Jan/Feb 2004
The Trials of Skate DJs
- con't from last issue - With this DJ business, the music and how people respond, it's gonna always be like that until people understand that unless the DJ is deliberately doing this, you're gonna be stuck with good and bad times. I don't think you need a slide rule to figure that out..... The DJ reminds you of back in the days of the Romans when they used to put gladiators in with other gladiators and may the best man win. If it was a draw or if one was on his back and it's a matter of time whether [he] lives or dies, it came to a decision by the thumbs up or down method, I think this is what a DJ goes through. [He's] put in a rink, which is like an arena, comes in with his records and he plays and has to be up in the booth shaking and nervous as to whether or not they're gonna kill him before he leaves. The thumbs up or down would be whether somebody's yelling at him that 'he sucks' or 'who said you could DJ', etc. DJs are always in a situation of trying to please and it depends on the DJ whether you're gonna get a guy who's passive or one who will say ‘I blew it tonight’, or you might get a DJ who says ‘F' everybody, this is what I do, this is what I'm doing tonight, if I didn't play to suit you, I don't care.’ You got them who come, they don't deliberately try to make a night bad but they're sure not going to be upset because you didn't like the way they played. As far as he's concerned, if he came there to do a good job and he didn't do one, in his mind he tried to make it happen. This is the guy I'm talking about, one who really comes to try to make that crowd rock. He has these crates set up with different music in them and as a DJ you get to know your stock along with hopefully knowing the people under your seduction in a given night. If you don't pull out the right records, you could be up for slaughter with the good intention and all of that, so it takes a very unique DJ to figure that out from night to night. There are DJs that understand that if you have 200 people get off the floor and come to the booth all at once and protest, I think the DJ would take heed to that. If you reduce that number down to 2 people, 3 or 1 person then the DJ's just getting annoyed at this point because as far as he's concerned, I believe most DJs would go in their pocket, give you your money back and tell you to leave the rink. It's like in politics, you get things done in numbers much better, in Congress and the political arena you need ‘x’ amount of votes, even if what's voted on is wrong, you get enough votes and that wrong thing will end up being the rule, but that's the way we do things. The DJ has to be a person that takes risks, so he's pretty brave, when you think about it, to come in each night and play and at the end of the night have somebody tell him, ‘I got my sweat on tonight. I had a good time.’ But the minute that same DJ we love so much doesn't play right or make me sweat, I'm ready to kick his butt, ready to curse him, ready to do anything because me/1, didn't like the way he played, not me/500, or me/300, but me/1. That's what it amounts to, me, 1 because we get angry one at a time, so it must be a group effort, something people can really put their finger on and prove it at the same time. This is not a party where the DJ is hired and given a list from the person planning the party, [who says ‘these records and only these records do you play.’] Now we have a DJ who doesn't have to sweat it, he comes in, brings those records/CDs, and plays those songs whether it be all night long or whatever the deal is he makes with the person who hired him. The DJ like that is not the same DJ, he's a guy that plays music rather than have the person giving the event do the job. They're paying him so they don't have to do it..... you could get anybody to do that. When we talk about DJs, that's a tough job, being in that business ‘x’ amount of years or not, it's a tough job. You could use any example of a job that requires you to do perfect work all the time and the minute you don't do perfect work, you're reprimanded or fired. That's based on the person paying you to do perfect work. The minute you don't do it that person who hired you feels his/her reason for firing you is valid because they paid you to do it. Now, you're not doing perfect work so if you're set up in a situation where perfect work will have you out of a job, you're just out of a job....We as a people or as an employer have to get somebody else because we need perfect work Well, a DJ doesn't always do perfect work because he/she chooses sometimes the wrong music to play and they're crucified for it. The only guy I'm looking to crucify, if I can use that term, is the guy that's doing it consistently and on purpose and I don't think that really exists. A bad DJ would be one who's just starting out and he really doesn't know, hasn't had a tutor or been hanging out with anybody that does DJing and every now and then he's allowed to work on the turntables.... If you haven't been given some training and end up in a rink and you don't have your act together, I think that's a bigger risk because you barely know how to hook the stuff up, I think that's insane. I don't think that would happen for anybody that would employ you in the first place. A good DJ is one that's willing to learn, who studies his clients, his house - they refer to it as “their house” - and I think that came from night clubs, people get used to you playing and it's referred to as “my house.” If you take that pride in it being your house, I think that's a wonderful thing because now you're doing very close to perfect work. You're not allowing yourself to come there with an attitude, so now it's not perfect work, it becomes a paycheck because you really shouldn't be there, somebody else should be there... Now, all these things that are necessary for you to have this one night, if your heart is not in it to do perfect work that's when everybody knows it or feels it, it's like taking cold water and throwing it on somebody - we're so quick to turn that thumb down and I think that's just human nature, I don't know if it's good or bad, it's just not good for the DJ. RST What do you think of a DJ a number of skaters aren't satisfied with
and he is told but replies ‘they'll get over it.’
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