Feeling Groovy

As a DJ, you become the focus for the greatness in the music you play. All the emotional force, the lyrical, spiritual impact of your records, gets reflected back to you - even if you're tired and slightly shitfaced and keen to see the end of the night. Track down some good tunes, patchwork them together, and people act as if you've made all this music from scratch. It becomes truly your performance. "Curses," say the world's rock stars. "Here's my room number," says the DJ.

-How do DJ RIGHT, Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton

It's is always a big mystery what separates the biggest DJ's from me. I'm saying 'me,' but what I mean is every DJ in my same position: nothing. Paul Oakenfold, Armand Van Helden, Paul Van Dyk, Funkmaster Flex, DJ Tiesto, Grandmaster Flash... all this accomplished, well known DJs did something. I guess it's easy to spin records on turntables, when I first started out one of my close friends chuckled at the thought that I was going to be a DJ. Not because he was against it, more because he knew I can't make a life out of it. "Anyone can DJ, man," he says to me.
"Fine then," I said, "you get up there and do it, shithead."

OK so I was a little harsh on the come-back. The truth is, he's right. With a little practice, pretty much any man or woman get get behind the decks and spin the records, there's no doubt in my mind. So what makes a great DJ? Heart. Soul. These all had heart and soul. Making music. You'd be surprised how popular you become when you produce a #1 hit track on the charts.

I guess what comes next is practice. It's about sticking with it and learning the basics. That's where today's story comes in.

Last night was DJ class - I've linked Disc Jockey 101 so you can check out Rob Wegner's "teacher side." We had a lab in class. A DJ lab. Tons of fun, we learned the basics of starting up, all the fades and stuff... pretty cool. The real fun part was after class. I think Rob can tell who the ones are that really want to do this. We all had equipment, so four or five of us stayed late to hang out and do a "round table" on the decks. With 4 decks going, we rotated in a new song for each of us, both with the previous DJ helping with the mix-out. One guy had a lot of skill, which is cool. Some of us were alright, such as myself I think - but it wasn't really about skill, it's about practice. One of them would beatmatch and then just leave the record spinning, instead of rewinding and starting at a proper phrase... it's a learning experience. It was great. I also got a chance to network with some people. Three of us that stayed, also happened to land the same job as I did. Isn't that funny? Actually it's not, it just proves the hard workers do get the best stuff.

So I guess that's my rant on class last night. It was over way too soon. I need to get together with these people and hang out and spin all day... I would learn a lot I'm sure.