What Is A Dj Nowadays

[Jumpinjoan]

From my observation I'd say quite a few.

Im guessing that when you were first asked to dj you didn't see what records were in-demand dance floor favouirites from all genres and purposely go out to amass a playlist. You no doubt had your 45s that you considered worth hearing and played them without worrying what others were doing.

I do get the impression that some buy records just to be able to play out with no involvement in or attachment to the actual music which makes it easier to "refresh one's playbox" or sell 'em off if the dream fails to materialise.

ROD

You are right Rod but surely that is what it is all about?

If it wasn't for people's individual taste in records every spot would be exactly the same and no new records would ever get played.

I do find it hard to understand how anyone can play records they don't like though.

I can't afford to buy records I like let alone records I don't like! However I do not consider myself a DJ.

So come on... all of you out there who consider yourself 'proper DJs' let yourself be known and tell us whether you buy and play records that you don't like?

[Simon M]

Hmm what is a proper Dj ? The bloke doing the Mobile at the wedding for a living or Keri Chandler mixing in Holographic soul singers .

[Soul Wv10]

shouldn't a DJ bee some one who plays a set of great tune ,that the public at that event enjoy and keeps the dance floor full,

So doesn't matter if he/she is a big name DJ or just a record collector, if thay do the job on the night at that venue ???????

www.soulechoes.co.uk

Next Lord Hill Shrewsbury Friday June 11th!

DJ's Gary Powell, Gator, Jonzy, Guest to be confirmed

[Cunnie]

Clarify that please Cunnie!

I ofetn practicesets - moving records around in sets- A bit like managing a football team some players get promoted from the bench (Or box in the case of 45s) and some get demoted.

Its an art this Djing lark

Anyone can buy the latest bootlegs/reissues what ever you want to call them and play for an hour and call themselves a DJ.

However the true Northern/Soul etc DJ practices his art of buying /tasting playing and reviewing to see what works with what and what doesnt! So you do have to work at it.

Ive been to soul nights and watched one of the Top Djs play and it didnt really work for him because he said he was rushing and didnt trawl his boxes to put together a good set. He just picked up alot of records and put them in a box and it was probably the least enjoyable of his spots Ive ever witnessed and the dance floor action represented that thought. However Ive witnessed other Djs Ive met for the first time (Eddie Hubbard) Play a set of under £200 tunes and it was a superb set- Good presentation at the deck(Voice) and dancefloor action represented this on a night of fewer than the ususal numbers of people. (Having spoken to Eddie - he had to work to put that set together)

So its difficult to define what a good DJ is but its certainly not a I want 60 mins of fame by playing all the top sounds that were booted in the last 12 months.

Thats my opinion! Rant over!

Right then.

My comment wasn't a rant at so called DJ's on the Soul scene ( note not just Northern ). Far from it but I just think that most of the folks on the Soul scene are'nt DJ's but are passionate collectors who play records to varying audiences & often get little or no credit for it & I'm full of praise for each & every one of them especially the one's who do it for the love of the music.

Just to try to make my point let's see what folks would do if the following scenario occured (happened to me recently & if you were there you'll know what I did).

Both decks go down but there's 2 CD decks that you can use.

1, you chat to the crowd & get a bit of banter going & try your best to entertain them.

2, you get a mate to run down to the car & grab a couple of CD's & explain what's happened & play some music off them until things are put right.

3, you stand there like a tool saying & doing nothing as you're a vinyl collector & wouldn't ever play a CD. Hell they're not my decks so it's not my problem.

Now who is the DJ? 1, 2 or 3.

Well instead of laying bait for meat eaters like me and Steve (ernieandrews) give us the pearls of your wisdom and just answer Bearsy's question yourself

"what is a dj nowadays" ??

See my comment above Nev & the video below, might throw a bit of light on what I'm on about.

PS you ain't a dj as you didn't play any of my requests at Morecambe

Hmm what is a proper Dj ? The bloke doing the Mobile at the wedding for a living or Keri Chandler mixing in Holographic soul singers .

You can DJ at my wedding Simon (am I still the only person who books you in the UK ) & so can Kerri Chandler.

1 min 30 secs in.

How's about that then Guy's & Gal's

[Dave Moore]

Right then.

My comment wasn't a rant at so called DJ's on the Soul scene ( note not just Northern ). Far from it but I just think that most of the folks on the Soul scene are'nt DJ's but are passionate collectors who play records to varying audiences & often get little or no credit for it & I'm full of praise for each & every one of them especially the one's who do it for the love of the music.

Just to try to make my point let's see what folks would do if the following scenario occured (happened to me recently & if you were there you'll know what I did).

Both decks go down but there's 2 CD decks that you can use.

1, you chat to the crowd & get a bit of banter going & try your best to entertain them.

2, you get a mate to run down to the car & grab a couple of CD's & explain what's happened & play some music off them until things are put right.

3, you stand there like a tool saying & doing nothing as you're a vinyl collector & wouldn't ever play a CD. Hell they're not my decks so it's not my problem.

Now who is the DJ? 1, 2 or 3.

See my comment above Nev & the video below, might throw a bit of light on what I'm on about.

PS you ain't a dj as you didn't play any of my requests at Morecambe

You can DJ at my wedding Simon (am I still the only person who books you in the UK ) & so can Kerri Chandler.

1 min 30 secs in.

How's about that then Guy's & Gal's

Looks like a frustrated vibes player to me. He needs lessons on a Glockelspeil.

Regards,

Dave

[Simon M]

Yep Im there for that wedding then As long as Keri is setting it all up

[Simon M]

[Cunnie]

Think this is what you were looking for Simon.

How cool is that. You play Don Gardner & low & behold there he is singing it virtually live on stage.

Now where's that 'future' thread gone.

[Guest JJMMWGDuPree]

A jockey is a person who sits on a horse

A desk jockey is a person who sits at a desk

A disk jockey is therefore a person who, erm... sits on discs?

[John A]

Anyone can call themselves a DJ and play for an hour with original vinyl 45s and still be rubbish, I've seen it plenty of times.

Original vinyl doth not a DJ make.

That's a quote from the Rare Soul Bible that is.

Couldn't agree more, I've had a go a few times.Got plenty of big expensive tunes....and i'm still SHIT lol

[Makemvinyl]

I DJ because I have a huge ego...and because I think my taste is better than anyone elses

Well at least i'm honest

EXTINCT then

[Guest sandi]

sombodywith a lot of mates .the records arnt important it seems these days

Bloody well said that man.

[Guest Mrs M]

Whatever makes a DJ nowadays, I'm not sure but there seems to be an endless stream of people masquerading as DJ's on the scene .

My sentiments exactly!!!!!

Edited June 6, 2010 by Mrs M

[Guest Andy Kempster]

taken from DJ magazine, some pertinent points here I think....

As DJ Paul Van Dyk implied, a DJ who plays for himself is no more than a snooby ass. Of course, it's natural for performing artists, and I consider DJ's to be such, to have big egos. However, when a DJ plays for himself, the listeners and dancers know it and they quickly recognize that the DJ is too egotistical to listen to his/her clients and to serve them well. A truly professional DJ will keep an open mind as Above & Beyond indicates, and will keep his/her finger on the pulse of the audience.

DJ Ferry Corsten says that a DJ should "present new music without forcing it down people's throats." Wow! He is so right. While it's appropriate to rely heavily upon music that you know is tried and true, you have an obligation as a DJ to introduce new music to your audience. This is what keeps the experience fresh for your fans. Balancing your desire to teach and to expose your fans to new music with their ability and readiness to accept it, is an art that must be mastered.

Knowing the crowd's taste in music is imperative according to DJ Deadmau5. My experience bears witness to this. When a DJ in a Latin club plays lots of salsa and small amounts of the other Latin genres, he/she will only be considered a good DJ by the crowd if they like listening to salsa music and enjoy dancing to it. While a Latin club population consisting of large numbers of Caribbean Latins may fit this description, a Latin club population consisting primarily of people of Central and South American decent would likely not. Of course, this is not exclusively true and it's the DJ's job to know the musical likes and dislikes of his audience.

Curiously missing from the opinions of the experts, is a point that I stress often. While it's not imperative that a DJ know how to dance, it really can make a significant difference and it's sometimes what separates the average DJ's from the excellent ones. As a lead-and-follow partner dancer, I feel a very strong need to dance to music that motivates me and that has a discernable beat that I feel all throughout my body. I assume the same is true for dancers of other types of music as well. Therefore, it seems to me that, a DJ who knows how to dance will feel the music as his dancing audience does and will know what it is they expect

[Guest sandi]

D.J. (DISC JOCKEY)

A person who announces and plays recorded music to the mass audience with the purpose of entertaining.

A slave to the dance floor.

And where do we find such fine specimens ?

In a DISCOTHEQUE.

Discotheque = a club or other public place for dancing to recorded music, also the dictionary states "mobile equipment for providing amplified music for dancing.

Soul D.J. alert to those who think it's all about the price of a vinyl record, apparently the more expensive and rare the vinyl must mean it's gotta be good and it's gotta be played, wether the paying public like it or not.

To those who fall into this catagory please go back and read what is expected of being a D.J..........SLAVE, not demi god, for the dance floor.

Lets face it how many " expensive record collector wanna be D.J's" actually clear a dance floor and even the building now we have the smoking ban, because they need to justify the silly amount of money being paid for certain records,(l'm not saying all expensive records are bad, just a % of them in my most humble opionion are pants) however a D.J. who is of a lesser pedigree ..why? because they don't have what they call the Big Guns in their record box , can play a £5 record that can summonds the dancers onto the floor and bloody well enjoy what they came to the DISCO for in the 1st place to dance,dance,dance.

Now l know most of you will be thinking oh no not sandi on her soap box again......well not this time, just stating the obvious and using my dictionary to verify the correct definition of a "D.J."

just to bore you even more l looked up Jockey and l will share my findings with you, l found it very amusing, normal lovers of soul music will see the funny side, however the "WE WHO HAVE THE RIGHT"....won't.

THE THESAURUS DEFINITION OF JOCKEY.

Ok smart arses, we all know a jockey is a small under nourished under weight gezza who rides geegee's for a living.

However if we read all the definitions it is suprising what/where the word originates.

Me being me is gonna opt for the meaning most fitting our scene and "merry band of elitist brothers"

Jockey def # 4. to cheat or trick (a person). bamboozle, con, decieve, dupe, fool, hoax, hoodwink, cajole,engineer,manage, manipulate,manoeuvre,wheedle=to persuade or try to persaude by coaxing using words and flattery etc.worm ones way in.

Two other words that were used to define jockey are : finagle which simply means to get or achieve by craftiness or persuasion.

and the other word being ingratiate=to place oneself purposely in favour of another, to be a "yes" man,to crawl, to get in with, get on the right side of, to grovel, to lick(someones) boots (thats putting it nicely), play up, rub up the right way,seek favour,suck up to................and theres more, much more. gave me a more than little bit of insight into what is a Disc jockey.

To end on a positive note, l dare say most of us will know at least one who fits the bill, l'm not pointing a finger at anyone, l don't need to they have already made themselves known to us by their actions, especially the non active participation on the dance floor. For all you unrecognised natural d.j.'s who play records they believe in and it's evident that being behind the decks playing great records is a mere tool, to express the passion you want to share with like minded ones....is a gift you own, it's not something you learn, it's a inner love for the music, no matter what the price tag is. To all of you who fits this bill l take my:hatsoff2:off to you.

l expect l may get some grief from some who take offence at this post, however l ask you to take into account, these are the definitions found in my advanced dictionary and thesaurus.

Sandi

[ImberBoy]

Sandi, did you ever date a DJ?

[Jumpinjoan]

I can't remember who, but someone had a signature on here a while ago that said "a DJ is just a dancers labourer"

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Edited June 6, 2010 by jumpinjoan

[Guest gordon russell]

I can't remember who, but someone had a signature on here a while ago that said "a DJ is just a dancers labourer"

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how true young joan of preston........some dj,s do labour .....peggy

[Guest Phoenix8049]

taken from DJ magazine, some pertinent points here I think....

As DJ Paul Van Dyk implied, a DJ who plays for himself is no more than a snooby ass. Of course, it's natural for performing artists, and I consider DJ's to be such, to have big egos. However, when a DJ plays for himself, the listeners and dancers know it and they quickly recognize that the DJ is too egotistical to listen to his/her clients and to serve them well. A truly professional DJ will keep an open mind as Above & Beyond indicates, and will keep his/her finger on the pulse of the audience.

DJ Ferry Corsten says that a DJ should "present new music without forcing it down people's throats." Wow! He is so right. While it's appropriate to rely heavily upon music that you know is tried and true, you have an obligation as a DJ to introduce new music to your audience. This is what keeps the experience fresh for your fans. Balancing your desire to teach and to expose your fans to new music with their ability and readiness to accept it, is an art that must be mastered.

Knowing the crowd's taste in music is imperative according to DJ Deadmau5. My experience bears witness to this. When a DJ in a Latin club plays lots of salsa and small amounts of the other Latin genres, he/she will only be considered a good DJ by the crowd if they like listening to salsa music and enjoy dancing to it. While a Latin club population consisting of large numbers of Caribbean Latins may fit this description, a Latin club population consisting primarily of people of Central and South American decent would likely not. Of course, this is not exclusively true and it's the DJ's job to know the musical likes and dislikes of his audience.

Curiously missing from the opinions of the experts, is a point that I stress often. While it's not imperative that a DJ know how to dance, it really can make a significant difference and it's sometimes what separates the average DJ's from the excellent ones. As a lead-and-follow partner dancer, I feel a very strong need to dance to music that motivates me and that has a discernable beat that I feel all throughout my body. I assume the same is true for dancers of other types of music as well. Therefore, it seems to me that, a DJ who knows how to dance will feel the music as his dancing audience does and will know what it is they expect

Wow that has got to be the best post on this subject.

Stu.

[Cunnie]

taken from DJ magazine, some pertinent points here I think....

DJ Ferry Corsten says that a DJ should "present new music without forcing it down people's throats." Wow! He is so right.

Steady on. This is Soul Source you know