DJs: How do you deal with it when...

Shayper

Shayper

Shayper

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Fabric Nightclub, London.
... Someone asks you to play music which is nothing like what you have been playing and clearly specialise in?

I just deejayed an afterparty as a taster for my set at Proud2, and even though I was clearly playing dubstep, dnb and electro (and made it clear beforehand that that would be what I would be playing) people still came up to me constantly and asked for rnb. Which I detest. And then got really annoyed even though I was polite and said "I'm really sorry, but I don't play that stuff so I don't have any on the laptop", and then even tried to push me off my own decks and laptop to play their stuff.

I'm not sure what to expect for my set at Proud2 now, as it will be to a similar crowd, however again it is clear what music I'll be playing. So, fellow DJs, what is your usual plan to deal with this sort of thing?

Edit: just to make it clear the majority were enjoying my set, just that a few people were coming up to me constantly asking for stuff that I wouldn't be playing.
 
Fob them off with 'I'll try and play it later" or "I've been told what to play by the owner and that's not on the list".
 
Proper DJ's don't take requests. Just look at them with disdain & shake your head slowly.
 
Smile, be nice and don't comply. They may as well be telling you not to let it rain tomorrow because they are planning a day at the beach :) Some things you will never be able to arrange :D
 
"Sorry I am not your jukebox/ipod, and I am certain the other party-goers would rather not be subjected to your clearly terrible taste in music."
 
The vast majority of DJs I see these days all use CDJs tied up to laptops. Very rarely do you see them use vinyl, although when you do it's a treat :D

The only DJ that stands out in my head from recent years at Digital is DJ Hype
 
Do Marco Carola, Slam, Ferry Corsten, Armin van Buuren and hundreds of others to name but a few count as real djs?

All of them use laptops, serato and cdjs with the exception of Marco who runs his time code off vinyl still.

Maybe you are indeed too old school... :p
 
I'm afraid it's just something you're going to have get used to, you really won't be able to please everybody but part of the fun / challenge sometimes is winning the crowd over.
Be polite but at the same time let them know the score - If it was me I'd get a little creative, after all you are the DJ - get a good collection of Rap / R&B style accapellas so you can throw them in from time to give them something to realate to even if the genre is still essentailly Dubstep / breaks etc.

2nd bit of advice is that judging by your "detest" of R&B, you need to broaded your mind a little and forget the stuff you hear on the radio and go and search for some of the good stuff. As a DJ you should be getting inspiration from every genre out there. There's nothing wrong with specialising in a genre when you DJ, but your background knowledge shouldn't be so narrow minded.
 
iguanoid said:
Do Marco Carola, Slam, Ferry Corsten, Armin van Buuren and hundreds of others to name but a few count as real djs?

All of them use laptops, serato and cdjs with the exception of Marco who runs his time code off vinyl still.

Maybe you are indeed too old school... :p
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i guess i am then :D although Ferry Corsten & Armin van Buuren never used to be any good from memory. not much better than bedroom DJs.

i see all this beat counter and autocue stuff and it reminds me of singers who need autotune. oh well. i guess vinyl has died out now :( sad times
 
postbox said:
I'm afraid it's just something you're going to have get used to, you really won't be able to please everybody but part of the fun / challenge sometimes is winning the crowd over.
Be polite but at the same time let them know the score - If it was me I'd get a little creative, after all you are the DJ - get a good collection of Rap / R&B style accapellas so you can throw them in from time to give them something to realate to even if the genre is still essentailly Dubstep / breaks etc.

2nd bit of advice is that judging by your "detest" of R&B, you need to broaded your mind a little and forget the stuff you hear on the radio and go and search for some of the good stuff. As a DJ you should be getting inspiration from every genre out there. There's nothing wrong with specialising in a genre when you DJ, but your background knowledge shouldn't be so narrow minded.
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That's the thing. I have plenty of acapellas/remixes of grime, rnb and other stuff like that but they just wanted me to play songs that were nowhere near my tempo range, and nothing like the style that I was playing.

And someone tried to push me off my decks to hook up their phone to play "Rack City" or whatever it is. So I asked them to leave, as it's bloody expensive equipment and I didn't want them to get damaged.

Thanks for the responses guys, guess I'll just use the fob off trick then :)
 
Almost every time I've asked a DJ to play something, it doesn't get played. No big deal, just don't play it :p
 
Shayper said:
And someone tried to push me off my decks to hook up their phone to play "Rack City" or whatever it is. So I asked them to leave, as it's bloody expensive equipment and I didn't want them to get damaged.
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Rack City is the best song of all time that involves a grandma on a d, 10s on boobies, and girls with no asses wearing ponchos. A trully artful song that illustrates tyga's true proficiency in the english language. Rolling Stone said, of the song, "This modern day rap anthem to the the city of racks is 2011's version of Imagine or Born to Run. Tygas melodious voice, emphasizing the hundreds that he throws upon the racks of strippers while eloquently alluding to paint on cars, his own star power, the hazards of getting bapped, and his pride in not practicing celibacy, trully captures the voice of a generation." Known as a fantastic song with and outstanding music video.
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;)

Also tell that person who tried to push you off the decks to get stuffed, it's not like you're doing a soundclash now is it?
 
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