape the leads around the back of the uprights so that they can’t be seen. It makes a lot of difference. Some people may disagree but I think the lights are what take up most of the time when setting up. I won’t position them properly until I do a sound and light check. The next thing I do is connect the speakers to the amps. Sometimes I may use bass bins as well as my full range speakers just to fill out the sound a bit more or if the party is for 120 people or more. Not sure why I picked that number as the full range speakers seem to be plenty but I just do. More often than not I will use the full range on their own but I always take another amp and that is placed on top of the one I am using. Why?? Well, I believe in taking back up with me and don’t see the point of having a spare amp in the back of the van. What’s the point? If one amp was to go down then I want the delay to be as short as possible. I don’t want people waiting around while I nip outside to the van and then connect it all up. If the amp is there already then it simply a case of unplugging the leads and putting them in the back up amp - easy eh!! Once the speakers are connected and everything I will then set up CD players on the bottom shelf of the stand and then put the Denon HD player on to the top of the stand and connect everything up. The amps go on and I check the sound. Volume is set to maximum on the amps and the volume is controlled by the mixer as that’s the way I was always told to control the volume. Once I know everything is working as it should be, I will then tape down any leads with gaffer tape and then cover the whole set up with a black silk cover to cover any wires etc and make it look presentable. Any cases or boxes are stored underneath tables or put back in the van so that it doesn’t look scruffy. In my view there is no point having a really tidy looking set up and then being surrounded by empty cases etc. It kind of defeats the object but hey, that’s just me.
If I have set up in the morning and I have nothing else to do I will generally go home and try to chill out. I am not one for sleeping in the day. I have tried it and I just can’t do it. I will more than likely get on my computer and print out any play lists, requests etc and my DJ form which has all the information on it that I need for the function. I don’t tend to eat anything after midday. That may sound silly but I have a dodgy stomach and don’t want to risk any mishaps shall we say. Close escapes in the past have taught me that it’s not a good idea! I will have a shower or bath around half hour before I leave as I like to feel clean and awake before I leave. Dress wise, no matter what the function I always try to look as smart as I can. A shirt and trousers usually does the job. If it is a wedding then I will add a tie as well because I feel better and think that it gives a bit of respect to the occasion. I know other people do things differently and that’s their choice, this is mine. I think everyone likes to look smart when they are representing their company…don’t you? When it actually comes to the evening’s entertainment I will start off with some nice background music on and just a couple of lights to get an atmosphere. I stick to a love theme but stuff that I actually like playing too to make it a bit different. Stuff like Madness ‘It must be Love’, Jack Johnson ‘Better together’, Paul Weller ‘You do something to me’ etc etc..It sets a nice atmosphere and also enables the bride and groom to meet and greet their guests without having to shout at them or be blinded by mad disco lights doing their thing. I also try not to bother the bride and groom on their special night so ask that everything is co-ordinated via the best man or chief bridesmaid, this means that they will tell me any announcements to make including when the first dance is happening, when the buffet is being served and when the bride and groom are leaving the party.
When it comes to first dances etc I will usually make an announcement about 10 minutes before to let everyone know that it’s coming. I’ll say something like “ladies and gentlemen, shortly we will be having the first official dance of the newly weds. Please make sure you have your cameras with you to capture the moment and join us by the dance floor”. This usually gets the excitement going and when it comes to the actual dance, the guests are usually in full force around the dance floor. I will also say that the song that they have picked means something special to both of them and wish them all the very best for the future. First dances always differ. Some grooms don’t like all of the attention so they ask in advance for me to play around a minute of the track and then invite the guests on to join them. Some bride’s and groom’s love the moment and will dance to the whole song on their own. Some work out dance routines and some don’t even have a first dance, everyone is different and that’s what makes it good. I will always ask in advance if there are any tracks that may upset anyone because they bring back bad memories etc so that I know what I shouldn’t or can’t play. Once the first dance has finished and the bride and groom have had the dance floor to themselves, I will generally say “Ladies and Gents, the newly weds!” and there is a round of applause. I generally like to kick the party into full gear from that moment on. The volume goes up a few notches and the lights go on full effect. I like to start off with something that will get everyone up. It could be the Scissor Sisters or Disco Classics but once everyone is up then in my view it is easy. The hardest thing is getting people up in the first place. Not everyone likes to dance and that includes me too. If I go to a party then I will be sat at the table drumming and tapping my feet if I like the music being played but I will not get up and dance as I just don’t like it. Just because some people don’t dance at parties does not always mean that the Disco is rubbish. Ok sometimes it may well be if the DJ doesn’t have a clue but think to yourself that there may be quite a few people there that aren’t into dancing. People watching is a favourite of mine at parties because I do get paranoid if the dance floor isn’t even half full. If I see people enjoying the music but they aren’t dancing, it makes me feel slightly better… just slightly. Another thing I do (with the bride and groom’s consent) is put out request slips. Sometimes I will do this at the beginning of the night before they even enter the room so that they are on the tables already or sometimes I will pop out quickly and go round the tables and give them out and say a quick hello to people too. My view is that even with years and years of experience, sometimes it can be a bit of a mission trying to work out what the guests like. Why go to that trouble when you can more or less make them tell you. You then get a good idea of the kind of music that they like and work off that adding in your own choices along the way. It works wonders for me and I have had 100% feedback from the people that have used them. Sometimes I may not get any request slips back at all and do the nights the hard way…Everyone has their own opinion on these slips. Some like them, some don’t.
When it comes to buffets this is where I kind of lose the plot. If people are happy to just carry on as normal and eat their food with the party in full swing then that is fine with me. That’s how it should be. It does my head in a bit when people ask for the music to be turned down because then you get the old scenario of Stop/Start/Stop/Start all night which doesn’t help the night flow nicely at all. If I have a list of songs that the bride and groom have requested then I try my hardest to play as much of them as I can. If some aren’t really suitable then I will leave them as long as I can until / if I am asked to play them. I believe in giving the customer what they want and that is my main selling point but I also advise in advance that they should take their guests into consideration. Luckily, a lot of the people that book me leave the music up to me “You’re the professional” they tell me… Thanks, I hope so. I do have a kind of formula as I am sure everyone else does. I don’t believe in switching from the 90s to the 50s and then back to the 00’s so the set is all over the place. For one thing it confuses people and another, the tempos can differ quite a lot. I try to do sections so that everything fits in. I’ll do chart, 60s,70s,80s, Party Classics, Motown, Indie, Dance routine stuff etc etc in different sections and generally try to please as many people as possible. If someone comes up and asks for some 60s, I won’t put one on and then play something up to date. I will play a whole bunch of 60s tracks so that they get what they want. They could be at the party for 4 hours but that 20 minutes of 60s or whatever it is that they ask for could make the night a good one for them, I am sure you know what I mean. When the night is coming to a close I generally announce the last song of the night 10 minutes before I am due to finish. The reason that I do this is because on most occasions people will shout out “One More!!”. If I finish dead on time and then they ask for another one I could end up annoying hotel or venue staff for playing over my time slot. Doing it this way still means I finish on time. There are different ways to end the night. Sometimes the bride and groom will leave early and in my experience, once they leave, the guests start to leave. Sometimes the bride and groom will stay to the end. Sometimes they want the traditional archway and walk out of the venue under the arch to their favourite song.
CONTINUED IN PART TWO