resident djs
- Thread starter TREW
- Start date
There's always some nonsense, bar/club owners are a different breed and few actually care what about the music except for how it affects their pocketbook. And that's their prerogative, I can't hate on it, but it always sucks for those of us who do it for the music and the money. BTW who hasn't heard an owner use the phrase "I'm a businessman" at least once at a real eye rolling type moment, that ish always seems so trite- of course your a businessman, so am I, that's why i'm hitting you up for more $$$
I'm a resident DJ at a local spot, Wonderland. The owner is a good guy who used to be hopelessly unorganized but over the last 4 months has been getting his act straight. He has a manager who is always cool to talk to and is 100% on top of things. For the most part, dealing with the bartending staff is smooth. Most of them I'm friends with by now. Only one has ever caused me an inconvenience, which was last Fri. She was bartending upstairs while I was spinning. Basically situation 1 is that I put my email list and pen at the far end of the bar, and at some point in the night she threw it away. When I asked about it she brushed it off and even made a joke about it. Thanks. Situation 2: I came down from the booth in between songs to grab another drink, told her what I needed, and she was extremely slow and even helped a few other people before me. Keep in mind she is aware that I'm the DJ. I barely made it back in time to mix into the next track, took years. The entire night, (mostly before and after spinning) whenever I spoke to her she gave me an attitude and made an effort to end conversation as fast as possible. All in all, Wonderland is a great place to DJ with caring staff. I just hope this girl gets fired though.
wouldn't it be nice if waiter's/bartenders kept the glass full w/o the dj coming down to ask for it? Some crowded clubs can get very tricky when it comes to getting the next drink. One place I play takes care of that pretty well, so I take care of them too.
They usually do send people by the booth to ask if I want another drink but sometimes they get busy and forget, and if I've got a long song I just jump on down to the bar.
I feel like that's kind of unrealistic unless they got a cocktail waitress. The promoter should take care of drinks for the djs. You know what is a crazy hassle though - when you have to piss real bad and you're djing by yourself.
Definitely a big issue. I try to throw on a long jam and move fast if that happens, but that risk of long bathroom lines still looms. Trying to cut by saying that "Sorry but I'm the DJ and I've gotta get back soon" sometimes works, but sometimes causes even more problems. Sometimes girls take FOREVER.
unless they got a cocktail waitress.
Yep, that's what I'm talking about, I can't tell you how many times I've seen waiters make the rounds and not stop by the booth, I wish they would. But on the bright side, les drinks means less of the latter (bladder) problem.
I wish, usually the "promoter" is the owner in my experience and fat chance he's gonna be getting my drinks!
the dj booth rests between the kitchen and the bar at my spot, so the bar-backs will occasionally keep an eye out for my drinks..
do any of you ever get the feeling that the barstaff expects something from you? not necessarily loot but rather keeping the place jumping off that their tips jump off?
I feel like that's kind of unrealistic unless they got a cocktail waitress. The promoter should take care of drinks for the djs. You know what is a crazy hassle though - when you have to piss real bad and you're djing by yourself.
problem solved
Sort of, yeah, but I don't feel like it's pressure or an imposition or anything like that. I feel like that's how it ought to work so that everybody ends up happy. But then again, the staff at my residency have never been aggressive about that sort of thing, so maybe my tune would change if they ever started coming down hard on me about it.
that makes sense, but how about the people on the staff who always make inappropriate song requests? on Friday the bartender handed me and Cosmo a stack of CDs and told us which songs she would like to hear. uh-huh, let me put on that Chemical Brothers cd, it mixes perfectly with everything I play. the bouncers always want to hear either superthug shit or rap from the eighties (especially dudes that grew up in the BX), and the owner and promoters always want you to somehow play your "hot" set of 50 Cent and Jay-Z at 10:30 and for the next 5 hours straight. word, let me put on Fatman Scoop for the barback when everyone in the crowd is ordering their first drink, that's a great idea.
once they start switching your Crown shots out for Jack Daniels, then you know there's something awry...
I was a resident at this spot in Santa Barbara for about 3 years. I made a percentage of the take, so there was never any haggling. The owner was cool as hell, the bartenders refilled my drink whenver it was empty and the bathroom was close by. One of the bartenders and I used to get blazed in the kitchen every week. They never told me to play anything. Charisma's "Methods", and JB's "Doin it to Death" are great bathroom cuts.
The only problem was getting my friends to come every week to hear the same old shit that they heard last week. A major pain.
I guess I was lucky.
The only problem was getting my friends to come every week to hear the same old shit that they heard last week. A major pain.
I guess I was lucky.
I was a resident in baltimore for about a year. Everyone was pretty cool and i could play whatever i wanted, lots of fun. The night got so big that they moved it to a bigger venue to fit more hipsters in. I usually dj with a partner if its going to be over 4 hours. that takes care of the piss/drink brakes.
that makes sense, but how about the people on the staff who always make inappropriate song requests? on Friday the bartender handed me and Cosmo a stack of CDs and told us which songs she would like to hear. uh-huh, let me put on that Chemical Brothers cd, it mixes perfectly with everything I play. the bouncers always want to hear either superthug shit or rap from the eighties (especially dudes that grew up in the BX), and the owner and promoters always want you to somehow play your "hot" set of 50 Cent and Jay-Z at 10:30 and for the next 5 hours straight. word, let me put on Fatman Scoop for the barback when everyone in the crowd is ordering their first drink, that's a great idea.
I quit my five year gig because of some dumb shit like that. When i first
started the managers didnt want to hear a whole lot HOT hip hop. Years later
when all the Pop dummys started feelin' rap, the manager wanted to cater to
the suburban yuppies who listen to hiphop now. So I got mad pressured to play
familiar radio shit vs my own mix of shit. After all my years there funkin that
place up, they tried to impose this new vision. I had to get the fuck outta there.
They brought in a couple of hot radio djs to attract the yuppies but the plan backfired
and all the thugs came and scared the yuppies away.
Shit was hilarious.The manager just had no clue when it came to music.
I've DJ'd at one club for about 3 years and another for about one and a half years (both still going strong). They're not the most popular spots in the area, but I get to play whatever soul/funk/jazz/reggae I want, I always get paid and the only thing they've ever said to me about the music is to "play something more uptempo" when I'm letting things get a little too mellow musically.
Still, I agree 100% with this:
Still, I agree 100% with this:
If you ever want to meet someone who's "on some other shit," just get friendly with your local club owner. I guarantee he/she is a piece of work.
my boss is all about this attitude.. "let's keep it uptempo from the start and see what happens" type thing..
ever see that episode of simpsons where the network execs are giving krusty notes during a broadcast? this past weekend in a nutshell.
"umm, we're wondering if you're skewing to "gangsta", we're losing 35 year old females"
I dj here as well. I have had some technical difficulties that were not handled very well by the management, but overall, it has been a great place to play out. I have never had any trouble with the bartenders, but I bet I know who you are talking about (the skinny girl that thinks she is hot shit?).
