my first gig

[highlife]

so two days ago an aquaintance of mine from school informed me that he was going to be throwing a rager and he was trying to get a dj up in it. this other guy that we know told 'em that he would charge $50 and hour and they didn't really wanna pay him that much so he flaked. i can understand a few bucks and free beer but $50 is pretty steep even though this guy has spun clubs and shit for more than that amount of money (he plays some hiphop but mostly jungle and house with disco and mainstream hiphop and he did have a weekly night at a club downtown). anyways, i told him that it was cool if he didn't want to spin and that i would maybe just bring my equipment and jam out for an hour or so to get the party movin' for free. this was my first gig and i was really not sure what to expect. my skills are definitely better than almost a year ago but i just wasn't confident enough to give him a yes.

so at about 9pm last night dude who's throwing the party calls me up and really wants me there even if i'm not good, they just wanted to watch a dj spin or whatever (my school is pretty much all mainstream/alternative/country motherfuckers) and that my style of music would be fine despite their preferences (lil' john, ludacris, youngbloodz, etc).

so long story short i call my friends and they convinced me to do it and i packed up my shit and rolled. it was a playboy theme party so there was tons of eye candy. three kegs. LOTS of people (really diverse crowd too of football players; white, black, mexican, hawaiian). i finally got set up and opened up with ultra's 'i like your style' (cuz of all the girls in miniskirts and long legs...). then i went on to play some popular golden era tribe, das efx, wu tang, etc. everybody was diggin' it. i had girls jockin' all night to my underground shit which was VERY surprising. i didn't get bugged too much but everyone kept asking me to play something everybody would know or to play mainstream shit. i simply told them no, i don't have any and they looked at me like i was crazy. this one drunk-ass broad told me 'what kind of dj are you?!' hhaha, i just ignored her. for the most part people were feelin' my shit even though it wasn't mainstream. then i went into breaks and then reggae and all the hawaiians were going nuts! homie kept coming up to me and giving daps and asking for 'MORE ROOTS!!!' i played some snoop for the mainstream lovers but my goal was to get these people in the know by playing some shit they never heard but WOULD LIKE. about 25% of the people there came up to me and were like man you're playin' some really dope stuff, can i have your number so you can play my 21st b-day next month and shit. i was really really surprised that some of these people knew about the records i was spinning. it was actually a big relief because i totally thought i would get shut down and nobody would want to listen to me. but even my breaks and funk were getting love despite the overwhelming requests for lil' john and outkast (which i DO need to get just so i can make these people shut their traps and get back to playing the FRESHNESS!).

i went on for 2 and a half hours, WAY longer than i had anticipated. i ended when this girl i had talked to about aes rock and blackalicious earlier came up to me all sad like and told me that her roommate just backed into my car! i immediately was like fuck and got her info and played one more track. i went outside to check the damage and to my relief it was nothing but a dent that she'll hopefully have to pay for a whole new front end on my car which already had a bunch of dents and tree sap on! everything was cool, i got a little heated at first when some pussies (who were in the car) were talking mess like they were going to just bounce right when i came up (they didn't know i was the owner). i quickly put them in check and got all the necessary info to get my shit fixed. i'm REALLY grateful that this homegirl was super honest and came back inside the crowded party to let me know that she fucked up my car. i mean, THAT shows character AND she knows what up with aes rock!

so basically, i loaded my car and drank a couple beers, thanked the hosts for having me and they thanked me (i could tell they were very pleased with my performance even though i played the FRESH underground and not mainstream garbage). i did it for free because i knew these guys and it was my first time spinning in front of people and i didn't even expect to go on for more than 45-60 mins. but after getting good responses from the few in-the-know heads, i HAD to keep going and bust more tracks. i was really stoked to see the ladies enjoying my breaks and funk. had some madlib fans up in there too. it was totally worth the time lugging all my shit down my stairs and into my car and then lugging it all the way back home.

i wish i would have talked things over with the hosts the day before because they would have for sure givin' me at least $20 for coming. but whatever, i had fun. a LOT of fun. now i have a good idea about what to charge and what to expect at a house party. luckily noone spilled on my shit (which i was extrememly paranoid about) and no fights broke out. it was cool to finally get out in front of a crowd and rock it. sorry for the long, rambling post but i needed to get this off my chest and share with my beloved access community!

i wish there was another dj in the house that i could've spoken with afterwards to give me feedback. the feedback i did get from the hosts and randoms was important though for self-confidence.

so, how was your first time dj'ing a party or venue? peace and much respect to the people on this board who've helped me gain insight into the dj world. now i need to buy MORE records, MORE and MORE and MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SexyOrangutang]

please tell me you played Dr. Bombay...that shit always makes me wanna dance.

Also, did you spin any LL shit?

btw sounds like you hit it off, maybe you've got a bright future with this stuff. I agree tho it would have been nice to have an "insiders" opinion form another dj at the party, but just the simple fact that you and everyone else at the party was havin fun should be a good enough sign that you're doin something right.

[Ipatch]

Originally posted by highlife
i went on for 2 and a half hours

Are you talking about your set or your post? :D

That sounds like the typical house party experience... when they go well they're a fucking blast. I'm about em less and less these days though- I was doing that shit at least once a week a year ago, but somebody would've gotten knocked the fuck out by now if I had kept that pace up. At this point I'd rather spin for free for folks that I know will appreciate it than make chump change and catching attitude. I swear, so many people WANT their hip hop DJ's to suck. For every other genre of electronic music, it's all about breaking new music and flexing some skills, but when it comes to hip hop a lot of fools just want a fucking human jukebox.

[CT-ST]

Word to ipatch, could'nt have said it better myself.

[verbal kint]

cool to hear that you're starting to get your shit together and getting gigs, mayn. you gotta hit me up next time you do some shit.

bout that block party in pb, sounds like it'll be fun times, but i got work til 5:00 and a filipino cultural thing afterwards. let me know how it goes though.

[Wired]

Sounds like a blast...and yeah, I hope you spun some legends shit. I was asked to DJ a party recently. And no, I'm not a DJ.

I figure I can just hook up my iPod to a set of speakers...I'd have to get a playlist before and get AIFF files instead of MP3s, but I think itd work. Better than shelling outthe money for a mixer, tables, and speakers.

[highlife]

Originally posted by SexyOrangutang
please tell me you played Dr. Bombay...that shit always makes me wanna dance.

Also, did you spin any LL shit?


no bombay, i still need a GRIP of vinyl to satisfy people. but i can only buy so much vinyl at a time that i usually end up getting a little of this genre and a little of that genre just to keep building my collection. i buy a lot of shit with the intent of satisfying MY personal taste first but i see your point that i need to start getting shit other people want to hear as well.

the only legends music i have is voice watson's 12" w/psc. that one went off on a bang. a few people recognized psc and they were feelin' the track (it's like the third song on side A of his 12"). i still gotta cop that no more greener grasses 12. i heard that at some other party and it's got a banger or two on it. i played the 'powers that be' from hiero and some kool keith/ultra and public enemy. some meaty ogre and some too short too. like i said, i still need a lot of the more popular underground joints along with the whole tupac/biggie/snoop/dre/outkast stuff to keep the mainstreamers happy.

'patch i totally feel the 'human jukebox' thing. all these people were making requests and i just told them no, i don't have it but i'll play something you can dance to, just listen. i figured that was the best way to handle it and surprisingly these football players took it well. it was mostly a mix of meatheads, sluts, gangstas, and in-the-know heads. i was really surprised that this one dude was callin' just about every record i threw on. it was tight to atleast make a few people happy like that.

as for using an ipod, man that ain't dj'ing at all. nothing and i mean NOTHING compares to manipulating a vinyl record.

my next step is to get final scratch so i can d/l shit on the fly and mix 'em in to satisfy the crowd with what they wanna hear. afterall, my job as a dj is to please the crowd but i ain't tryin' to play all jiggy club shit. it's also a PAIN lugging all the equipment around and getting stuff on final scratch would be a big time saver.

thanks for your moral support, guys. i'll let you know when i do another gig. peace!

[S...]

Quit lyin'

You know you went and bought a bunch of cardboard cut outs, set 'em up in front of your bunk beds, had your mom cheer you on and spun them records for two hours.

naw, welcome to the wonderful world of DJing.

"Yo man, play some hip hop"
"This is hip hop"
"No it isn't"

"Yodude, do you have any Lil' John"
"Sorry man, thats not my style"
"What? What do you mean? Thats that hot shit"
"Sorry dog"
"Maaaaan, aight"

"Do you have any techno records?"
"No, but i got some funk shit"
"Can i do my little raver two-step-liquid-hands-to it?"
"sure money, i guess"
"Cool, broham! Put it on"
"Yeah sure, right after this record..."

[highlife]

Originally posted by S...
"Yo man, play some hip hop"
"This is hip hop"
"No it isn't"

"Yodude, do you have any Lil' John"
"Sorry man, thats not my style"
"What? What do you mean? Thats that hot shit"
"Sorry dog"
"Maaaaan, aight"

"Do you have any techno records?"
"No, but i got some funk shit"
"Can i do my little raver two-step-liquid-hands-to it?"
"sure money, i guess"
"Cool, broham! Put it on"
"Yeah sure, right after this record..."

haha! you must've been there, s...! the lil' john part is so true. and the techno one, 'right after this record' hahaha! that's exactly what i was sayin.' just like yeah, i gotta play this shit real quick for these other fools before i get to your request. check you lamer, buddy.

the funniest was the drunk broad who told me i wasn't a real dj because i didn't have lmno. she had the whole one-eye-punk-rock-billy-idol-lip thing goin' on. i could tell she was fucked up so i just ignored her and she eventually staggered her sloppy ass over to a couch.

besides getting my car backed into it was a fun night. nobody even asked for techno. i gotta get some 80's joints to rock though. that would've pleased every single female there.

[Ojay]

Originally posted by highlife
so long story short...

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

nah.. good shit, man...

"Hey DJ.. Play some Pac up in this bitch!"

[deejaysteelo]

i got my first big paycheck this weekend but i didn't deserve it. my roomate asked me for a favor, he wanted me to spin his business frat's formal banquet, and it paid $200. the catch was I had to spin some mainstream joints, but i could spin some funk for the first two hours of the meet and greet. me being the friend i am i said yes.

so i show up and set up and my mixer doesn't work. i'm trippin, scramblin, callin all my homies that spin and can't get any help. i hop in the car and call guitar center, they're closed. then my homie says something about hiphopsite.com and it was just down the road. so i go there and ask my homie in the front to let me rent the mixer. he knew something was up cause i was pimped out in a suit and tie and he could probly see the desperation in my eyes. sure enough he was like "here you go, be back here by noon tomorrow", i said no problem and jetted. i knew there was a reason i spent so much money and made friends with everyone that works there.

so ya hiphopsite.com came to the rescue, they are a great bunch of guys. Presto One of the rocksteady crew laced me with a crate of club records and the shit was hella easy to spin, i only had to spin that crap for an hour and the ended up giving me $250. shit was tight.

on a bad note tho, our dopest monthly event got shot up this weekend. 12 shots and somebody got hit in the back with a bullet. that sucks.

were bringing Phoenix Orion and Mechanism out from Cali this sunday for our event... if any cali heads want to make a roadtrip.

[S...]

steelo - check your email homie.

[deejaysteelo]

Originally posted by S...
steelo - check your email homie.

i got ur email but there was no message? just a subject and old email attachments? sup wit dat?

[S...]

Originally posted by deejaysteelo
i got ur email but there was no message? just a subject and old email attachments? sup wit dat?


My email is archaic. Thats what.

shit... i'll resend it.

[S...]

Actually, fuck it:

I was just gonna ask you if you had any new info on the show.

[deejaysteelo]

nada.

[S...]

Is it gonna fold? Or can i still plan on it.

[Ipatch]

Originally posted by highlife
as for using an ipod, man that ain't dj'ing at all. nothing and i mean NOTHING compares to manipulating a vinyl record.

my next step is to get final scratch so i can d/l shit on the fly and mix 'em in to satisfy the crowd with what they wanna hear.

I can't believe you wrote these two lines back to back... c'mon man, two decks and a skratch mixer is all you need. Leave that other bullshit at the fucking house.

Don't compromise your taste to please people dude. You seem to have good enough taste in music. As a hip hop DJ you'll never make everybody happy, so unless you're just all about the attention the only way you'll find the shit truly fulfilling is if you please yourself to the fullest. It's definitely your job to please people and it'll be a continuous learning experience as to how to best go about it, but in the end you're the DJ and you get the benefit of the doubt until you choke, you know? You seem to be the kind of person that would wanna represent the music and culture well by showing peeps the best it has to offer. You can do that without sacrificing a damn thing if you care enough to put the time and effort into it. Sounds like you're in a great environment as far as audiences go down there- if I played half the shit you listed at any of the house parties I've done lately, there'd be beef.

On a related note, it looks like I'm officially taking on a student... I figure it'll be fun teaching her to mix and then learning how to skratch together off the tutorials since I've never learned that shit right.

[deejaysteelo]

Originally posted by S...
Is it gonna fold? Or can i still plan on it.

i emailed them personally and they said they didnt have any shows planned in Vegas, but they were gonna look to do a show out here in June. so it looks like its still up in the air. like i said tho, you are welcome to come rock Thurs and Sun., whenever. it's up to you, but i have a feeling they are gonna make it out here towards the end of the summer.

[the pm]

So i used to dj some backyard boogie events
sideshows in the front of the house type shit
real gutter. One party i knew was gonna be
crazy so i wore some fake bulletproof vest
that was given to me by some weak ass rap
group record label.

the party was thugged out to the fuckin max
and somebody there had an ACTUAL bullet proof vest.

he wasnt fond of mine and suggested we step outside
and see whos vest works best...i decided that wasnt a
good idea.

the worst part tho was fools coming up to me with CASSETES
like aye homie play this track

i jus look at em like beat it cocksucker

(for the record i played the finest in gangsta rap circa 1999

[highlife]

Originally posted by Ipatch
I can't believe you wrote these two lines back to back... c'mon man, two decks and a skratch mixer is all you need. Leave that other bullshit at the fucking house.

i don't know what you mean? you know that final scratch DOES use real actual genuine authentic vinyl records, right? what's so wrong about it?

and i totally understand your comments about not having to sacrifice my tastes for other people but hey i'm fine with it if it's what the people wanna hear. i don't see anything wrong with taking a few requests but like i said this was my first gig so i'm sure you have had A LOT more experience with hecklers and annoying toys. i mean, i didn't have one recent mainstream joint and these ladies (and guys) were asking for lil' john and so forth but all i could do was bust 'gin & juice.' i feel you 'patch and that's why i don't really wanna do houseparties so much but rather open for shows and whatnot because i know the people that come to see underground want to listen to undergroun ya dig. thanks for the advice. i really appreciate it. maybe we'll try to get that labor day kegger goin' again this year and i'll bring my rekkids.

btw, what's up with beef over the dj not playin' good songs? that fuckin' sucks that you and pm have experienced beef over some dj shit. nobody at this party seemed to be mad or angry, just disappointed that i wasn't playin' their shit ya know. i guess it's just way more laid back here.

[Raider 420]

Originally posted by highlife
(nobody really celebrates Cinco de Mayo here).. it's all white college kids going to old town for fish bowl margs
Originally posted by highlife
nobody at this party seemed to be mad or angry... i guess it's just way more laid back here.
Maybe it's because there aren't many mexicans.

http://www.zonezero.com/exposiciones/fotografos/rodriguez/21.jpeg

[soysauce]

that was actually a pretty entertaining story. not up to sw steez, but entertaining.

[highlife]

nutmeg, raider.

you fuckin' clown. AND thread ruiner.

[Ipatch]

Originally posted by the pm
(for the record i played the finest in gangsta rap circa 1999

Oh man... 99-00 was a bad time to be spinnin house parties. It was before the DJ thing became "cool", so as soon as motherfuckers saw decks they thought it was only natural to break out a mic and get wack for hours on end. I think I told the story on here once before about spinning a house party in SF after rockin it with my old band. A whole circle of DMX biters just got utterly ignorant on the mic for what seemed like a week- it was hell on earth.

The "beef" that I catch is even more frustrating when I realize that not only is it coming from people that were in junior high when I started spinning, but it's not like you have many entertainment options here in Monterey. A college town house party is SUPPOSED to be very different than a club imo, and I think a lot of the folks that stress me are too young to go to the clubs so they think it's my job to bring the club to them. Fuck that...

Yo highlife, imo with the technology we have right now, anything other than straight up vinyl is frontin and a shortcut. Part of being a DJ is putting in the work to get records. Downloading is a shortcut for punks. And why fuck with technology that's trying to simulate vinyl when you can improve your skills with the real thing instead? I'll shit on all those fucking toys (and the toys that use them) until something comes out that actually does things that turntables can't. For instance, I heard that Cut Chemist and Numark have been doing some ill shit with DVD turntables- now THAT I can support.

[the pm]

Originally posted by Raider 420
Maybe it's because there aren't many mexicans.

http://www.zonezero.com/exposiciones/fotografos/rodriguez/21.jpeg
WHERE THE HELL DID YOU FIND THAT PIC!

[Ojay]

Originally posted by the pm
WHERE THE HELL DID YOU FIND THAT PIC!

scanned from raider's baby pictures photo album

[Raider 420]

Originally posted by the pm
WHERE THE HELL DID YOU FIND THAT PIC!
I stumble upon the better pics while looking for something entirely different.

To answer your question, I don't even remember.

[highlife]

Originally posted by Ojay revilO
scanned from raider's baby pictures photo album

mommy raider is milfy FOR SHEEZY!!!!

is she still banging like that, raider?

[Wired]

Yeah, I was talking to some people at my school who are ont he social comittee today (they organize all the school dances and shit). I was basically just bitchin about the last dance, which had a stupid mothafucka sitting there with his laptop hooked up to speakers. They paid that shithead $600 for staring at his shitty ass playlist. I don't mind much if someone is doing that for a party, but this dipshit calls himself a DJ, and then just sits there with his shitty laptop whic is hooked up to speakers. Dam, if I had all the equipment (I have a mixer I got for like $80 a while ago) then I'd be down to DJ one of those parties. They are extra shitty if the DJ is some 40 year old who "spins" tunes. Fuck that.