Things That Can Be Done Whilst Mixing

My hero, Ricardo Villalobos got a slating whilst DJing at Cocoon In The Park, mostly by the Carl Cox fan-boys for not doing enough on the decks - for doing his camp little dance, for not constantly twiddling the mixer knobs and for having the temerity to pour himself a drink rather than have a skivvy do it for him.

I am of the school that you should let the music tell the story - who cares if you can crab-scratch on 3 decks whilst doing a handstand?  Not that I am suggesting Carl Cox does many handstands.  It is of course, horses for courses - I prefer Ricardo's style from Carl's by a country length - but I wouldn't boo Carl Cox for his preferred style.

So it got me thinking, what else can I do whilst DJing?

I recently recorded a minimal techno mix (cheap plug alert) - 3.5 hours long with several of the songs being of the 10 or so minute-long variety.

Repeating Repetition by James Winfield on Mixcloud

Firstly I had a shower.  The track was mixed in, the next track was cue'd up and I had 8 minutes left.  It wasn't the longest shower ever but enough to clean myself and my mullet.

I also brushed my teeth and had a shave, but these don't take too long.

I later then had opportunity to make myself a bacon and egg sandwich whilst one of the tracks was playing.  I did have to rush upstairs once the food was ready for the next mix (I had a timer on my phone), and by time I came down, the pitta bread that was under the recently switched-off but still-warm grill had got slightly burnt, but it was a pretty good breakfast.

It did take a couple more mixes until I finished eating it.

I mistakenly took a phone call with just 3 minutes of a track left, and had to call back the person on the pretence that someone was at the door.  I then had 6 minutes before the next mix to discuss the room that I was looking to rent.

Later on I then started cleaning my kitchen.  This wasn't so successful as I would lay the spray and then go upstairs to mix, then come downstairs and scrub - I cleaned about half of the work surfaces and also did the washing up - two loads.

I did manage to arrange going out for lunch and a few other bits and bobs.  I had intending on doing my ironing but I unfortunately plugged my decks to the only plug socket where the iron and board can fit in the room.

And I think it is my best-ever DJ mix.

I would be interested to know what you can do whilst having a mix.  Apart from the obvious like drugs and blow jobs.

Not Enough Friends On The Dancefloor

Friday night DJing was fun, as always, but there was one thing missing:

Friends.

I don’t like hassling friends to come and see me DJ – I know most are not that interested in my music, though sometimes they are interested in a night out.

It was a quiet night in general – the Turtle was never that busy even in the garden, which you’d normally expect to be very busy on a reasonably warm night.  It is a tricky time of year – students have mostly gone, it was Royal Ascot week and of course festival and holiday season.

I had that slightly sinking feeling that all promoters get when it looks like it is going to be a quiet night, though for us without any financial outlay to recoup, it is only a matter of personal pride and wanting the night to be busy for our own personal enjoyment and that of our guests.

It did still get reasonably busy, particularly for when I was DJing and I feel that I was much better this time, back on form – one totally cocked up mix but plenty of good mixes to compensate.  Musically I had absolutely no plan, not even the first track, but I did play a fair few tracks from my latest mix, which went down particularly well.  I did kind of run out of ideas towards the end though - the problem of taking roughly 1 million tracks with me.

In fact, one thing that I noticed which really pleased me was that the more underground I played things, the more reaction I seemed to get.  When I played something verging on crowd-pleasing (for my standards!) or something rather tough, I’d lose people.  I still think I am a long way from being able to read a crowd properly.

The main difference between this night and others was the lack of that little group of friends – even having 4 or so makes all the difference, as they tend to be close to the dancefloor, which encourages others to stick around and helps build a dancing crowd that little bit easier.

Oh and not to mention – no Ian Hills.

There are a couple of regulars though, including a young lady from Syria who spoke to English who danced for 4 or so hours solid, along with another young lady who seems to barge into me on a regular basis, especially when there are any other girls near me.   Hmmm.  We also had quite a group of Spanish people down there.

Next time we have one of my really close friends DJing, Ben Zagorski, which I am really looking forward to.  I always say that, of course, but I am.

I assume I will be doing a minimal-laden warm-up, hopefully with a few friends in support this time.  Or at least a few friends hassled/guilt-tripped/blackmailed into coming.

I Cannot Think Of A Title For This Superstar DJ Update

I was back in my favoured warm-up slot on Friday night.  Why is it favoured?

Because I can play my favourite music.

So I started off which some melancholic dub techno, at quite a slow BPM, I think it was around 118bpm.  Far too underground for most people but considering there were about 6 people there, it seemed mood-settingly appropriate.

30 minutes later, despite there being just a couple of dozen people there, one lady kept asking me if I could play something banging, just for her.  Or some jungle.  I deflected her requests but I did relent and progressed smoothly into deep house – the gorgeous sunshine-filled deep house, not the anti-deep house of the charts.

As the second hour of my set commenced, I changed track into playing minimal, but quite twisted minimal – definitely tracks you could dance to.

It was filling up nicely by time midnight approached, and I played increasingly dancefloor-friendly yet still underground tracks, and finished off on this beauty, it still sounds so good.

Musically I think it was the cleverest set I have played live.  There was little planning, as usual I had practiced my first two tracks and little else.  Though there were more slightly-off mixes than I would have preferred, and one mix that just sounded awful.  Every month I say it, I need to practice more.  I spend more time DJing live then practicing.

A wise man one said you can only become an expert at something with 10,000 hours practice.  Maybe I am at 300 hours in total.

The night itself went really well, with two masterful DJ sets that followed me.  And it stayed busy right until the end, people kept dancing.  I am hoping this is a sign that word is spreading of the night as it seemed busier than the rest of the Turtle.

Next up we have the charming Terri headlining on Friday 19th June.  Otherwise known as TAB.  There are a couple of items on the agenda in the coming months that could be very special if they come off, but you won’t hear anything from me until and if they are confirmed.

I will also be recording a house mix too.

Not My Sister's Taste In Music

I spent years trying to convert my sister to the charms of house music when we were growing up.  I even made her a couple of tapes when we were young.

I think she coped with the house music but was particularly put-off by my jungle phase, her walls being adorned with Spice Girls, Westlife and Steps.

Thankfully she made it out of manufactured music but ended up an indie kid – so we pretty much have diametrically opposed music tastes.  I failed in my childhood conversion attempts.

So a few months back, I set myself a task of trying to design a mix that could be influenced by her music tastes but yet still be music I love.

Appropriate tracks were few and far between, but eventually I collected enough track ideas – a lot of male vocals that could have been stripped from indie tracks, with guitar licks, and often deep trance melodies.

Upon the first attempt, I realised that there was a big problem.  Too many of the tracks sounded the same.

So I went back into research mode – this is a mix that was well-planned, unlike some other mixes and all of my live DJ sets that are pretty much off the cuff.

It needed to be well-planned for there really wasn’t a whole load of tracks that would fit the rather tight criteria.

Eventually I found some tech-house which fit the mood, and some more guitary kind of tracks.

The mix isn’t going to win any underground awards.  I doubt I will listen to it more than a few times.  The levels on a couple of the early mixes are slightly off, and on the last mix I clearly lost concentration.  But I didn’t fancy recording the whole mix again.

Not My Sister's Taste In Music by James Winfield on Mixcloud

I have accomplished what I set out to achieve and I think most people will enjoy it.  As always, I would dearly like your thoughts, good or bad.  Feedback and practice are the two ways I will improve.

Next up I will be DJing at the Purple Turtle on Friday 15th May which I am looking forward to having nearly burnt down the place last time.  It was rather busy last time and there were a good few close friends there which is always touching.

Except when I cleared the dancefloor by playing heavy duty techno.  And then again when I started a small fire.

DJ On Fire

This Friday just gone was the first time I had headlined the monthly party I play for.  I had top bill and the closing set.

We had a guest called Mr Bit, whom I was imagining to play rather tough techno, so I was planning on playing techno too.  He didn’t – his sound was closer to tech-house with some of his own productions.  Both him and Martin did really well, and had the dancefloor moving nicely.

It was rather on the busy side.  The Turtle itself didn’t seem that busy, and town was very quiet.  But our basement was busy.  Co-incidence?  Or has word spread?  I suspect more of the former, combined with good DJ sets that kept passers-by downstairs.

I came on to a busy dancefloor, and played some Maceo Plex style tracks before moving up into techno, and picking up the BPM a bit.  After 30 minutes I was playing some fairly tough techno.

It cleared the room.

At first I thought maybe people had gone for a cigarette, but they were not coming back and more were leaving, so I backtracked back into more of a tech-house/house feel and it worked.

The crowd came back, people were dancing again and all was good.  But I was rather hot behind there so switched the fan on.

It only worked for a few seconds and was a bit smelly.  So we put it on a higher setting.

At which point there was a strong burning smell, we noticed smoke starting to pour out and flames started leaping out of the fan.

Insert joke about the DJ being on fire.

My what-the-fuck-do-I-do-here reaction was to blow on it.  Which actually worked.  I did then notice the fire extinguisher but I didn’t need to use it.  However all the power behind the DJ booth cut out.

Again, I had cleared the dancefloor.

It took 10 minutes for the management to fix it and I just couldn’t get the vibe back.  People were giving me high-five’s for causing a fire but I just wanted to play music.

I was disappointed in my set overall.  I take it as part of my DJ apprenticeship.  I did learn quite a bit – I cannot get away with more than a couple of tracks of techno.  I need to prepare more.  I need to practice more.  I should take a hand-held fan.  Musically I know what works down there, but I don't yet know everything that doesn't work.

I like rating things and I wouldn’t rate my set higher than 4 out of 10.  That said, I got plenty of compliments and my very own DJ groupie for the night whom I probably should have asked for her number.  Thankfully I am much better at DJing than I am with women.

I need to practice both more.

Next up I shall be doing the warm-up on Friday 15th May.  I’m thinking dub techno.

A Lesson In DJing With One Deck

I was ridiculously busy on Saturday.  Housework, studying, watching football, 2 hours of ironing, 2 hours helping my best friend move her stuff – lots of heavy lifting.  It got to 7pm and I was shattered, and still hadn’t had a practice mix.  I had no idea what I was going to play.  And then I fell asleep.

When I awoke, post disco-nap, I did my usual slightly nervous thing, finding any excuse not to go anywhere near my decks until I eventually forced myself, poured myself a glass of wine and pressed play.  I was absolutely on fire.  That practice hour was probably the best I have ever mixed – I was playing quite tough, kind of tech-house but tracks with personality.  My mixing was really good and my timing was spot on every time – plenty of invention too.

Then I arrived at the club and it was dead.  It soon became apparent that one of the decks outside was not working.  I resigned myself to not playing, got a drink and chatted to a few friends.

The DJ before me had given up but I decided to give it a crack anyway.  The right-side deck in the garden has long had problems of a sticky play button – but now it was totally unplayable.

So all I could do was play a few tracks and fade them in and out.  I tried a few different things before settling on disco – it made more sense as disco music is not quite so designed for mixing, and it has good musicality.

It didn’t really get much busier and the night ended early.  I waived my 4-figure DJ fee.  I doubt the headliner did.

Why was the night so quiet?

I don’t think it was the music.  Eli & Fur were a good booking, they should have appealed to those in Reading that go out clubbing.  There was no lack of effort in promoting the event.  External factors may not have helped – the Annie Mac night is possibly overshadowing other events in the town at the moment, the weather was cold and it was Mother’s Day the next day.  Town did seem quieter than other Saturdays.

However I think the problem itself is, I’m afraid to say, Zeus.

Personally I quite like the club.  It is one of the few places in Reading where promoters can run events that are not common-denominator banality music-wise.  Indoor has one of the better sound systems in Reading.  The garden is a good place to be during the summer.  I always have fun there.

But most of my friends don’t like it.  When I tell people that I’m playing at the Purple Turtle, they are interested and persuadable.  Tell people that I’m playing Zeus and they turn their noses up.  There isn’t much I can do to persuade people to come and see me DJ at Zeus.

Zeus does now have a lot of competition in the area from venues that people might go to instead – RYND, Purple Turtle, Sub89 (at least for Cubed nights), Coconut, Oakford, Milk, you could probably add Matchbox, Revolution and the new place, Treehouse, to that list too.  Several of those are new places, or newly refurbished places, and people always like the feeling of going somewhere new.  And clean.  Even the Oakford is rumoured to be getting a refurbishment this year.

Those places also look a lot better than Zeus.  To me, how a club looks is the least important factor.  But I’ve lived in Reading long enough, to know that people in this area like things that look nice.  Zeus looks tacky inside and a cross between a sauna and a bin shed outside.

Without a refurbishment and a relaunch, I don’t see how the house music type of crowd will start flowing back.  Zeus could concentrate on the drum’n’bass kind of side which is popular in the town and not very well catered for.

Or it could have a proper re-design, take out all the tacky elements in the main room, lower the DJ booth to the ground so the crowd can interact with the DJs without straining their necks, paint the outside, remove the weeds from the roof, perhaps expose the brickwork inside like RYND have done – you could even have some eye-catching edgy art on the outside – make it talked about.  The garden should be turned back into a welcoming garden – with the heaters switched on during winter, a clear and crisp soundsystem and decks that work.  And the name needs to change – who the hell dreamt up the name “Zeus”?

The space itself has plenty of potential – those of us that have been around for a while know that it was “the place” during the Mango days.  It might seem that I am being overly critical but it is only because I care and I want to see that venue do well.

Next up for me is the Purple Turtle on Friday night.

I’m playing midnight until 130am and will be playing good quality house music.  Perhaps getting a little techier towards the end.  And all the equipment works there.  It feels good, there will be a good little crowd of us and if you hate the music I play then you can always go in the garden or upstairs.

Come down and join us.

Knowing Your DJ Set Times In Advance

There are some annoying things about DJing.

Actually.  Let's get this right, there are some annoying things about promoters.

Firstly, I want to know what my set time is in advance.  I can perhaps understand if you are booking several international jet-setting DJs and are juggling around flight times, etc or their agents are being a pain in the arse, but if you are doing a local night in Reading there is no excuse for telling your DJs the night before, what time they are playing.

Of course some DJs will just play the same set no matter what time they are booked.  Some DJs have their pre-planned and practiced set that they will not change no matter what.

I like to think about my sets well in advance.  I am sat here at my desk all day, listening to music and constantly coming up with ideas of tracks to play.  This applies to all of my life as I am rarely without music.  I am always thinking about what to play.

I don't plan my sets in detail but I do like to have a pool of tracks in my head that excite me, that I want to play and that I think might fit the moments.

The second thing that annoys me is short DJ sets.

It was fine when I was first starting out and nervous to be playing, to be playing just an hour.  But unless you are just bashing out the big tunes, then an hour isn't enough with the kind of music I play.

I have seen some promoters, two particular ones who are two individuals that I really like as people, offer 45 minute DJ sets.  How the hell can you create and perform your musical vision in just 45 minutes?  What do the crowd think about having such a schizophrenic line-up?

We all know why they do it, I am not exactly letting go of a secret here but the more DJs you book, the more people you have in the club as they will all do your promoting for you, at minimum by bringing their friends.  At least that is the theory.  I'm not sure it works - I promote more when I feel special.

I am a DJ.  Not a promoter.

I now refuse to play for less than an hour and a half.  If I am going to DJ then it has to be something special - I'm not interested in the merry-go-round.  I have to be able to do create something artistic - at least in my brain.

Thankfully I am working on a regular basis for two promoters that are well-organised and running decent nights with set times advised well in advance and where I can play for longer than an hour.

This coming Saturday 14th March, and then Friday 20th March.

Please come.

I think that is my promoting duty done.