How did you start?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

A thread that was done a long long time ago on here, but we have a lot of new members since then.

How did you start DJing? Did you roadie or just start up? How old were you? What kind of gear did you have and what was your musical knowledge like?

[Vectis]

I was 10 and my dad borrowed some gear to provide the entertainment at my nan's wedding (2nd, after 1st grandad passed on).

He set it up and then handed me a box of records and told me to get on with it :p

Soon after quickly latched onto the guy who did our school discos and got into roadie-ing, not long before I got my hands on the decks again.

Started my own business at 14, and apart from a couple of years gap when I was moving dahn sahf I've never looked back.

[djsteve10]

Well I was around 13 and had some cd decks at home and some old PA speakers. I went to a leaving party and got talking to the DJ and his son and they started to let me roadie for them and get experience, I started to take control more and more and then finally got some money from my parents to fund more industry standard equipment and started my business at 14.

[daz226]

It was 2 years ago i was sat in my local club the legion and the dj did a no show. The club had its own basic equipment so i said ill give it a go went home got some cd's and did the disco with not a clue what i was really doing but every one really enjoyed themselfs and the banter i had on the mic.

2 weeks later i was asked to do a 40th birthday party and i could use the clubs equipment after that i was hooked. i did 3 more disco's for the club and decided to give it a go.

i was using a phonic mixeramp 2 x 15 inch speakers and some basic lights and a basic cd mixer.

music knowledge was basic

Now i have moved on a lot since then and have a great set up and back up equipment provide what i think is a outstanding service and my music knowledge has improved 100% and will continue to improve with time.

[Danno13]

I can't really remember what my first gig was, probably a kids party for the neighbours, or it may have been at St. John Ambulance when I used to be a cadet. There was a fellow cadet who was a couple of years above me, and always used to do the school discos and I pestered/quizzed him about gear etc.

Then, one of my friends who I met at high school had an interest in lighting, and teamed up with my gemini speakers and homemade (thought not by me) amplifier, we were ready to rock :)

Carried on with school gigs, and word of mouth parties through high school before really making a go of it in sixth form. At the time, I worked as a chef at a local restaurant which the owners closed down to develop the land for hosing. I then needed another way to make money, which was when "Revolution Discos" was born..

I carried on throughout 6th form, then did my stint over in Mallorca before heading off to uni, gigs continued with me back home most weekends making me a pretty well off student. Then when I left uni after just over a year, I kinda half planned to get a full time job.. but that never really happened and that was almost 2 years ago now!

In the beggining I only did younger parties, so music knowlege was as you'd expect. The rest I've gradually learnt (and am still learning) over the years.. I have a good memory and spend a lot of time reading about and exploring music, which I suppose has helped along with regular gigging.

[Excalibur]

A thread that was done a long long time ago on here, but we have a lot of new members since then.

How did you start DJing?
I had the biggest HiFi in the Young Conservatives, so got elected to be the DJ at our Xmas party. :D :D
Did you roadie or just start up?
Just started up
How old were you?
Eighteen and a half
What kind of gear did you have
A hotch potch of Hi Fi gear, homemade lights, and not enough records
and what was your musical knowledge like?
Encyclopaedic. :D :D


The rest as they say.............................

[Penfold42]

The rest as they say.............................

Did they have HiFi or was it Gramophone?

[Excalibur]

Did they have HiFi or was it Gramophone?

Those wax cylinders sounded superb, I'll have you know! :p

[Daryll]

Earyl 70`s.

I was either in a band or playing records .
My first set was a pair of BSR decks, one 1 x 12 FAL speaker and one 2 x 12 fal speaker, not sure about the amp/mixer possibly a HI WATT or a selmer.
A few Par 38`s under manual control ( H&S :eek: ) .
My musical Knowledge was a bit Spartan to say the least , I mean how many discos played Emmerson,Lake and Palmer :p .
I did a few gigs and went back to playing keyboards.
Many years have passed , now I have .

A pair of BSR decks, one 1 x 12 FAL speaker and one 2 x 12 fal speaker, not sure about the amp/mixer possibly a HI WATT or a selmer.
A few Par 38`s under manual control ( H&S :eek: ) .:D :D

Daryll

[Tony Scott]

........A pair of BSR decks, one 1 x 12 FAL speaker and one 2 x 12 fal speaker, not sure about the amp/mixer possibly a HI WATT or a selmer.
A few Par 38`s under manual control........


Flash git! :D

Has anyone started a thread with old pictures of yourself or very old set-ups etc? I've got a few I could scan in! :eek:

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Has anyone started a thread with old pictures of yourself or very old set-ups etc? I've got a few I could scan in! :eek:

I think we also did that thread at some point, but crack on. Always nice to see old photos.

[Danno13]

Don't mention the cables :bag:

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Have you never used CDs then Dan?

[Danno13]

They're the earliest photos I have.. around 2003 for the first one, and 2004-5 for the second two. I did use CDs before that, 2 alba CD walkmans before upgrading to a Numark CDN20s, which I still have and it works as good as the day I bought it. There is a big box of CDs in that photo Darren, as I was using a bit of both at the time.

[Excalibur]

Earyl 70`s.

I was either in a band or playing records .
My first set was a pair of BSR decks, one 1 x 12 FAL speaker and one 2 x 12 fal speaker, not sure about the amp/mixer possibly a HI WATT or a selmer.
A few Par 38`s under manual control ( H&S :eek: ) .
My musical Knowledge was a bit Spartan to say the least , I mean how many discos played Emmerson,Lake and Palmer :p .I did a few gigs and went back to playing keyboards.
Many years have passed , now I have .

A pair of BSR decks, one 1 x 12 FAL speaker and one 2 x 12 fal speaker, not sure about the amp/mixer possibly a HI WATT or a selmer.
A few Par 38`s under manual control ( H&S :eek: ) .:D :D

Daryll
ME! :eek: Plus Deep Purple, Hawkwind, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, Traffic, and the like. Happy days. :D


Flash git! :D

Has anyone started a thread with old pictures of yourself or very old set-ups etc? I've got a few I could scan in! :eek:

Yeah, took me five years to get a rig with that level of kit. :o RSC was all I could afford. :( :( :(

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

There is a big box of CDs in that photo Darren

DOH! So there is. :o

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Happy days. :D


I used to like that too. :D

[nigelwright7557]

A thread that was done a long long time ago on here, but we have a lot of new members since then.

How did you start DJing? Did you roadie or just start up? How old were you? What kind of gear did you have and what was your musical knowledge like?

I started in 1974 working for The Untouchables disco.
They had 4 sets.
A mate worked for them and he told me they were after apprentice DJ's.
I went along and gave it a try.
After some brief tutoring I was left alone to do it.
It was a bit nerve racking to start with but I slowly got into it.

[daz226]

check out those dodgy shades on Tony :eek: :p

[PropellerHeadCase]

I started when a mate asked me to use my CD collection to DJ his 21st. Got some work at a local club bar tending and DJing from behind the bar - playing everything from Deep Purple to G'n'R to Megadeth, depending what (if any) bands were playing.

Did a few gig for friends with hired gear and then latched onto the chap that DJed my best mates wedding and scored a job with him by sending him a mix tape. Stayed with that company, through a change of ownership, until April of this year (having started taking on my own gigs from Around April of the year before).

So here I am (having just had all my gear PAT tested) doing my first UK wedding on Saturday.

[soundtracker]

My mate and I were heavily involved in the local Football club, and as a money raising venture we decided to put on regular Saturday night gigs. One of the players had a friend of a friend who knew a DJ who was (supposed to be)Jimmy Savilles South Wales Agent, he called himself Pedro, anyway he turned up the first week with some ropey old kit, and his records in an old ladies shopping bag!
Spiel wise he was great, but music wise, he didn't have a clue, he kept playing the hits of the 60s which was totally the wrong age group. We went with him for a couple of weeks, but during this time a plan was being hatched, we basically put together kit from home hi-fi and recruited another lad whose dad owned the local electrical store. The first gig we did was in July 1975, using one Phillips turntable, one binatone turntable, a sony 200watt amp and a huge pair of hi-fi speakers, borrowed off another mate, we also "acquired" a microphone from school - no mixer!!! lighting wise we had 2 home-made traffic light boxes, a rope light, and a fluorescent tube!
Luckily my record collection was by this time already huge, and by putting our savings together we managed to buy the top twenty singles.#
We must have done ok as we were asked back the following week, and after a few weeks we were turning people away! This was quickly followed by obtaining a £500 loan from Barclays, and buying some proper kit - TK Discosound deck and speakers with built in mixer-amp. We repaid the loan within 3 months, and within 12 months had gained the lions share of the local market, by which time we had up-graded to a Citronic Hawaai deck, and then on to a Discosound Roadstar - built in amp, lighting controller and tape-deck!! Within two years we had four regular nights, Thursday in a local pub playing a lot of punk and new-wave, Fridays in the local Rowing Club for under 16s, Saturday in the local night club to crowds of up to 800 and Sunday nights to a handfull of people in a local restaurant, playing soul, jazz and MOR type stuff. Heady days indeed!

[rob1963]

I got interested in DJing around the age of 15. I used to put a radio in front of a tape recorder when the top 40 was on, talk over the intros as though I was a DJ & record the result onto the cassette recorder using its built-in mic.

A year later at 16 I joined my local hospital radio station.

After about a year, I left & helped out behind the scenes on a number of pirate radio stations around London, and before long was reading out news & information on air.

By the age of 19 I was running my own pirate station, but after the best part of a year we were raided, fined & had all the equipment confiscated.

I loved DJing & wanted to carry on with the pirate radio, but simply couldn't afford to...so I teamed up with another DJ from the station. We went out & bought a load of disco gear on hp, then started running a mobile disco together. That was back in 1984.

Eight years later, my friend got married & started a family, so I bought him out & continued on my own.

[501damian501]

how did i start jesus, well well, it were afew years back when i were aboy my mate said to me oi damian, i get on these decks, this were at a fair on a waltzer believe it or not, him his self being an ex 90s rave dj, he soon taugh me the ropes and the bells and whistles of his top end equipment, practiced more, bought my first set of decks off him, tech decks good buy for such a young age, gain abit of business experiance and i decided i would give it a blast and when from their, got interested in the karaoke side of things when my grandad passed on, very good singer indeed, am sure he pasted the vocals on me, cheers damian

[summer sounds]

1976..my first season as a Butlins Redcoat at Pwhelli ...the ents manager said to me on my first day ' Alan..you look like a DJ.. here's the keys to the decks and records and away you go'...1 hour later I am up on stage in front of over a 1000 people spinning the vinyl.
1980 I was promoted to resident compere at Skegness and had the pleasure of introducing 'star name' cabaret artistes,and also writing and producing shows which are still being used at holiday centres throughout the country today....I had a great time in my 10 years working at Butlins and would encourage any budding entertainers to get in there and learn the trade.
Over 30 years later I am still enjoying the 'buzz' although I use CD' s now! ;)

[Dillmiester]

I started at 9yrs old. My mum and dad had a hotel on the Isle of Wight, we had school partys staying and they wanted a disco. My dad finally opened his wallet and purchased a set of three! sound activated lights and a rope light.
I used a Sony deck and some hi fi speakers, we all had a great time. It just goes to show you dont need lots of fancy equipment to give people a good time (well you didnt in those days but im talking about 1987).

[rob1963]

It just goes to show you dont need lots of fancy equipment to give people a good time (well you didnt in those days but im talking about 1987).

You still don't TODAY.

It's not about the equipment.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

You still don't TODAY.

It's not about the equipment.

You mean it's not only about the equipment.

[rob1963]

You mean it's not only about the equipment.

Yes Darren...that's what I mean!

:D

[Shaun]

It was 1988, and I was a youth worker in a local youth club that ran weekly. One week an old acquaintance came into the club saying that he’d just started up a mobile disco company, and was looking to get some experience by doing a few free gigs. He offered his services to the youth club free of charge for a month. We got talking and it turned out he didn’t really have much music at that point, and I mentioned that I had loads of music that he could use, and I’d bring it along to the first gig. To cut a long story short I ended up DJing alongside him that month, the discos went well and I ended up doing most of the music on those evenings. On the last night he offered me a job.

I worked with him for a few years before setting up on my own. We remained good friends right up to his death in an accident 2 years ago. R.I.P, Rab.

[Dillmiester]

Ok its not just about the equipment but i dont think i would get away with this set up anymore...

No laughing at the back!

[rob1963]

Ok its not just about the equipment but i dont think i would get away with this set up anymore...

No laughing at the back!

Is there any chance you're thinking of selling it?

I'm looking to upgrade my lighting.

:rofl:

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Ok its not just about the equipment but i dont think i would get away with this set up anymore...



You wouldn't get away with that wallpaper anymore :eek:

[theoloyla]

I was 16 and chairman of Norwich Young Liberals. We wanted a social night and I had a big record collection and a record player. I literally shouted between the records. They enjoyed it; so I bought an RSC 50 watt amp and loudspeaker and a mike. I spoke into the mike and then placed it in front of the speaker!

[DJ INDIE]

I always had a very keen love of music and spent most of my youth collecting various records and tapes - later CDs from record shops and second hand record shops.

I started DJing whilst our band started doing a lot of weddings - and the DJs were pretty sub standard and I thought I could do a better job, but never properly considered myself a 'DJ'.

I got my equipment when organising a surprise 60th for my step dad - it was a case of £200 for a DJ or £200-300 on buying my own second hand gear off ebay and giving it a go myself!

My first rig was far too big and heavy!

2 warrior LS300 tops, 2 EV bass bins (picked up for £90 - bargain - sold for £250 a year later) a Warrior 1000 amp, a Phonic 900w amp and an ElectroMusic 1200w amp that was 20 yr old and the size and weight of a house! Plus a second CD tray, crossover, and my full PC plus full sized monitor! the odd light here and there and a smoke machine, plus bags of old cables and connectors.... Far too much stuff !

gees im glad i dont lug all that around now!

The do went well (even though i sounded like those incomprehensible railway station announcers on the mic) From there I got a few recommendations and everything happened from there really...we started doing band and DJ together, and then started to do DJing on my own as well...

One thing it did teach me was the 'give it a go' attitude, which im grateful for..

[Andy Westcott]

I'm a bit busy right now, but briefly:
£35 for an 18th, on the first week of release of Kool & The Gang's 'Celebration', so I can pin down my first paid disco to the very day. :)

Before that I used to play my music to friends at various parties - I used to get called on rather a lot because of my liking for disco music and my interest in amplifiers and speakers...

[nigelwright7557]

The disco I worked on was charging about £18 a night in 1975.
The 1970's was a great time for disco music.
It was also a great time for being single and a DJ with no AIDS to worry about.

[Excalibur]

I was 16 and chairman of Norwich Young Liberals. We wanted a social night and I had a big record collection and a record player. I literally shouted between the records. They enjoyed it; so I bought an RSC 50 watt amp and loudspeaker and a mike. I spoke into the mike and then placed it in front of the speaker!

Substitute Young Conservatives for Young Liberals, and the fact that I actually had inputs for Mic and line and it sounds awfully like me. :D

[nigelwright7557]

They enjoyed it; so I bought an RSC 50 watt amp and loudspeaker and a mike.


The PAT and safety people would have loved me when I first started with my own disco. I built my own speakers and my amp was a Maplin 225WRMS kit.
I built the kit on a foot square peice of chipboard !
The mains transformer was just bolted to the chipboard.

After my first gig I decided it would be prudent to make a proper box for the amp.

The sound to light was a Maplin kit too, again with no lid on it so kept it hidden underneat my decks.

I have a bit more money these days so my gear is a bit better.

[Excalibur]

The PAT and safety people would have loved me when I first started with my own disco. I built my own speakers and my amp was a Maplin 225WRMS kit.
I built the kit on a foot square peice of chipboard !
The mains transformer was just bolted to the chipboard.

After my first gig I decided it would be prudent to make a proper box for the amp.

The sound to light was a Maplin kit too, again with no lid on it so kept it hidden underneat my decks.

I have a bit more money these days so my gear is a bit better.

Ah the good old days, when electrocution was not only an ocupational hazard, but also a regular occurrence. ;)

[nigelwright7557]

Ah the good old days, when electrocution was not only an ocupational hazard, but also a regular occurence. ;)

I also used the Maplin deck enclosure and their turntables.
I was stripping back the mains wires and touched the live and got an awful belt up my arm. One of my kids had plugged it in !

[Spirits High]

I started back in 1992 when I was in Lisburn Northern Ireland. At the time each squadron had it's own bar and had a disco on different nights.

My bar was the "horseshoe" :eek: and I got to run it for 2 months as a duty :D :D Friday night was our disco night but on one occasion our dj was called into work, there was only one thing to do , pick up the records , drop some tunes and off we went I ended up being the resident in there (£50 a night) on fridays.

When I left Lisburn in 1994 it kind of died off a bit probably due to the tours of Bosnia, Iraq etc.

But funnily enough when I went back to NI in 2004 I picked up where I'd left off not as a resident but this time as a mobile. Went down to Eclipse pro sound told them what I wanted and promptly came out of their place a few quid lighter:eek:

What made it real interesting was the security side of things, some of the venues were how can I say in "interesting areas" as obviously at the time soldiers weren't the most popular people in NI so I came out with a story that i'd met a couple of people from Belfast on Holiday in Spain and they'd told me how great Belfast was (and it is by the way) and that I should move over there and Dj.That seemed to make up for the south London accent!

So Spirits High was born! When I came back over in August last year I re-launched , re-advertised and will be going full time from next May when I become a civy :D

Thanks to a few people on here Dave especialy (and I supose Tony to an extent afterall I did have to throw my grantham gigs somewhere :p) I've settled in nicely, had loads of advice and Spirits is doing ok ;)

[daz226]

Ok its not just about the equipment but i dont think i would get away with this set up anymore...

No laughing at the back!

what a beautifull scarf you are wearing ....outstanding also i did not know the prototype for the impossiled was available then lol

[501damian501]

kool & the gang, excellent stuff :D

[leighinstoke]

11 years old and DJing at Church Youth Club alongside 14 year old chap.

Now 37 and he's 41 and I recently DJed for him at his daughters 18th - and he found a pic of us both from when first started. Took another - boy time hasn't been kind to us. Hee hee!

Leigh....

[theoloyla]

I started back in 1992 when I was in Lisburn Northern Ireland. At the time each squadron had it's own bar and had a disco on different nights.

My bar was the "horseshoe" :eek: and I got to run it for 2 months as a duty :D :D Friday night was our disco night but on one occasion our dj was called into work, there was only one thing to do , pick up the records , drop some tunes and off we went I ended up being the resident in there (£50 a night) on fridays.

When I left Lisburn in 1994 it kind of died off a bit probably due to the tours of Bosnia, Iraq etc.

But funnily enough when I went back to NI in 2004 I picked up where I'd left off not as a resident but this time as a mobile. Went down to Eclipse pro sound told them what I wanted and promptly came out of their place a few quid lighter:eek:

What made it real interesting was the security side of things, some of the venues were how can I say in "interesting areas" as obviously at the time soldiers weren't the most popular people in NI so I came out with a story that i'd met a couple of people from Belfast on Holiday in Spain and they'd told me how great Belfast was (and it is by the way) and that I should move over there and Dj.That seemed to make up for the south London accent!

So Spirits High was born! When I came back over in August last year I re-launched , re-advertised and will be going full time from next May when I become a civy :D

Thanks to a few people on here Dave especialy (and I supose Tony to an extent afterall I did have to throw my grantham gigs somewhere :p) I've settled in nicely, had loads of advice and Spirits is doing ok ;)

Good on you. Hope you continue to prosper. I had the pleasure of visiting Ulster on a regular basis in the late 70's and early 80's and loved it. I often stayed at the Europa in Belfast (the most bombed hotel in Europe) and found the local people to be really friendly. The local radio Downtown was a regular stopping off point too and there was one dj there called Cherry MacIlwayne who was absolutely gorgeous.
Later when I was running the Superjocks Hit Squad I was friends with a N.I. dj called Brian Moore. Anyone know if he is still in the biz? Havent spoken to him in years.

[Spirits High]

Good on you. Hope you continue to prosper. I had the pleasure of visiting Ulster on a regular basis in the late 70's and early 80's and loved it. I often stayed at the Europa in Belfast (the most bombed hotel in Europe) and found the local people to be really friendly. The local radio Downtown was a regular stopping off point too and there was one dj there called Cherry MacIlwayne who was absolutely gorgeous.
Later when I was running the Superjocks Hit Squad I was friends with a N.I. dj called Brian Moore. Anyone know if he is still in the biz? Havent spoken to him in years.

thanks Theo

I gigged the Europa, the upstairs Ballroom which was a nice way to finish my time in Belfast, was due to go over next weekend for a re union but work commitments this end ment I had to cancel.

Recomend a weekend in Belfast to anyone ;)