There's another DJ over there - he must be the enemy!

[Benny Smyth]

I was at a friend's wedding on Sunday evening. The DJ they booked had what I guess you'd call a 'polite' setup - nothing spectacular, but nice enough. This is actually what I'd call the gig from hell - the groom is a DJ, the bride runs the business side for him and about a dozen of the guests are DJ's (cat hairs and cheap suits, anyone?). It's a great networking opportunity, but...hoof!

As the night started with some background music, he came over to me. Apparently, somebody told him that I am one of the cat hairs and he wanted a chat. He seemed like a nice enough kid - 19 years old, polite, very confident and a very dry sense of humour. He bought me a drink, so clearly at this point he is the greatest guy I've ever met up to that point! :p This was clearly him looking for a way to get some extra work, but I was OK with that. I liked him and based on what I paid attention to throughout the night (which, I'll admit, was very little) I think with a bit more experience, he'd be a good DJ to know.

Unfortunately, the conversation was interrupted by another cat hair. It's a chap that I've never particularly liked and what little respect I had for him disappeared when the first words he said to the kid was "Call that a light show? That :Censored: couldn't light up my bathroom!" He said it in a 'kidding, but not really kidding' kinda way and then starts to interrogate this kid on everything he has and what he has done - a typical "right, I have a tape measure here - drop your trousers, let's have a look" job. Oh, you've been DJ'ing for four years? I've been at it for more than 20. No DMX? I DMX everything! You should be doing this, you have to do that, blah blah blah!

I just stayed leaning against the bar, not saying a word. Poor kid was starting to crack under the pressure after a few moments so when the older DJ starts critisising the young DJ for using Traktor, it was here where I said "I use Traktor." He responded with "Yeah, well, you have the S4. That's the proper controller for Traktor. He's got a cheap Maplin thing." By this point, the groom comes over, smacks this guy round the head and says "You're not very good at making friends, are you?"

We sent the young DJ on his way with the parting words "Ignore him, he's a :Censored:" and the groom gave the guy a stern talking to, but seriously - 19 years old and is confronted by that! I know it's character building and we all run into it from time to time, but why do some treat others like they are the enemy?

[Daryll]

Some people are in it for the glory , and stuff everyone else.
There have been a few different DJ`s are my local club, most I know, even if its a nod.
I just let them do their job , after all the client has hired them , not me.
In my day job, I am a painter/decorator, I would not go up to another painter and say " hi there , i am a painter as well , what brushes do you use "

Daryll

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Meh it might be a good thing for the kid - you can be like DJ A, B and C who are polite and will chat away to you and possibly work with in the future....

Or you can be like DJ D and be a total prat that clearly no one has a lot of time for.

The more folk that realise they should be DJ A, B and C and humble with it (let's be fair, we're playing tunes to groups of drunk people, it's not exactly Wembley stadium four nights on the bounce) and not DJ D who thinks they're Calvin Harris the better.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

In my day job, I am a painter/decorator, I would not go up to another painter and say " hi there , i am a painter as well , what brushes do you use "

Daryll

I was actually just thinking that myself.

I'm a teacher in the back up job (just incase the superstar DJing falls through :D ) and the idea of being obtuse, judgemental or non helpful to not only a colleague but another teacher is unfathomanable and I can't think of many jobs where that wouldn't be the case.

Then you jump into the DJ and musician ego pool and it's all over the joint. The irony being that the better and more successful the DJ or band tend to be, the less inclined they are to be boastful or run other folk down I find.

[Excalibur]

What a total :Censored:
So when the young lad gets two bookings on the same night, who's he going to call? Not Ghostbusters, and certainly not the Total :Censored:
Or when the Total :Censored: makes a double booking by mistake, or suddenly needs cover, or gets a really last minute enquiry, is the young lad going to be inclined to help him? I think not.

What a stupid, unhelpful, counter productive attitude. Unfortunately, he's not unique in this game. :(

[yourdj]

I walk away from people like that or even better don't even initiate them in conversation. The agency owners are the worst, its fantastic the opinions that some of them have about things that just are not correct. Always best to just silently bite your tongue as after all they are entitled to their opinion and may have a different sort of market etc.

It very refreshing to meet a normal person that does not rant about things and just get on with the job with the client/other suppliers in mind. Photographers are the worst. Its the same old conversations and it is just so boring and completely unnessesary. Its online too - the only sitesI post on are here and our closed HDA group as i have got fed up with certain other places (I don't even read the content now).

I would say that the best collective bunch of nice DJ's I have met in real life are at the Promobile Conference. such a pleasure to have non willy waving conversation. :p

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

DJ have been like that for years. It was too many people like that that prompted the start of these forums...

[Shakermaker Promotions]

.....and aren't we glad you did Darren!
I'm with the majority here at the moment in that I don't entertain idiots like that. I'll be polite and listen to a point but then I will make it obvious that I am busy and need to get on with what I am doing.
I was at one of my residencies just before Christmas going through the diary and chatting about future bookings with the guy in charge in the office. I was originally booked to do this particular wedding but a couple of weeks before the customer got a 'friend of a friend' to provide the Disco as they were apparently doing it as a wedding present.
To be fair they had public liability etc. Anyway, we're chatting when there's a knock on the door and there's a scruffy looking bloke standing there. He says he's the DJ and he's come to set up for the wedding tonight and could someone move their "Bloody van" so he can start unloading. The "Bloody van" happened to be my "Bloody van" and it was there because I was taking some uplighting out at the time from a function I had done the night before (it was a bummer that I wasn't doing this wedding too as it I wouldn't have had to set up anything).
I told the guy I would move it now and he walked with me to my van. I told him I had a couple of things to put in the van and would be 2 minutes so he waited. He stood by my van (which isn't sign written) and when I opened the doors and he saw my gear inside his eyes lit up. "Are you a DJ then?" he asked.... With a straight face I said Yes as it was pretty obvious. He then asked what I did during the day and I told him it was my full time job and he seemed surprised...."I'd love to do it full time" he said "But I can't rely on just Discos coming in"

Anyway, the conversation went on and he asked me about the equipment I used etc etc and he wasn't too bad to start off with but then he started going off on one.
He noticed the Mackies in the van and asked "Where are the subs?" I told him I didn't need them in this particular venue. He disagreed. I asked him if he'd done a Disco in this venue before. He said No. I advised him politely to save himself a bit of work and not bother as he wouldn't need any. He gave me the look of daggers.
I told him I had never used subs at the venue and I had done around 150 bookings there before. Still got the look of daggers. He didn't seem Mr Happy at all and I wondered how he would come across providing a Disco. Ok, so he knew the people who he was doing the wedding for but first impressions and all that.
So, I loaded the van up and moved it. I was originally going to go straight home and unload it but I thought I'd hang about. I parked up and went back inside and got hold of the guy in charge again. "He's a happy chappy aint he" I joked... "Tell me about it" he replied. Apparently the guy had been on the phone non stop during the week for some reason? We left it about 20 minutes before we went back down to the room again. I made the excuse that I wanted to check I'd not left anything behind. When we entered the room the guy had hardly done anything. There were 2 subs on the dance floor (can't remember the make of them) and a smoke machine. The guy in charge advised the DJ that he couldn't use the smoke machine because of the fire detectors and alarms. He wouldn't have it. He started to get stroppy. I jumped in at that point and said that I'd never been allowed to use one down there and I was the recommended supplier. Out came the daggers again!

He started to walk off mid-conversation and the guy in charge just looked at me with a WTF look on his face. I decided it was time to leave there and then. The wedding was a small one for around 40 people and walking past his van which was a big high top transit I noticed it was chocka block full of what looked like the entire contents of Maplins. As I always say, I'm not a gear snob but come on....I guess there is a limit but at the end of the day it's what the DJ is like isn't it?
I have to say that this particular 'DJ' was the most arrogant idiot that I'd ever had the misfortune to come in to contact with.
I never got to see what his set up was like or how he entertained his guests but I did get a text during that evening from the guy in charge (who I get on very well with) and he just said "Nightmare!"
I called him the following day and he told me that the bloke didn't make any announcements, didn't have the couples first dance despite being a 'friend of a friend' and didn't finish on time either despite being asked a couple of times. He also said that he told him that if he didn't finish there and then, the plugs would be pulled. He said that he'd never have him back in the venue no matter what.

When I went in to the venue a few days later a couple of the staff even made comments. They were very complimentary to me but far from complimentary about the other guy and one of the comments was that it was far too loud (I guess that was the subs?).

I know this post is a bit long winded but what I am getting at is that sometimes some people just can't be helped. I could have been that annoying DJ saying "Don't do this, don't do that" but I didn't. I was polite and I advised him of a couple of things once he started chatting to me but he seemed to get the hump very quickly and quite easily. First impressions and all that. If his manner, arrogance, lack of attention to detail (no first dance song), disrespect for the venue and equipment are anything to go by then I am not surprised at all that he can't rely on DJ work as a full time job because I doubt if he gets many calls at all. Both the venue, myself and a couple of other local suppliers who I have spoken to who also know him won't be networking with him that's for sure.

[yourdj]

I know this post is a bit long winded

:richie:

You have already won 2015 - longest post of the year award.
Made good reading.

I came across guy like that in a NADJ conference - he was a short fella from Bristol.

Total dick. He could not understand how I could spend 5 hours a day working on my DJ business and would not leave me alone. What he could no fathom is the level of work I do for each event and also the general efforts involved in running a business (marketing, client meetings). He gets a track list from an agent and an address and thats it. Honestly he was drunk and I have not come that close to decking someone in years. Every time i tried to walk away he would follow me. I can only imagine what he is like at a gig - he may be great but i doubt it judging by his attitude.

Goes to show gear and technical knowledge accounts for nothing in business.
Good manners, a calm personality and above all respect for your client, their guests, the venue and other suppliers.
Thats the ethos i go by and am still missing the point all the time so have a lot of developing to do still. :)

[Shakermaker Promotions]

The longest thread of the year so far wasn't my intention, I just wanted to make sure I got the whole story in full detail so that I could give a clear picture of what this guy was like. He didn't do himself any favours. I don't think that's the way you should act when you meet someone for the first time. As I said, I've chatted to a couple of local DJ's and mentioned his name and he seems to be known. He didn't have his stetson on or his horse with him that day if you know what I mean.

[DJ Jules]

I came across guy like that in a NADJ conference - he was a short fella from Bristol.

Total dick. He could not understand how I could spend 5 hours a day working on my DJ business and would not leave me alone.

Having bumped into quite a few DJ's from around here, I'm not surprised at all. There's some really good ones as well with great attitudes, but there are some appalling ones as well with really poor attitudes.

Julian

[Jonny Boy]

:richie:
I came across guy like that in a NADJ conference - he was a short fella from Bristol.

Total dick. He could not understand how I could spend 5 hours a day working on my DJ business and would not leave me alone. What he could no fathom is the level of work I do for each event and also the general efforts involved in running a business (marketing, client meetings). He gets a track list from an agent and an address and thats it. Honestly he was drunk and I have not come that close to decking someone in years. Every time i tried to walk away he would follow me. I can only imagine what he is like at a gig -

LOL - I remember this incident well Toby... he was like this with a few people and made no new friends that day.... came to the event with an attitude to argue & disagree with *everyone*.
I do recall you handled it very well, I must say. I walked away from him too - he went off on one slagging off of Live acts (I didn't even tell him I was one) and wouldn't even conceded to the possibility not ALL live acts were like that.

He rather struck me as the DJ equivalent of people who go to football matches just to fight someone without being a genuine fan at all....

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I met another of these last night unfortunately and he was outrageously up himself. Never known anything like it.
Never met the guy before but he apparently knew me somehow. I was out of a bit of a blow out after all of the functions and went to a pub a couple of miles out of town. They had a Disco / Karaoke on and when we walked in to the pub I heard my name mentioned over the mic which was a bit of a surprise. One of my friends said "Do you know him?" and I looked over but didn't recognise the guy.

Anyway, to cut a long story short (because I don't want to bore you all yet again....), during the evening I eventually had the misfortune to chat to the guy. He came across as an idiot to put it politely. The equipment he was using wasn't great and although he was enthusiastic on the mic (possibly for my benefit?), he sounded muffled and cheesy. There weren't many people there and it was mainly music he was playing and not too much of the Karaoke. He seemed to know all about me, knew I was a full timer, knew where my residencies were and asked why I wasn't working with a grin on his face. I told him that I had worked my dangly bits off for the past year and was enjoying the break. He went on to tell me that he had a few bookings already and seemed really smarmy when he said it. I said "Good luck to you" and went to walk off and he tapped me on the shoulder and gave me his card, saying "If you are stuck for any work, give me a call and likewise, if you have any you can pass my way then do the same"
I knew straight away that I would not be giving him a call whatsoever and to be honest I chucked the card when I left the pub. Stupidly I gave him one of my cards (I blame the booze) and this morning there is an email there from him.

I'm more than happy to network with people but unfortunately not people like that. One of my friends who knows what I do and how I operate said to me "That blokes a wannabe. I wouldn't pay him £50.00 for that" and you know what, he was spot on.

[Benny Smyth]

I said "Good luck to you" and went to walk off and he tapped me on the shoulder and gave me his card, saying "If you are stuck for any work, give me a call and likewise, if you have any you can pass my way then do the same"

Those words there made me wince. I always try to word things like that as "Let me have one of your cards and I may be able to pass some work on to you." I don't assume someone is ever stuck for work - we're all entitled to a day off!

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Exactly!
A few more sherberts on a well deserved night off and more of his gob and well.....

I've replied to his email this morning and said I'd bear him in mind but I did have other DJ's that I use regularly. I also asked for proof of his PLI & PAT which I really don't expect to see.

[yourdj]

He rather struck me as the DJ equivalent of people who go to football matches just to fight someone without being a genuine fan at all....

Perfect analogy. :)

I guess lots of people don't have very good self awareness and live with an over inflated opinion of what they actually are.

[sandysounds]

Now I don't see it as a bad thing for that 19 year old. You not only learn from good practice, you also learn from bad too.

When I first started, I shadowed quite a few DJs that declared they were the 'best' in the area (imagine the scenario....macho DJ with a small female just starting in the business)..... I soon learnt what not to do. As an observer I was able to notice body language and facial expressions of guests and staff that the DJs interacted with. I think that's why, very early on, I was favoured.... not because of my DJ skills (which fell well short in those days) but my interpersonal skills.