View Full Version : Reason for becoming a DJ?
rob1963
25-09-2009, 05:19 PM
A number of people give their reason for becoming a DJ as "A love of music".
I have a love of ice cream...but I don't want to go out & sell the stuff!
I also love a clean van...but I don't want to charge other people to clean THEIRS!
Discuss.
DeckstarDeluxe
25-09-2009, 05:24 PM
I got into it because it gives me a buzz that nothing else has given me be it football, beer, girls etc..... Being the centre of the party is a big part and yes it does feed my ego but its helped me gain alot of confidence.
I have a very short attention span yet I spend loads of time doing things related to djing and my desire keeps growing and growing.
Its really strange because growing up I never had much of a passion for music until late 1999.
JDB Entertainment
25-09-2009, 05:27 PM
I used to be a bluecoat for Pontins and learnt to DJ there!
My dream is to become an actor, however to enable me to go to auditions I needed to work for myself.
I therefore setup my DJ Business to allow me time to go to auditions.
I also enjoy DJing and get a huge buzz off people having a good time. :D
DJMaxG
25-09-2009, 05:37 PM
When I was about 7, I saw a DJ at a Party that my relatives attended, and then saw another DJ (seperate occasion) in a large room with trussing, par cans, playing one of my favourite chart toppers.
I just went along to collect them, and admired the rig etc, and thought I would love to do this
Then years later, I got My Decks
A number of people give their reason for becoming a DJ as "A love of music".
Everyone says that. My Sisters Love music, but I couldn't imagen them stood behind the decks at a Nightclub actually playing them.
I have a love of ice cream...but I don't want to go out & sell the stuff! Same here, we all love our ice cream, but I don't go selling it to make a living off £2.00 per cone.
I also love a clean van...but I don't want to charge other people to clean THEIRS!
Too Right - I refuse to clean other family members cars because I don't use the vehicles. If I drove them all day long, then I would clean them - Simple.
JDB Entertainment
25-09-2009, 05:44 PM
When I was about 7, I saw a DJ at a Party that my relatives attended, and then saw another DJ (seperate occasion) in a large room with trussing, par cans, playing one of my favourite chart toppers.
I just went along to collect them, and admired the rig etc, and thought I would love to do this
Then years later, I got My Decks
And they are still sitting in your bedroom! :P
And they are still sitting in your bedroom! :P
on the first floor of Maxwell House.
:party2:
Shaun
25-09-2009, 06:20 PM
Reason for becoming a DJ?
I fell into by chance - enjoyed it and was good at it - carried on.
....I doubt I could give you a more honest answer.
Excalibur
25-09-2009, 06:34 PM
A love of music had nothing to do with it initially in my case. It was simply that I had the biggest record player to use at a party. I lashed two together, and did the gig. At that one, a pretty young lady came up, and asked if I could do the same at her party next week. Like I was going to refuse a party invite, eh? Do bears live in the woods? ;) :D :D
Same a couple more times, and that gave me the chance/reason to build my own rig from Comet, believe it or not! :eek: For the young 'uns on here, Maplins and t'interweb weren't an option, and we built loads of our own gear in those days.
Only after that, could you say love of music was a big factor, added to a love of toys. :o :o
Jiggles
25-09-2009, 06:42 PM
Love equipment and i LOVE it when people are having a good time. Natural High!
BeerFunk
25-09-2009, 06:45 PM
I have a love of ice cream...but I don't want to go out & sell the stuff!
I also love a clean van...but I don't want to charge other people to clean THEIRS!
Discuss.Again with the irrelevant and inapplicable analogies, Rob!
The love of music is the shorthand of why and how I started out DJing. I feel a major factor in my success as a DJ is the scope of my musical knowledge, which wasn't acquired through hard work, but through my own raised interest.
In my opinion, there are too many DJs now who start DJing for the wrong reasons - either as a quick way to grab a buck on the side, or because they think they look cool to their mates. The latter is usually the young kids, who can't seem to differentiate between mobile discos and Clubland.
DazzyD
25-09-2009, 07:18 PM
I've always loved music and was involved in band management and promotion before my first DJing project was born.
My mate was doing karaoke for a local company and I told him I was skint so he suggested giving it a try. I did an audition for the guy who runs the company (singing Herman's Hermit's 'Mrs Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter' and 'I'm In To Something Good'). He then showed me how to use his kit (I'd done sound engineering previously so mixing desks were familiar to me) and the rest, as they say, is history. I started with karaoke and when things were quiet and no-one was singing I'd play a bit music (I've always collected music from being very young). The venue was impressed with my song selection (it got people in and dancing!) and got me to do a karaoke disco. I soon moved on to discos and, within a year, I was doing wedding discos.
But I keep on doing it because, as has been said, the buzz you get when people are up dancing and having a good time, and you know it's because of what you're doing, is absolutely amazing. As Don McLean wrote, "I knew if I had my chance then I could make those people dance and maybe they'd be happy for a while". I think this sums me up brilliantly and, when the people stop dancing, the time will have come to hang up my cans and put away my mic for good.
rob1963
25-09-2009, 07:22 PM
Again with the irrelevant and inapplicable analogies, Rob!
Not at all.
The point I'm making that having a love of something isn't necessarily a reason for going out & doing it for a living...especially in our industry.
In other words, as I've already stated, a number of people give their reason for starting discos as "A love of music"...but surely if you have a love of music, it makes more sense to sit at home listening to the music you actually LIKE...rather than going out & playing music OTHER people like?
:shrug:
DJ Jules
25-09-2009, 07:34 PM
In other words, as I've already stated, a number of people give their reason for starting discos as "A love of music"...but surely if you have a love of music, it makes more sense to sit at home listening to the music you actually LIKE...rather than going out & playing music OTHER people like?
...I dare anyone to cite "A love of Music" as a reason for offering Karaoke!! :D
Julian
Kernow
25-09-2009, 07:43 PM
I was one night chilling with a Dire Straits album, when I heard "Money for Nothing" and suddenly thought "Hey that's it, become a DJ !! :) !"
As I've since discovered, I was wrong, wrong wrong !!! :D
BeerFunk
25-09-2009, 08:35 PM
Not at all.
The point I'm making that having a love of something isn't necessarily a reason for going out & doing it for a living...especially in our industry.I understand your point, and to some extent I agree. However, your examples really don't apply well.
Alright, a love of music isn't necessarily going to result in a career in music, or even a career as a DJ.
On the flip side, you wouldn't ever think to start DJing, as a 'job', if you weren't interested in music. Or would you?
DeckstarDeluxe
25-09-2009, 08:37 PM
indeed, does everyone at walls love ice cream?
Do the talentless pretty packaging pop bands have a undying love for music? Doubt it
rob1963
25-09-2009, 09:02 PM
...I dare anyone to cite "A love of Music" as a reason for offering Karaoke!! :D
Very good point!
I understand your point, and to some extent I agree. However, your examples really don't apply well.
Possibly, but I think my examples were still good enough to get my point across.
Alright, a love of music isn't necessarily going to result in a career in music, or even a career as a DJ.
Exactly.
On the flip side, you wouldn't ever think to start DJing, as a 'job', if you weren't interested in music. Or would you?
I'll be honest with you, the reason I started DJing had NOTHING to do with a love of music, but EVERYTHING to do with wanting the ego trip of being on the radio...where anyone within about 25 miles could tune in & hear me entertaining them with my waffle, getting people to write in to enter competitions I ran where they could win prizes, reading out customers letters & dedications & talking over song intros & stopping exactly at the point where the vocals started (something I got very good at) as well as reading out details of a pub where listeners could (and did) come along after the broadcast to meet me.
That's why I worked on a number of pirate radio stations & eventually started my own station.
When we eventually got raided it cost me a lot of money in fines & confiscated equipment, so I simply couldn't afford to carry on, despite wanting to. A fellow DJ on the station suggested that the next best thing was to buy some gear on HP & start running mobile discos, so that's what the two of us started doing.
After 8 years, his priorities changed when he got married & had kids, so I bought him out & continued on my own.
indeed, does everyone at walls love ice cream?
Do the talentless pretty packaging pop bands have a undying love for music? Doubt it
My thoughts exactly!
Failed every exam I've ever sat so a day job wasn't really going to be on the horizon anytime soon, coupled with the fact that I don't have any friends so the only way I can get to party is as a DJ.
JTRS
rob1963
25-09-2009, 09:11 PM
Failed every exam I've ever sat so a day job wasn't really going to be on the horizon anytime soon, coupled with the fact that I don't have any friends so the only way I can get to party is as a DJ.
JTRS
Why don't you have any friends?
:confused:
visualdjmax
25-09-2009, 09:17 PM
I can't dance!
Excalibur
25-09-2009, 09:18 PM
I.
On the flip side, you wouldn't ever think to start DJing, as a 'job', if you weren't interested in music. Or would you?
Only if you were playing R&Bilge. I suppose it might lessen the pain. :confused:
rob1963
25-09-2009, 09:52 PM
I can't dance!
Is that why you became a DJ?
Is that why you became a DJ?
I think you'll find it's a song by Phil Collins
JTRS
rob1963
25-09-2009, 10:38 PM
I can't dance!
Is that why you became a DJ?
I think you'll find it's a song by Phil Collins
JTRS
And there I was thinking it was by Genesis!
:p
soundscapes
25-09-2009, 11:00 PM
one word "girls" !
rob1963
25-09-2009, 11:09 PM
:d :d :d
Love of music ... all sorts ... and getting paid for playing it loud instead of being shouted at by parents / neighbours.
Now I love seeing people jumping around to the records I have selected and I like that they appreciate what I do.
I think that is the main thing appreciation. if they appreciate, I am more likely to do everything I can to make sure they have a good time. Sometimes day to day work and the drag or chores / bills etc can create a lot of negatives. DJing is a MASSIVE positive for me and good for my state of mind (don't worry i'm not about to go crazy .... dribble dribble) ;-)
DJMaxG
26-09-2009, 12:19 AM
When we eventually got raided it cost me a lot of money in fines & confiscated equipment, so I simply couldn't afford to carry on, despite wanting to. A fellow DJ on the station suggested that the next best thing was to buy some gear on HP & start running mobile discos, so that's what the two of us started doing
Shame that happened really :(
I read your MDD Interview and you mentioned retiring early to avoid people asking whether you were the DJ's Dad. Is that the only reason why you want to retire so early?
I bet there are Grandads doing it with trafic lights still, out there somewhere.
Corabar Steve
26-09-2009, 01:51 AM
I had the rock records, the resident DJ in our local didn't. We became a double act, then I took over. Other than that, lunacy.
kilmeedyman
26-09-2009, 06:28 AM
I hated crass DJs who were wannabe comedians cracking rubbish jokes over a soundsystem so badly setup you couldn't hear what they were saying, even if you wanted to. (some on here have told me that they used to do that back in the day but they WERE funny...yeah right..... more like didn't notice or care that people didn't like it)
I DJ'd (loose teerm) with a ghetto blaster and a stack of CDs at a couple of parties and found I loved choosing music that people wanted to dance to. Not only that I was pretty good at choosing the right music.
The rest will be in my biography. :-)
rob1963
26-09-2009, 09:33 AM
I read your MDD Interview and you mentioned retiring early to avoid people asking whether you were the DJ's Dad. Is that the only reason why you want to retire so early?
That's certainly the MAIN reason, although I don't agree that 50 is a particularly early age to retire.
From what I can tell, mobile DJs in their 50's are in the small minority. Having said that, if THEY want to continue & can get the work, then good luck to them...it's just not for me personally.
I bet there are Grandads doing it with trafic lights still, out there somewhere.
I'm sure there are, but when I'm in my 50's I want to be relaxing & having lots of holidays rather than lugging heavy gear all over the place...especially after doing it for 30 years!
visualdjmax
26-09-2009, 10:13 AM
Is that why you became a DJ?
Well that and because I love music.
Kernow
26-09-2009, 10:16 AM
I hated crass DJs who were wannabe comedians cracking rubbish jokes over a soundsystem so badly setup you couldn't hear what they were saying, even if you wanted to. (some on here have told me that they used to do that back in the day but they WERE funny...yeah right..... more like didn't notice or care that people didn't like it)
I DJ'd (loose teerm) with a ghetto blaster and a stack of CDs at a couple of parties and found I loved choosing music that people wanted to dance to. Not only that I was pretty good at choosing the right music.
The rest will be in my biography. :-)
Or your obituary, judging by some of the opinions in this thread ;)
:D :D
I became a DJ by accident. My now DJ partner in crime used to go singing at a Karaoke in a local pub. I happened to be back from uni for a few weeks when they gave him his own paid gig as he was good. The guy who did Karaoke wasn't available to press buttons. I was given a crash course in button pressing. I now press buttons most weekends.
Also I like having a large selection of massive stereo equipment and lots of lights. I intend to one day assimilate with my kit and become a Steven King novel akin to Lawn Mower Man. I really need to set myself higher targets.
I started DJing because my Dad has been a DJ all my life. It seemed a natural progression really. Firstly, decided to be a trendy club style DJ, but found I wasn't nearly pretentious enough to play only the songs I liked and preferred playing crowd pleasers as I muchly preffered having a lot of people responding to what I was playing rather than a few chin scratchers at the side, admiring my pitch control.
Stopped for a long while whilst I did Band stuff and Music production, all the while getting deeper and deeper into a rat race 9-5 job. Eventually, after it being assumed that I would step into the old man's shoes, I decided that I could do with the extra money, more importantly, because I thought I'd be good at it. That was 2 years ago and it seems to be going well!
I get what Rob is saying...to a lot of my "serious" music fans, I used to say I've sold my musical soul to the Cheese devil and its rare that what I'm asked to play is what I like to listen to (with the exception of Old Soul and Motown) but I feel I can present music for the masses well and the buzz I get from "Dropping" a classic dancefloor filler that is well recieved is exactly the same as the buzz I got when asked to rewind the Drum and Bass tracks I DJed in my late teens.
I do love music and have spent most of my free time since I was a kid either playing, making, mixing or listening to music, its not the reason I started Mobile Disco DJing...but it does help me be a better DJ.
I got into it dj'ing when I was about 10 years old when I was asked to play some music and to control some disco lights for a christmas party where my mother worked at the time. My mother's boss even forked out some cash on the lights which I was able to use for other discos after that. Some people I knew started asking me to do some discos for children's parties and then I finally got some bookings for adult parties such as bithday's and weddings.
My interests grew as more bookings came in and then I got ideas about buying my own equipment and searching shops for music and building up my cd collection and the joys of this have been with me ever since. I agree also with comments above that I also enjoy the buzz of getting a good reaction on the dancefloor and seeing people enjoy themselves. Cannot beat the feeling!
I started DJing because my Dad has been a DJ all my life. It seemed a natural progression really. Firstly, decided to be a trendy club style DJ, but found I wasn't nearly pretentious enough to play only the songs I liked and preferred playing crowd pleasers as I muchly preffered having a lot of people responding to what I was playing rather than a few chin scratchers at the side, admiring my pitch control.
Stopped for a long while whilst I did Band stuff and Music production, all the while getting deeper and deeper into a rat race 9-5 job. Eventually, after it being assumed that I would step into the old man's shoes, I decided that I could do with the extra money, more importantly, because I thought I'd be good at it. That was 2 years ago and it seems to be going well!
I get what Rob is saying...to a lot of my "serious" music fans, I used to say I've sold my musical soul to the Cheese devil and its rare that what I'm asked to play is what I like to listen to (with the exception of Old Soul and Motown) but I feel I can present music for the masses well and the buzz I get from "Dropping" a classic dancefloor filler that is well recieved is exactly the same as the buzz I got when asked to rewind the Drum and Bass tracks I DJed in my late teens.
I do love music and have spent most of my free time since I was a kid either playing, making, mixing or listening to music, its not the reason I started Mobile Disco DJing...but it does help me be a better DJ.
I meant to say "to a lot of my "serious" music fan FRIENDS". I don't have Serious Music Fans! :D Freudian slip given my comment about not being Pretentious! :D
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