Creating Atmosphere 8-9pm

[Blake H]

Its your turn for the early spot, the room is cold, there are 10 people in what do you play? Do you play your best tunes or lesser known things to see how they sound? I have stuck a compilation on before now and gone and talked to mates, your thoughts please.

BH

[asboannie]

'BLAKE H' date='Dec 31 2005, 03:47 PM' Do you play your best tunes or lesser known things to see how they sound?

BH

Myself in that situation would play lesser known, the only chance you get to hear them on the system at a venue.

Edited January 2, 2006 by asboannie

[Guest]

Never leave the decks.........play what you love.........period.

[Iancsloft]

Play what you want and if you get 7 out of the ten people dancing blimey you should be

on at all the big venues !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Soulsmith]

Always play Martha Reeves - No One There, when I'm on the 8pm shift.

Just tickles me.

[Guest Matt Male]

Its your turn for the early spot, the room is cold, there are 10 people in what do you play? Do you play your best tunes or lesser known things to see how they sound? I have stuck a compilation on before now and gone and talked to mates, your thoughts please.

I think sticking a compilation on and going to talk to your mates is just wrong. Even if there are only ten people in they have all paid to hear you. I'd be really pissed off if a DJ did that.

I say play the spot you'd have played at full capacity, although maybe it's a chance to experiment a bit...

Matt

[Blake H]

I think sticking a compilation on and going to talk to your mates is just wrong. Even if there are only ten people in they have all paid to hear you. I'd be really pissed off if a DJ did that.

I say play the spot you'd have played at full capacity, although maybe it's a chance to experiment a bit...

Matt

Sorry Matt should have said the folks in are promoters/wives and bar staff and maybe only a couple of paying punters,

I just find it a little soul destroying playing the early spot and have never really found an answer

[Boogaloo]

I love doing the early spot because there's no pressure on you get the floor going. You can play whatever shakes your biscuit and there's no one to complain. I always consider it an pleasure to play my tunes, irrespective of what time I'm on. Also gives you the chance to see if some of the never played items in your box actually sound OK on a sound system as opposed to your living room. There's been times when I've played to an empty room, had a great 15-20 minutes and almost resented people for turning up.

[Guest]

I love doing the early spot because there's no pressure on you get the floor going. You can play whatever shakes your biscuit and there's no one to complain. I always consider it an pleasure to play my tunes, irrespective of what time I'm on. Also gives you the chance to see if some of the never played items in your box actually sound OK on a sound system as opposed to your living room. There's been times when I've played to an empty room, had a great 15-20 minutes and almost resented people for turning up.

Boogaloo (sorry don't know your name) Who cares about pressure( pressure is being in a prison cell, getting interviewd by two gorillas who constantly beat you, wanting you to grass your mates up....never yield to no one, i'd rather you played what you wannna', stuff them that complain, remember there are also punters like me ,and many others who love to hear something we don't know).I consider myself a collector of rare soul and not a dj, but when i've had the chance, i play what i like, and hope kindred spirits may appreciate my tastes, and if they don't then what the hell, there is always (usually) enough dj's to compensate all tastes.

Like i said earlier play what you want.............

Brett

Edited December 31, 2005 by Brett

[BlueWail]

If im at a venue early doors

I apreciate the DJ playing stuff thats lesser known and new to my ears

Theres plenty of time to worry about dancefloors later on.

[Guest Dodger]

Speaking from my own perspective (on the moddenseen obviously but I'm sure the same rules apply on the northern scene), when I go to venues as a punter I like to get there early to hear something a bit different, as has already been said, because as a rule later on you'll get the tried, tested and generally familiar. I'm always disappointed when the early doors DJ's play big well known tunes and often the current things that the later DJ's will play for the sake of getting a dozen or so people dancing early on, because inevitably the later DJ's as a rule aren't around and you always get tunes being repeated, which I personally can't be doing with. I know it's hard for an early doors DJ because every DJ wants to fill a floor and get people dancing but I don't think enough take the overall picture into consideration and see an early doors spot where they play the underplayed/unheard/new sounds as part of the overall picture of the event as a whole and just try and impress and look at it from their own viewpoint. The most obvious exception to this rule for me is Bob Hinsley who's a true gentleman, but especially when it comes to DJ'ing - he's got the big tunes but when he does an earlier spot, as he's been doing at Stoke upstairs, he takes the later DJs and tunes into consideration and will play something different and as it's Bob they're always good - he's somebody many can learn from. Personally if I ever do early doors and the venue is nearly empty I'll play what I want to hear and so should anyone who does early doors and have confidence in their own taste (if they have any of course!! ). I think if more DJ's did this both the modern and northern scenes could be a little fresher, from a musical perspective, than the possibly are at the moment. Progressing as a DJ is a long slow process unfortunately but if any DJ simply plays quality tunes and gets their own identity rather than going down the sheep route and pissing off later DJ's by playing 'their' tunes (I'm sure some don't realise just how much this can hinder a 'wannabee') then the chances are they'll get to where they want to be eventually. I'm generalising obviously, but that's what I believe.

Roger

[Boogaloo]

Boogaloo (sorry don't know your name)

Like i said earlier play what you want.............

Brett

I wish it was Butch (have to rely on my physique to get that nickname).

If only it were that easy....... (Oh, oh, I can see another debate in the offing).

Its Warren, by the way.

Regards

Warren 'the butch' Boogaloo

[Guest 50box]

Its your turn for the early spot, the room is cold, there are 10 people in what do you play? Do you play your best tunes or lesser known things to see how they sound? I have stuck a compilation on before now and gone and talked to mates, your thoughts please.

BH

Just take a 50box, no risk of replay. Sort the order b4you go out, easy. If we`re not dancing we`re still listening, just as viable as any other spot.

Tom.

[Guest Netspeaky]

As a DJ it's Simple - Chance to play lesser tunes and try outs over large system, from the opposite side as a Punter, I just love early spots for the same reason, I can hear something different. Edited December 31, 2005 by Netspeaky

[Epic]

Done early spots myself - like to play lesser known things - really LOVE it when somebody comes up & asks you

a)" Play Girl Across The Street"

" Got Any Northern Soul ?"

c)" Do You Know What Northern Soul Is ?"

or the best of all when not only do they expect you to spin records they ask you to do some Paul McKenna mind-reading act when they say

"Play something we know".

[MarkWhiteley]

Done early spots myself - like to play lesser known things - really LOVE it when somebody comes up & asks you

a)" Play Girl Across The Street"

" Got Any Northern Soul ?"

c)" Do You Know What Northern Soul Is ?"

or the best of all when not only do they expect you to spin records they ask you to do some Paul McKenna mind-reading act when they say

"Play something we know".

[Guest Richard Bergman]

When djing early doors, I'd tend to play some dub then have a chinwag ...playing dub records gives 20 mins inbetween....

[Supercorsa]

There's been times when I've played to an empty room, had a great 15-20 minutes and almost resented people for turning up.

I know how this feels , but like you say you almost resent people turning up!

When there's no one there, you play whatever you want with absolutely no pressure to please the dancefloor!

[Ted Massey]

Just do what a certain PC told me he does " I just play what i play in the car and F*** the lot of them", mind you that was after a 10pm to 11pm spot.

[Guest Dodger]

or the best of all when not only do they expect you to spin records they ask you to do some Paul McKenna mind-reading act when they say

"Play something we know".

Or when they say 'have you got anything good?'

[Soundsokeh]

If we`re not dancing we`re still listening, just as viable as any other spot.

Tom.

too right

ppl have paid their money to hear records , dancing is an addition as they are listening to the music as well , not instead of

I was a mobile dj for over 10 years and used to play easy listening stuff in the slow early spots , and I can assure you ppl are still tapping their feet and hands , so do not assume that if nobody is dancing you havent got a job to do, thats what you are there for

I would think you should play lesser known stuff or old stuff no longer played ( a revival ) because out of the thousands of excellent records that could be played later , I am sure you could find some that wont be

so for a start , find and play Busy Signal by Flash and the Board of Directors - good tune , never played AFAIK

[Epic]

Funniest thing I ever saw at an early spot was when a wannabe DJ played "Baby A Go Go" - Barbara McNair off a dodgy CD. Went up to the decks to have a nosey & saw a Motown record spinning on the turntable with the needle hovering about half an inch above the disc.

You can fool some of the people...............

Edited December 31, 2005 by epic

[Guest NASHEE]

Or when they say 'have you got anything good?'

How about

"What was that last record you just played?"...

"OH it was Jimmy Beaumont " says I proudly.

Punter walking away..."It was shite" !!!!

mmmmm cant win em all I guess

[Guest ScooterNik]

When I'm working on the scooterist side of DJing (coz I'm not good enough to make it on the northern scene ) I usually spend the first hour or so playing stuff that I've recently found or oldies that need reviving. If any of them seem to be getting a reaction from people stood around the room (not neccesarily dancing but tapping their feet or doing that 'I'm not dancing, its my shoulders moving in time to the music' thing we all do) I stick them to one side and drop them on again later when the rooms filled up and people have had a few beers.

Edited January 1, 2006 by ScooterNik

[Guest barnsey]

play as many played out done to death tunes as you can find and when the dance floor fills up toss a hand granade in the middle ha ha (only jokin)

[Winnie :-)]

So if the SS DJs, like playing the early spots cos it gives them more artistic licence as it were, why are they not clamouring for early spots every week? I would have thought most DJs liked to play their latest acquisitions, rare or otherwise, so theoretically would like a lot of people in the venue to make the judgement.....

Dancer........Listener.........Sleep inducer etc.

Sorry don't mean to seem cynical, just not convinced that DJs going on early would choose that spot

Winnie:-)

[Winnie :-)]

So if the SS DJs, like playing the early spots cos it gives them more artistic licence as it were, why are they not clamouring for early spots every week? I would have thought most DJs liked to play their latest acquisitions, rare or otherwise, so theoretically would like a lot of people in the venue to make the judgement.....

Dancer........Listener.........Sleep inducer etc.

Sorry don't mean to seem cynical, just not convinced that DJs going on early would choose that spot

Winnie:-)

=========

Also if there's only 10/20/30 in early doors how can you educate the majority who come in later, unless you play the tunes again in a later spot? Surely that's one of the things I keep seeing come up, we can only move on if we educate, but how can you do that when the class is only a quarter full? Could that be one of the reasons we rarely hear new tunes, cos they've all been played earlier, and of course, (and I agree) records shouldn't be replicated??

Winnie:-)

[soulAdequateNP]

Well at our dos in Clowne, each resident DJ actually plays 2 spots of just over 1/2hr each - or sometimes one of us does a full hour or so in the middle, so we get the chance to selfindulge/educate early on and play to a full floor later, e.g. at our last do I did 8-8.30 and 11.30-12.00.

[Guest vinylvixen]

Well at our dos in Clowne, each resident DJ actually plays 2 spots of just over 1/2hr each - or sometimes one of us does a full hour or so in the middle, so we get the chance to selfindulge/educate early on and play to a full floor later, e.g. at our last do I did 8-8.30 and 11.30-12.00.

That's what we used to do at These Old Shoes..........and we used to fight over doing the early sets. I'd do a midtempo set and a selection of stuff that I hadn't played for years.............and the other residents did the same sort of thing until 9.30 and then we started 'warming' things up...........never underestimate the early sets..........you NEVER know who's sitting amongst those 10 people........

[Wiganer1]

That's what we used to do at These Old Shoes..........and we used to fight over doing the early sets. I'd do a midtempo set and a selection of stuff that I hadn't played for years.............and the other residents did the same sort of thing until 9.30 and then we started 'warming' things up...........never underestimate the early sets..........you NEVER know who's sitting amongst those 10 people........

=========

refuse to do the early spots,,wait for a better time to turn up..its not worth it and gets u nowhere anyway

[Guest vinylvixen]

=========

refuse to do the early spots,,wait for a better time to turn up..its not worth it and gets u nowhere anyway

Are you a resident or guest or both?

Well, it was my club and I enjoyed doing the early sets..........what is a better time? Prime slot? That was reserved for the guest and not the residents.

Early set: Not worth it. How do you think start up deejays cut their teeth? Do you think promoters will put beginners on in the Prime Spot? It gets you experience if you're a younger/ inexperienced jock.............and ofcourse an early set is worth it. People get to hear stuff that can't get played in the later 'better time' 100 Top Northern Tunes slot - gives a bit of variety to the night.

Early set gets you nowhere - it's coz of an early set that I got offered the Soul Satisfaction series and a job at Universal.............like I said, you never know who's sitting in those 10 people

But that's just my VHO Jo

[Guest stax'a'soul]

i have not been dj'ing for too long and all the spots i have done have been early doors,but that is fine by me as i really enjoy them and they seem to suit the sort of records i tend to collect(unknown,semi-known and underplayed cheapies).i try to put a bit of thought into what i play and make it enjoyable for those through the doors early,and also while sticking to what i like to play get things going for whoever is on after me.to be honest i think i just enjoy hearing my records played out over a decent sound system.as a punter i always tend to get to a venue early and have caught some really inspired opening sets,and i think it's a great way to start the night...

steve

[Makemvinyl]

to all Joss Dickies play to everyone rare and not so rare or across the board with a newie or a rarity chucked in for educating items and for the DJ who wont do an early spot

RETIRE

Doug

Edited January 2, 2006 by MAKEMVINYL

[John Elias]

Personally I don't beleive any dj should be asked to do the first hour even if the dj requests it,should be half hour max. and then the other half hour later on,this gives the oppotunity to play some biggies later on and in the early spot,as earlier posts suggest,play what you want,obsure stuff,mid tempo and why not the odd forgotten stomper.Perhaps some views on this from promoters???

[Wiganer1]

Are you a resident or guest or both?

Well, it was my club and I enjoyed doing the early sets..........what is a better time? Prime slot? That was reserved for the guest and not the residents.

Early set: Not worth it. How do you think start up deejays cut their teeth? Do you think promoters will put beginners on in the Prime Spot? It gets you experience if you're a younger/ inexperienced jock.............and ofcourse an early set is worth it. People get to hear stuff that can't get played in the later 'better time' 100 Top Northern Tunes slot - gives a bit of variety to the night.

Early set gets you nowhere - it's coz of an early set that I got offered the Soul Satisfaction series and a job at Universal.............like I said, you never know who's sitting in those 10 people

But that's just my VHO Jo

=======

hi jo

been doing 20 years+ of early doors mate and it gets u nowhere the majority of the time

the odd one may be lucky and good luck to them that do

but i certainly wont be busting my gut doing anything to get a major dj spot ever again ..learned that harsh lesson last year and the previous 19+

happy new year

regards

humbug freeman

[Craig W]

The first hour is painfully slow and is a bit of a slog if you try and do it all to yourself so as someone mentioned earlier me and Pete do half hour each to start the night and what we did the other night which seemed to work well was we double decked between 10-11 so in effect you were behind the decks for a hour and a half.

[Blake H]

Thanks for all your very interesting views on this topic. I was one of four djs at Normantons Carlton club years ago and it was quite simple...four djs and four hours so we just moved up an hour every week and when we had a guest we all dropped down to 45 minutes each. Folks would bring record boxes with Johnny Robinson (okeh), Bill brandon (piedmont), Tommy Turner (elbam)and Jimmy J Barnes (organic) for sale. Life was so much simpler when I was a lad blah blah blah.

Thanks

BH

[Guest dkd]

I like playing an early slot too - gives me chance to play things I like, just bought etc. that will probably not fill a dancefloor but are still great sounds.

I think there is always a bit of pressure to please people and get the floor moving on a later slot and an early one can actually be more fun for the DJ (sorry to admit to actually getting pleasure out of playing music).

What better feeling is there to play something you are not sure about early, get a reaction and then move it up to a later set next time?

Dave

[Guest]

Dont perticuly like doin the early set but as a resident for soultown if you do the early spot one month the next time your on you get a later spot simple rotation

At Heavenly Blocked Jason Bessent jumps at doin the first spot so he can dance the rest of the nite away and yes it should be used for playing them lesser known jems we all have in our boxes

HB

[Guest Andy BB]

Play all the stuff that you've just bought and haven't had a chance to hear in a big hall or on a decent system yet. It's amazing how some records can sound mediocre at home but great out and vice versa

That's my excuse for being crap early on anyway - I haven't thought up a decent excuse for being equally crap in later spots yet... Oh yes I have, it's cos I'm terribly terribly drunk

[Ritchieandrew]

There's two ways of looking @ this :

As an "Atendee" at functions : I like the early spots because you tend to pick up on some good stuff thats new to you.

As a DJ at functions : Sometimes it gets a bit disheartening, playing to an empty floor. Early spots IMHO should be 30 Mins duration Max,or double decked, both with a return later on the same evening of 30 mins or more.

Regards Ritchie.

[Little-stevie]

Its your turn for the early spot, the room is cold, there are 10 people in what do you play? Do you play your best tunes or lesser known things to see how they sound? I have stuck a compilation on before now and gone and talked to mates, your thoughts please.

BH

The trick is how to get people there for the start,i advertise to start at 9pm but will open the doors early to members and freinds,they like to getin early and get a table sorted,after a while a few more people know they can do the same..Then when the doors open you have a good few in already..I would always want someone behind the decks from the start,don't look good to a person paying in to see the stage empty..We also give away free cds to first 50 punters sometimes,that gets people in from the start because they know they will miss out if they come later..Free drugs before 9.30,that would work also ...I would like to see that on a flyer,ha ha...I have a good early crowd at my Mod/soul nights,they know they will hear some deeper stuff that don't get much chance later when the place is full..A lot of my mates like the first hour the best and come in early doors...It really depends how well the clud/venue is doing,if it gets full and all the chairs are taken each week/month then people are gonna get in early for a seat...

[Guest Coxy]

So what ya sayin mate, do you want a later spot next time

[Daved]

As several people have said, it's good to play something different early doors. As a punter, I enjoy getting there early, supping a pint and listening to something different. If it was prime time fodder, I'd stay in the pub until prime time. I'd love to do an early doors modern spot.

[Guest]

Ha Ha gotta say I find this subject somewhat amusing as when I used to DJ at a particular club & frequently played an early set of semi knowns/ under played oldies etc I was constantly told to play things that people knew !!

[Guest vinylvixen]

was that the punters or promoters asking that question

Ha Ha gotta say I find this subject somewhat amusing as when I used to DJ at a particular club & frequently played an early set of semi knowns/ under played oldies etc I was constantly told to play things that people knew !!

[grant]

If im at a venue early doors

I apreciate the DJ playing stuff thats lesser known and new to my ears

Theres plenty of time to worry about dancefloors later on.

agreed

[Steve Plumb]

At The Orwell, we always but always play recent acquisitions, new spins and lesser known quality tunage that (a lot of the time) we're thinking of playing in our main spots over the coming months. Lots of the things we're currently playing started life like this. I believe people want to hear summat different whilst they're settling into a venue for the evening. I would say that without exception, the four of us who run The Orwell can't wait until it's their turn to play the early set. I also think (at most venues) that that's when most of the best tunes are played!

Cheers

Steve