TopJox are a Dj agency thing, apparantly VERY good

There's nothing on this page that will make it so you can walk out tomorrow morning and get work as a DJ in a big club (or for weddings come to think of it) it's here to give you some pointers that I've experienced when trying to break out of the bedroom. Some I have used, some I've been lucky enough to never have had to do.

Really, there's three main ways to get ahead, and get work. I've covered bits of them throughout this site, but I think I'll stick everything back in here, whether I'm repeating myself or not.

1) Flood the world with tapes.

2) Join an Agency

3) Network

1) Flood the world with tapes.

Tips on making your tapes.

A lot of this info has been printed over and over in magazines over the years, I'm not pulling this from anything specific, just my memory, so if someone recognises what I'm saying, then don't tell me it's copyrighted - it's common intellect.

I'm not going to go through how to make your tapes again, the next page on my site talks about that ( HERE ) But I will point out again the importance of the recording quality, and that you shouldn't do the mix, then think "Ah, that'll do" when you make a mistake. Ok, so you're doing the mix for 90 minutes, so one or two small errors may creep in, and as long as you have to strain to hear them, then there's a good chance no-one else will hear them - but if you've made any galloping beats anywhere, stop the tape and re-do it.

The presentation of the tape is vital. You can't just send in a TDK tape with your address badly scrawled in crayon. Try to at least make the cover as neat as possible. I've found a great program called Case Liner ( GET IT) which automates the process of making the inlays for cassette tapes. They do another one called Jewl Liner (which you can get at the same address) which help you out with CD cases. I'm not saying you should design something worthy of Picasso, but as long as it's neat, and looks at least semi-professional, then you've already got ahead of half the other people that send in tapes.

Your address is really important too. Print it (with contact phone numbers) on the outside of the case, on the inside of the case, and IMPORTANTLY on the tape itself. You don't want to risk the case and tape getting separated, them loving the tape, and not being able to get in touch because they can't find your info.

As to what format to use, some prefer CD's because of the ability to skip from mix to mix, without having to hear the whole thing. Some prefer tape, because they can stick it on the car radio, or on their personal stereo when they're out walking the dog. My suggestion is that if you have access to making both CD's and tapes, send both formats in. Ok, it'll cost about £1 more to do, but it means you aren't limiting your exposure by sending in a format they can't play (which is why I've not mentioned MiniDisc or DAT - not enough people have them commonly for you to send those formats out). In the end though, it all comes down to what you can make. If you can only make CD's, then do it, if only tape, then do it.....common sense really!

So, once you've done it, send it off to the relevant places, and follow up with a phone call about a week after you sent it. I have a terrible problem with "Phone-phobia" where I think the other person is going to be far too busy to want to talk to me, so I end up putting off phone calls to the last minute, which ISN'T a good thing! Don't be scared, you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain (yes, mum!)

2) Join an Agency

If you want to know more about the pitfalls and good points of going with an agency, click HERE to jump to that page on my site.

3) Network

"Do you think that someone who has heaps of connections but isn't a great DJ, just average, will make a better living out of the profession than someone who has less connections but is an excellent DJ who goes around handing out demo tapes?"

Yes. That is, I think the person with the connections will get a lot further than someone who just fires out tapes. Ok, you get a lot of exceptions, like John Digweed - who started by sending a tape to Renaissance, but I think that connections will get you everywhere.

My reason for this thought though is really just because every piece of work I've had has been through knowing people, not by sending out tapes indiscriminately. Ok, I've still had to use tapes to back up how good I am, but I've never sent out an unsolicited tape in my life.

When you think that my Dj'ing started through being a Barman in the pub where I first started Dj'ing - from there I met the owner of a club who was looking for a warm up, from there I got the Saturday residency. Again, from the pub I've done a lot of private nights at clubs and met other Dj's who have given me the tip that they're leaving, and put me forward as a replacement. It's all been done through knowing people who know people who know people.

The bottom line is really that a) you have to be good nowadays - did you see that program "Cream" on Sky 1 last year? They said that there are now an estimated 40,000 bedroom Dj's in the UK alone!! So if you can't cut it, there's another 39,999 who would love to be able to give it a shot. You have to be nice. I read an interview a while ago where the interviewee was saying that there are people in this business who have made their careers out of being a nice guy - nothing wrong with that!! Being polite, honest and prompt will get you a lot further in this world than being a rude, late, smelly wanker!

But then, the problem is that a lot of the people who are teetering a couple of steps up the ladder from you are getting a bit carried away with themselves, and ARE rude, late, smelly wankers. You'll come up against a lot of human brick walls in your travels up the ladder, they won't return phone calls, they will be rude to you on the phone, pretending not to remember you, they will play games with you, the list goes on - but remember that sometimes, they act like this just to see how serious you are about working for them.

There are a couple of other things that will help you along the way. One of them, as icky as it seems is to do a lot of functions as a Dj. There's a couple of reasons for this. The first is that it will teach you how to work, and read a crowd. You'll never learn as much or as quickly as you will when you first play in front of 200 hundred drunkards out on a works party. Ok, try to steer clear of things like weddings and funerals, they're bizarre events, but if you can do parties and stuff, it'll help you out in the long run. Ok, it's not what you want to do, you want to be a club Dj, but even if you just do it and think of the money for now, you can still hang onto your dream of the club Dj.

The other reason this helps is that is will break you in using a microphone. I know, I can hear people all over the web crying out as one (then suddenly falling silent) but to be able to talk comfortably over a PA is REALLY helpful in the long run.

It's something I never thought of, or even wanted to do - because I just want to be the next Sasha or Oakenfold, but the thing is, you'll not get a lot of work when people find out you can't talk. Put it this way; if there is you and another person up for the same job, and the only thing separating the two of you is that the other guy can talk, then he'll probably get the job because of it. Even if it's in a place that doesn't have the Dj talking, it's still a useful thing to know, that if ever they are going to do a live PA of some kind, that you are going to be comfortable talking to people in the club. No-one really likes that gibbering idiot who keeps on talking in between mixes, but it's fact of life that you really need to know how to do it. Sorry!! You may never need to pull out that skill, but at least having it in the background will make your job prospects a lot brighter.

Simply, try everything, do everything and follow up everything.

Here's an email that I got sent out a couple of days ago. It's kinda relevant here, so I thought I'd stick it in. The normal text is a chunk of his mail, the italics are my answer.

I read up on your site about how to approach the bars about spinning. Now for my additional moronic questions... =-)

(1) I'm pretty sure the bars I am planning to send tapes / CDs to have already hired their DJs for the summer (they're seasonal places). I thought I would offer to spin for little money just for the experience (e.g. in my cover letter say I would be willing to DJ for $20 and all the bottled water I can drink...). Do you think the bar managers would think I'm full of it or would take me on and give my tape a listen? How should I best handle this since I have bedroom experience only (I mean mixing-wise =-) )

A1) The best thing you can do is to go into these bars yourself, don't send a tape out to them, go see them, and take a tape with you. Offer to do a quick warm up for the hour before the main Dj comes on, and as you say, do it for free, cheap, or bottles of water! My first ever spot I was paid in all the cans of Irn Bru I could drink!! The most important thing is to say you're willing to work for free. When they find out that you've only had Bedroom experience, they'll probably tell you where to go if you ask for money. Chances are they won't give you a night, but if you can wedge yourself in through a warm up spot.........

(2) Bars that don't have DJs - should I approach them? There are some that I think are just begging for one - especially when the live band takes a break and the damn jukebox goes on with tunes that put me to sleep. Likewise I would do the gig just for the experience and not for the $$$ - at least not yet.

A2) You might as well try approaching bars without Dj's. The main problem here though is that they won't have a set-up for you to use when you go there, so you'll have to use your own gear. You've got nothing to lose by asking them - just be polite and explain to them the boom in dance music, and how it would be mutually beneficial to both your parties for them to start having a Dj in their pub. And work for free.

(3) Are there such things as backup DJs? In other words if the main guy gets sick do the bars call on someone else to come in or does the main DJ outsource to a friend?

A3) The back-up Dj thing is an odd one. That's the reason most of the pubs in big cities will look to go through an agency first, as they can provide a back-up Dj when the one that's supposed to do the set breaks a nail or something. But again, it's a good idea when you're approaching these people in number 1) to ask them to keep your details on file, so that if the Dj that is supposed to turn up bails on them, they can give you a quick phone and you'll be there in 30 mins or so.

(4) Resume - do the bar managers ask for past gigs you've done on a sheet of paper - like a resume? How should I best handle the fact that I only have the bedroom experience? Totally amateur league sounding even to a small bar (though I am shooting for one of the biggest clubs on a summer island, which isn't saying much since it's a seafood restaurant by day).

A4) Again, the resume thing is another sketchy detail. I've got a Dj'ing CV that I take about with me, with details of where I've worked, who to contact, music policies, improvements the club went through after having me there etc. But as you've got no experience other than the bedroom, it's kinda a mook point!

(5) Who should I send my demo to? The manager of the bar / restaurant? When the bar managers review the tapes, do they listen to the whole thing? And...should I make the tape 45 or 90 minutes? I plan on burning the tape onto a CD when finished...but unfortunately it won't have detailed tracks (only 1 and 2 for each side of the tape). My burner won't do separate tracks on the fly. And as you know a CD only holds 70 minutes of music....

A5) As I said, don't send the tape into anywhere, take it in yourself so they can see you. It's an idea to take two tapes along just in case. This way, if you get nailed by the charge-hand, you can give one to them, then ask the other one to be left for the manager of the bar. See, these buggers have a tendency to keep the tapes for their own personal use, so if you give it to them alone, it might never make it to the person its supposed to.

As to how long they listen to it, it depends on a lot of factors - how much time they have, the format you gave them it on (say they've only got a tape recorder at work, and a CD player in the car. If you give them a tape, they can only play it a work, when there's too much other stuff going on to listen, or if they only have a tape player in the car, they might just stick it in while they're out and about - giving you a better listen.) Plus, it's down to what they thought of you as a person (hence why you go in personally). If they liked you, and the tape is good, then they might listen to it the whole way through. Make it 90 mins though. Even though they might not listen to it all the way through, if you only give them one side, then they won't have the opportunity to listen to the rest of your stuff, and really get into it.

Most important thing in respect to the tape is make it VERY VERY good. Don't give them a shoddy thrown together tape. Make sure NONE of the mixes are horse galloping. The amount of people who give me their tapes to review that have some really dodgy mixes on it is incredible. This tape is a reflection of how you can mix, not how you're too lazy to do a new one just because you fucked up. If the tape is unprofessional, then they'll think you're unprofessional too. Make sure the quality of it is really good too - don't make it sound like it was recorded on a 1920's gramophone!!

Also, it's important to put your contact details on EVERYTHING! The inlay to the tape MUST have you details, the tape itself should have your name and number on it, and as an afterthought, it's even an idea to put a sticker with your details onto the outside of the case as well.

As to the burning of the CD, try to split up the tracks. It's pretty easy to do - takes a bit longer, but it's easy. If you just have big long tracks, they'll get pissed off with it. When I get sent CD's for mix reviews, I just skip the to the next track, rewind it 30 seconds, and listen from there. I know it's cheating, but it's how a lot of them do it.

There's a program called Feurio which (apparently) sticks in the spacer when burning one big wave file onto CD, but I've not had a chance to DL it yet, so I'm not too sure.

The other way to do it is to record the whole mix onto your hard-drive, then use a wave editor to split up the wave into separate tracks. Then, use something like Dart Pro 98 which will let you set the gap between all the tracks to 0. That way, you'll get a seamless mix with tracks.

Good luck with it all though, just remember that you can put in 1000% of effort, and get no response. Just don't get too pissed off when this happens.