Younger DJ's

[JamesXP]

How did you gather funds to pay for all of your DJ equipment?

And

How did clients react to you being younger than they may have first thought..

And

Where did you get your musics from?

Discuss!

[Jiggles]

I started off with a grand from a local group funded by the council and such. Got £1700 to start it all off.

They didn't care. Word of mouth got about that I was good. :)

[DazzyD]

I worked for other operators, got older, got wiser, more experienced and then said "Dad! How about funding my new solo DJ career?". He never gave me any encouragement in anything I ever did before but came to one of my gigs one night, told my brother (not me!) he thought I was really good, and then various bits of DJ kit started to arrive at the house! The rest, as they say, is history!

[JamesXP]

history indeed, if only my dad had expendable income, luckily my dad is supportive of me though.

[Pazz]

I started out when I was 12ish when my mother's boss invested in some very cheesy disco equipment (good back in the day though). Done a few bookings, invested in some better gear then got another 2 jobs and invested my earnings into more equipment. Continually been upgrading ever since until I get happy with the setup (doubt this will ever happen as there's always something else you need to get). Have to say I took a loan out for my van (maybe not the wisest decision!) when I passed my test but other than that I just saved money from my other full time job(s).

Don't think I've had a problem with client's thinking I was quite young - don't recall anyone saying anything about my age. Think I've always looked older than my actual age :eek: :(

[DazzyD]

history indeed, if only my dad had expendable income, luckily my dad is supportive of me though.

He got his redundancy from the Pits. First time (and only time) in his life that he ever had any money to his name!

[Cj_The_Dj]

I stated with my dads old equipment, Well he got ill and had to pack up, (didn't sell his stuff) it was an old twin deck built in amp, some cloud speakers and 4 out door flood light on tbar with 2 screens, i started it us back up and running when i was very young about 10ish doing family parties and when i was 13 started by word of mouth, people didn't know about my age until i got to a gig, and they were shocked with what u could do,

I just sold bit to pay for new bits, at a profit, and saved up from gigs,

IMO not much older than you and Ive got a DSB pro moving head, Martin EFX500, denon dnx 900 mixer etc, and thats just come from DJing,

My dad had a very large collection of LPs of over 2,000 albums and about 2,500 singles, put them on mini disc, until i got laptop, but i got lots of my CDS from newspapers.

[rob1963]

How did you gather funds to pay for all of your DJ equipment?

I didn't.

I bought most of it on HP, and paid it back at about £30-£40 a month. The only exception being the speakers, which me & my colleague made ourselves.


How did clients react to you being younger than they may have first thought..

That wasn't really a problem, because when I started (with a friend) I was 21 & he was 22, but we both looked older.


Where did you get your music from?

I bought my music from a local record shop, which had opened shortly before I started mobile discos.

I went there each Thursday on my way home from the day job, and they would play me all the new stuff so I could choose what I wanted. As a regular customer, I also got a discount.

[thex-faders]

Father was a DJ with my uncle in his youth.

They disbanded after getting old and sold most of the gear. But left behind a mixer, dual cd player, 200 watt amp and speakers. With some colour changers.

Did a couple of mates birthdays when we were 16 for free!! Then done a couple for a mere £80 again for friends.

Then realised we could make some money and saved up for some speakers and gradually invested back into the business, into the rig we have now =] Happy days

Reaction early on was not a problem as we seemed to act pretty proffesional, from what people told us and got a regular gig at a local youth centre as we was literally two minutes down the road.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Built it up from the bedroom dj stage really. Got talking to the guy at the local disco shop and he threw some gigs my way. Three years later and Ive got a van, full rig,website and a good rep too.

Doesnt come easy or cheap but if you got the passion then it will all fall into place.

[JamesXP]

bumparoo, anyone else got any input


:)

[DJWilson]

Saved up and got gear for birthday, xmas etc.

They don't seem to bothered about being young.

Music from HMV/Woolworths/Tesco etc when first started.

[NKR]

Started off doing a pub that had its own gear for £40 a night (between two of us).

Got in with my much referred to sound and light chap and he stuck us in Kilhey Court night club for weddings and Egerton House also for weddings (both kitted up).

Used all the income to increase the music collection and then start buying my own kit.

Moved onto night clubs in Blackpool and Preston (again fitted out with kit).

Then had a break, sold bits of kit, etc bar the basics for BBQ's etc. (Kept the music thank god)

Came back nearly four years ago now and bought kit with a £3,000 loan from my savings account. Have contiued building it up since then to a nice rig.

[JamesXP]

tidy thanks for all your all your stories on this..

out of interest, when you first started how much was all your kit?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

tidy thanks for all your all your stories on this..

out of interest, when you first started how much was all your kit?

26 years ago, I saved up £500 and bought a dual deck console with Garrard SP25s and 200W stereo amp built in, a pair of Saxon speakers and a Shure mic. Lighting was a pair of spotbanks that I had for Christmas and evebtually I saved up and bought a couple of screens.

[TONYTIGER]

I have a few youngsters who help out around your age ,all want to get on the mobile ladder and i give them bits of gear that i no longer require,and some money of course.
Perhaps there is some mobile dj in your area who might do the same,best of luck.

[SC Events]

I originally started DJ'ing with a friend and my Uncle, but things didn't work out, so I decided to go it alone.

My Nan gave me a loan of £800 with which I bought the last few bits to get a decent rig up and running. Once the bookings started to come in, I invested more and more money in to the business to upgrade and/or buy new equipment until I ended up with the rig I have today, which has cost me about £4000 - £5000. Also, I now offer LED Uplighting as well and own 8 x Par 56's.

...Of course with every gig I do, my Nan gets repayed a certain amount. - I wouldn't owe her anything now except I have had a few problems with equipment over the last few weeks and she has lent me a bit of money to sort it out, so I owe her for that.

Next on the list though is a pair of RCF ART 312's and 2 x Moving heads.

[Excalibur]

26 years ago, I saved up £500 and bought a dual deck console with Garrard SP25s and 200W stereo amp built in, a pair of Saxon speakers and a Shure mic. Lighting was a pair of spotbanks that I had for Christmas and evebtually I saved up and bought a couple of screens.

£500? :eek: £500? :eek: :eek: Pah. :p

£80 from Comet ( yes, Comet!!! ) two SP25's, marantz amp, and two speaker kits which I had to get the wood for. Built the spotbanks myself and a console for the decks.

When I was a lad, you tended to build it if you couldn't buy it cheap and local. None of this smurfing T'interweb nonsense. You young 'uns don't know you're born!! ( 10 years before Darren, in case you didn't know. :D :D Also while everything i've posted is true, it's not necessarily deadly serious. :o )

Nowadays, I'd recommend trying what was known years ago as "Records only". Many agencies/multi ops install gear in venues, and send in ( often young ) DJ's to run it. It's a foot on the ladder.

[STEVE HANLEY]

£500? :eek: £500? :eek: :eek: Pah. :p

£80 from Comet ( yes, Comet!!! ) two SP25's, marantz amp, and two speaker kits which I had to get the wood for. Built the spotbanks myself and a console for the decks.

When I was a lad, you tended to build it if you couldn't buy it cheap and local. None of this smurfing T'interweb nonsense. You young 'uns don't know you're born!! ( 10 years before Darren, in case you didn't know. :D :D Also while everything i've posted is true, it's not necessarily deadly serious. :o )

Nowadays, I'd recommend trying what was known years ago as "Records only". Many agencies/multi ops install gear in venues, and send in ( often young ) DJ's to run it. It's a foot on the ladder.

When I was a lad we had to get up at 3 int morning work 26 hours a day down't pit. Live in't shoe box in't middle of road:D :D :D :D

[ppentertainments]

When I was a lad we had to get up at 3 int morning work 26 hours a day down't pit. Live in't shoe box in't middle of road:D :D :D :D

Steve - they are talking about when you started up not now :D :D :D :D

I started by doing karaoke with my Dad at home. We were asked to do a gig in a small club so bought a small mixer amp (which is still used for race nights) and 2 personal cd players from argos (again still used as I don't have cd facility).

In all honesty (apart from not charging as much) the entertainment then is no worse than provided now.

[JamesXP]

ey' up, Do I smell some northerner bashing?

[NKR]

ey' up, Do I smell some northerner bashing?

Beware young man your Lancashire support will be little and those o'er tuver side o' t'ill will be only to glad to take the micky (but also provide friendly advice).

Again Haven't forgotten about you. Will PM a home phone number for you.

I am out and about tomorrow, but you can catch me between 6:00 and 7:30 on Friday. Not later as wee man will be in bed and don't want him waking.

Hopefully see you Saturday at Bolton.

[Charlie Brown]

First of all, howdy! I haven't seen you around before. Please feel free to add me on MSN or Facebook! :)

I grew up surrounded by the theatre. I used to love acting and taking part in productions. I was involved in some well known plays in Nottingham. I guess I enjoyed the technical side more?

Dad used to have a bar in his bungalow. He had one spot bank light. I used to love playing with it. I would charge £10p a ticket and perform in front of friends (magic show of some sort). The spot bank and £15 strobe was always used. ;)

For a few years, I strayed away from anything arty and set-up a mobile library at my primary school. Sad? Yes..but I used to make 45p on each book I leant. I remember one night, (9 years old) I stayed up till 2.00am writing a list of all the books I owned. Must have been 200? :o

4 years ago, my local neighbourhood watch wanted to hold a Christmas party. They couldn't afford £75 for a DJ so I offered to play some CD's. Me, being Mr Extravagant ordered a Homemix station from eBay (it was my Christmas present from Dad)

I used Granddad's old guitar amp (mono) Dad's 20 year old spot bank and some free CD's that I had collected from the Daily Mail.

I really enjoyed it and received a kids party booking from it. I was quite taken back but took the booking and slowly everything developed from there.

After spending hours and hours on this forum and time with Darren, I stepped out of my old "hobby" bubble and looked at it from a different angle, a different bubble. The old bubble was "yeah, it's bit of fun and a laugh. It's something to pass the time. I do it because I enjoy entertaining" however the new bubble looks at everything from a different perspective... "hang on, you can actually do this and it could be a business. Focus on customer service, ensure they are happy and content. Maintain relationships both old and new. Understand that lights and speakers aren't the be all or end all. Build up a good music collection and experiment. Make yourself unique and don't just play the usual suspects. Make the clients and punters remember you. Ask yourself, why should they book me as supposed too Joe blogs down the road?"

Ever since, I have handled things very differently and developed myself and the business.

Believe in yourself. You can do it, if you really want... :beer1: :)

Good luck and stick around on here!

[Excalibur]

Beware young man your Lancashire support will be little and those o'er tuver side o' t'ill will be only to glad to take the micky (but also provide friendly advice).

Again Haven't forgotten about you. Will PM a home phone number for you.

I am out and about tomorrow, but you can catch me between 6:00 and 7:30 on Friday. Not later as wee man will be in bed and don't want him waking.

Hopefully see you Saturday at Bolton.

Sadly, I would have to line up alongside my Red Rose Colleague on this matter. Watch it Pal. ;) :p :D :D

[NKR]

Sadly, I would have to line up alongside my Red Rose Colleague on this matter. Watch it Pal. ;) :p :D :D

Is thee lookin ta start sumert or is thee just pullin' thyn leg. :D :D

James - Peter is a top chap despite having the incorrect colour of rose and helped make my digital adventure both effective and without expensive mistakes (although I now understand what he means about the Denon being blind!)

Yes Peter I should have gone to Cortex savers - I am actually getting used to the Denon.

Anyway James will see how we get on on Saturday and then take it from there. Sure we can answer some questions for you (don't ask Kev anything technical at all - unless it relates to hanging a light on truss - he can do that bit)

[JamesXP]

First of all, howdy! I haven't seen you around before. Please feel free to add me on MSN or Facebook! :)

I grew up surrounded by the theatre. I used to love acting and taking part in productions. I was involved in some well known plays in Nottingham. I guess I enjoyed the technical side more?

Dad used to have a bar in his bungalow. He had one spot bank light. I used to love playing with it. I would charge £10p a ticket and perform in front of friends (magic show of some sort). The spot bank and £15 strobe was always used. ;)

For a few years, I strayed away from anything arty and set-up a mobile library at my primary school. Sad? Yes..but I used to make 45p on each book I leant. I remember one night, (9 years old) I stayed up till 2.00am writing a list of all the books I owned. Must have been 200? :o

4 years ago, my local neighbourhood watch wanted to hold a Christmas party. They couldn't afford £75 for a DJ so I offered to play some CD's. Me, being Mr Extravagant ordered a Homemix station from eBay (it was my Christmas present from Dad)

I used Granddad's old guitar amp (mono) Dad's 20 year old spot bank and some free CD's that I had collected from the Daily Mail.

I really enjoyed it and received a kids party booking from it. I was quite taken back but took the booking and slowly everything developed from there.

After spending hours and hours on this forum and time with Darren, I stepped out of my old "hobby" bubble and looked at it from a different angle, a different bubble. The old bubble was "yeah, it's bit of fun and a laugh. It's something to pass the time. I do it because I enjoy entertaining" however the new bubble looks at everything from a different perspective... "hang on, you can actually do this and it could be a business. Focus on customer service, ensure they are happy and content. Maintain relationships both old and new. Understand that lights and speakers aren't the be all or end all. Build up a good music collection and experiment. Make yourself unique and don't just play the usual suspects. Make the clients and punters remember you. Ask yourself, why should they book me as supposed too Joe blogs down the road?"

Ever since, I have handled things very differently and developed myself and the business.

Believe in yourself. You can do it, if you really want... :beer1: :)

Good luck and stick around on here!

Thanks for the lengthy reply!

No beer for me, I'm not old enough


:p

RE: NKR

Hopefully I can find some of my saturday best, will ring you on friday to confirm, just have to dig around the several wardrobes in the big house...


gonna have to 'put big light on though

:P

[Jiggles]

Thanks for the lengthy reply!

No beer for me, I'm not old enough


:p

Pifft get with the times. :P ;)

[Charlie Brown]

Thanks for the lengthy reply!

No beer for me, I'm not old enough


:p



Yeah right. ;) :p

...and add me! It'll be nice to chat. We could probably learn different things off each other. :approve:

[Excalibur]

Pifft get with the times. :P ;)

Yeah, Alcopops, ain't it Callum?:confused: :D :D :D :D

Neil, brace yourself. In the fullness of time, when the moment is right, I may be about to buy something unexpected. :eek: :eek:

And I think Corabar Steve says if you press F12, it cures the Denon's deafness. ;)

[Jiggles]

Yeah, Alcopops, ain't it Callum?:confused: :D :D :D :D


:handbag:

[JamesXP]

Pifft get with the times. :P ;)


:handbag:

Ok, I admit it I have been known to have the odd pint, but alcopops?

leave them to women :)

[Jiggles]

Ok, I admit it I have been known to have the odd pint, but alcopops?

leave them to women :)

The handbags were about how i dont drink them. xD

[Corabar Entertainment]

leave them to women :)Do you like living dangerously James? :whistle:

[JamesXP]

They call me

James 'Danger' Diggle


;)



PSST, sinbinned members MSN musn't show, and I cant PM you, so I think you should give me your msn mr.brown.

[Excalibur]

Ok, I admit it I have been known to have the odd pint, but alcopops?
Yeah, I've had some pretty odd ones as well!! :eek:




leave them to women :)


Do you like living dangerously James? :whistle:
It's alright Angela. We all look upon you as an honorary bloke. :sofa:

[Corabar Entertainment]

:lol:

[SC Events]

I may as well join the club, James. You can add me on Facebook/MSN if you wish. :)

[DJMaxG]

Music from HMV/Woolworths/Tesco etc when first started.

So, where do you get it from now? ;)

[rob1963]

I used to love my weekly visits to the record shop because it was so much better than Woolworths, as they played me all the new stuff, gave me a discount & usually made me a coffee as well.

Apart from that, the owner knew quite a few people in the music business, so the odd well known DJ or pop star would sometimes pop in while I was in there.

He later went on to form the groups Steps (who lived in the flat above the record shop for a while) and more recently Scooch.

[simon1969]

I started off in Goth clubs and running my own nights using other people's gear then got a bank loan for 1,500 and bought basic set up then added stuff from there.

Never worried about the age thing really goth accept most people .
Got my music from record companies/ local bands bought stuff new /secondhand.

[flatliners]

When I was a lad we had to get up at 3 int morning work 26 hours a day down't pit. Live in't shoe box in't middle of road:D :D :D :D

luxury i didnt even have a shoe box i had to live in a empty fag packet not go to sleep at all work down two pits at the same time come home get a right good thrashing of everyone and have to listen to max bygraves records all day

[STEVE HANLEY]

luxury i didnt even have a shoe box i had to live in a empty fag packet not go to sleep at all work down two pits at the same time come home get a right good thrashing of everyone and have to listen to max bygraves records all day

And the kids today??? They don't know they're born:D :D :D

[JamesXP]

I do, I remember it like yesterday!

[OllieJames]

I've bought all my own equipment with christmas money, birthday money and pocket money. Over the years I upgraded it, although the Mackie's were bought by my parents as my Mum uses them for singing too.

I've not once had a problem with being a young DJ, and have actually been asked to DJ for younger gigs (18ths, proms etc), with my age being a deciding factor.

[Excalibur]

I've bought all my own equipment with christmas money, birthday money and pocket money. Over the years I upgraded it, although the Mackie's were bought by my parents as my Mum uses them for singing too.

I've not once had a problem with being a young DJ, and have actually been asked to DJ for younger gigs (18ths, proms etc), with my age being a deciding factor.

I've not once had a problem with being an old DJ, and have actually been asked to DJ for younger gigs (18ths, proms etc), with my age being of no relevance whatsoever. :D :D :D :D :D

Good on you Ollie, and all the young 'uns. Keep us old 'uns on our toes.

[Kernow]

I've bought all my own equipment with christmas money, birthday money and pocket money.
.

To create a stunning lightshow of fairy lights, candles and a wind up torch ? ;)

:D :D :D

[Excalibur]

To create a stunning lightshow of fairy lights, candles and a wind up torch ? ;)

:D :D :D

's 50% more than Rob's got. ;) :D :D

[rob1963]

's 50% more than Rob's got. ;) :D :D

:eek:

[Kernow]

's 50% more than Rob's got. ;) :D :D

In Rob's defence.............. he does have nearly treble the number of candles available (at a surcharge !! ;)

:D :D :D

[rob1963]

In Rob's defence.............. he does have nearly treble the number of candles available (at a surcharge !!) ;)

:D :D :D

:Laugh:

[JamesXP]

major gear snobbery here, nothing wrong with a candle light disco


:p

[Kernow]

major gear snobbery here, nothing wrong with a candle light disco


:p

With built in smoke-machine ?? , especially if you have a number of 'meringue' dresses present ;)

[Twinspin]

I started off with Hifi stuff that was bought from a car boot sale. Otherwise i wouldnt of had anything.

My Dad isnt supportive and if he bought me anything it wouldnt be disco related. Because as far as he's concerned its not a proper job. Lets just say its a strained relationship between me and my dad.

Worked in a few places... and of course got more bookings through word of mouth.

Its took me loads of gigs to pay for the gear ive got.

[OllieJames]

To create a stunning lightshow of fairy lights, candles and a wind up torch ? ;)

:D :D :D


's 50% more than Rob's got. ;) :D :D


:eek:


In Rob's defence.............. he does have nearly treble the number of candles available (at a surcharge !! ;)

:D :D :D


:Laugh:

:Laugh: :lol: :D

[TR2K Productions]

How did you gather funds to pay for all of your DJ equipment?

I started out going to a karaoke / disco on a sunday afternoon, a friend of my parents ran it, and i was hooked, so my parents hooked me up with a little help from their friend.

(i was only 11/12)

How did clients react to you being younger than they may have first thought..

well, i wasn't even a teenager so people pretty much knew my age before i opened my mouth, generally though over the years my age has never been a problem, if your good at what you do then that is all that matters

Where did you get your musics from?

i used to go to HMV in Bolton every weekend, and thumb through the Vinyl's in the back. (CD's werent really used then)

there were also a few independant retailers that had very good prices, probably closed now though, one facing the gateway bridge in bolton (near the train station), and one next to greggs in the indoor market :)