December DJing - For Want Of A More Imaginative Title

I had two DJ sets over the Christmas period, two “extended” sets too (extended on the basis that 1 hour seems to be the norm nowadays, sadly), both at Zeusmango, both in the garden.

First up was for Luna, second for Digital Detox Presents Lifted.

A small handful of friendly supporters turned up for each – not as many as I had hoped for but not the easiest time of year to persuade people to come out as there are so many competing options.

I was in playful mood for the first.  My first chance to play a two-hour set, I started with my more recently preferred stripped back underground house before digging out the surprises – a tech-house edit of the Pink Panther Theme, the uber-cool and little-known Catz’n’Dogz edit of Da Funk by Daft Punk and my threatened Christmas tune – Silent Night by Nathan Fake.  That track wasn’t particularly well-received and cleared half the crowd.  Bah Humbug.  Though maybe they just simultaneously finished their cigarettes.

The second night was around -2’C and Zeusmango didn’t bother putting the heaters on.  Apparently they didn’t work, or they would blow the fuse so there would be no music, or they didn’t know how to use them, or they would cause another Icelandic volcano, yadda yadda I was not born yesterday.  This of course meant people came out for 5 minutes and went back inside as it was way too cold.  Impossible to create and hold a crowd.  I was as amused as I was warm.  And miraculously they worked later on when the club was busier.

So it didn’t especially matter what I played and I banged out some much tougher house music for a while because I felt like it, at least until I needed a piss when I changed to minimal.  Interestingly the occasional garden crowd seemed to stick around and wiggle their backsides more when I played some 15-minute weird minimal tracks/remixes by the likes of Rhadoo and Ricardo Villalobos.  A pleasant surprise.

I was playing for myself really.  Then again, I always do to one extent or another.

I had fun and did well given the circumstances – early sets, empty gardens and cold weather but it is time that I had more of a test with more of a crowd and a later set.  Even a midnight or 1am set would be nice.

I have no intention of DJing again until March unless anything exceptionally exciting is offered.  I am having two months off all night-time activities (bar my birthday celebrations) to recharge the batteries, practice more (if any of my fellow DJ readers fancy a mix let me know), repay my overdraft and semi-detox.  Along with working on a DJ website (with the obligatory black and white moody fucker I will stab you if you ask me to play something DJ picture) and getting some very James-like business cards done so I can try to build some kind of following with the very nice people I meet when I am out.

Zeusmango is gradually improving and I see myself spending quite a bit more time there in 2014, hopefully with a fair few DJ sets.  I met some very nice people the last two Saturdays – everyone I spoke to seemed to appreciate what I was playing and it is no surprise to me that the Reading crowd at Zeusmango is musically-educated and appreciative of more underground sounds – dumb down to them at your peril.

Thank you to all those that have supported me during 2013 – DJing is so much more enjoyable when I have friends around and if you can find time to support me now and again in 2014 I would much appreciate it.

2 Sets Of Headphones & 2...Sets

Dear thieving bastard, you cannot keep the next superstar DJ down for long through your jealously of my supreme talent and exceptional music taste.

Not only do I have one pair of headphones but I now have two.

I bought some American Audio headphones for the bargain price of £12.00 - just 7.7% of the price of those rather fine Sennheisers that I didn't treasure well enough.

They are not the quality of Sennheisers but they do the job.  However this gift to myself has been usurped by a gift from a good friend of his unwanted Sennheisers - they need a little repair work but they will be good to go soon.

Thanks Kevin.

So I know you are all desperate to know when you can next catch me DJing and you do not have long to wait as I will be back at Zeus this coming Friday for Digital Detox presents Lifted.  I will be DJing the main room 10pm to 11pm, it is £5 to get in.  I will buy a drink for the first guest to come up to me on the night and tell me they love my blog.  Or if you thought my blog was shit but read it anyway.

And then I am DJing in the garden on Saturday 21st December for Luna - I will be in the garden, time unknown at present, I am forecasting milder weather for the second half of December so shouldn't be too cold outside and is a perfect opportunity for some pre-Christmas shenanigans.

 
I would be delighted if any of my friends, stalkers or randoms came for a dance, a drink and to admire my growing mullet - the hairstyle for the most handsome DJs.

Two pairs of headphones.  Two good nights.  One mullet.

The Beauty & The Bullshit of DJing

On Saturday I had my third DJ set in just a month.

I normally come away quite critical of myself, especially due to my usual lack of practice and my uncertainty as to what to play.  I had one hour’s reasonably decent practice on Thursday evening.  And then tried to practice early Saturday evening but just could not focus and quickly became frustrated and worried that I would make an idiot of myself.  Nerves got the better of me and I froze.  Unusually for someone generally quite calm and confident in life.  Thankfully this was only in my bedroom.

I went for a walk and a strawberry cider with friends, and then headed to Zeusmango.  I became my usual calm and confident self and felt at home as soon as the first mix was done.

I didn’t have much of a plan in place, a few tracks in my head.  The garden was pretty quiet upon arrival so I immediately slowed the pace from the previous DJ (128 to 124bpm) and put on some underground house tracks.

I slowly built it up as the crowd built up, playing some increasingly groovy but always underground house, with deeper basslines, and the occasional vocal before sending it twisted, disturbed and rather dark such as the below track.

I then switched to something more hands-in-the-air towards then end – you could call it deep trance.

I do.

I don’t think I had played any of these tracks out, and certainly not heard any other DJ play them out and about.  I had plenty of compliments and for want of a non-chavvy saying, I was proper buzzing after innit.  I think it was my favourite set, unusually I have no self-criticism, one mix was slightly miss-timed (beats in but just didn’t flow nicely) but I was so pleased for myself.  I immediately headed onto the dancefloor to dance the night away.

But what goes up come down.  I rather prophetically joked on Facebook before-hand that this would be my last DJ set of 2013.

I came to pick my stuff up towards the end of the night from the DJ booth, however my rather expensive Sennheiser headphones were missing from my bag.  I have to apportion half of the blame to myself as I should have put my bag in the cloakroom or taken it home straight after and gone back.

They may of course turn up.  It was dark with about 259 people in the DJ booth so I may simply not have seen them.  Or maybe someone picked them up by mistake and will return them.  But I wasn’t born yesterday.

In my fledgling DJ career I so far have earnings of £20, a handful of drinks and one sexual offer that I declined.  But I do not do it for money.  Like most DJs I do it for the passion and the love of music.  I spend 10-20 hours a week looking for new music and truly believe that I have something special and unique to offer in terms of music.

But it certainly should not cost me money.  £160 headphones are not the kind of thing I can replace overnight.  I probably won’t be able to replace them until annual bonus time next March/April (assuming a bonus of course).

So just as I was getting into it and starting to do well, I am enforced to take a 6-month break.  No DJing, no mixing, no new mixes.  You could say I am rather gutted.  I was really starting to love it, especially as more friends were coming each time.

Karma is a bitch though.  Assuming, of course that they were stolen.  Miracles do occur.  I could make a guess at who was the scumbag but I have no proof whatsoever so making such allegations would not be helpful especially as there is more chance I am wrong than right.

Every cloud has a silver lining, especially when the cloud produces rain, and this enforced pause will only make me more determined.  I will not give up and I will not be beaten.

There are options in the meanwhile.  Amazon sell these beauties for £3.96.  I could buy a jack to use my earphones for £0.73.  I could play my tracks on itunes, memorise and write down the exact cue points and hope I press play at exactly the right time every time.  Or I could download some Disclosure tracks and prostitute myself to shit bars that pay DJs danger money for avoiding flying glass bottles.  I do still have a working microphone.

You could say that I am disheartened and angry, as well as a touch miserable.  But I always get where I want in life in the end, normally with a fair amount of difficulty, often due to my own stupidity. 

This is not the end of the story.