LEARN HOW TO BECOME A DJ: Part 4 – Turning Pro
So, are you ready to turn pro? You should ask yourself these questions before approaching a club.
- Are you very confident with DJ Equipment? Pioneer CDJs and Mixers in particular.
- Can you play a wide variety of music in the genre and the surrounding genres?
- Do you have a large music library prepped for the clubs?
- Have you spent plenty of time in clubs (particularly the one you want to play in), watching how the DJs play?
- Have you recorded a number of sets and listened back to analyse where you went right and wrong?
- Have you published a set on a streaming service and listened to the feedback?
If the answer to any of these questions is no, then you have some work to do.
If you answered yes, you might just be ready. To approach a club, you are going to need a demo of a live mix. This can be burnt onto a CD/USB, published on Sound Cloud / YouTube or uploaded to a web drive like DropBox. But how do you do that and what should you record?
Picking Your Target Club
All good things start with research, and picking a club to DJ in is no different. If you send a DnB club, a house mixtape, they are going to laugh then ignore you forever. Things you want to consider when picking a target club;
- Location: Can you physically get to the club you want to play in? This is especially important with the current COVID travel restrictions.
- Does the club play the genre of music that you want to play?
- Is it a day bar or nightclub? Have a look at the clubs opening times and make sure you can get down there.
- Is it a super club that you’ll never land a spot in until you are a superstar DJ?
- Do you already have a local following in the area of the club?
- Is there an open deck night at a local club? These nights are great and literally give any DJ with a USB stick full of music a chance to have a mix.
Your First MixTape
Think of your mixtape like a DJ resume and think of approaching the club like a job interview. And while the mix certainly needs to stand out, what a club is looking for is that you know what you are doing and you aren’t overdoing it. Think less is more when it comes to effects and complex mixes. The old intro to outro mix will do you just fine if the song selection is on point.
All a club wants to know is that you know how to hold a dancefloor in the groove. When a dance floor stops dancing because they are lost, confused, or there is no bass, they leave. Which means the club loses money, and you lose your job. Be the reliable DJ before you become the bold DJ.
Your mix should also suit the genre/style/energy of the club you are aiming to play in. It should sound like your version of what they play in that club.
A good mixtape should run to about an hour. Any longer and you are wasting your time because club owners and promoters are time-poor and receive a lot of mixtapes. Any shorter and they won’t be sure of your skills. If you can time code the mix so they can skip to the transitions, you will be helping them, which will help you.
And lastly, get the mix absolutely perfect prior to approaching the club even if it means recording it ten times before you get a good one. A clunk in a mix is the equivalent of rocking up late to an interview.
