MOBILE DJ ADVISE, WHY DON'T PEOPLE DANCE AFTER FOOD?

[TheMobileDJ]

As a "I Like to think" Respectful DJ i see my role as a guest at a Party or Wedding, not to interfere but to help both the DJ and My Friends who where nice enough to invite me make the evening go as well as possible.

Usually by making a compleate Prat of my self on the dance floor so people will start Dancing.

I have had Fellow Dj's thanking me at the end of the evening for being a good sport every one need's help sometimes even from a prat like me lol...

[MrDjpete1]

Hi Jonathan

A good bit of advise after the food is to get one or two kids around by your decks and let them hit the start button and turn one or two lights on. The kids love it and so do the people your playing to. I have even let the kids try and mix (with a little help). This kills a good half an hour and lets there food go down. And the kids are well happy. Just a bit of what i have done and still do.

[AsylumET]

@MrDjpete1 That isn't a bad idea depending on the event. Done it a few times myself. You may want to consider bringing along an old CDJ or some cheaper gear just for that purpose so you can keep people out from behind your setup and away from your real gear which is a rather dangerous for them to be and in terms of insurance is dangerous for you as well.

[Benjay1975]

lol

[empireskateboards15]

hey, i was djing a farmers market for 7 1/2 hours and i charged $680 is that a good price to charge and how much should i charge an hour

[DJPhillay]

I've heard of a few tricks to say to the drunks (one is rather a screw you if another DJ plays after you)

1) I really love that song but I left that CD at home today

2) I'm almost done for the night and I don't have time

3) The next DJ loves playing that and always plays it in his sets, why dont you ask him!

[mixtermike]

Seriously some great advice, something DJs and party planners need to realize. I always try to follow this method, it helps get people to dance.

[RockXero77]

My first gig at my middle school, the first track I played, (deadmau5 - get in the cart pig, for an intro) a little girl came up and asked me if I was "going to play real music". I fought back the urge to hit her, put on a fake smile, and said "Yes, I will". Then I dropped a dubstep track that made HER fall over, and everyone else danced the whole time.

[HalomasterA69]

@RockXero77 Bro if u do shit like that then stop DJing, just sell ur equipment and move on with ur life;\

[RockXero77]

@HalomasterA69 Meh, was kind of a dick move, but term "real music" just pisses me off. There is no such thing as "real" music. All music is real. In fact, the kind of pop stuff she called "real music" is the closest thing there is to "fake" music.

[HalomasterA69]

@RockXero77 There is no such thing called fake music, or real music, music is music and if u dont like that type of genre dont call it fake just dont listen to it and yyaa that was a pretty dick move u made there bud

[johnkwesi1]

@HDJ's

But they pay the bills. Give them what they want and be happy. Collect you check at the end of the night and move on to the bank.

[MrDjpete1]

Hi all you think all these are bad. I use to DJ years ago but sold out (like a dick) missed it so much got my self some more gear. First gig was a wedding and only 25 people turned up. And a good 15 to 20 of those were over 70 ! My heart sank like a tonne or lead. But don't let things get you down as next gig was full. the kind of gig were no matter what you played they were up (brill).

Regards DJpete8

[LFCsteUK]

the public are fuck tards, especilly when there pissed. take your time, judge the average age of the majority of the woman in the room (woman will always be 1st on the floor) and play pop from the years when they were 18 to 30 so age 40ish play 80s to start. well known tunes will always have more succsess in the private function enviroment. remember you have the impossible task of pleasing everyone so dont take it to heart if you have a shit gig, it happens to everyone now and again

[youngtrigatherealest]

DUDE totaly. i was at a party and some guy gave me a "Dj Tip" He told me to only dj the same genre for the rest of my life. I felt slapping slapping him or quite frankly slapping myself. People are redicoulus.

[LFCsteUK]

@youngtrigatherealest your right there, i get a teisto at every gig. if you only play what you like your career as a mobile dj will be shite, the public are morons

[TheGemicore]

@LFCsteUK Totally Agreeing By experience :)

[Mureaumusic]

great vids brotha!! you are a smart dude

[001Neal100]

Me and my mate DJ'd at a high school PROM once. We played the chilled out and funky house music as they arrived and had their glass of champagne etc. Then when their food was being served, we turned down the music and eventually off and went to the bar downstairs to have a drink ourselves. After about 40-50mins the host called us up to play music straight after they had eaten, and as soon as we started playing the electro and tech house they were all up and raving until 1AM! It was brilliant!

[noizyme]

It sounds very hard to read the crowds. I would advise having a preliminary meeting with the host(s) to see what kind of people would be attending. If its a smathering of different age groups with different tastes, I could see how your tips would be appropriate, but a lot of my friends are music snobs who hope that events like weddings are FILLED with exquisite, strange tracks that get them into an entirely different mood.

[thadacus]

Honestly I have always found Dj's amazing, I have a fasination with music, and love good mixed tracks. When I get home from my trip into "europe" I really would like to look into a good set of equipment and give it my shot. With your great toturials I'm sure I could atleast get the basics down enough to not leave me frustrated at the tables because I can't get the tracks to mix right. :) Thanks Bro, I love watching these videos.

[siom88]

I want to thank you for all the advice you give. It helps every DJ out there that starts/started on being a Mobile DJ -included me!- ;)

I want to share a little experience. I was hire to play Techno, so! the guy is from a Latino community so I ask him if he wanted some Salsa, so the guy told me just Techno and so... All his friends that he invited on the majority wanted Salsa which I played, saddest part, he didn't wanted to pay me because I played SAlsa -even so people enjoyed the night-. :P

[DJMellowDee]

Always beware of drunk people coming up to you, try to keep them on distance! Had one coming up to me a few weeks ago, and after a short discussion (of course because he was asking for some classic rock songs while I was playing house and minimal....) he started to puke right beside my decks! This could definitely wreck your party! So always remind of taking some cans of beer to your next gigs, throwing them to the dancefloor will keep all drunks away from you ;-)

[subtenko]

1:10 "ooh Oh well they did at my gig!" LAWL!!! XD

[MagicLightAndSound]

Great advice. Thanks!

[LongWayz713]

SO FUCKING TRUE!!!! I love this vid! U know what i go through :)

[WadeWestTv]

lol, love the comments on here... suppose everyone here is a world class DJ. we've all been here before.. some songs people are just not feeling! cant please everyone! especially if theyre not drunk lollll

[iTop90]

usually i get good tips from people who smile and ask for the songs. but there's the other side of em who (yes, in a drunken state) come up to me with an angry face "i want some good music ffs" but i just try be polite and put on the song the want, just like you advised. There's always someone who is against the current track :D

[dogsmods]

One of the things that will keep a dance floor empty is the venue the booked is way to big for the amount of people.. its in the mind alot of people do not want to be on show infront of everyone dancing in a big empty space. I done a show once room was a rec hall 500 ppl cap and they had 50 ppl turn up to the event .. no one danced all night just to much free space .. i got 4 gigs more out of that one night alone .. i played songs they could sing along to instead of dance to worked well ther

[TheFreemanuk]

if people dont dance ur music is wrong or shit whichever way yu see it.

[bitchsillyjimmy]

i like 2 play slow rnb quietly and turn all lights off while people are eating then turn a few lights on after food and a little more upbeat toons for them 2 tap feet to then BOOM go in wif the disco music and u have a good gig.

[yzy515351]

Well maybe after food.They dun dance.Try to play some top 40s at that current moment to bring up the tempo maybe from slow to rnb to some catchy tunes.One of them will eventually come out.Then bring out something more current and which is a hit in the charts.That will lure them even more,Then lol maintain n keep the crowd on the dancefloor with your judgement.

[VVooDz]

On the whole I will try and play requests ASAP. I write them down so I don't forget but play them in my next set.

When I mean set what I mean in 'set-let'. I try and change the genre quite rapidly. 4-5 songs then move on to the next. during the evening I could play House say 3 times, a total of 1 and half hours but not all in a one'er.

By changing the genre often keeps people interested and they don't tire as quickly, leaving an empty dancefloor.

[VVooDz]

At the beginning of the evening, I ask the host to let me know when they want me to start the dancing off. Usually this is around the 9 O'clock point. The good bit about doing this, is that when the Host is ready themselves the chances are most of the guests are ready too.

I book as a complete night. So the guest can sit till 5 in the morning for all I care. I make the host responsible to initiate the start of the event, because they are the ones I'm going to get on the dance floor first.

[jigibao]

once one woman piss me off so much with here request of songs and even grab my headphones out of hand to listen the tracks i have,so i say to her if you can do better go for it,and i left here there alone on the mixer and cdj's...ha ha ha she was beging to come back...!! i laugh my ass out of it....went for drink and leave her confused..it was small break in music but it was worth the face...lol

[rr005a7165]

Hardly Professional however, if you dont belive your the best person in that room to provide the entertainment then something is wrong

[VVooDz]

Request are good as I can always find another 2 or 3 songs that will go with that track if I think it's something that will get/keep people dancing. If you at a 50th B-day party and someone requests Scooter and you know it aint going to go down well. then still try and fit it in but then move on immediately.

[dynamic7684]

love all your videos, i try and get the host to let me play background music while people are eating then ist not such a shock to the system later when the event begins. i always try and leave the house lights on for a while after guests have eaten. it seems to settle people better. nothing worse than a dj that wants to bang the music up and turn on lasers when people are waiting for food to go down!!!

[bowdacia]

look for chair dancers and bring them onto dance floor with party songs..

if some1 wants to make a speech i use this by playing something with a big beat right after the speech (we will rock you)

i play pop/chart then they have something to eat and then play olddies and classics then floor fillers to get cheir dancers up but i work it up to a 4/4 beat playing classic dance like dreamer is good then play modern dance and rnb...usualy have to kick the familys out coz landlord wants to shut.

[UkiyoBuddha]

What kind of music sould you play at that time? Do you got any songs so I can get an idea.

[DJaySly]

@UkiyoBuddha I usually play latino or some smooth latino house. Its not very good time to rush the dancefloor for them, but you can change different styles. It depends on people. IMO ;-)

[justincharnin]

you the man dog. i been checkin you out on youtube for a minute now but this is my first comment. that was some real good advise man. if you get a chance check out my vid...and keep doin your thang

[TPEHEP]

J, You are so right with all this! Great TIP for handling the drunk! ;-) Thank you for ALL YOUR GREAT VIDS!

It is great to have people like you, who just enjoy helping others!

(I appologize for not commenting on every vid-I just wanna see as much as possible of all of your vids and one could say I am a bit "egoistic" at this point. But as soon as Ive learned enough from you, I will of course pass on your knowledge!!)

(Phil, resident DJ in a club in germany for 8 months now)

Cheers Mate!

[Maxsdiscos]

Youre exactly right Jonathan, you need to bring in the music graduately. The sound should be fairly quiet and the lights are moderate.

[mcmookie]

I agree. I work at a pub here in Canada, the worst you can have is a drunk person coming up to you and telling you what to play.

3 things generally happen - You say no and they get mad, you play the song and not even the person who requested it dances, or you play the song and the person who had requested it is outside having a smoke or in the bathroom taking a leak. :-)

Remember you're not going to please everyone.

Cheers!

[ellaskins]

A BIG TIP FOR YOU!!, if you get a drunk come up and ask for a toon, do this , compleatly change the subject, like say to them , "where are you from?" it's a known fact a drunk can not think of two things at the same time and by doing this you have got there mind off track( excuse the pun!). j : )

[mcmookie]

Jon,

:-) I do that all the time. It generally will confuse people and works well. The biggest issue I think everyone here has faced is what I call "the die hard". That's the person who no matter what wants the track they requested. Now if you do this it will likely empty your full dancefloor, no amount of suggesting another track is going to change them. They seem to appear when they're drinking. :-) I know I'm not the only one that has them.

[ddavid122]

@ellaskins What I've done, when the person hassling me is the one paying me and he/she becomes very insistant, what i do is i announce 'ladies n gentlemen john doe (father of the bride etc.) has requested the following song. after that they see that what they want is not necessarily what people want and they stop hassling you. its risky but works 99% of the time.

[AsylumET]

@ddavid122 This approach has not failed me "yet"

[AsylumET]

@mcmookie I always love the ones that come up spitting and slobbering everywhere demanding you play a track when it is the one currently playing.

[WayneInzane10]

I hate it when I do a gig when they're eating it creates loads of problems, 1 being people finish at different times so some people are ready to dance others are still eating so you can't win. I like to just slowly bring the volume up and the tempo up and when the moment is right go for it.

P.S. If the best DJ around can fluff he's words now and then there's hope for us all lol fluff more often please makes me feel better about myself lol

[zefreeriders1]

he is soo right about the ppl coming up to say what you should play, its soo anoying and the worst is that you cant be mad you always need to be polite to them, but hey! life isnt perfect

[dj99surf]

thx for the vid J! *****

[naturaltrance]

i seldom use drug

most is drink soft water

[micklo1]

Wow Johnathan, I like the orbs floating around your room. If not orbs it might just be the direct light you are using and the dust particles are being raised in the air by your hand motions. Yeah, I never play really high energetic music after the party guest eat. And never too loud.

[1m1l]

I'd find it hilarious if someone in the crowd just came up to you thinking he/she knows it better.

[dropboxcox]

well its just common sense rilly

[daztats]

That snowing in your house?

99% of the time if someone bugs you to play this and that you will have a shit gig. You been payed to do the gig not them, Tell them go away and let you do your job. Now get the floor going or think about refunding.

[RRollergod]

Is it snowing in your house?! It looks like it is.

[ellaskins]

LOL, it does look like that, it's because it was a sunny day and you can see the dust,  mmm, must do the dusring!! j house work!!!

[groovindj]

I've got a plastic elephant!

[syntse]

While they are eating you can hurry them up with some freeform and after they have speed eaten blast them with some gabber... that should get the party going... (no I'm not mobile dj and no I'm not serious if anyone wonders) :P Good advices J you can really hear experience speaking.

[DJTGM]

true :D

[MikeAffec]

Little radio play while eating, and building up to anything. Maybe just eat something also while there eating (same mood as you listners)

That is what i would do... eat a bag of candy :P

[DJmisplacedmarbles]

getting people 'up' and getting a good vibe going on the dance floor is a lot like making love to a beautiful women ........

[djsellman123]

Nice vid j

great info