If you're finding yourself just wanting to strangle yourself with that headphone cable, maybe you've got 'DJ's block' too...
Reader Ashley writes: “I’m suffering from ‘DJ’s block’. I have lost my creative edge when mixing. I mix quite a few genres as not to pigeonhole myself and like to play non-commercial tunes: urban, dance, d’n'b etc.
When practising or just jamming at home I am finding this happens to me a lot. I will start mixing a few songs and then start genre-hopping to find my groove. However, where I used to mix for hours has now turned into quite literally minutes before I get fed up.
I have taken breaks, week-long ones, but I then find myself behind with up-to-date music and again the creativity disappears in my sets. Any advice?
I have been djing for six years, part time, and this happens to me every so often. However when I have a gig or been put on the spot I seem to do fine. Any guidance will be appreciated.
Digital DJ Tips says:
I feel for you Ashley. You’re getting better as a DJ, so the old tricks just aren’t thrilling you so much any more. This is actually a good thing! And while there are no easy answers as to how to push to the next level, there are some pieces of advice I can give you:
- Listen to your heroes – Find some mixes by those you admire on Mixcloud or wherever, and let them inspire you. Just as a guitar player will hit a plateau when learning, so do DJs – and you can break through that by listening to people who are better DJs than you and learning from them
- Play out more – Can you find yourself a regular gig? It’s telling that you say “when I have a gig or have been put on the spot, I seem to do fine”. Of course you do. That’s the mark of a good DJ! Think of it this way: If you’re a football player, how long do you think you’ll be able to play around with a ball in your backyard before you get bored, hankering after an actual game? DJing is a public sport. There’s only so much bedroom mixing anyone can do without getting bored
- Limit your materials – The problem with being a genre-hopping DJ (I know, I am one too), is that “hops” are often made to move a difficult crowd, or to develop a set played in front of a diverse audience, where you are naturally limited by what people will dance to. Thus your DJing is a battle between what you can get away with, and the big leaps you’d like to make in your set. Trouble is, at home you can play anything you want – and too much freedom can make things almost pointlessly dull. So limit yourself. Only tunes beginning with “M”. Only tunes under three minutes. Anything will do, completely arbitrary makes no difference at all – and the limiting will force you to be more creative
- Record what you do – What bores you as you’re doing it may actually sound great later. If you don’t record it, you’ll never know. Doing this also teaches you to step outside of your DJing and see your sets from the audience’s point of view, but that means that you’ll learn to do this more as you’re actually playing them. Developing a sense of what your sets really sound like can make you prouder of your DJ practising, and less likely to give up or get bored
Incidentally, don’t worry so much about keeping up with all music. It’s impossible anyway. As long as your sets have a few “known” tunes in them, you can fill you virtual crates with tunes that work for you, whatever their age. Good music doesn’t go out of date.
Have you ever suffered from “DJ’s block”? How did you deal with it and find your mojo again? We’d love to hear your experiences in the comments.
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Tags: dj's block, inspiration, motivation, practising
This is a key issue that I’m sure affects all DJs at various times. You mentioned DJing at home and that’s also been a difficult challenge for me. After consistently experiencing the incredible highs that come with rocking peak sets and destroying dance floors (sorry, can’t think of any reason for false modesty in this context), practicing alone at home became alarmingly flat and draining. In addition, when I’m really in the zone at a gig and locked into that feedback loop with the dance floor, my technical abilities are at a peak as well and I’m able to effortlessly pull off complex mixes that I labor to emulate back at my crib. The worst times are when it seems like almost everything I try at home just plain doesn’t work well: tracks don’t seem to fit together and it feels like I’m just doing a dry intellectual exercise.
OK, so that’s the bad part but over the years I’ve come up with a few things which can give me more life and inspiration:
1) I leave the mixing alone for a spell and crank up the time I spend finding new music and just listening to individual tracks (new and old). Anyone who’s been at this for more than a minute knows that one of the essential truths about DJing is that your primary job isn’t playing music, it’s *listening* to it. A LOT it. Personally though, I can start to get a bit bored and impatient when I’m just sitting at my desk listening to track after, so my secret weapon is my iPod. I load it up with all of the new music I’ve been been meaning to review and get my lazy ass out of the studio. I’ll get on my bike or go for a walk and listen. The iPod rating system comes in handy to keep track of the handful of keepers and endless rejects (I gave up my bad habit of keeping “maybe” tracks a while ago, LOL). Not only that, but anywhere I go where I don’t have to be socially active, those headphones are glued to my ears. Another plus for me is that I find that I’m more patient and more likely to listen to most of a track rather than just skip though it in a few seconds and this pays off when I find great tracks that I might have missed.
2) I record a live set or a mini set and listen to it and face the painful and (sometimes exciting) truth. I also have a rule for all of my lives gig and studio set recordings: even if I listen to them shortly afterwards, I put them aside and listen to them again much later. I’ve been totally shocked at how my opinion of my sets can change over time.
3) Find other DJs you vibe with and trust and try tag teaming or something like that. Take turns mixing and offer each constructive tips. Or just hang out and listen to music. I know that DJs are often lone wolves when it comes to their art and many scenes are very competitive, etc., but in my experience, anything you can do to break down those barriers will go miles toward bringing your game to a new level. Out here in the SF Bay area we’re blessed with a very community oriented and supportive DJ culture with a minimum of competitive attitudes and that’s not an accident: we’ve worked hard at breaking down those barriers. So if that’s something you’d like to see more of where you live – make it happen. You’ll get MORE gigs, not less.
4) Try remixing or at least re-editing some tracks. Even if you have little or no background, there are tons of tutorial videos on the web to guide you. If you’re a beginner, try something simple like chopping out an annoying guitar solo that kills an otherwise great track, or extending an intro to make it more DJ friendly. Always set a clear and *specific* goal, instead of just playing around with the software. If you have a clear goal, you’ll find a way to get the task done and you’ll be able to ask the right questions if you get stuck. And when you’re finished, you’ll have a version of that track that’s unique to you and your sets. Keep it up and after a while your sets will have more of your unique tracks and people will notice. The best part is that the only way anyone is gonna hear your hot edits and remixes is to book you. You’ll get better and better at it and before you know it, boom: Ibiza, Rio, Miami, Glastonbury and Pyongyang (wow, the first ever DJ set in North Korea! Ok, so you get sent to a cultural re-education work camp and you have to listen to Kim Ill Jung tapes on a scratchy loudspeaker, 24/7: if you ever get out, you’ll be a freaking LEGEND ;-P)
Anyway, hope this helps.
[ link ]Awesome advice, and an article in itself. Thanks, Kenny.
[ link ]Agreed 100%. Point 4 works for me every single time – trying to put into practice your skillset recording live mash ups instead of struggling through a 60 min session is such a liverating exercise!
[ link ]Great article from Phil as well as a great reply!
[ link ]please put a like button on this page
[ link ]Great suggestions Kenny…
[ link ]Yeah Kenny great tips.. Your first part really hit home aswell, as I think I suffer with the highs and lows of performing live then back into the studio. Playing out live is like the ultimate drug and playing at home is the come down, at times! Just by reading the article and your 2 cents has already got me powering up those cdjs…
[ link ]I agree with Kenny.
I would also add to set goals. Achievements you want. For me, I’ll stop the block by having goals of mixes I want to make and blogs I want to write. When you have goals, then you have an end result to make your way to. This keeps you focused.
I’ll be honest, I really don’t just play around at home for no reason anymore. When I get on the DJ set I’m either recording a new mix or writing a blog. Just playing does become flat, thus I need goals to work towards.
I’ve also found crate digging as a great way to fight the hits of block. You might get bored listening to new tunes, so I’ll listen to some classics and suddenly think I g of how I’d want to make a new mix of this or play it somewhere. That’s what will get you excited.
Live gigs are a goal…hence why you seem to come together by them.
[ link ]This article comes at the right moment for me…Thanks Mr. Phil…great info… as always.
First time I comment, but I have been reading the articles for a long time….I have not yet totally enter the digital dj thing,I have everything for it, but i always return back to my technics, but I am trying (getting there)…. thanks you so much for this site.
Thanks Kenny for the comment…and we should never forget this:
“one of the essential truths about DJing is that your primary job isn’t playing music, it’s *listening* to it”…..
Also, for me, when I play digital with controllers and autosync, i feel i dont listen to the music…that is why i keep going back to decks….maybe thats just me.
thanks again…
…sorry for the english
[ link ]I don’t really feel like I had dj’s block, it was more of a lack of motivation. The only time I enjoyed spinning was when I threw house parties every weekend. During the week I wouldn’t touch my decks, they would collect dust til friday and saturday rolled around, then I’d have another house party and things were good.
I recently moved back home, no more house parties, the lack of motivation and bordom of spinning to myself is back….
[ link ]I am motivated from good sets & Music. If I hear a song that blasts me away, I am fully motivated to buy it and play it by myself.
This is my motivation. I have a “production block” if you want to call it like this 
I am not really motivated to produce my own tunes because I am not finding the right sounds/can’t bring my ideas to live.
[ link ]Great article Phil, as always.
When I’m working it’s mostly mixed genres sets, but when I’m mixing at home I never do that.
I get “dj-block” when i try to do the same as I do on venues.
I do 2-3 one-hour mixes a week. First I decide the genre, then I make a “crate” with a lot of simular tunes, 3-4 times more than I need.
Then comes the importat part, I go to the fridge and get a cold beer, turn down the lights and turn on the Led-bar I mounted over the gears, to get that nightclub feelin´.
Last step is important too, selecting the start tune, it’s gonna set the “mood” for the whole mix.
When I’m done I put the mix on a thumdrive so I can listen to it in the car, and if I think it’s ok I upload it to Mixcloud.
[ link ]It’s kinda exciting to have youre mixes out there for anyone to hear and judge.
Here is one of these mixes
http://www.mixcloud.com/Flyer/dubstep-tryout-2/
Great Stuff…..Thank You ALL…..
[ link ]I’ve used this technique for a few years now, and found it works really well. I got from a creative writing class…
Pick ANY subject, the first one that comes to mind.
Take two songs; the first and last songs you plan on playing.
After that, just experiment with everything else in between, regardless of genre. You’ll find that you can strip away the stuff that doesn’t work until you’re left with what does. The things you discard can be used in future mixes.
DON’T censor yourself. Just pick purely on instinct.
[ link ]So much great advice here, it’s challenging to add to it.
One thing that helps me is making sure that my music library is organized and cataloged well. Then, when I’m in a mental block about what to add, I can at least browse through a genre and go “Oh, I totally forgot about that record! Great groove!” and I can drop it in.
[ link ]yea i feel that i can practice about an hour a day, then i get bored…. what do i do? i want to get better so bad but i dont have the motivation either. i also find it hard to mix different genres together, i mostly play progressive house, electro house, and dubstep.
[ link ]As one reply says, spend your time FINDING great music rather than MIXING it.
[ link ]Great tip from Kenny. #1 was probably the most important part. When I find a great tune that gives me the shivers I immediatedly jump on my deck and start mixing to all the similar tracks n’ build up a combo around it. Killer tracks doesn’t come often and sometimes none at all for a long time. But month after months of hardwork you will eventually build up an amazing combo set, Combo 1, combo 2, combo 3… combo #n, and start slicing up the combos and that’s when the creativity begins.
I play hip hop mostly so when I hit DJ’s block I take a pen and pad and start writing poems. No, it doesn’t help with the DJ block but you stem another talent.
Keep it up!
[ link ]One thing I’ve tried a couple times that works for me is to take time off, surprisingly. For me, at least, 2+ hours of practice a day isn’t sustainable for anything more than 3 weeks at a time. Once I reach a wall where my creativity feels depleted and powering up my mixer becomes a chore, I’ll just stop for a few days and take a breather. Without exception, I find that after these breaks I’ll return with renewed vigor and come up with some of my best mixes, which gives me enough heart to start the cycle all over again.
As a hobby DJ my only ‘gigs’ (if you canc all them that) are just house parties so there’s no real repercussions to doing this, but your mileage may vary.
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