For me it was about a month. Let me qualify that.
1. I had been in the music business for 10+ years, so I understood the business and what it takes to get gigs.
2. I also had a good list of contacts for possible gigs, club owners, bartenders, etc.
3. A little luck never hurts. I got hired for a resident DJ position off of my reputation as a musician…So I had a gig booked before I bought a stitch of gear. and
4. I had a deadline…When I got hired, the departing DJ was leaving in 4 weeks, so I had 4 weeks to sort out some software, a controller, find some music, and practice practice practice…(I can tell you I didn’t get much sleep for 4 weeks)
This is not a typical case, but there are some nuggets you can gleen from this… I learned from being a musician, you learn the most when you perform live. There is nothing like having an expectant crowd looking to you to perform to speed up your learning curve. You have to be able to accept less than perfection in your live show, get the basics down…you will figure out the rest on the fly. Look at it this way, to DJ professionally means that you are going to play music, and you are going to get paid (hopefully), and waiting for perfection before your first gig generally means you will never have your first gig. Have fun with it, be willing to take some criticism, you won’t be perfect right away, but that’s ok. Remember you only do your first gig once, and it won’t kill you.
Darren
