DJ Neon the Glowgobear

Graham,

1) There’s no real way. This is all internal. Even after two years, every time I get behind the decks at a big event, I get those butterflies and have to say “I can do this. Absolutely. Let’s have some fun” (and then have two shots). Usually about 30 minutes in, I find my groove and make the magic.

You might try posting some, say, 30-45 minute mixes to your FB and get some friends to weigh in. If you have any other DJ friends, get them to critique. That’s what caused me to re-think/re-work some of my transition methods and really improved the final products.

2) I started my DJ journey when someone said “Hey, Neon. You love music and you have a lot of it, come spin this party…last year all we had was an iPod and a speaker, you gotta be better than that” 🙂 I taught myself some basic mixing in 3 months (practiced every day) and NAILED that party (a definite lucky break for me, trust). I then got a job as a summer DJ on the decks of restaurants, built up some reputation there, I consistently showed that I knew how to promote my event, get people to attend, and then (having had previous good relations with the dance club owners) put my “resume” and online “audition” streams on MixCloud so they could check out my playstyle. They gave me a Friday night (usually not their busiest, especially in the winter months) and showed I could (again) promote the event, get people in attendance, and keep an audience at the bar all the way until 3AM (closing). I was already working in bars as a “emcee/entertainer” in my home city so it was probably an easier transition for me (and for those opportunities I am grateful) from emcee/entertainer to DJ.

It’s a little bit of luck and a whole lot of promotion and learning how to focus in on your markets and gain appeal to them. Some people poo-poo the power of social media, but for me, my employers notice how I use it effectively and that I actually interact with people when they comment on my event, ask questions, and when you go out, you are NEVER “off the clock”. My social media advisor tells me (and this is the whole truth) that once you become a “public figure” you can never have a bad opionin, can never be a butthead, and you even have to be careful with the things you “like” as people are watching. I try to point people away from my personal page and I’ve set up a business page that I direct people who are interested in following my career and my spins. I do always share my events on my personal page after they have been posted to my Entertainer page.

I generally make about 5 playlists. I have my “OH my YES I want to play these songs (about 1.5 hours) MOST definitely” or the “A List – [eventname]” list. Then I have my “B List – [eventname]” with good songs, but nothing I absolutely feel I have to showcase. My “C :ist [eventname]” is for intro songs, something light to start off the evening (if the party starts at like 8 – 9). I make two “Bathroom Break” lists trimmed to where Virtual DJ can do a decent job of automixing when I gotta take a few out of the booth for a quick break or to grab a drink.

I use my slidelist for requests or stuff that I want to inject because of the crowd that I didn’t anticipate.

Has worked out for me pretty well so far.