Digital DJ Tips reader Shelli (not her real name) writes: “I am a 27 year old female that has been struggling with her possible DJ career for a couple years now. I have got my gear out of storage only to give up and pack it all away again a few times already, and I hate it!”
“I am the one that’s always down on her confidence and is always thinking ‘I suck’ and ‘I can’t do this’. I feel like I can’t properly learn the ropes and I have had many times of frustration causing me to think that packing up and possibly selling my equipment would be best. I am told that I have talent and do good mixes but I don’t feel that yet. I’m hoping that your help, expertise, support and advice will help push me forward and get me doing what I really want to do.”
Digital DJ Tips says:
Book just one party. One event. One gig. One reason for you and you alone to stand there and DJ for two or three hours. It may well end up being the hardest thing you ever do – but do it. Because something magical happens when you do that. Instead of thinking “will I ever be good enough to do this for real?” you start thinking very differently. Now, you start thinking: “As I have a show in six weeks, what do I have to do to make sure I do well?”
Your mind starts thinking of your audience, the current big tunes, tunes you love, tunes you’ve always thought should be played at parties. You stop thinking about everything that it’s possible to do technically, and start thinking about the half dozen technical things you need to do to get through that one show. You start to visualise. And that’s a very, very good thing.
And the biggest bit of magic? When you’ve done that one single event, you’re in the top 25% of DJs already. Yup, that’s right. You’ve just leapfrogged three-quarters of DJs – that’s the number who buy gear but never play a single show. Now, you know what it’s like to actually, genuinely do it. And I promise you your confidence, while it won’t suddenly go rock star (you wouldn’t want that anyway, would you?) will rise above hating yourself and doubting that you’ll ever be able to do it. Because you just did.
Good luck!
Have you struggled with demons that tell you you can’t doit? Are you a girl DJ who’se had to beat the odds to get your foot in the door? Any advice you can offer to Shelli? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Phil Morse
