Pushing people in

[BryanC]

I didn't want to detract from main_stem's topic--which is an important one, but it inspired me to start this one, which is about encouraging people to start DJ'ing. Many of you are probably in scenes where the DJ's are plentiful, but where does the new talent come from? And is it actually possible to "create" or encourage new talent, or is DJ'ing something that someone gets into only because they naturally develop a love and sense of the music they want to share (i.e. can DJ's be bred, as opposed to born?)

[yedancer]

What got me started was that a venue promoter used to occasionally have guest DJ nights. He would get four or five local dancers to each DJ for half an hour each. The ones that did a good job would often be asked back again. It's a risky concept, because the guest DJ nights are often horrible music nights. However, I think it can work as long as it's not over-done. Often they can be good nights, because each guest DJ brings out all their friends.

[gatorgal]

I also got the bug from a guest DJ night. We tried them for about a month or so, but it didn't take off. Or should I say, I was the only one who was interested in pursuing it.

In the 2 to 3 years I've been in South Florida there's only been one night when our DJs were not available for a dance. Ironically, we were all traveling to different exchanges and such. Apparently three of our local dancers filled in the void. I'll be nice and say that the dancers were less than enthused about their DJing skills. If there's someone else in So Fla that wants to DJ, that night, and the dancer's reaction to others DJing, has probably had a chilling effect.

Also, as much as people bitch about the three of us as DJs... no one is actually willing (or able) to put in the work. That's the way it goes I guess.

Tina

[Nate Dogg]

Many of you are probably in scenes where the DJ's are plentiful, but where does the new talent come from? And is it actually possible to "create" or encourage new talent, or is DJ'ing something that someone gets into only because they naturally develop a love and sense of the music they want to share (i.e. can DJ's be bred, as opposed to born?)

In general, most DJs are bred in some form or fashion. They are not born with record collections, dance skills, etc... Whether or not a particular DJ will admit to being influenced is another story.

I think the biggest influence is a DJ's experience of being a dancer, what they liked dancing to, what worked for them, what they saw worked for others. Most everybody on this list is a dancer first and foremost (according to that poll a few months back, every single response valued dancing more than DJing). So, that lead in time where one is a "dancer thinking about being a DJ" is a big part of the "breeding" experience.

I know that I studied other DJs for a good nine months before I ever Djed my first set. Nobody set me aside and gave me DJ Training 101, but I looked at why the good DJs were successful and what the lesser DJs did wrong. I wanted to be as good as possible from the get go. I still study other DJs. That is what this Board is about for me.

Anybody with a jazz/swing collection can and get up and play the songs, that does not mean they will be any good.

We have a few new DJs, one issue current issue is how to best mentor them without insulting their sense of style. At some point, some of the DJs are in danger of getting a hopelessly bad reputations or being outright fired by the Syndicate Board if they continue to get complaints every time they DJ.

Nathan

[yedancer]

I remember the first night I guest DJd, the promoter looked through my little CD book and said, "You need some older stuff. You have too much neo swing."

HAHA. That was the beginning of my addiction to collecting music.

[BryanC]

In general, most DJs are bred in some form or fashion. They are not born with record collections, dance skills, etc... Whether or not a particular DJ will admit to being influenced is another story.

Sorry, I should have been more clear. It's obvious that no one is born with record collections, but becoming a DJ in the swing context seems to involve (and this is really simplistic), a few basic steps: 1) learn to dance, 1.5) collect some music, 2) collect a critical mass of music, 3) play your music, 4) develop crowd reading skills, style, refinements, etc.

At some point, a person decides to move from step 1 to 1.5 to step 2. How many people move from step 1 to step 2 on their own vs. being encouraged to move to step 2? That's what I mean by born vs. bred. And given most dancers probably collect music, most non-DJ'ing dancers don't have enough music to really DJ for any interval longer than about 20 minutes (i.e. lack of critical mass). Is it even possible to encourage people to move to step 2 (i.e. breeding) or do DJ's pretty much need to move to step 2 of their own volition and impetus (i.e. born).

And as a secondary topic, is the step from 3 to 4 something that's inborn, or can it be taught? While "poor" dancers can eventually become "good" dancers over time, given enough time (the whole monkeys on typewriters argument), the public aspect of DJ'ing might not lend itself to the monkey model (if you're a bad DJ, you're less likely to have the opportunity to practice DJ'ing skills, as differentiated from "playing music").

[Nate Dogg]

By the time I started to DJ, I already had over 1200 or so CDs. But, I had very few that would work in the context of being a DJ. I had to build the collection. That was one reason I waited as long as I did, I did not want to be somebody with a weak collection making the crowd suffer.

I made a point to buy known favorites first, proven winners, essential tracks within our scene. Over time, I expanded to less well known tracks. It was also after I started DJing that I got better at the pacing, selection, things like that.

It is technologically easier to create DJs these days, with burners and all. On the West Coast YahooGroup, you will see angry DJs from time to time lamenting the laptop DJs. Many of them are older DJs who started DJing at time when a sizable music collection was a major barrier to entry for new DJs.

Nathan

[gatorgal]

And given most dancers probably collect music, most non-DJ'ing dancers don't have enough music to really DJ for any interval longer than about 20 minutes (i.e. lack of critical mass).

See, I don't think most dancers collect music... or at least they don't here and they didn't when I started. When I started DJing here while I certainly didn't have an extensive collection, I had more CDs than the average dancer. Most people (dancers and DJs alike) seemed surprised that I had any music to begin with, or was familiar with names of songs and/or artists.

Tina

[lindyholic]

And given most dancers probably collect music, most non-DJ'ing dancers don't have enough music to really DJ for any interval longer than about 20 minutes (i.e. lack of critical mass).

See, I don't think most dancers collect music... or at least they don't here and they didn't when I started. When I started DJing here while I certainly didn't have an extensive collection, I had more CDs than the average dancer. Most people (dancers and DJs alike) seemed surprised that I had any music to begin with, or was familiar with names of songs and/or artists.

Tina

It's true I have found. While there are lots of dancers who do have some swing music, they don't have very much. I have generally found that those who do get substantial collections end up becoming DJs because they have a passion for the music, and want to share that passion with the other dancers through DJing.

Harrison

[julius]

Most people (dancers and DJs alike) seemed surprised that I had any music to begin with, or was familiar with names of songs and/or artists.

As a lifelong cynic, I cannot help but think that was because you are female. The women never seem to get any respect.

In general I find that most people aren't too up on their jazz. They just enjoy dancing. Nothing wrong with that, but I think knowing and appreciating the music enhances the dancing too. Dancing to D+C in Blue from Newport '57 would be just a boring, long saxophone solo with some crowd noise if you didn't know the story behind the song, for example.

[coreyj5]

I personally wanted to start djing because I was tired of the music that was being played. At that point in time, our major dj who ran pretty much every night was done with swing and just put up the same songs every week and used the same playlists. So I started collecting music and djing just to have something different to listen to at a dance. I was pretty bad in the beginning and I still have a long way to go because even though I buy music, I never have time to really listen to it and I don't dj but once or twice a month for an hour or less. So I am not as familiar as I should be with my music and go back to my safe songs too much.

[Lindyguy]

I started DJing out of necessity. We started our Thursday night DJ dance because we had Jesse Miner living in our midst. We had him spin Late Night Swing from October 99 to Feb 2000. That's when he took off for San Fran.

I had a lot of discs, so I bought some equipment and have been spinnin' ever since.

We also help promote other DJs. We recently had a Tuesday night dance featuring 4 different DJs in a month. However, the venue lost the lease and we are searching for a new place to continue it.

Thing is, there are lots of good DJs out there and it's great to get them spinning. The more the merrier!

And Jesse has an open invitation to spin any time he comes back to Minnesocold!

[Lawrence]

To repeat the obvious, I started DJing simply because I wasn't happy with the music that the then-current DJs were playing. That has always been what inspires me to DJ, and seems to be the case with everyone. D.I.Y.

I suspect the problem of not having enough DJs is rare. I have not been in a scene that suffers from a lack of DJs. Chicago always had a solid core of DJs when I was there. Same with San Fran when I visisted for an extended stay. Austin probably has too many DJs for its own good, which leads some of the less-musically leaders of the scene to take DJs for granted because they are fungible and replaceable.

[Platypus]

A friend of mine needed a DJ and none of the locals were available for the date. We had talked about how it might be fun to try it, so she pretty much dared me into doing it. At the end of the evening, another friend came up to me, put his arm around my shoulder and stated, "I really like you, but that sucked." Then, my friends told me I was GOING to DJ again. Best thing anyone could have done. Someone was honest, gave me encouragement, and directed me to some people who could mentor me. Rest is history.

So, my continuing challenge: to provide the same support and encouragement for our newbie DJs in town.

[BryanC]

I suspect the problem of not having enough DJs is rare. I have not been in a scene that suffers from a lack of DJs. Chicago always had a solid core of DJs when I was there. Same with San Fran when I visisted for an extended stay. Austin probably has too many DJs for its own good, which leads some of the less-musically leaders of the scene to take DJs for granted because they are fungible and replaceable.

Well, Chicago, San Fran and Austin are all very strong scenes. I'm in Calgary, there are 2 maybe 3 of us who have collections large enough to DJ from (we have, on average, 20-30 people out per week for our dance). For the longest time there was one 200 CD changer that was basically put on random play for 3 hours. That venue doesn't exist anymore (though the 200 CD changer collection--accrued by copying library CDs--belongs to one guy). We only have one dance a week here to "canned" music, so it's not such a big deal, but I wonder if more people were DJ'ing if the variety wouldn't be better. The problem is that I haven't detected any interest in taking on the "challenge" (despite opportunity); and so this topic is inspired partially by my circumstance--is there something _I_ could be doing, or are DJ's created when individuals take the onus on themselves (i.e. I'm gonna have to sit and wait).