What do Swing DJs do in the day/to earn a living?

Tips and techniques of the trade

Moderators: Mr Awesomer, JesseMiner, CafeSavoy

Message
Author
User avatar
Nima
Posts: 38
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 10:39 am
Location: Atlanta, GA
Contact:

#31 Post by Nima » Wed Nov 17, 2004 3:55 pm

1. <Insert sarcastic uncontrollable laugh here>

2. BioMedical Research in Gene Therapy at a Private University.

Remnent
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2004 7:24 pm
Location: Upstate New York

#32 Post by Remnent » Sun Nov 21, 2004 7:32 pm

1.) heh heh heh...
2.) I'm a stage manager, and manual laborer in between contracts.

User avatar
BryanC
Posts: 80
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2003 9:22 am
Location: Calgary, Alberta

#33 Post by BryanC » Thu Dec 02, 2004 12:09 am

1. Is this even possible?
2. Med student

User avatar
Shanabanana
Posts: 116
Joined: Thu Nov 21, 2002 10:29 am
Location: Boulder CO
Contact:

#34 Post by Shanabanana » Thu Dec 02, 2004 3:14 pm

1) No*
2) Aerospace Engineer

*unless by "living" you mean "money for sushi," and then yes.

User avatar
Abdel
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 5:37 pm
Location: Trampa
Contact:

#35 Post by Abdel » Tue Dec 07, 2004 6:34 pm

1) Maybe, it all depends.
2) Pimp Daddy wanna be

Nando
Posts: 130
Joined: Mon Dec 23, 2002 10:40 am
Location: NYC
Contact:

#36 Post by Nando » Mon Jan 17, 2005 12:39 pm

1- yes, as long as I don't eat, buy clothes or pay rent. Otherwise, no
2- TV producer for entertainment magazine shows.

Doug
Posts: 116
Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2003 7:38 am
Location: Albuquerque
Contact:

#37 Post by Doug » Mon Jan 17, 2005 1:04 pm

1. It's all been said
2. CEO of a high-tech startup. I clean the toilets, buy the bagels, wonder if & when I'll ever get a paycheck.

User avatar
yedancer
Posts: 417
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2002 8:08 pm
Location: San Diego
Contact:

#38 Post by yedancer » Mon Jan 17, 2005 6:18 pm

1. No
2. I am a full-time student now, and I make extra money on the side as a Real Estate Broker
-Jeremy

It's easy to sit there and say you'd like to have more money. And I guess that's what I like about it. It's easy. Just sitting there, rocking back and forth, wanting that money.

User avatar
Bob the Builder
Posts: 525
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2003 6:53 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact:

#39 Post by Bob the Builder » Mon Jan 17, 2005 6:38 pm

1. No.
2. I'm an Architectural Technician. (I design and draw buildings with the hope they won't fall down).
Image

Michaelwagner
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2005 8:19 pm
Location: Toronto
Contact:

#40 Post by Michaelwagner » Mon Jan 17, 2005 8:32 pm

1. No *
2. Manager of a metal stamping and forming company

* I'm in Canada. I started down the road of turning my hobby of buying swing CDs and playing for friends and the local swing society into a business so I could write off the purchase of CDs. Since "hanging out my shingle", I've "had" to buy equipment (2 dual-cd heads, 2 mixers, amps, speakers, stands, computers, netorked MP3 players, etc). In Canada, you must show a profit within 5 years or the government will disallow the writeoffs. At the rate I was going originally, I *might* have paid off the CDs within the 5 year timeframe. Now that I have all this other equipment, the outcome is very much in doubt.

P.S. to the guy from Qualcomm ... I am a long-time Eudora user :)

User avatar
Zot
Posts: 104
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2003 12:37 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact:

#41 Post by Zot » Mon Jan 17, 2005 10:13 pm

1. Nah.
2. Educational Designer.
"Take the worst of neo-swing and put it together with Glen Miller. The man thinks the Count is someone from a horror flick. Take pity on him and let him play two or three tunes. But be sure you have some errands to run." -- Bill Borgida

Michaelwagner
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2005 8:19 pm
Location: Toronto
Contact:

#42 Post by Michaelwagner » Thu Jan 20, 2005 5:56 pm

Zot wrote:"Take the worst of neo-swing and put it together with Glen Miller. The man thinks the Count is someone from a horror flick. Take pity on him and let him play two or three tunes. But be sure you have some errands to run." -- Bill Borgida
Ha! Sounds like something Bill would say.

This side up
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Feb 04, 2005 9:21 pm

#43 Post by This side up » Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:17 am

1.) No ,I don't really earn a living from djing .For me Djing is a way to support my habit of swing dancing.It has paid for all my music purchases but it is not my real work.

2.) What do i do in the day ? Well for the past year it is a little complicated.Until 2003 I was a Building Contractor/Designer/Landscape Architect running my own business .On many occasions I would take a dj case to work and we would listen to swing music all day in the background.Several of my co-workers and customers were music fans or musicians.I used to enjoy giving a little dance info or history if it applied and I knew something to share.We had fun.

That all changed in fall of 2003. That is when I was in a near fatal auto accident in which I broke my neck,fractured my skull and generally banged myself up pretty bad.Since then I have been 1.) in a coma for a month or so 2.) in intensive care in a few different hospitals for the next 6 months 3.) in rehab 4.) in psychotherapy or 5) organizing and listenig to my music collection and remembering what fun it has all been.


I am not in any hurry to get back to work but I do miss swing dancing.During my recovery I have read some of Irvin Yalom's work .In it he says "You know ,I've never heard of anyone who has been near or known someone near death ," them say " I wish I had spent more time at work" They have however heard them say "I wish I had spent more time doing the things I wanted to do like reading,traveling being closer to people ,dancing or listening to music." That rings true for me.


another note .In the 1950s on tv regularly there was a well known wrestler named Goergeous George. He would enter the ring in a long golden cape,with long blond hair down to his shoulders held in place by golden bobby pins .He would take the pins from his hair and throw them into the audience as souvenirs .The audience would grab for them as if they were worth fortunes.He was a real showman.People would spend hours laughing at this jerk.Years later,Cindy Lauper.s manager met this man.His style began to influence many music acts .

For he did not publicise this but this absurd wrestler was a Psychiatrist who also worked at the menninger clinic .His act was
nothing more than making the public laugh a little and forget about the serious things we all deal with .

Michaelwagner
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2005 8:19 pm
Location: Toronto
Contact:

#44 Post by Michaelwagner » Thu Feb 10, 2005 6:46 am

This side up wrote:That all changed in fall of 2003. That is when I was in a near fatal auto accident in which I broke my neck,fractured my skull and generally banged myself up pretty bad.Since then I have been 1.) in a coma for a month or so 2.) in intensive care in a few different hospitals for the next 6 months 3.) in rehab 4.) in psychotherapy or 5) organizing and listenig to my music collection and remembering what fun it has all been.

I am not in any hurry to get back to work but I do miss swing dancing. During my recovery I have read some of Irvin Yalom's work. In it he says "You know ,I've never heard of anyone who has been near or known someone near death ," them say " I wish I had spent more time at work"
In 1975 I was in a bad car accident which messed up my knee (hairline fracture, they think, but they were never able to tell for sure with the equipment of the time). I went to physio for two years for damage to my back. And I was the least hurt in the accident (opposite side from impact site). Anyways, there are certain motions I have never been able to do since with my knee without hurting it.

In 1980, my brother died in a car accident.

It's true. These incidents make you realize that there's more to life than work. For me, my DJing is often the only time recently I get to hang with my swing dance buddies and chat and dance with them, so I treasure it a lot.

I carry at least some music with me everywhere, and listen at home, at work, in the car, when visiting friends. Even when I can't dance, the music is good for my ears and the rest of me.

BillBee
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Sep 01, 2003 6:26 pm
Contact:

#45 Post by BillBee » Thu Feb 10, 2005 8:48 pm

I try to make a living teaching swing, and DJing on the side. Fun, but not recommended if you need to earn a decent wage. On the other hand, my work is my play.

and by the way, this quote:
"Take the worst of neo-swing and put it together with Glen Miller. The man thinks the Count is someone from a horror flick. Take pity on him and let him play two or three tunes. But be sure you have some errands to run." -- Bill Borgida

for the record, that is what I wrote when Zot asked me to give him a DJ reference! So please feel free to ask me for one any time.... :D
"To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak"

Locked