dealing with party guest
dealing with party guest Posted on: 06.05.2008 by DiscJoker aka GP well recently at the house parties I play, some body will request a song and I will be like ok I will try and work it into my mix. But five mins later they will come back up to the table and be like when are you gonna play my song. I am ready to hear it. And I am like its coming don't worry. As I am trying to work up into the bpm's to get to there song they come up again and is like why haven't you played my song. They don't understand that I may be in 80 bpm range and there song they wanted might be 120bpm.I hate it when people come up to me like that it pisses me off. so I was wondering what do you guys do for these kinds of people. | |
| daniela klein 07.05.2008 | You could always get one of these. It's tax-deductible, too. |
| Random X 07.05.2008 |
Originally Posted by Fatlimey
or "Spriechst du Deutsch? Yah? Ganz geil!" LOLz. One of the advantages of being dutch. But... To get back on the requesting business. When I used to be an MC, I would cut off people that would try to herass the DJ. (yeah yeah, I used to be an MC, and most important of all, I knew how to shut up and let the DJ shine in the spotlights!) You could try to set that up. |
| daniela klein 07.05.2008 | If it's a track I don't want to play, I tell him I already played it and I'm sorry he missed it. If it's lightyears from what I'm playing (he wants gangsta rap and I'm laying down prog house), I just ask him to listen to what I'm playing and picture how much the room will change if I slap over to that. Usually it works, sometimes they get annoyed. Oh, well. If you're being paid to play a party and you don't want to play the track, sometimes it works to tell the guy to ask the host. "If the guy running this joint tells me to do it, I'll try to do what he wants, but right now I'm playing what he asked me to and he's the one with the cashish." Step 2 is: "Tell you what, when I play your party I'll drop this crap all evening long." I generally hate playing parties for exactly this reason -- people who don't get it (no shortage of those) believe you're some kind of meat jukebox. I've pretty much decided not to do parties unless they're for friends, or it's clear I'm gonna do what I do and there ya go. |
| Marcel Ei Gio 07.05.2008 | the notepad idea is a great one, i have had that thought myself. leave a column for a response from you, that way you can write in stuff like, dont have or whatever. tip jars are good too. when youre doing a house party, it is best to make sure you have a buffer between you and the people. sometimes you have to improvise on that, but it will keep you sane and your gear from getting destroyed. |
| robert chanda 08.05.2008 |
Originally Posted by Chilly
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| Nick Ross 07.05.2008 | If you don't want to do the money thing, then do this one: "NO HABLAS ENGLAIS" I have no clue if that's right, buuuut i'm pretty sure you get my drift. House parties, for the most part, are a great way for the beginning dj to start getting comfortable playing for a crowd of people. I would generalize that most house parties are not well paying gigs (yes, I'm sure that there ARE many parties that have paid you well in the past). Depending on the situation of the party (for instance....just some random party a friend is having where you don't know anyone there) I wouldn't care whether or not I had a 'name' after that evening . If someone is bugging the piss out of you, let them know it, or bug the piss out of them back. If everyone else is having a great time except for that one guest...man who cares? Go on brush your shoulders off...u did a great a job. ....And ask for money!! lol |
| Radar Rubenstein 07.05.2008 | Last time I brought a legal pad to a gig and let people write on it. Nobody bothered me much, people wrote down a lot of shit tunes and tunes that don't exist (Tiesto doesn't have a tune called "Lemon Tree", does he?), most of them I didn't have anyway, the couple that I was requested before the gig I did play (and they fit with the set), most of the rest I didn't. Nobody seemed upset. Usually I tell people right away if I don't have it, or just cross it out. If you haven't been at a point in your DJ career where you're throwing down a house/trance/techno set and people are going nuts and then someone comes up and asks for some Kanye West / hip hop / R&B, you'll run into it and not once |
| Roberto Viccione 06.05.2008 | Also, don't hesitate to compromise. If they request a crappy song by an artist you like, or something that doesn't fit, make a suggestion and see what they say. Could make it a bit easier |
| Ryan Morales 06.05.2008 | something which i've seen which is good is a sign that says 'txt requests to #' - that way people get to make requests but u dont have to pay attention, but people feel like they get some input without it being distracting. in general i'd say only play it if its a track you wanna play anyway. as for playing tracks the chicks want to hear... well maybe, but generally girls want shit music (from my experience), the winner is playing Pop remixes, keeps girls happy without teh shit tunes. |
| Anushka jayamaha 06.05.2008 | I give the girls what they want for the most part unless it's a completely underground party because basicly if the girls are happy and dancing everyone at the party is dancing and having fun . Now guys makin requests is something else I better see some cash or hear how I'll get them laid if I play Lollipop for their girl . |
| remy deroche 06.05.2008 | wow flash backs. back in the day it was pretty bad for me too. i wish people would realize that headphones on means,"i can't hear you".they talk anyways... damaged gear sucks, i got whoever from whatever party i played to give me a security guy from that point on. plus a sign that says no requests works too if you don't want to take them. |
| DiscJoker aka GP 06.05.2008 | yea cause right now all I am doing is house parties because I live in a college town. But I will be sure to use this advice. yea 2 house parties ago I had this dude who got shit-faced for the first time and spill tequila on my laptop and midi controller. (mind you i used to have bad anger problems before I started Muay Thai) Lets say I almost went back to my old self just trained in kickboxing now lol. But I dried everything off and everything worked just fine so I didn't hurt him. |
| Marcel Ei Gio 06.05.2008 | its much better to be upfront and honest. |
| david lalinde 06.05.2008 | "no matter what you have to try and get rid of them quickly and keep everyone happy. i find lying works really well for that" theres the answer! |
| Marcel Ei Gio 06.05.2008 | good advice for the most part ean. you need to be careful with lying to people on that. you might build a reputation for it. |
| 06.05.2008 | at a house party i would not ask for money. your there to entertain. At a bar, i would ask for a 5 or a 10 from a guy but not from girls. You want to keep them happy for the most part. at a club you need 3 things: a) be left alone to focus b) them to be happy dancing on the floor c) the customer to leave happy so smile, give them my complete attention and say- yes, i will certainly try and work that in. or just give them the thumbs up and not say anything. Then return immediately to working. They go away happy, and if they return again I simply say. Sorry, i looked for it and i don't have that song. no matter what you have to try and get rid of them quickly and keep everyone happy. i find lying works really well for that. |
| Nick Ross 06.05.2008 | Seriously. Ask for money. |
| Marcel Ei Gio 06.05.2008 | if you are planning on playing it, you just have to tell the guy, hey, im working on it. just give me some time and i promise i will play it. if you arent, or dont have it, just say hey man, im sorry but im not gonna be able to play that for you. but if you have another track in mind, what would you want? if you believe there is a problem with them, get either the host of the bouncer to deal with it. |
| Jorge Terron 06.05.2008 | hehe, everytime I hear stories like this I believe about how much of an abnoxious ass I was as a kid. I would harass every DJ hired to play our family's wedding receptions. My aunt's wedding especially, back in the early 90's when I was 9 and Kris Kross was the shizzel. After about 20 requests & 10 Sherley Temples I finally got the guy to play Jump...ahh, good times |
| Roberto Viccione 06.05.2008 | It pisses me off too, man. In fact, I'm sure every DJ who has spun at a house party or club can sympathize. The first thing I believe you need to realize is that a lot of the crowd, especially as the booze starts flowing, couldn't give any less of a shit about the things we care about (ie mixing, transitions, tension, energy). They want to hear the songs they want to hear. I usually just tell them about how long it'll take me to get there. Also, if they become a real nuissance and you have a good relationship with whoever is running the party just give em a heads up so they aren't blind sided by some drunk chick crying about how you won't play their favorite song that they love to strip to, or something. And then he comes to you yelling about how drunk chicks could be naked if you'd just be a good DJ, and you get mad and throw something at him and he spills his drink all over your laptop "accidentally" and a fist fight breaks out and no one wins. I usually just placate them, and the more they annoy me the less likely I am to play their request. But I'm an arrogant, elitist snob. *shrug* :-) |
| Nick Ross 06.05.2008 |
Originally Posted by djxsquizet
Straight up. |
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