Playing gigs, whether DJ or live sets, can be one of the best ways to get your sound out there, and even make a little money from what you're doing. But it's one thing to say "play more shows", and quite another to actually get the bookings! So how should you go about it? Let's consider the options...Right now there is something of a surfeit of DJs out there. Everyone wants the gigs, and there are only a certain number of clubs and weekend nights to go around. So you have to work that bit harder to make sure they go to you!
The classic way of guaranteeing yourself a set is to start up a night. It sounds so simple. Book a venue, get a crew together, get some other DJs involved, get promoting. It is simple - but it's also a huge amount of work, and even financial risk. You need posters, flyers, online promotion, lots of friends, cash upfront and plenty of time. You also need to make sure it's a really good night; you can't be half hearted about it. The first time (or two) your friends will all come down to show support - but after that you need to be bringing in new people each time. Not easy!
A lower-stress option, therefore, is to get booked for an existing night. Now this is a tougher prospect; as we know, there are always plenty of DJs willing to play for a few beers and a taxi home. So you have to put yourself in the position of the promoter - who would they want to book? First, they'll want someone who can bring a bit of a crowd with them. If you can bring ten or fifteen friends, then this will make the promoter more money - and promoters like money.
Also, you can help out with a spot of promotion; if you're at college, offer to put up posters and flyers in the student common room or bar, or offer to get hyping on any forums and online communities you're involved with. The more useful you can make yourself to the clubnight, the more they'll want you to be involved.
Another key point, is that they'll want someone who is versatile. Put aside for now that dream of smashing the main room at 2AM - that's what the headliner is being paid handsomely for. What a promoter needs is someone who can revive a flagging dancefloor at the end of a long night, or someone who can entice sober clubbers onto the floor with a warm-up set at 10PM. This requires a varied music collection, and someone who won't always try to drop the latest bangers at all times!
This leads on to the issue of the demo mix. You should, of course, be making sure it's easily accessible, (use a streaming service like Soundcloud, so people don't have to wait 10 minutes to download it from MegaRapidSend) but you need to think carefully about the content too. As mentioned, you're unlikely to be playing the main room at peak time (not yet, anyway) so your mix needs to reflect that. Show that you can build a set, that you can make some clever blends, throw a couple of classics in there, the odd curveball - demonstrate that you have great taste in music, and a depth to your selection. No promoter wants to hear the Beatport top 10 mixed together, and no online fan wants to hear a bedroom DJ mashing the latest dubstep bangers together - they can download a mix by Skream for that.That's right - online fans. Once you've got your mix online, hit up some blogs and ask if they wouldn't mind featuring your mix. Be polite, include a tracklist, tell them what it's all about, even offer it exclusively to a blog. This isn't so much to generate fans for yourself, but more to show promoters that you've been working hard to get publicity for your sound and your DJ skills. It will demonstrate that you can pitch in and help make their night a success.
When talking about club performances, in 2011 it's important to think about your hardware setup too. Just as you should try to be interesting and different with your selections, the concept of mixing one CD into the next is pretty standard in this age of controllers, samplers, FX boxes, laptops, and so on. A live set is often more interesting for a crowd to watch (not always though; peering at a laptop screen for an hour is no-one's idea of fun) and gives the promoter something else to hype in their press releases and online promotion. And again, if you're doing something that no-one else in your town is doing, it will make you stand out from the crowd.
We've discussed what you should be doing to make yourself more attractive to promoters - but how will they know who you are in the first place? It's that old chestnut, networking. The necessary evil that permeates the whole music industry. You need to make yourself known to the people in your scene, which means you have to get down to all the club nights you might want to play at; partly to show support, but also to meet the protagonists. Introduce yourself, get chatting, let them know you'd like to get involved. Hang out at the local record shop and chat to the staff and customers. Get yourself invited to house parties, bring your tunes down, go to the smaller bar nights. It's actually a lot of work in itself, and often involves going out on a Wednesday just to show face, when you'd much rather stay in - but if people don't know you, then they can't book you. So it's important!It's a lot of work - but its all worth it when you're finally on stage dropping that track you've been itching to play for weeks! So get your demo together, think about what you can contribute to a successful night, and head out into the world to meet some new folks...
