Everyone always asked me if it mattered.
“Does what you say to the crowd matter?” “Does it matter if you can beat mix well?” “Do my scratching skills' matter?” “Do the games you play at private affairs or the promotions you do at clubs matter?” And the number one “matter” question: “Does the music really matter?”
Typically, if you’re a bedroom DJ, nothing really matters, although it’s more fun to play songs you like rather than music that systematically fits into the technical aspects of what you’re trying to do.
If you’re a radio DJ, the music doesn’t really matter, because you won’t be choosing it, and you won’t have a clue how your audience responds Toit anyway.
If you’re a nightclub DJ, it absolutely matters, but only early in the night before people have had enough alcohol or drugs to forget the difference.
And if you’re a mobile private party DJ, it depends on the crowd, and your answer will always be different. Some crowds would respond to you banging two sticks together on the microphone, and others wouldn’t dance if you held a large cannon to their butts with a shaky trigger finger.
For more than fifteen years of my life, I worked as a radio, club and mobile DJ. I went to bed at about 4 AM and slept until 10 AM most mornings (when not working a day job for insurance benefits). I lost touch with most of my high school friends because I was working while they were out partying.
There is one good point, now that I look back[el] I missed the entire Cosby show.
But I was having fun. I was earning money doing what I loved to do[em]writing and playing music.
And I got to do many things most people would never dream of doing, including but not limited to acting as a pseudo-psychiatrist, relationship counselor, bouncer, director of marketing, bartender, maitre’d, camp counselor, concierge, deal broker, buyer, sales rep, sound and lighting engineer, national act producer, PC repair technician, video producer, gigolo, and other things I simply can’t remember at this point.
I was building a career that would ultimately include feature magazine articles, radio commercials all over the world, a stint with a local rock band, and ultimately the creation of this book.
We all make sacrifices in life, and I’d do it all over again, the same exact way.
So now you’re thinking about becoming a DJ. Maybe
