SwingDJs

Do you change what you play when certain people walk into the room? I do, there are a few people who I know love traditional stuff, so if they come to an event I start playing traditional jazz.

There is a certain DJ in Chicago who made the comment on Windyhop that he never plays big band, and anyone who does is a crappy DJ because it clears floors every time. So everytime he walks into the room I play 5 or 6 big band songs in a row and walk up and say "hi" and did you notice the floor isn't clear and this is a big band song.

There are a few dancers who I know like the tempos kicked up. So if they walk into the room I kick up the tempos for a few songs.

There is one dancer who always requests Erenestine Anderson's Sunny. So I just play it for him before he gets around to requesting it.

I do on occasion.

I DJ at the start of the night I run in Melbourne. I know what many of the regulars want to dance to, and when there are small numbers of dancers in the room, anyone who walks in are going to have an influence on what I spin next. It's just playing to the dancers, but it really only applies when the numbers are small.
I could also is it happening if you had a “big time guest” visiting town. We don’t get many big shots visiting form out side Australia in Melbourne, so when they are here, we generally try to keep them happy.

Brian

sometimes when Paul ("Albert System") comes by to hang out I play a Boilermakers song, even though I know he hates when I do that

I have a friend who actually notices when the DJs do stuff like play "mini-themes." Sometimes, I get creative with a mini-theme, just to see if he notices.

I might play to someone if they're dancing and putting off good energy but that's pretty rare. It's not enough that one couple is having a killer dance, others have to be excited by it.

I do not DJ to "prove" something to another DJ. That's too petty for words.

Kalman

Same as you Roy. If there are a few people in the room that like it faster or more classic, I'll change my set a bit.

Ron wrote:Same as you Roy. If there are a few people in the room that like it faster or more classic, I'll change my set a bit.

I will often play a little bit different stuff when you are in the house, Ron.

Yakov wrote:sometimes when Paul ("Albert System") comes by to hang out I play a Boilermakers song, even though I know he hates when I do that

I hear Paul really enjoys Pee Wee Russell.....

I will definitely play to people in the room; if I know what someone's favorite song is and I haven't heard it or played it in a while I will definitely play it. A friend of mine had a birthday and I played most of the stuff she liked that night.

I won't disrupt a flow to play a certain song but I think it's a good challege to try to work in a favorite song or two especially if that gives your set more variety; everybody else will probably like it too.

And in general, I think if you are paying attention to the crowd you are going to play for the people who are there anyway right?

I'll kick it up for specific dancers when they show up as well. Dawn Hampton always requests "our song" when I DJ, so I have it set up when she's around.

Back when SlickMike DJ'd more regional events, he'd always play one or two songs and call them my "theme songs." but they're meant more as inside jokes.

I know of at least one other NY DJ who will sometimes play a mini-set for me filled with songs I turned him onto.

djstarr wrote:And in general, I think if you are paying attention to the crowd you are going to play for the people who are there anyway right?

You beat me to the punch. I agree completely.

I don't know how much people here agree with this, but the advice Mandi gave at the Herrang DJ meeting was to keep doing whatever you were doing when the dancers you really admired seemed to have their spirits moved. Said you can't keep a floor that diverse "happy," but that to a certain extent you can use those top dancers as a meter, especially since when they got excited, those around them usually got excited and wanted to be on the floor, too.

I don't think I've had a bird's-eye view of the floor like that again, so it'd be harder to do outside of there. Interesting theory, though.

My experience is DJ's who only focus on the top dancers and ignore the rest if they DJ a weekly gig will eventually hurt the attendance of that event. It pretty clear different music is enjoyed at different levels of dancing. For Herrang I think her advice is good. For a weekly gig I don't agree.

...but it also depends on the weekly gig.

... and it also depends on the proportion of "top" dancers to mere peons.

In our scene it would be one or two couples out dancing and 10 waiting for something they want to dance to so I'm generally with Roy.

I don't play for particular individuals. However I do adapt to the level of people on the room. The music I play at the beginning of the night is definitely different from what I play towards the end since I see mostly beginners vs seasoned dancers.

However, one individual does not make me want to play anything different in particular.

Nima