Turning the Tables: Mastering the Art of DJing and Crowd Control - Ep#5

Ever stumbled upon a DJ set and thought, "I can do better"? Well, let's turn that thought into a reality! Ilya and Nina are back behind the mics, sharing a treasure trove of DJ insights as we celebrate our fifth episode. From the finesse of using filters to the subtle art of avoiding vocal collisions, we're unpacking the trade's do's and don'ts. Whether it's your first time behind the decks or your thousandth gig, our candid conversation is brimming with strategies to refine your skills and electrify your next performance.

As seasoned spinners, we understand that the devil is in the details—sound levels, beat matching, and the ever-important phrasing are the pillars of a great DJ set. This episode isn't just about turning knobs; it's an in-depth look at the craftsmanship required to keep the dance floor pulsing. We're diving into playlist flexibility, warning against the perils of poor-quality music files, and yes, we're even talking money. Remember, your talent isn't a hobby; it's a career that deserves proper compensation. Let's navigate the delicate balance of tech, tunes, and the business of beating the beat.

Now, let's get real about crowd control—because what's a party without people? Transitioning to DJing with laptops, we share personal stories about operating system switch-ups and the importance of maintaining that electric connection with your audience. And when you're inundated with song requests, we've got the playbook on how to stay the master of your mix while keeping it cool. From the tales of our own fitness journeys to the strategies for fielding that "play Despacito" plea without missing a beat, this episode is a rhythm-packed ride through the life of a DJ. So, hit play, and let's amp up your DJ game together!

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Transcript

ilia: 0:20

How's it going everyone? Welcome back to another episode of the Clever DJ, episode 5. Our last episode for the month. We're super excited about it. We made it 5 episodes. Yes, we did.

Nino: 0:33

My name is Ilya and my name is Nina. Welcome guys. We're so excited for this last episode of the month.

ilia: 0:40

We finally made it, man. Yes, and as much as I would like to tell you what this episode is all about, I actually don't know what we're talking about today.

Nino: 0:48

He has no clue, because I actually came up with pointers for this and okay, what we're talking about today is actually DJ, beginner DJ mistakes, and you know what. It's not even about beginner mistakes. Some pros actually do these mistakes as well. So we're going to get right into it and I hope you guys like this. Pointers for all your DJs. Make sure you're taking notes because you might learn something here. Okay, so first off, take number one overuse of filters and effects. When DJ, who does that? Who does that? You know a lot of DJs do this and a lot of DJs just do you want to keep busy, right? So they're just doing effects in between the song, like in the middle of the song, like yo man, you might as well get a sign that says noob on your forehead.

ilia: 1:47

So it's too much, no matter what genre, because sometimes.

Nino: 1:51

Well, it depends. Do it for a purpose. There has to be a reason why you're doing it Okay. Not just to do it because it sounds cool, right? Yeah, a lot of DJs will just want to do it and not even think about why they're doing it. They're just doing it because they think it sounds good, wrong, totally wrong, okay. So anything else to say about that? I was just thinking Really you don't really mix it with effects and stuff.

ilia: 2:22

Well, I had the phase when I was using the HPFLPF a lot because it was the easiest to transition with that. Well, transitioning is okay, but I had lots of ideas with effects, but I also knew that I wasn't on the level to start incorporating all of those and also make sure everything is done on time. So I checked myself on that, but you stopped using it. But I think that if I could do it, I would, but it's just like that's the thing. A lot of people don't realize that they're making it worse and they're still doing it Exactly Like you. Focus on what you got to do, and you know, I know that's your point, but I'm saying I agree with you.

Nino: 3:04

Like, if you're going to do it, make it make sense, don't just do it just to do it. That's what a lot of DJs do, a lot of new DJs especially. This goes without saying clashing vocals over vocals. Now, this is one thing that annoys me, because you shouldn't be doing vocals over vocals. Especially when you're doing a mix, especially when you're doing it over a chorus. You want everything to be clean, so this goes without saying Clashing like vocals. It needs to be an instrumental over a vocal.

ilia: 3:41

You agree, yes, and that's something I'm still learning, and especially when I don't know the track, especially Like learning it on the spot, the way you listen to it quickly, like right before, even if you don't know it. I see how you listen to it, you rewind it, you're like okay, that's a good spot, it takes me longer than that. Yeah, I understand, and to find that spot, to find that, to figure out the phrasing.

Nino: 4:04

Exactly, and the level of difficulty as well is because a lot of the songs are radio edits as well, so it's not really. It doesn't have an instrumental or it's not a DJ edit. So it is harder, but in time you will get better at doing that, even with DJ edits.

ilia: 4:22

I find sometimes that I'm like, okay, well, I have this much time, that's exactly what I'm going to release this Introduce, this other track, and I'm like, oh shoot, that's not the best time for it.

Nino: 4:33

Yeah, sometimes it's you knowing when the vocals are coming in too. You have to time it too.

ilia: 4:37

It depends on the genre. You just need to know your music, and if you don't know it, listen to it ahead of time and know how to figure it out on the spot. If you don't have that skill, know your music before you start.

Nino: 4:47

That's our next point Know your music. If you don't know your music, there's no point in actually mixing it Now for a pro DJ if, because they're used to certain like sets and songs and stuff, they can listen to a song. That's why you have headphones, so you can pre scan the song that you're going to play If you don't know it, so you can listen to the intro, how long it is, and you can literally match it on top of the song that you're going to play and mix on top of. So it's important that you know your music and that you're very familiar with it.

ilia: 5:22

I know you're still familiar with the point of needing to know your music and you know what. That's why, before my gig, I'm really working. I'm learning the entire playlist. Yes, because there's a lot of stuff I don't listen to. I wasn't born in this country. There are certain things that in the 90s I did not listen to, or maybe even if I, if it was popular where I was before like, I would still. Maybe that wasn't my style. That's not what I listened to back then and when I did, I didn't care about it on the same level that that client cares about it right.

ilia: 5:58

So now I gotta learn. Now I gotta learn that style and have two weeks so I'm listening to it and you, you're like, oh, I'm doing this gig tomorrow. I don't know any of the music, it's something completely out there and like, why not practice it, I'll be fine.

Nino: 6:11

I'll be fine. Well, I have that buffer of doing every genre right and just getting familiar with stuff as you go along, and I've grown a big library of stuff myself so I'm very confident in my song choosing abilities. So that's that. But bottom line, you need to know your music ins and outs. The intros, the outros, when the actual what's it called the vocals are coming in, when the chorus is coming in. It's all very, very detrimental to your mixing and your mixing style. It'll all help, right? So, knowing your music. Next thing is a boasting of having a huge library and music collection. Right, I have 100,000 songs. Doesn't mean anything if you don't know what the, if you don't know your music, right, yeah, right, you know this I gave you a big hard drive, right?

ilia: 7:10

Yeah, yeah, I have. I think. I think I have close to 200,000 tracks. Yeah, I tell you what's on there, I know. All right, Like I start, I removed everything from my, from my. It was a big struggle, right, it was like a self struggle. There I was, I'm going to remove everything, I'm going to put it back on this this way, this time. And then, oh shit, that still doesn't work. It still doesn't work, man. So I tried everything, and then I realized you know what I got to build it myself.

Nino: 7:36

Yeah, you got to build it little by little, right? It's better to have 500 to 1,000 songs that you use regularly and that you know in and out, instead of having 100,000 songs which take up your whole library and you have to bring a huge hard drive. And it doesn't make sense, man, you're just unnecessary. Well, the hard drive is still going to be small, but Well, for a hundred.

ilia: 8:01

Oh yeah, yes, but yeah, and you're not going to look through 100,000 songs you don't have time to.

Nino: 8:09

Even I don't. I don't know what's on that hard drive myself.

ilia: 8:12

Yeah, keep getting surprised when I tell you hey, that's on there.

Nino: 8:15

Yeah, it's too. There's too much man. 100,000 songs, how? I'm just going to take you days to look through like every single song and figure out okay, I like this one, I like this one, I have a couple on there, but no, it's too much, it's overwhelming as a DJ. So you need to build your library little by little, and it's your musical taste, too that defines your certain style what you play, how you play it, right, the remixes that you play. You know how you present it as a DJ, right. So that's that, okay. I know you've heard this before DJing with levels in the red. If you're not redlining, you're not headlining. This is a total bull, right? You?

ilia: 8:58

know what I'm saying, right, I thought you actually like agreed to that. With that. I was like wait, no, no no, I'm not agreeing to it, bro. No, like that's terrible. You shouldn't redline. You shouldn't redline, right Sounds like crap man it does.

Nino: 9:11

When you get to those high, high levels, when you're pushing it, it's just distorted right. So I don't know for club DJs. They're saying if you're not redlining, you're not headlining. But who says that? Skrillex, for example, oh for real, and he redlines all the time like yo. I know that year. Nowadays it's very forgiving, like especially the pioneer mixers. The limits are very high, so it's very hard to distort and damage things. But still you just there's a. It's green. For a reason. Green means good. Yellow is literally like okay, you're still watching, watch out, yeah. And then red is like danger zone. Why would you stay in the red?

ilia: 9:56

You can mess up your gear and it just doesn't sound good. It's not the same quality. And maybe some music, some genre, is more forgiving, yeah, but I just don't see the reason for that, yeah yeah, yeah.

Nino: 10:12

So don't redline it. Just it'll destroy your speakers, your mixer, and it's very harsh on the ears too when you're at high volume is for that long, so it's just not a good practice. Here's another one. Another thing DJs that don't mix. I think this goes without saying, but there's a lot of DJs out there that don't even mix. Stop and play. A lot of wedding DJs I know still stop and play. I know they're very good at song selection and that's number one in my books Like picking the right songs for the crowd, knowing when to drop it as well. But if you don't know how to like beat match at this level especially it's 2024 now why? Why be a DJ? It's the fundamentals of DJ, right, and with AI coming out now, it's literally gonna take over like beat matching. They can already beat match without our help. So that's one thing you just all DJs just need to have.

ilia: 11:25

Now you got to really get some of those skills down pad, because once AI takes over and again that's a topic for a different episode.

ilia: 11:37

But if you're gonna be easily replaceable, then you won't survive long in this industry and we don't know what's coming really exactly. But there's this one software, dj Studio. You got it right. I got it cause I wanted to check it out. And you know what? It's not there yet. It doesn't know phrasing, it doesn't really know how to mix it for you without your intervention, but it has the tools and if you tweak it a little bit it'll create a beautiful mix, even if you don't know how to DJ. If you understand the software a little bit. I understand, yeah and like and I asked them. I asked for my money back because I'm like that's not where it needs to be. But I said I'm gonna keep in touch with you guys. I'm gonna keep checking your software because I'm sure this is gonna be great in a couple years from now. And they told me what they're up to and they said they're working on phrasing right now For sure.

Nino: 12:29

So yeah, you know what Phrasing's. The next thing too, right? Dj said don't phrase, and this actually goes with mixing, with instrumentals and acapellas, right? So if you don't know how to phrase properly, it's not gonna sound, right, it's almost. You have to know how to beatmatch first. That's the first thing you need to learn, at least to learn how to phrase too, and I know it's not as easy as it make it sound, but it's something that needs to be addressed.

ilia: 13:04

I'm still looking for it. Sometimes I'm like yo, is this where it is. I mean, is this where it comes in? Yeah, I know. And I'm like, yeah, it must be here. And then you're like, no, this is where it is. I'm like, oh yeah, that sounds way better.

Nino: 13:15

Yeah, yeah, exactly right, it just takes time it does take time.

ilia: 13:18

You can rush it. The only way to rush it is by listening to music nonstop. Only doing that, Exactly, exactly.

Nino: 13:26

Okay. Another thing is sticking to a predetermined playlist is just not gonna work, like, especially for if you're a mobile DJ, wedding DJ you're gonna have a ton of different people like age ranges, nationalities sometimes, so you have to be flexible on what you're gonna play. You cannot just stick with a playlist. Yeah, I tried that. Yeah, you can't. It just doesn't work for certain groups.

ilia: 13:58

Yeah, and even if it works, it'll work for half an hour, an hour, and that's it. And then what Right? So you gotta be flexible, you gotta.

Nino: 14:06

And if you just keep going and like nobody's on the dance floor, you're just sticking to it and you're just gonna be so rigid that you're not gonna change up. You gotta change it up, man. Our job is to keep people on a dance floor. So if we're not doing that, why are we DJing? Yeah Right, might as well, get a jukebox there, we go, yep, okay. So next thing I know this is very hard, especially for beginners, but to stay away from using YouTube rips. So I know most beginners start off with that because they have budgets and stuff, but you need to stay away from that. Well, especially if you're going in the club route. You're gonna definitely hear the difference on a big speaker system as opposed to your tiny Bluetooth speaker. You're not gonna hear it. We're gonna hear it on a real system.

ilia: 15:02

You can even hear it on a regular PA speaker. You can Like on a regular, like the kind of speakers we use. Yeah, you can, even the lower end ones, worse than ours, you can still hear it. You can hear it.

Nino: 15:13

It's so apparent, right? Definitely on clubs. Definitely not in clubs, right? So stay away from YouTube rips, especially if you're going pro, like doing high profile, like weddings, clubs, even bars and stuff. So, yeah, that's that, djing for free. I would say, don't sell yourself too short. Like I know, there's family and close friends Okay, those are given you wanna do it for exposure. But once you start getting into bars and stuff and they offer you like we'll give you drink tickets or whatever to DJ for us and stuff, like no, no, I think you're selling yourself too short. You need to charge something, right? Whether it's $20 an hour or $50 an hour. If you're gonna play for four hours, charge that and stick to it, right? Cause it worsens our actual industry. It lowers the standards, right? So you need to charge it.

ilia: 16:20

It lowers the standards of the industry and you devalue yourself. Exactly, man. And then what's gonna get them to pay you ever? Yeah yeah, or pay you properly when the day comes. Exactly Know your worth right?

Nino: 16:35

Yes, it's very hard to say at the beginning what your worth is, but get paid something that's bottom line?

ilia: 16:41

What about exchange Like I'll DJ for you but you'll be my photographer, or something Sure? Why not Right, like a service?

Nino: 16:50

for a service. It's something for something, right? Yeah, that still counts, as you're getting something.

ilia: 16:57

Yeah, right, so maybe that's something good for people who are trying to save money. Right, yeah, exactly, yeah All right, perfect, Good man.

Nino: 17:05

Not having a technical backup plan, like not bringing an extra SSD, an extra hard drive of a clone of what's on your laptop. You never know when your laptop is gonna give up, right? So you need an actual extra, like just a backup.

ilia: 17:27

Something reliable like my laptop. Yeah, that if you pull out the cord, the whole thing turns off because the battery doesn't work. Yeah, so every time I tell a DJ they're like wow, you're playing with fire, literally right.

Nino: 17:42

So it's, it's the.

ilia: 17:43

I'm on a journey. I'm trying to decide between a Mac and a PC right now.

Nino: 17:48

Are you gonna get a?

ilia: 17:48

Mac. It's really not about the money, it's about the workflow, and I'm like I'm I just fly on a PC.

Nino: 17:56

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. You're a PC guy and you're a Samsung. You're Android.

ilia: 18:00

You don't really seem like a Mac guy, one plus right now, but I'm thinking about the S24. It just came out, by the way. Well, it's there you go, at least. But that's the thing, like it. Just I'm not. I'm not. I don't have a problem with you know, learning something new, and I use your Mac and I start learning the shortcuts and everything right away, even stuff you weren't using, right. But the thing is, it's still gonna take a couple months to learn, but some things just don't work.

Nino: 18:27

It's not the same. It's not the same. I understand that.

ilia: 18:31

So we'll see. Here's what I'm thinking I'll get a MacBook Air for business, for, like you know, my home use, and I'll get a Windows PC like a powerful one for DJing. And if I love the MacBook Air, I'll get a MacBook Pro and sell my other one, my Windows laptop. Make the transition slow, Just to make sure. It's gonna be a bit of a. You know it's gonna cost me a bit more doing it that way, but but yeah, as long as I'm happy, You'll know for sure if you're gonna stick with.

ilia: 19:01

So that's why I'm like I'm still thinking right, I'm deciding I'll do it soon, before the season starts, yeah okay, good job, man, nice plan.

Nino: 19:10

Okay. Another thing is not interacting with your crowd, Like not knowing, like, like keeping your head up, right, when you're DJing, instead of having it straight at your laptop just looking at what's going on. You need to look up to interact with them. At least smile and acknowledge people, right? You're gonna give out the same energy that you want, right? So make sure you're having a good time. You want them to have a good time, right, so make sure you're having a good time as well. Yeah, right.

ilia: 19:44

I feel like every time we're especially when we're together like we're having a good time, we're having fun and we're dancing, and you know I do my thing, you do your thing. Like you know, we have that duo vibe there. We have that vibe. People either pull me or you onto the dance floor right. I take over or you continue doing your thing. But that wouldn't happen if we're just kind of like Like we're not, we're not, we're just not and projecting the fun energy. Right, who wants to hire that?

Nino: 20:15

Like, if you're looking for potential clients, who's gonna hire that? Literally right, looking at a zombie not having a good time. You have to have a good time, right? Yeah, smile dance, smile dance and just yeah, look to the beat. You're a DJ. Exactly this is what we do, so let's make it look like we're enjoying it. Right, this is more for club DJs, but playing bangers way too early is a no-no, right? So if you're an opening DJ and you play like bangers, like you play turned down for what, right at when you for your first song, no man, you can't. Everybody will be like what the hell is this guy doing? And you can't replay that song now you can't now.

ilia: 21:01

Yeah, you know you're kinda like really wasted that song.

Nino: 21:05

Yeah, exactly right. And if the headliner was watching you you'd be like what the hell is this guy doing? It's just embarrassing. So know what type of music, what kind of music you put to play if you're opening, right, and the same thing with closing as well, right? So it doesn't make sense for that. Another thing is partying way too hard, like being more of like the guest and just enjoying too much. Your job is to just make you're the party right, so we have to stick to that.

ilia: 21:44

You're not the guest, you're the DJ, exactly Unless they invite you to party with them and even then know your place.

Nino: 21:51

Exactly, and like drinking too much, right, It'll screw up your mixes.

ilia: 21:56

Also, you're probably driving yeah, unless you have someone but it's still, or you might stay there like you did a couple times. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but you're not gonna be able to control yourself the same way it's so unprofessional too. You don't wanna show that to people like the clients, you wouldn't accept the drinks for me when I was bartending that first episode. I'm like, hey, you wanna drink? No, I'm good, yeah, I'm good you sure, I'm good, I'm good. Yeah, you wouldn't even take a virgin cocktail or something.

Nino: 22:27

I'm sorry man, I just don't drink. I would drink closer to the end of the night because it's almost done. But even then I probably would think twice. I'd only do it if it was like a close friends wedding or somebody that was really close.

ilia: 22:40

I try rum and coke. This one, that one, no man. And you just know, I'll have coke, though.

Nino: 22:47

Yeah, coke, I can OD on coke, but you know I have to say, professional, that's number one, right, your image right and you wanna get booked again so yeah, lots of ways you stop drinking coke.

ilia: 23:00

You can tell.

Nino: 23:01

I can tell man All right, Thanks, man. I appreciate that you have lost a lot of weight too.

ilia: 23:05

Bro, we're doing a thing. We're on a diet. We're doing a thing Separately, but we're on diets. So I haven't gone to the gym in forever and this guy's trying to get me back in the gym and I'm trying just that. There's a lot of work with my job. The podcast is lots of stuff, too much going on. You can always find time. You can always find time. But yeah, we even thought about you're gonna ask me questions on the podcast, DJ questions, and for every wrong answer I gotta do like Pushups, 10 pushups and there's like 10 questions. So that's up to 100 pushups within like I don't know. Yeah, 5, 10 minutes. Yeah, we're planning to do that.

Nino: 23:53

Maybe we still will.

ilia: 23:54

And then we do another 10 questions until I just can't go on anymore. I mean that's going to be a really good way to lose weight on the podcast.

Nino: 24:02

Yeah, and that could be pretty funny to killing two birds with one stone, but early right.

ilia: 24:07

But yeah, no, you look a lot better man, Like it's, especially with that kind of lifestyle. And I don't actually know if that's one of the questions coming up or one of the things coming up, because honestly, I don't know. I didn't know that he planned this episode and I was like you know, it's better that you know, don't tell me, because I am the beginner.

Nino: 24:24

So yeah, like more, it's more spontaneous realistic like answer these questions Exactly, exactly.

ilia: 24:31

But not eating on the gigs really helps losing the weight and you have a lot of opportunities to eat delicious foods and you stop. You don't eat on the gigs anymore, pretty much like you have the basic, and that's it.

Nino: 24:46

I eat what I want to eat, right, and stay away from the sweets. The eat the steak or the chicken or whatever. I'm on, I like the keto. I'm on the keto, right. So I stay away from carbs. So, mashed potatoes, rice, pasta, I stay away from that. So all the sweets at all too yeah. So nothing, nothing. So it keeps me lean, it keeps me straight. I drink a lot of water too Right, don't eat after 10. Right, yeah, yeah, I try to stick to that.

ilia: 25:15

I've been doing a really good job with it and you lose a lot of weight if you stick to it too Right, I do it religiously, so yeah, I just I just pretty much started eating once a day, or if, if I, if it's a tougher day for me to eat just once, I'll eat for like a three hour period window, but I won't eat too much, I'll just like I'll spread it out and that. That kind of like once a day meal or like almost, like actually not almost intermittent fasting really helped me shed like 15 pounds in a very, very, you know, short time. But a lot of it is water weight and stuff. Yeah, yeah, this is not some fat, but water weight. I got to get back to the gym to to like get to the next level.

Nino: 25:57

Oh that's. It's good to be healthy, especially because we need to be healthy to carry all the equipment and stuff too, Right you?

ilia: 26:04

never know when your time is up, you might die of the Gagers, or you never know so depressing, I know, but for real, like you get tired, like I remember when I was super heavy and I was, and I was helping you and I was like, oh, man, this is so, so much to set up. Oh, and by the time we're set up, I'm like, oh, I need to sit down, you're done, you're done. Or, and then and then, when I got more in shape, was so so much easier.

Nino: 26:28

It's easier, right, and remember, sometimes you're you're setting up by yourself, so, and then you have to DJ still, and then you have to tear down. It takes a lot out of you. If you're not in good shape, you're not going to get through the night, very, very, or you will. But the next day, or even like a couple of days after, you'll feel it, you'll feel it.

ilia: 26:47

Yeah, I like how this podcast turned into like a lifestyle, lifestyle, fitness, wow. All right, but let's let's focus on the DJing stuff.

Nino: 26:55

No, it's kind of ties in with it, but it does, it does, it does, kind of OK. So the next thing we're talking about is not to play every request. You know what I'm getting at.

ilia: 27:08

You're good at it.

Nino: 27:09

Yeah Well, you want to take requests, especially when you're bombing, right. So I welcome requests Every day, should actually welcome requests when they're when they don't know what the crowd wants, right. But if you're if usually 90, 90 percent of the times, a request is a very selfish request and it will clear the dance floor Ninety nine percent of the times, right, and at certain situations, 99 percent of the times the dance floor will clear. So you have to take requests with a grain of salt. You have to make sure it fits in with your the actual set that you're playing at the moment and it has to fit the vibe right. There's no point in playing like a Metallica song if, if, if you're playing R&B at the moment, right. So don't take every request, right. And you're not a jukebox so they can't tell you what to do.

ilia: 28:10

You, you're the pretty much you say what goes, yeah, and I actually, I actually like the requests because, like I said, some nights, some gigs, I'm like, oh man, I don't know what I want, right, because I'm at that point where so far, every gig I've been to they loved me because I made sure to be prepared. But if I just naturally wonder the way you do, like, whatever, I'll get it done, yeah, I would have bombed. So I had to prepare extra, extra well for those gigs, right. And even though I'm prepared, sometimes I'm like, oh shoot, they're still dancing. I was supposed to be until 12. Fine, like there, let's go till 1230. I'm not one of the upsetest client and like, I'm like I don't have a huge client list, so let's, let's, let's, keep this person happy. All right, they're not asking me to stay until three, it's just an extra half half an hour to an hour. I'm already here. And and then the request keep, keep coming. And I started, I started accepting them because I I'm pretty much running out of music, right?

Nino: 29:19

Yeah, yeah, that's the problem with With Requests. Sometimes it's just totally off. You feel obligated to play them, but you shouldn't right yeah, learn how to say no, learn you really have to.

Nino: 29:32

Yeah, so it's, there's that. There's DJs that never play requests as well, and you know what? I Understand this now that I've had that. I've been doing it for a while, but at the beginning I was like, why would you not want to play requests? Why do you like look down upon it? Right, it annoys you, like, like when you're actually DJing and people come up to and you're in a groove and then the people are coming up to that ask for a quest. It's very, very plan.

ilia: 30:05

Yeah, I'm gonna do this now and yeah.

Nino: 30:07

Cuz you're thinking three, four or five songs ahead in your brain, right? So when they come up to you, they ruin your flow or little transition, your transition. When you're about to transition and they talk to you, I'm like hold on, and so it just it's not a good thing, right? The thing we would request to if you do end up taking a request and it fits in the vibe that you're playing, do not play it right away, because if you do, save it for, maybe after, maybe after like five, ten minutes, because if you do play it right away think about this you create a monster. Once you play a request, their request, the big oh.

ilia: 30:49

He played it right away.

Nino: 30:51

So you just give them a green light to ask for more and, yeah, it creates a monster. Trust me, they'll keep on coming back for, for, for those requests.

ilia: 31:03

It's pretty much like yeah, for those who don't DJ Imagine you're cooking and you have a system and somebody gets in your kitchen and takes over.

Nino: 31:12

Yeah exactly.

ilia: 31:13

It's so annoying. Yeah, I again, I welcome them a lot more than you because it really helps me, mm-hmm, but I'm, as I get better. I I can see what you're talking about, especially when they give me those ridiculous requests and then I'm like you're gonna ruin the entire night. What are you doing exactly? I'm not playing that they're being. That's why I don't give me three songs you like. When I, when I notice them, like, yeah, what else do you like? And I'm like, okay, I'll play that instead.

Nino: 31:39

Well, then that you have, you have, um, you have certain things that you say they yeah, I'll play it, I'll play it, I'll play it, I'll play it later, all right, or I don't have it. Yeah, but that's what you do?

ilia: 31:49

I don't give them excuses to right. Well, you want to get rid of them but nicely Right.

Nino: 31:54

But yeah, playing requests not every DJ welcomes in, especially club DJs, I find really get annoyed with that stuff. I don't blame them actually too as well, so I kind of know it. But I welcome requests, especially if you're bombing. You have no idea what the crowd wants. You want to know. I'm almost like, hey guys, let me know what you guys want to hear. What do you guys want to dance to? So yeah, exactly. So. The next thing is not having Emergency floor fillers, and what I mean by this is just having a crate in your, in your Serato or whatever use software you're using to have those floor fillers. That will really get the crowd going, like, for example, cha Cha slide. Right, you know, everybody knows the Cha Cha slide and we'll get on the dance floor and start doing. This is for more for weddings, right, you're not gonna play Cha Cha slide in the club.

ilia: 32:49

But like, yeah, like pretty much line dances, or like home for a rest, home for a rest is a big one, yeah, for sure, but it won't work for every single crowd.

Nino: 32:59

But have your.

ilia: 33:00

Crowd related floor fillers yeah, so you can have certain crowds like certain things exactly exactly so.

Nino: 33:09

The next thing is not being nice in general, or just Not being like being more approachable. Right, you need to be nice. Nobody wants to work with, like a DJ, with a that's crabby or just doesn't want to introduce himself or talk to them. Talk to anybody like a bad attitude, yeah, bad attitude, not approachable. Like introduce yourself to everyone, be happy, like know everybody's names and just be, be happy. You, you're there to have a good time and you want to portray that as well. Nobody wants to work with a DJ. That's that's yeah, that's terrible.

ilia: 33:44

Yeah, and I understand that this could be really anyone and honestly, pro DJs might actually be like that more than Beginner DJs, because I mean, that's just all normal to them. They, they're desensitized, right. Some. Some are just like that, I don't know how, because to me I feel like I'm always gonna be excited about a gig. But If you're a beginner, you're probably nervous and you you feel like maybe you shouldn't talk to anyone and You'll just get there, you'll, you'll, you'll get to the gig, you'll finish it and get out of there. But, especially as a beginner, you want to build your Phone book, you want to make sure that you have people who know you and will book you again. And exactly for me it's easy, because I was in sales. I was just always a very kind of approachable person, people, person, yeah, but that you. But if you never did it and I mean most DJs, people who get into, are probably people, people, people, not person not really introverts, man, even even.

Nino: 34:43

I mean technically I'm an introvert. I didn't really like to be in those social situations. I'd rather just be at home sitting chilling by myself, yeah. But you kind of force yourself to to to be in that situation.

ilia: 34:56

So you need to be approachable and just happy, happy, go lucky, yeah because, like you are the party, so you should be the one that's project, that projects all that happiness, all that Proper, proper, positive energy right and again. Build that phone book, yeah, those contacts and you want them to book you again, right?

ilia: 35:14

So smile, have fun every gig you have, there are at least five to ten opportunities for another gig. There's like a hundred people there at least. Right. There must be another wedding or birthday party or something going on that you could be. You could be booked Four, and if you, if you don't have the right attitude, nobody's gonna book you. So always be happy, always, always, always. A Present yourself in a way that people would want to call you again.

Nino: 35:44

Yeah, man, yeah, exactly precisely, and that's all I got, man, that's it.

ilia: 35:51

That's a good list, thanks. We're getting better at this, we are.

Nino: 36:02

We're fist bumping for those who are just listening.

ilia: 36:08

All right, well, thanks again for joining. Another episode of the clever DJ is number five. Number five. This is this is it for this month. Thank you very much for lasting a month with us. Till next time. We'll see you soon, guys.