Getting ideas from other DJ's

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Hi all,

My first saturday night off of the year last night saw me pop out for a few beers for the rugby with a few mates (I'm paying for it now BIG STYLE :( )

Anyway, after the pub closed, for some reason I ended up in a venue I had not ventured into before. It was quite cosy and had a decent atmosphere. They had a DJ in there last night and when I walked in I heard 'Rockit' by Herbie Han****...I thought "This could be good"....

Following that were some real classic tunes 'Break Dance - Electric Boogie' by the West St Mob and "You're the one for me" by D-Train to name but two. I wanted to get a closer look so I tried to see where the DJ was but couldn't find him/her. It was when I went to the toilet that I saw him stuck in a corner. No lights (the venue had a few twisters around the place), just 2 x Technics 1210's and a Pioneer DJM600 mixer. He was mixing the stuff with vinyl and I have to say, he was really good. I'd never seen him before (like I said, I hadn't been in the place before) but he waved me over and said hello to me as he knew who I was.

He never had a microphone either and was just mixing up the tunes and I was impressed. I liked the way he mixed and scratched and I also liked the selection that he chose which was a kind of old skool mash up with some newer stuff in there too. He offered to let me have a go on the decks so he could take a fag break but I said that I didn't want to impose on his set so he did the classic and played 'Rappers Delight' by the Sugarhill Gang. I laughed as I spoke to him outside as I often use that tune aswell as 'Blue Monday', 'Fools Gold' or 'Bat out of hell' for my fag breaks!!

Anyway, to cut a long story short as I know there are a few people on here that don't like my ramblings (sorry about that)...I got his number and will definitely be using him in the future if possible.

The main purpose of this topic is to ask - Do you ever see other DJ's mixing tunes and think "Hey, that works, I may try that myself"..?

Also, I think far too many of us (DJ's) are too quick to mock other DJ's and their equipment, style etc...but not enough of us praise other DJ's if they do something good. We all like to think we are the best in our field yet I can honestly say that the guy last night was excellent at what he did and I thought it was worth a mention.
Ta:D
EDIT: Poor old Herbie...it's an innocent surname yet the forum rules edit it because it may be abusive?...Weird!

[Danno13]

I went out in Birmingham last night, but there didn't seem to be anywhere with DJs due to the rugby. Well, there was one bar where he was playing a mixture of charty stuff and talking rubbish between every track. Then hit oceana later on, where there was the choice of RnB in the main room.. or the "disco" room which was cheese all night.

We were in the cheesy room most of the night, and the early part (that I can remember) there didn't seem to be any kind of structure to the music.. i was playing the "guess whats next" thing, as I'm sure we all do, but he just didn't seem to play any "sets".. one minute was like a virgin, then young hearts.. then rock dj.. then something else random... but people were still dancing so didn't seem to make any difference.

[Corabar Steve]

EDIT: Poor old Herbie...it's an innocent surname yet the forum rules edit it because it may be abusive?...Weird!

Herbie Hanc○ck. :sj: Not if you know what you're doing it doesn't :sj:

[Mission]

Its good to listen to how other DJs do their thing. You will hear tunes you didn't think about playing or they may play a track that starts you checking out a new Genre.

Back from holiday this weekend, at a holiday park in Poole. Even there I was taking in what was been played in the Club at night.

[axeman]

Gary i hopened you didnt say "Im a DJ" as your opening line...lol

[Corabar Entertainment]

I think any DJ who isn't open to ideas from other DJs (musical or otherwise) is a poor DJ........ and (thankfully) there are plenty of DJs out there who aren't like that, because if there was, this site wouldn't exist! :D

[Dragonfly]

absolutely I think it is harder .... particularly for blokes to praise another guy doing the same job as himself usually primate function kicks in and we go into defence mode ........ so very well done you for allowing yourself to listen to another in a productive way and take something away from the experience ..

i love taking advice on things from other djs re style and kit and performance..... and then challenge myself to turn it into something that is my own a unique thing that is different from the source.

this for me is true of experienced djs and new djs as sometimes one can get a little stuck in a rutt with things and a new fresh spin on things can be very insightful and helpful.

[theoloyla]

You never stop learning - even after 41 years. Different people have different ideas and ways of doing things and even youngsters can look at things from a different perspective and inspire you to do something different.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Definitely!
No..I didn't say "I'm a DJ"...I would NEVER say that EVER as I hate it when someone says it to me when I am working. What kind of reply do they expect from me? Do I hand them a medal or something?
I think it's healthy, when you get the chance, to try and take in what other DJ's do..good and bad. If I knew that I had influenced someone to try different things in their sets etc then I would be pretty proud of that, especially if they felt the need to write about it like I have.

[Have a disco]

Love picking up mixing tips for certain tracks like the classic B52's - love shack into Billy Joels - uptown girl always handy to see if there are a few more out there

But I do get sick of those idiots whom come up with the I use to a DJ comments LOL

[PropellerHeadCase]

Have been know to lift mixes off other DJs, for sure, and I know the vice is versa :D ;)

[discomobiledj]

It's the only way to learn, IMO, see what other dj's do, see what works for them.

[Impactdisco]

Surely thats what we do on this forum as well - and it's what we're encouraged to do.

I mean how will I improve - I have so far to go