Category Archives: music

So this past weekend we had the Sydney Balboa Weekend, and my recent flush of dance-love (as prompted by MSF) helped me decide that I might like to do workshops. I’ve very glad I did. I’ve done some balboa DJing in the past, but not a whole lot, and I’m not hugely confident about it. The problem, really, is that I don’t dance the dance, so I can’t read the crowd terribly well, and I can’t translate musical figures to dancing figures – I’m not entirely sure what will work and what won’t.

Continue reading “balboa DJing”

I haven’t done this in ages (hellz, I haven’t posted in ages – I’m blaming teh tweets), but I just feel the urge. So this is a post about a set I did last night.
I’ve been working super hard at uni lately. Too hard, really. The assessment for one particular subject was out of control, and I’ve really pushed myself. So I haven’t listened to any music in two weeks. Really. I did a couple of hours preparation work yesterday afternoon before my set at the Roxbury because I really wanted to get on top of my music and to do a good job. I need the practice before the MSF weekend next weekend, where I have some sets. So I really thought about this set.

I wanted to avoid doing some things:

• leaning on the modern recordings of old songs. I wanted to play the original versions.
• ignoring the wave. I really wanted to work the wave, tempo and style and energy wise. Basically, that means moving logically and smoothly between speeds, musical styles and energy levels. Build up the energy, climax, let them down, build it up, climax, etc etc etc.
• getting distracted and not giving the crowd 100% of my attention.

I had some other goals, but those were the main ones.

So this is what I played:

Roxbury 5th June 2010 9-10pm

title artist album bpm year length

Jump Through The Window Roy Eldridge and his Orchestra (Zutty Singleton) After You’ve Gone 154 1943 2:42

The Harlem Stride Ella Fitzgerald and her Famous Orchestra Live At The Savoy – 1939-40 199 1939 3:29

Leap Frog Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra (Luis Russell) The Complete Louis Armstrong Decca Sessions (1935-1946) (disc 7) 159 1941 3:00

Ridin’ And Jivin’ Earl Hines and his Orchestra (Walter Fuller, Milton Fletcher, Edward Sims, George Dixon, Edward Burke, John Ewing, Joe McLewis, Omer Simeon, Leroy Harris, Budd Johnson, Robert Crowder, Claude Roberts, Quinn Wilson, Alvin Burroughs, Horace Henderson, Jimmy Earl Hines:Complete Jazz Series 1937 – 1939 158 1939 2:40

A Viper’s Moan Willie Bryant and his Orchestra (Teddy Wilson, Cozy Cole) Willie Bryant 1935-1936 153 1935 3:26

Joshua Fit De Battle Of Jericho Kid Ory and his Creole Jazz Band (Barney Bigard, Helen Andrews) Kid Ory and his Creole Jazz Band 1944-46 160 1946 3:13

Just Because You Can Catherine Russell Inside This Heart of Mine 136 2010 4:10

You Got to Give Me Some Midnight Serenaders Magnolia 187 2007 4:02

When I Get Low I Get High Linnzi Zaorski and Delta Royale (Charlie Fardella, Robert Snow, Matt Rhody, Seva Venet, Chaz Leary) Hotsy-Totsy 165 2004 2:36

Davenport Blues Adrian Rollini and his Orchestra (Jack Teagarden) Father Of Jazz Trombone 136 1934 3:14

Rag Mop Bob Crosby and the Bobcats Bob Crosby and the Bobcats: The Complete Standard Transcript 164 1950 2:15

Summit Ridge Drive Artie Shaw and his Gramercy Five Self Portrait (Disc 2) 128 1940 3:21

Massachusetts Maxine Sullivan With Buster Bailey, Milt Hinton, Jerome Richardson, Osie Johnson, Dick Hyman, Wendell Marshall A Tribute To Andy Razaf 147 1956 3:19

C-Jam Blues Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Live In Swing City: Swingin’ With Duke 143 1999 3:34

St. Louis Blues Ella Fitzgerald and her Famous Orchestra Ella Fitzgerald In The Groove 183 1939 4:46

Wrappin’ It Up (The Lindy Glide) Fletcher Henderson and his Orchestra (Henry ‘Red’ Allen, Buster Bailey, Ben Webster, Benny Carter) Tidal Wave 208 1934 2:42

For Dancers Only Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra Swingsation – Jimmie Lunceford 148 1937 2:41

Peckin’ Johnny Hodges and his Orchestra The Duke’s Men: Small Groups Vol. 1 (Disc 2) 165 1937 3:10

[Gettin’ Much Lately?] Ain’t Nothin’ To It Fats Waller, his Rhythm and his Orchestra (John Hamilton, Bob Williams, Herman Autrey, Geoge Wilson, Ray Hogan, Jimmy Powell, Dave McRae, Gene Sedric, Bob Carroll, Al Casey, Cedric Wallace, Slick Jones) Last Years (1940-1943) (Disc 2) 134 1941 3:10

I Like Pie, I Like Cake Four Chefs Roots, Volume 2 the 1930’s 154 2:45

Madame Dynamite Eddie Condon and his Orchestra (Pee Wee Russell, Eddie Condon, Sidney Catlett) Classic Sessions 1927-49 (Volume 2) 176 1933 2:56

Get Up Skeets Tolbert and his Gentlemen of Swing (Carl Smith, Otis Hicks, Clarence Easter Harry Prather, Hubert Pettaway) Skeets Tolbert 1931-1940 144 1939 2:52

As you can see, it’s not a list of rare and unusual songs. There’re a lot of standards, songs that people know. Which is kind of the point, isn’t it?

I started with Roy Eldridge, because this song continues to be a great opener. Fab trumpet solo to open. Sharon had the room nice and warm for me, and there were enough people to justify something in your face like ‘Jump through the window’. I do like this song a lot. The fact that Frida and Skye used it for a fairly ok routine only adds to its cultural cred with lindy hoppers. If they’re the type of lindy hoppers who follow international competitions. And not that many of the Roxbury crowd are. I assume.

I wanted to get some up tempos in there after that, and to take advantage of the energy generated by the first song, so I played that lovely Ella track. It’s from one of the live recordings she did with Chick Webb’s band at the Savoy after Webb passed away. That stuff is fucking GREAT. I crap on about it to everyone, I pimp it all the time, but it continues to go really well whenever I DJ it. It’s good because it’s live, you can hear the crowd, and you can hear the musicians egging each other and really interacting. It has a stomping rhythm section and a super fun building energy thing happening.

The crowd were a bit tired after that, so I did the right thing and dropped the tempos so they could recover. These days the Roxbury crowd will dance to any tempo. Sharon starts the night with 30mins of super fast old school big band action which she calls the balboa bit, and I call the badkickingfuckingarse bit. Because it is awesome. I am playing that version of ‘Leap Frog’ quite a bit, but it is great. It does exactly as I want, too – it keeps energy there, but it’s not all up in your grill, so you have a bit of an emotional break. It’s kind of fun and interesting and does some fun back-and-forthing musically, so it’s fun to pay with at the lower tempo.

Then I played ‘Ridin’ and Jivin” because I haven’t played it in a hundred years, and it’s one of my favourites. I don’t hear it here in Sydney very often at all, though it was super popular in Melbourne in about 2007 or so (I think it was another of those competition songs). It’s kind of mellower at 150 odd bpm and it has a less in your face energy. It kind of builds up and down, it feels a bit saucy, but in a kind of a sneaky way. Not sexy, but kind of lurking.

Then I played ‘Viper’s Moan’ because it is an old fave, and I was trying to mix in favourites with things I don’t hear all that often in Sydney. I also like ‘Viper’s Moan’ as a transition from old school big band swing to more New Orleans influenced stuff, and I wanted to kick things up tempo and energy wise with that great version of ‘Jericho’. I hear the Sydney Bechet version all the time, but the Kid Ory one is vastly superior.

From there I had a few other bits and pieces lined up – ‘Sister Kate’, ‘Blackstick’, ‘Ballin’ the Jack’, favourite stuff that you hear around the place – but I didn’t. I felt as though I’d kind of pushed that as far as I could. I was a little bit all over the place with the energy, and I wasn’t confident that the NOLA stuff would work. It’s not all that popular in Sydney, and I’m not really enjoying it myself atm. By NOLA, of course, I mean that 40s/50s revivalist sound. It’s great, but there were other things I wanted to do.

I played ‘Just Because you can’ because it’s super popular atm. People go nuts for it, and I always get asked about it when I play it. So I’m going to play it til we’ve all had enough of it. It’s a good song. It was a big fat energy drop from Jericho, but that was kind of the point. I was pulling a Brian stunt with a bit of stunt DJing. It was within the same sort of stylistic vein of Jericho, what with the violin, chunky rhythms, banjo, etc. But it’s kind of saucy and Russell almost eases over into the way-back-behind-the-beat of later swing. Almost. I like this song because it starts chilled and sparse, but it builds up.

I followed up with the Midnight Serenaders because that’s a fun song. It’s light, it feels bouncy and fun. It’s a bit quick in that combination, but the funness always drags people onto the floor. I also like matching the singers in those two songs.

‘When I get low I get high’ was another in a similar vein – a modern band doing old school small group stuff with chunky rhythms and eccentric vocals. That’s one the Roxbury kids are into, because Christian played it when he DJed there. At about that time I realised just how Ella Fitzgerald heavy my set was. I don’t usually play her, in part because I don’t like her early lyrics, and I find her later stuff a bit groovy. And I don’t like her singing all that much at any time.

I played ‘Davenport blues’ because it’s mellow and calm. And because it builds up at the end. I was also determined to end that whole modern thing right THERE because I could see myself going overboard. ‘Davenport Blues’ is one I overplay. But it always goes down really well, and people like it.

I think it’s worth saying here, that one of the things people like about favourites is that they know all the breaks, all the structure, so they can experiment with musicality and step combinations in a musical way, and with some confidence. I know, I know, it’d be easy to critique that with a comment about how lindy hoppers should be familiar enough with the structure of this music (which isn’t very complicated, really), and not need hand holding. But I think it’s important to remember that this isn’t popular music we’re dealing with here. It’s not something you hear every day, and the structures and style and elements are pretty unfamiliar for most people. And what the fuck – why not play a song people know so they can pull out their best action? That’s what makes for a good competition, that’s what makes for fun dancing, sometimes.
‘Rag Mop’ needs to go on my ‘don’t play this again, you play it too much’ list. But it kicks the energy up.

But by the end, the dancers were pretty tired. People seemed pretty tired that night. I think it’s because they were dancing most nearly every song. So I played ‘Summit Ridge Drive’, which I don’t play that often any more. In retrospect, I’m really glad I did. I do love it, and people love it too, even though the harpsichord intro puts them off at first. It’s a nice, friendly, stompy little song. And I’m glad I went so low with the tempos; it’s evidence of my working a real wave, with proper troughs as well as crests.

After that, people were rested, and it was time to get serious. ‘Massachusetts’ is so overplayed. It’s so familiar. But it’s still a great song, and it’s a great way of building up the energy in the room. The musicians are just so good, they just work together so well and build something really nice.

Same goes for ‘C Jam Blues’, which I’ve actually had a moratorium on for ages. But I do like it. And it did the job.
Energy was up by then, people were rested and feeling confident after two familiar songs, so I played ‘St Louis Blues’ (the Ella one), which I also overplay. But it’s great! It’s another of those songs that makes people dance even if they’re feeling a bit ‘oh, it’s too fast’. The thing about Roxbury these days is that 183bpm isn’t really fast any more. That crowd are also quite happy to experiment with the latiny rhythms in the intro. Also: live! Ella! At the Savoy! It’s such a fucking great song.

‘Wrappin’ it up’ was a bit of a stretch, but the hardcore bal dancers just pulled out their shit and eased into some dancing. It was really nice to see the floor stay filled, but with a completely different type of dancing. Balboa is really good for making people feel comfortable with higher tempos. They just get used to them, and don’t panic.
Then I played ‘For Dancers only’ because it was just right. I wanted to get everyone back, and it’s a fun, familiar song that actually sounded mellower in that context. And it’s a big band classic swing track, to continue that vibe.
Then ‘Peckin’ because I’ve been using it for tranky doo lately, and I fucking love it. Still. I love the shouting in the middle. I have been thinking I need to play more Ellington, and this was a step in that direction (that’s actually one of his small groups).

‘Ain’t nothin to it’ was a continuation of the silly feel from ‘Peckin’s lyrics, and also a less intense sound. Another smaller band, but with a more relaxed, fun feeling. So I was easing off the intense emotion of ‘St Louis Blues’ and ‘Wrappin it up’. This is important when you have a smallish crowd of dancers who’re dancing every song, over the course of a longer night of social dancing. I find they get emotionally drained as well as physically, so you have to pull back a bit now and then. Work an emotional wave.

I didn’t mean to play the pie and cake song there. I really don’t much like that version. I _hate_ the intro, and _everyone_ is playing it, _everywhere_ in Sydney. I had meant to play ‘Get up’ (which I didn’t end up playing at all), because it was the perfect segue to ‘Madame Dynamite’. It would also have been a song that we don’t hear very often (if at all), so it would have made this last section more interesting. But I made some sort of clicking/playlist error. Boo.
Pie Cake, whatevs. It filled the floor, though. I’m a sell out.

‘Madame Dynamite’ is one I overplay, but it’s very popular. And It’s super fun.

And then I finished and did some dancing!

It was a fun set, and I think I did a much better job of watching the floor, working the room and playing songs in interesting, smoother combinations. I spent less time looking at my computer, and more watching the room. Yay. I find it a bit tricky to get connected with the crowd in the fairly separated DJ booth at the Roxbury, but it just means I have to walk around more. Though I hated it as a venue, CBD was well set up for connecting with the dancers on the floor and the people in the room.

So I didn’t play a particularly challenging set in terms of familiarity – people knew most of that action. But that’s ok. I don’t think we should set aside songs just because they’re popular. I mean, there’s a reason favourites become favourites. Sure, they might be hip because some rock star did a routine to them that then got pimped on youtube and faceplant. But if it’s a good song, and someone DJs it to dancers a few times, they’ll dig it.

I like the Roxbury at the moment for the old school emphasis and higher tempos. But part of me wonders if the slow disappearance of the older crowd and rock and roll crowd hasn’t actually been doing good things to the event. Sure, it’s now more solidly a good night for lindy hop, and lindy hop tends to be a dance for the younger, more agile crowd (because it helps to be fit when you start getting into it), but a mixed range of ages is a good thing for a community. Longevity, baby. Sustainability, baby. A lack of cliqueiness, baby.

But for now, I’ll just enjoy it. And perhaps think about how we might promote it to the half of Sydney who don’t go, but do go to the Swingpit.

Swingpit is not fun these days. It’s a nice, big venue, the floor is good, it gets a big crowd. But the acoustics are poo, and it’s a _church hall_ with no bar. Boo. The DJing has been utterly terrible lately as well. So even when I go looking for fun, I don’t always find it there. I haven’t DJed there in ages, partly because I’ve been doing so much Roxbury work and get a bit burnt out when I do more than one set a fortnight. But mostly because I haven’t been asked, and haven’t really sought it out. And I hated the sound system there (though I noticed they had a new one). I haven’t heard DJs like Alice or Justine DJ there in a zillion years, and they’re really good stuff. Worth getting your arse to a dance event on a Friday night to see.

The Squeeze calls it Noisepit because the volume is usually pushed so high (to fill the huge, echoey room) it distorts the music and just makes a whole heap of ear-hurting NOISE. And that noise is usually fucking Michael Buble or some second rate neo or some fucked up Wham. I have to say, my friends, an entire set of that does not a fun lindy hopping night make. It’s rhythmically WRONG for lindy hop (it don’t swing), it’s structurally dull, and it’s just plain old bad music made by second rate musicians doing ordinary arrangements. Booooring. Annnoooooooying. But I’ll go back. And when I get the energy, I’ll volunteer for a set. But sometimes I just like to go and dance and dance and take advantage of the large floor space.

There is another night happening in Sydney these days, once a month in Balmain. It’s intended as a dance for ‘advanced dancers’, which of course gets my hackles up. I do not approve of segregating ‘advanced’ from ‘beginner’ dancers at social dancing events (which Swingpit and this new thing deliberately do). I don’t like it because mixing is good for both groups (beginners dance up and see fun dancing; more experienced dancers learn to fucking socialise like normal people, and mix it up… though they don’t always). I don’t like it because I don’t actually think the categories ‘beginner’ and ‘advanced’ apply in this setting – they just seem to be arbitrarily applied by position within that dance school’s hierarchy. Perhaps they should be ‘people who’ve only spent a bit of money with us’ vs ‘people who’ve spent too much money with us’. I really don’t like that sort of segregation of people. I think it breeds cliqueiness, and I think doesn’t help build sustainable dance communities, and I think it’s rubbish.

Also, the classes before the DJed social are on when the very good band is on downstairs at the same time, and I think it’s wrong to disrespect the band like that. I’ve heard people justify this whole thing as ‘giving people a choice’, but I don’t buy that. I’ve heard that rubbish before. It’s not a ‘choice’ when you weigh the process down with such ideologically and value-laden structures.

Mostly, I’m not all that interested in going because it’s in Balmain on a Sunday and that’s too late and too far away on a school night when the buses are really unreliable. It’s often on the night after a Roxbury, and I’m a bit over dancing, loud music and late nights by then. So I don’t go. If it were in a different area… nah, I still wouldn’t go. Balmain is hard for me. If it were in a different area, I’d be more likely to go. If it was just another social night, I’d be more likely to go. And if I wasn’t already dancing one night a week on the weekend, I might go.
So that’s dancing for me at the moment.

This is the third post I’ve written about beginning DJing. The first one was beginning DJing: how i got into djing. The second was clarifying some early points from that post, ‘ beginning DJing: different DJing contexts’.
This post will talk about how I prepared for my first set.
This is certainly not how everyone else did/does. In fact, I suspect it’s an incredibly anal, overly careful approach to DJing. But then, that’s what I’m like – careful. Ob-con.
I certainly would never say “This is how you should prepare for a first set” to someone. But I do get a bit dictatorial in this post. Please just read it as enthusiasm. I’m fairly sure these are – as I’ve said – really just things that apply to my experience. But you can cherry pick ideas, if you like, and I’ll try to note where I found something especially useful, or something particularly ridiculous.
I want this to be a bit useful. I hope it is. But I also want it to be encouraging. So if you’re timid, perhaps you should just read the short list. :D
How did I prepare for my first set?

• Dance
• Dance as much as you can once you’ve started DJing
• Listen to music. Buy music.
• Love music
• Play with the technology
• Test your music before you play it
• Buy the electronic stuffz
• Practice transitions between songs, tempos and musical styles
• Watch other people DJ
• Ask lots of questions
• Make some contacts

How did I prepare for my first set?

• Dance.
  I danced for about 8 years before I started DJing. It took me that long to get up the guts. I was kind of thinking I could be into it for about a year or so before I took the plunge. But before that, I was just dancing. And dancing. And dancing. I got into dancing because I loved the music. I stayed with it because I loved the dancing. I also sampled a whole range of styles (of lindy hop, and of other jazz dances – from charleston to bal, blackbottom, shag, blues and into all manner of solo things) and began to understand how different music worked in different ways with different dances. And vice versa. I think this is what drove me to DJing, eventually.
  I did a lot of classes. I still do. I did a lot of workshops with visiting people. I traveled to dance.
  Dancing is where DJing should begin, middle and end. If I’ve stopped dancing, I should stop DJing. My DJing goes down hill when I stop dancing. Dance. Dance. Dance.
  I’m almost tempted to say I think you should “dance for a few years before you start DJing,” but I’m not sure that’s good advice. Sometimes DJing can kickstart a new dancing obsession or fuel your dancing love. For me, it has to be dancing first.
  Dancing teaches you how music works. Dancing teaches you what music works for dancing. The more you dance, the more you’ll learn. The longer you’ve been dancing, the better idea you’ll have about what will work for dancers and dancing. The longer you’ve been around, the more likely you’ll be to have seen passing trends – you’ll remember a neo or a groove or a novelty or a lindy hop hop phase. You’ll have seen someone try that Richard Cheese song and see it crash-and-burn, but also make people laugh/cringe/gasp.
  Not all experienced or very good dancers are good DJs (many very good dancers are totally horrid DJs). But observant dancers can make for very good DJs. Some experienced dancers are very set in their ways and have very particular ideas about what makes for ‘good dancing music.’ Sometimes this is a good thing, and sometimes it can be an obstacle, preventing their learning and responding to what other people (ie not them) are doing on the floor. A non-dancer is never a top-notch DJ for dancers.
• Dance as much as you can once you’ve started DJing
  I just have to add this here: dancing is the best thing you can do for your DJing. Maybe not when you’re actually DJing, but the rest of the time, yeah.
• Listen to music. Buy music.
  The more you listen to music, the more you’ll understand the structure of swinging jazz, and the better you’ll understand what works for dancers. You’ll also figure out things like when the last chorus starts (and how it sounds), which is very useful when you’re DJing and haven’t found a follow-up song yet.
  I started buying music fairly hardcore quite a while before I started DJing. Mostly because I was addicted. I did look at pirated sources at first. I think that that can be a good entryway for new DJs. Even if ‘pirated’ just means borrowing your friend’s CD and putting it in your computer. But I found within a few months that this just wasn’t going to do it for me. I was very lucky: the Australian dollar was kicking it against the American dollar at just that moment. So I switched to buying music online. CDs. I used SwingDJs as a key source, and then bought almost exclusively through amazon until I discovered caiman.com And then I found sources like cdbaby.com, then mosaic.
  I think that buying your own music is the best option. For me, it meant that I could follow my own tastes, which weren’t like those of the people around me. I’d squeeze people like Brian for song titles and artists, I’d ravage swingdjs.com for suggestions, but basically, I was following my nose. I think this is a very good thing. It means you only get music you like (hopefully!). It also means you acquire music slowly (because it’s expensive!), so you get to know your music very well as you go. This way you’re also following some sort of natural progression between artists and eras – Ella Fitzgerald can lead you to Count Basie. Basie can lead you to Bennie Moten. And then of course there are all the usual copyright issues. But there are actually more, and very much more convincing arguments for acquiring your music legitimately.
  Listen to what you get. I listened to that stuff all the time. On headphones, but also on the home stereo. That last bit is important – it might sound good at home on your perfect expensive headphones, but will sound shithouse on that shitty nightclub sound system. Now, I find I just can’t keep up with all my music. I have so much I have to listen all the time to keep it all in mind. Let alone getting to know the new stuff. Listen. Listen. Listen.
  I can chart the decline of my hearing to the moment I started thinking I might like DJing.
• Love music.
  I started DJing because I loved the music. Don’t get into DJing because you think it’s cool or because you want to be really popular. It’s a fairly unappreciated craft, and will drive you nuts. Do it because you love the music.
  Don’t punish yourself with music you hate. There’s no room for martyrs here. But if you don’t love swing from the swing era, swinging big bands, swinging small bands, hot jazz, groovy jazz, jazz, and more jazz, then swing DJing is not for you. If you’re really into soul and funk, then DJ for soul and funk crowds.
• Play with the technology.
  I think this is a very important and often under emphasised part of beginning DJing. When I first got up there to DJ, I was so nervous I could barely remember my name, let alone how to work a sound application on my laptop. If you practice this stuff at home, you get better at it. The movements become natural, and you can stop thinking about the technology and concentrate on what the technology allows you to do. I think that this is partly why I’ve stuck with itunes: it’s a well designed application that becomes invisible when I’m DJing.
  I practiced ‘DJing’ at home for ages. I plugged my laptop into the stereo and learnt about the cords and connections I’d need. And bought them. I set things up just like I would if I was DJing, and this made me realise that I’d need to think about things like extension cords, where I’d sit (if I’d sit), how the laptop works in relation to the sound system, whether I’d use my laptop’s equalizer or the sound system, and so on.
  I asked a lot of questions during this stage. I asked The Squeeze. I asked my DJing friends. I went into DJing shops and asked questions and was generally really annoying. Learnz: I had it on.
  I also practiced clicking and dragging – the mechanics of DJing within my software. Was itunes useful? I did begin with a windows laptop and winamp, but our household switched to macs very soon after that. So I started playing with itunes. It has a lovely layout and a very useful library. It’s not the best tool for DJing, but it suited me. I soon learnt that I couldn’t preview music with a mac – I needed a second sound card to run a second music application out. This has been a challenge, and I eventually started using usb headphones and then a little cheap external sound card about a year after I started DJing. By then my collection was so big I really _needed_ to preview music.
  Whatever your set up, practice with it before your first set. And practice a lot.
• Test your music before you play it.
  Dance to it in your lounge room or with your friends. It might sound great on your headphones, but be utterly shit for dancing.
• Buy the stuffz.
  I bought the cables I’d need to DJ. Brian drummed that into me. I bought everything I’d need to DJ. I bought RCA cables, I bought adaptors for different mixing desks, I bought extension cables, I bought it all. I was also obsessive about taking my power cord to DJing.
  I’m always very surprised by new DJs who turn up to their first sets without any cords. Mostly because it’s such a simple issue, and if you’ve even pretended to DJ at home, you’ll have figured out that you need some stuffz. If you’ve ever looked at a DJ’s gear while they’ll DJ, you’ll have some questions about stuffz.
  New DJs doing this tells me that they’ve really not planned this at all. That they’ve relied on other people to sort it for them. I’m actually very impatient with this stuff, mostly as I find it’s men who fail to bring the right gear. And I resent playing mother to them. I will only very very rarely lend my gear to other DJs – they will usually forget to return it, it could get broken, it could get lost, it could get borrowed again by a third party. I just don’t do it. I also carry spares of the important stuff.
  If you’re not sure what you need, just ask another DJ. They’ll probably pull out their rig and tell you a long, boring story about soundcards. If you’re too shy, or you’re alone in your scene, get onto swingdjs STAT.
• Practise transitions
  I’m a super nerd. But I also had an agenda. My scene was heavy on the groove, neo and hifi. I wanted to play Lionel Hampton, early Duke Ellington, Lucky Millinder. I was also into newer bands and some groovier, hifi stuff, but I wanted to play both. I wanted to play favourites, but I also wanted to play stuff I loved. So I needed a plan. A way to get them all together in one set. I’d also been reading about this stuff on SwingDJs (I think), and talking about it with people. I’d also heard other DJs do nasty, nasty transitions from supergroove to scratch and back again. And it was nasty for me as a dancer. I wanted to rock.
  So I practiced. I sat and put together pretend playlists, where I’d work from one style to another and back again. But I did it ‘live’ and in ‘real time’, so I could practice working under pressure. I had til the end of the song playing to get the next one ready to go. I also listened my way through the songs, pretending I was dancing, and trying to feel the way the song would make me feel on the dance floor. I also thought about combining tempos and working a ‘wave’. I’d think about the different instruments and different routes between songs and styles. A piano at the end of this song here could link me to the intro of that song there. A big, shouting Kansas man could link me to a big, shouting Kansas man there.
  This stuff took a lot of practice, and it’s something I keep returning to. How do I best work in a new bit of hot Chicago small groups1920s instrumental action? How do I get it in the set so it’s best set up for a crowd who don’t know this stuff? How do I make them love it, despite themselves? And if they hate it, what do I play next to ‘apologise’ or win them back? This is important for me because I have a really bad memory for names and details. I really can’t retain a lot of detail. So I need to practice my skills and then lean on the previewing a bit. Hopefully leaving some brain for watching the floor.
  I talked about these things with other DJs. And I practiced. And I made The Squeeze listen while I practiced.
  This is something I still do. And I find I do a better job when I’m doing this regularly. It’s also a time when I can set aside a list of ‘maybes’ – songs I might play that night. I remember combinations of songs and perhaps pull them out, or use them as a model or a combination I make on the fly.
  Above all, I was preparing for sets where I would stand up there with a blank playlist and just make it up as I went along. Scary arse shit. But I was determined to be a ninja.
• Watch other people DJ.
  This can mean actually staring over their shoulder (which I did a few times – that was invaluable), but it also means watching the way a DJ watches a floor, the way the floor responds to musical choices, and then the way the DJ figures out solutions to blowups, or capitalises on successes. I think this is where being a dancer helps – you learn how to read other dancers’ bodies and moods. You can tell when they feel excited or flat or tired or angry or disinterested. You can tell when a song stumps them, and they don’t know how to dance to it. You can tell when they really love something or when they really hate it.
  Most of the time learning to see this stuff also means being able to stand aside and not actually get caught up in it. You might be on the dance floor having a ball, but that feeling might mask other people around you and how they feel. To a certain extent, DJing requires being able to stand outside a little to observe the room. You’ve still got to be able to feel it, but you can’t confuse your own feelings with what’s happening in the rest of the room. That can be tricky. It’s very tiring to be at once feeling all that excitement and also ‘working’, manipulating what you see and feel.
  I think that learning this stuff takes ages. It took me a long time. And I still have trouble – I really struggle if I can’t see the dance floor properly. But just watching how a good DJ really works a floor is a good start. And exchanges – which bring experienced DJs to your town – can be a really good place for this. If you can bear to stop dancing.
• Ask lots of questions.
  Be brave enough to stalk other DJs. Stalk them online, in person, and … wait. Don’t stalk them. But do ask them lots of questions and be brave enough to show how interested you are. It’s ok to not be cool. It’s ok to be a big old fannish geeky music nerd. Say nice things to the DJ. Ask them: “Who was that band?” “What was that album?” “Where do you get your music?” “When did you start DJing?” “How did you get into DJing?” Ask them lots and lots of questions.
  Try not to do it while they’re actually DJing, even though they’re a particularly, temptingly stable target, trapped at the mixing desk. But they mightn’t be able to give you their full attention, and mightn’t want to. I can’t really talk and DJ well, so I much prefer to be talked to after sets. Or before. In fact, if you want to chat to me, please do it after or before a set. I can’t talk properly and DJ properly at the same time.
  But be brave. Most DJs want to nerd it up. Some are arsehats, but then some dancers are arsehats. That’s cool. But most want to talk. I’ve found that the DJs who do the best job with the floor, who have the best networks of contacts, are also quite empathic, observant, approachable people. Not exclusively so, but often.
  Be prepared to get evasive answers about a DJ’s latest ‘gem.’ A winner song can be currency in a competitive DJ scene, so they mightn’t want to spill all the details. But that doesn’t mean you can’t figure it out yourself – learn about musical styles and you’ll be part way there.
• Make some contacts.
  This was important for me dealing with a dance school who ran all the major social dancing nights, but where I wasn’t a teacher or student. I really had to start finding out who ran what, how DJ sets were allocated and so on. I also had to actually ask DJs about stuff. This wasn’t too hard because most of them were my friends. But I had to actually _do_ some asking. And hassling.
  Networking happens naturally when you start hassling DJs and asking questions. It’s also a very good reason to know when to back off and when not to hassle someone. Or to know who you should avoid (because you clash). Or it can be a good motivation for just getting over it and becoming a sociable person with some basic social skills to get you through professional situations.
  I’m still surprised by the number of DJs I see do stupid things which will fuck up their networks for future gig opportunities. You might feel justified in snubbing that person, badmouthing their buddy at a party or knocking back their Squeeze on the dance floor, but someone will have noticed. And then you will find it difficult to get gigs.
  Really, it seems insane to have to say this so clearly – surely people just know how to be in groups? How to get along with other people? But dancers can be particularly socially challenged, and this stuff just keeps happening.
  Showing an interest in DJing – to other DJs and to event organisers – is a good thing. DJs with half a brain will figure out your questions about cables or songs are the beginning of an interest in DJing. And they’ll mention you to event organisers. Maybe. If they do have that half brain.
  It’s also useful to get to know event organisers and other DJs to develop a support network (people who’ll give you encouragement, help you out in a pickle, offer advice, give you your first set). This support network should – as with all networks – be natural, not faked. Personally, I see it as just being nice. I like working with nice people and I find being nice to other people makes them nice. It’s a win-win. Fake sociability is scumbaggy. And people will smell it.
  Later on, when you’re getting into DJing in a more hardcore way, it can be useful to develop networks of contacts interstate. Even if that just means finding out who organises the DJs for each event you think you might like to DJ at. I find that I know most of these people anyway, simply because I’ve been dancing in Australia for so long. But I have few contacts in Brisbane, for example, because they don’t come to other events in other states. So I’d need to work on something if I wanted to DJ up there. When I moved to Sydney I also sent out emails to event organisers at local events, letting them know who I was, what I’d done in the past, and that I was keen to DJ. And then I made contact in person when I got there. Sydney was a delight, actually, as I was contacted by locals who just wanted to make friends!
  At any rate, these skills are useful in other parts of your life, and are invaluable in DJing for dancers, where so much of the community is based on a system of exchange and favour rather than conventional economics.
  This stuff might seem scary, but by golly, you’re going to find DJing TERRIFYING if you can’t strike up a conversation with an acquaintance. Best to start practicing now.

Other posts on beginning DJing:

• beginning djing: preparing for the first set
• beginning djing: different DJing contexts
• beginning djing: how i got into djing