Losing the Spark

[DJ Frankie]

Hi Folks

I thought I would come on here to get some innovation/motivation from you DJ's out there.

I've been DJ'ing now for around 18 years and only in the past year I have lost my spark for the job. I am getting to the point where I dread going out to gigs and cant face trying to get people to dance.
I mainly focus on the wedding market and although I get good feed back at times, only recently I have been having a bad run of gigs where I cant get people up to dance. I been looking at my playlist and comparing them with some on here and they don't differ that much so whats happening :(

Im a full time DJ and freelance AV technician so cant really afford to give the discos up as the money is good. I see on Facebook how so many DJ's are out all weekend and seem to get a real buzz from the job but mine has disappeared!!!!

I have recently invested in kit and updated my marketing so all is well there but I just cant get the enjoyment back into it.

Does anyone else out there have this feeling or is it just me? :beer1:

Cheers

Frankie

[DJ Jules]

I've been DJ'ing now for around 18 years and only in the past year I have lost my spark for the job. I am getting to the point where I dread going out to gigs and cant face trying to get people to dance.

Does anyone else out there have this feeling or is it just me? :beer1:

I've only been doing this for four years and I've already been through this three times. In my case it has mostly been because I'm a part timer pressures from family life and/or my day job combined with a run of family parties where motivating people to have a good time has been near impossible have meant that the thought of facing another crowd who have no intention of dancing has driven me spare.

Then there's been a good gig or two where the punters have been properly up for it and the requests have been flooding in from the word go and suddenly it all seems worthwhile.

Thank goodness for Kids parties eh? ;)

Julian

[DJ Frankie]

Thanks for the reply Julian. My problem is I mainly do weddings and dont get any other kind of gigs like 21st, 18th (Except tonight's gig lol) but its normally very rare.
I dont do kids parties as I wouldnt know where to start these days with them, even though I ran the kids club when I was a redcoat. I have been thinking about a roadie as this may help with me and the kit and just a bit of company.

[leelive]

Do you take requests?
I give guests cards and pens for music requests.
It makes each night different and enjoyable.
I find guests dance to the tunes they ask for!
I just have to weave a few other tunes into mix to pad it out a bit or to plot the musical route.
I lover the challenge of working a play-list based on what the customers want each night.
Lee

[DJ Jules]

It makes each night different and enjoyable. I find guests dance to the tunes they ask for!

Requests can be the best and the worst part of the night. Sometimes you get asked for the Gems that you'd forgotten about and other times you get asked for rubbish by insistent and irritating people who don't dance to their own drivel when you play it.

Frequently I find it's more the latter and it's only occasionally I'll get a really memorable tune...


I love the challenge of working a play-list based on what the customers want each night.

Frequently I find that the challenging bit is getting the guests to wait until I've "weaved" their request into the play list at an appropriate point. More and more I find they have no regard for just how bad it'll sound to jump to their request and what effect it'll have on the dance floor, they just want their tune played now.

Anyway, Back on Topic.

Frankie - have you tried changing your target audience and going for more of different types of functions to give yourself a bit of variety? Is this a possibility, or will this have a negative effect on your income?

Julian

[sweetie]

totally agree with jules. the only requests i will guarantee to play will be the clients.


Requests can be the best and the worst part of the night. Sometimes you get asked for the Gems that you'd forgotten about and other times you get asked for rubbish by insistent and irritating people who don't dance to their own drivel when you play it.

Frequently I find it's more the latter and it's only occasionally I'll get a really memorable tune...



Frequently I find that the challenging bit is getting the guests to wait until I've "weaved" their request into the play list at an appropriate point. More and more I find they have no regard for just how bad it'll sound to jump to their request and what effect it'll have on the dance floor, they just want their tune played now.

Anyway, Back on Topic.

Frankie - have you tried changing your target audience and going for more of different types of functions to give yourself a bit of variety? Is this a possibility, or will this have a negative effect on your income?

Julian

[Mark Wild]

After all those years Frankie it's bound to happen mate, I could think of worse things to do for a living :D At gigs I always try to focus on the more happy, bouncy, foot tapping, singing members of the crowd, guaranteed there's always a few of them !

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Frankie, I think we all go through the same thing at some point mate.
The motivation always comes back though. Just hang in there and it will all come good.
The Christmas season is just around the corner and a good run of gigs over Christmas with lots of people up for it should sort it for you.
Good luck and hope it gets better for you.

[DJ Frankie]

Thanks for the replies guys, yes I always take request on the night and send out a music request list for the B&G to fill in which helps me as most of them these days are asking their guests to pick one song they would like to hear.

Julian to be honest mate I would happily take 18th & 21st etc but I never get calls for them. The 18th im doing tonight is through an old work colleague but its mainly weddings.

The problem I have is that If I struggle getting a dance floor then I get paranoid that everyone is talking about how crap the DJ is :rolleyes: even though I have done this for so many years.

My last wedding was great but again I knew the Bride which helped. :)

[Crown Jules]

Only now after 18years are you losing the spark! I would think that for 98% of us it would have happened several times over by now. It happens to the majority whatever wallk of life they follow. And no matter what the path taken the advice (massaged according to the audience and the market) is always the same, and has been said above in one or two cases

- go back to the basics of why you first took to being a DJ, do you still feel positively of this? If not, what has changed, is different? Life changes.
- focus on giving people a good night, regardless of whether they dance or not, as many people are not dancers anyway
- have a change of scene, try a different market,
- take a break; is it a relief to be away from it, do you want to come back to it?
- go partner another DJ or have another DJ partner you, just for the fun of it, it gets pretty lonely at times


and if you repeatedly feel the same way over time, then maybe it is time to walk another path....

Good luck

Jules

[Mark Wild]

The problem I have is that If I struggle getting a dance floor then I get paranoid that everyone is talking about how crap the DJ is :rolleyes:

If you're right (which you're probably not) and some people are saying this, think of how sad their existence must be, if that's all they've got to talk about in a room full of family and friends, some of which they haven't seen for years ! :):beer1:

[Shaun]

Hi Frankie,

I'd be surprised if most of the long term DJs that frequent the forum haven't experienced what you are going through at one time or another. I know I have MANY times. It always passes though and I start enjoying it again.

For several years now I work much like Lee Live, and use request cards at every gig. I love the challenge of structuring the night on the fly with the requests that come in. Since introducing the request cards I've found I enjoy the job much more than I had been.

[DJ Frankie]

Cheers guys thanks for the advise. I think I will look at the request cards on the night sounds like a plan. How does this work if the bride and groom requests songs beforehand and request say no 80's music but the crowd requests some on their slips, how do you get around it?

Thanks again chaps, the replies have really helped :beer1:

[dj foureyes]

Cheers guys thanks for the advise. I think I will look at the request cards on the night sounds like a plan. How does this work if the bride and groom requests songs beforehand and request say no 80's music but the crowd requests some on their slips, how do you get around it?

Thanks again chaps, the replies have really helped :beer1:

In reply to your question, it is very easy, as in you explain to the requester that the B&G have requested no 80s and if they want their tune played, go see them.
As for losing your spark, it happens to all of us at some point. A run of one or two supposedly bad nights gets you feeling this way but the next good un recharges the old enthusiasm. As a man of experience you must surely know that even if the dance floor is empty for a good part of the night it is possible that everyone has enjoyed the music?
It is when the bookings start slowing down that a change is needed.

[Sapphire Disco]

Hi Frankie

Reading your post I get the feeling there's something else that's troubling you, I may be wrong but I am getting the same feeling and it's not actually the DJing because I love it.

[Shaun]

Cheers guys thanks for the advise. I think I will look at the request cards on the night sounds like a plan. How does this work if the bride and groom requests songs beforehand and request say no 80's music but the crowd requests some on their slips, how do you get around it?

Thanks again chaps, the replies have really helped :beer1:

My request cards have the following running right along the bottom of the card...

"Whilst every effort will be made to play as many requests as possible, unfortunately we cannot guarantee all requests will be included".