Reply to my old man rant and today's DJ's.

Long story short, I've been DJ'ing since I was about 17.
Took it to the "next level" around the age of 21-23 when I got a part time job doing corp events, weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs and private company parties.

Word of mouth traveled, and I got my 1st job at a club when I was 25...more word of mouth, promo guys, and fast forward till I'm 30 years old.

Clubs/bars in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa.

I was making more money DJ'ing on weekends than I was working for the Federal Gov....(well not really, but it was certainly a GREAT asset to a descent salary)

Got married, slowed down on picking up gigs, and eventually stoped the club scene alltogether about 2 years ago.

I'll still pick up the odd side job mostly for friends (weddings, corp. events, xmas parties)
Alot of my good friends are still in the bar industry and they too have gotten married/moved on and I'd typically DJ their wedding as they know the party will be solid with a good DJ.

I recently did 3 Xmas parties over this past season, latest one being last Saturday at a private club rented out to a high dollar fashion company. about 200 guests+bf/gf spouses attended. age group anywhere from early 20's to late 30's)

absolutely banging soundsystem.

started out with some slick chillout to pave the road to some knocking beats later on...
the organizers wanted "top 40 with house/EDM/Dub" you control the evening kinda thing.

Start the evening out solid, fatmanscoop/crooklyn throwbacks, mid 90's anthems etc...the usual stuff that gets crowds pumped...

not even 30 minutes into my whole evening set, this dude pops INTO the DJ booth...

"oh you use Traktor? I know how to use Traktor...I brought a USB...you can take a break and I'll take over"

I kindly said "thanks but no thanks"

later on same dude shows up with his iPhone and a set of headphones and says "listen to this.."

seriously kid?

eff off.
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This is the kind of society we're living in now...this is absolutely NOT the 1st time this has happened, however it's happen more and more often.

Hell, I remember 6 years ago at the height of my DJ'ing I'd have 3 crates of records and a 2 chan. mixer, and NOBODY showed up in the DJ booth trying to "upstage" believeing they can do better...

now all of a sudden, the digital age has made everyone a super pro...with anyone with access to gridmaps and a sync button is some superstar.


I see this as a double edged sword...the technology has allowed us to take leaps and bounds in terms of sounds and manoeverability...yet has taken most of the guesswork/dedication and practice it take to DJ...it's no longer much of an art as it used to be...

kids showing up at clubs with USB's in hand looking for their 10 minutes of fame doesn't cut it for me, or garner any respect to the elders (again myself)

I'm 33 now, have a nice setup in my basement, and lately...that's where the best throwdowns have been happening.

-old man out