Worrying over nothing?

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Hi all,

Went to see one of my customers yesterday with reference to their wedding in March. The Bride & Groom are both into Indie/Alternative and have attended my Alternative Nights over the years. They wanted to make sure that they booked me and no'one else as apparently, they met at one of my nights and also the Groom proposed at one of my nights too. What's even weirder than that is that they met on March 13th, got engaged on March 13th and are now getting married on March 13th!!

Anyway, we had a good meeting and everything went well. They are a nice couple and their song requests are right up my street too. They understand that everyone needs to be catered for music wise and have said to me "You're the expert...just do what you always do" (not sure about 'expert').

All sounds good so far yeah? So why am I worrying?

Well.... during the meeting the groom handed me a list of song requests..... FROM HIS BEST MAN!!! By the looks of it, they are all specialist house tracks and a lot of them can be found on the old MasterMix CD's. I have a few of them and downloaded the ones I didn't have but that's not why I am a bit apprehensive. The reason is, firstly...the Groom said that he had managed to get me to the Disco and his best man (obviously not a fan of Indie/Alternative) joked and said "He aint going to play all that Indie stuff all night is he?"... I took that as a joke, no problem. Then the groom mentioned the list and handed it to me and said that a few of his mates were into the stuff on the list and coming from London.

Maybe I am looking into it far too deeply and worrying over nothing but the requests on the list (some of which I have never heard of but now have) seem to be specialist and would ideally be better mixed up on the night. I can mix but I'm not the best out there.

I don't have anything to prove to anyone I know that. I also know what I am doing. There are around 30 tracks on this Best Man's list alone and I have already advised that I won't get through the lot of them, I will need to try and play something for everyone and most importantly....it's THEIR wedding and not the best man's! I actually find it a bit of a micky take to be honest.

I want to do my best for these two people as it obviously means a lot to them to have me DJing but I do feel a bit out of my league. I just wanted to share this with you all. I am usually very confident but not at this moment. I won't go into too much detail but some of the things the Groom was saying (his mates all getting bladdered and being up for a boogie etc) just got me thinking. I can see the scenario already, I swing it and get by playing the requested tunes with a bit of mic work inbetween tracks etc and all being well, going on to the Indie/Alternative stuff and usual wedding stuff and then getting grief from the 'bladdered crew' about playing more of their stuff.

Never felt like this before so...anyone else been in the same situation?

Cheers
G

[StarZSoundS]

Hi all,

Went to see one of my customers yesterday with reference to their wedding in March. The Bride & Groom are both into Indie/Alternative and have attended my Alternative Nights over the years. They wanted to make sure that they booked me and no'one else as apparently, they met at one of my nights and also the Groom proposed at one of my nights too. What's even weirder than that is that they met on March 13th, got engaged on March 13th and are now getting married on March 13th!!

Anyway, we had a good meeting and everything went well. They are a nice couple and their song requests are right up my street too. They understand that everyone needs to be catered for music wise and have said to me "You're the expert...just do what you always do" (not sure about 'expert').

All sounds good so far yeah? So why am I worrying?

Well.... during the meeting the groom handed me a list of song requests..... FROM HIS BEST MAN!!! By the looks of it, they are all specialist house tracks and a lot of them can be found on the old MasterMix CD's. I have a few of them and downloaded the ones I didn't have but that's not why I am a bit apprehensive. The reason is, firstly...the Groom said that he had managed to get me to the Disco and his best man (obviously not a fan of Indie/Alternative) joked and said "He aint going to play all that Indie stuff all night is he?"... I took that as a joke, no problem. Then the groom mentioned the list and handed it to me and said that a few of his mates were into the stuff on the list and coming from London.

Maybe I am looking into it far too deeply and worrying over nothing but the requests on the list (some of which I have never heard of but now have) seem to be specialist and would ideally be better mixed up on the night. I can mix but I'm not the best out there.

I don't have anything to prove to anyone I know that. I also know what I am doing. There are around 30 tracks on this Best Man's list alone and I have already advised that I won't get through the lot of them, I will need to try and play something for everyone and most importantly....it's THEIR wedding and not the best man's! I actually find it a bit of a micky take to be honest.

I want to do my best for these two people as it obviously means a lot to them to have me DJing but I do feel a bit out of my league. I just wanted to share this with you all. I am usually very confident but not at this moment. I won't go into too much detail but some of the things the Groom was saying (his mates all getting bladdered and being up for a boogie etc) just got me thinking. I can see the scenario already, I swing it and get by playing the requested tunes with a bit of mic work inbetween tracks etc and all being well, going on to the Indie/Alternative stuff and usual wedding stuff and then getting grief from the 'bladdered crew' about playing more of their stuff.

Never felt like this before so...anyone else been in the same situation?

Cheers
G

Because you feel like you do makes you so good.....

Your mind is preparing you for the unknown and trying to cover all eventualities....hence you are blowing it all out of proportion.

IMHO you'll probably end up playing half a dozen from the Grooms list and half a dozen from the Best Mans list mixed in with a bit of Chart,Party,Motown and Rock:Censored: .

Weddings are very rarely the places to exercise speciality nights...if this is one that insists on it then it will probably fail (particularly as there are 2 different genres).....in which case you lay the blame FAIRLY and squarely at their door for liking :Censored: music;) ;) ;)

[Excalibur]

Gary, is there anyone local to you who specialises in the style you don't? Could you parachute in a "Superstar DJ " to do a half hour/forty five minute set? :confused:

[Totally Plucked]

Gary,
Do you know some aspiring 'Mixmaster' DJ who could record a small set for you out of the tracks provided, then save it as a mp3 file and work it into the evening somewhere ? :)

[simonp]

Gary, is there anyone local to you who specialises in the style you don't? Could you parachute in a "Superstar DJ " to do a half hour/forty five minute set? :confused:


Gary,
Do you know some aspiring 'Mixmaster' DJ who could record a small set for you out of the tracks provided, then save it as a mp3 file and work it into the evening somewhere ? :)

I could do both if he wanted :D

[Corabar Entertainment]

Gary,
Do you know some aspiring 'Mixmaster' DJ who could record a small set for you out of the tracks provided, then save it as a mp3 file and work it into the evening somewhere ? :)
Ermmmm..... legalities? :confused:

[Totally Plucked]

Ermmmm..... legalities? :confused:

As long as he has produb, can't really see a problem :confused:

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Thanks for the comments guys.
I suppose it's all part of the learning curve (even though I've been DJing over half my life). I remembered something that has given me a bit of encouragement and that was that many moons ago I was booked via someone else to do a wedding in Reading. I didn't know that at the time it was a Caribbean wedding and they wanted a lot of Reggae and Calypso stuff etc... I was nervous as anything when I was setting up and I could've killed the bloke who handed me the job (my mate) for not putting me in the picture but I did the 'swing it' thing and played alternate tracks off an old Reggae compilation that I had and it worked.

I guess that if I do as best I can then I should be ok but it still slightly worries me. I could create a mix myself in advance maybe?

As for getting someone else in to do the job....well, in the nicest possible way, if I had to do that then that would make me feel useless. We've discussed it before on here that we should all try and be adaptable (?) to all genres of music. I think the worst thing about all of this is that they are people that I know and who have gone all out to get me (I hadn't seen them for a few years as they moved away) and I just don't want to let them down.

[simonp]

I guess that if I do as best I can then I should be ok but it still slightly worries me. I could create a mix myself in advance maybe?


In all seriousness, the problem with creating your own mix to play out is the ability to change things ad hoc. similar to creating a 2 hour dance set list to play out. you never end up using things in the order you created as the dancefloor trend may dictate otherwise, so you quickly have to drop another bomb down.

If you're not totally comfortable with the house stuff, create a setlist from what you have been given (sort them into at least a basic order (BPM (there should be a few that aren't 128!!!), followed by song Key to give you some flow) and have some 'anthems' on standby to throw in if needed),

I'd do this rather than create a rigid mix CD/MP3 that has no scope for deviation (unless you create an absolutely stunning mix that pre-emptively peaks and troughs in all the right places, corresponding with what your dancefloor is going to do).

[DeckstarDeluxe]

if your an experience professional like Gary then you'll be able to make the right call on the night.

[simonp]

if your an experience professional like Gary then you'll be able to make the right call on the night.

I'm sure he can and will, but with respect mate, it is Gary who put the post up asking for advice admitting he was a bit worried.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Thanks again for the comments and advice.

Deckstar - Yes, I am experienced and I suppose you'd call it professional too so cheers for that. The problem is, every now and then I may mix up a few dance tracks but it's not a regular thing (by the way...Sidney Samson and LMFAO works really well) for me. I think that someone handing me a list (that isn't even theirs!!!!) with a whole bunch of tracks on it where the majority is a lot of stuff I don't know, has just scared me a bit.

If someone comes to me and says "We want an 80's Night" or "We really like Alternative/Indie/Rock" etc then yes, I am ultra confident in my ability. Someone who specialises in a certain genre is going to be the same. A little 30 minute (hopefully!) set of stuff you don't really know during a wedding shouldn't be a problem even if you don't know the tracks but I am sure some people will agree out there that if you are dealing with dance tunes (whatever the genre), they are always better mixed up to keep it continuous. I don't want to look stupid...simple as that.

I've done stuff before with dance tunes and people who know me for the music I specialise in have praised me. I've been called a multi genre DJ before (whatever that meant)...I guess it was because I try everything when I can. If someone asks me for some DnB then I will do my best to mix it. If I can't mix it then I will use effects on the mixer like Flanger/Filter etc to manipulate the tracks. I can see that I am worrying far too much as I write this reply as I am putting myself straight.

Simon - Thanks for your comments. I know exactly what you mean mate. I'll have a good think about what I'm going to do and take on board what you and everyone else has said....(apart from getting someone else in).

[STEVE HANLEY]

Hi Gary

If was you I'd set some time aside before the big day and try beatmatching the 30 tracks or so you've been given check out the bpm of each track start with the slower stuff first then increase the tempo

30 house tracks will give you approx 2 hour set there's no way you'll get that far into the set at a wedding before your told to play something else completley use the pitch control and jog wheels to slow or speed the next track up. unless these guys are real house music heads they won't notice or care if your mixing isn't perfect. job done move on to your normal wedding music

[soundmaster mobile disco]

I think you are getting worried about nothing.By the sounds of it most people attending the wedding have been to your gigs before,and will know what a good dj you are (you must be good or they would not have asked you in the first place).

I dont think you will be playing alot of "clubby style" music at this wedding anyway.Do you not find that blokes come and ask for a tune but never get up and dance?

My advice just treat it like any other wedding where you play a wide variety of music to suit everyone.