My last post was all about how I became a DJ. Fifteen years later, I've learnt a lot. I'd be a bit concerned if I hadn't, really. I've put in the hours, I've served my time as the warm up DJ, playing to empty clubs, getting no recognition. At best, it was liberating - you have relatively free reign to play what you want as no one is really paying attention, but at worst, it's rather depressing continuously playing second best to the main act.
But had I not cut my teeth on these gigs, I wouldn't be where I am now. I would not know how to read a room, learn which tracks are timeless or know which are guaranteed floor fillers. In this industry, to survive you need to constantly be aware of what is happening, to know and understand trends. Time and timing are everything.
First and foremost, I believe to be a real DJ, you must have an unswerving love for and solid knowledge of music. All music. Not just what's currently charting on iTunes top ten. You cannot afford to be lazy - you have to learn your craft. As with any profession, whatever you do, whether you are a doctor, plumber or a chef, you will have to spend time studying, honing your skills until you are assured and confident, otherwise you will ultimately fail. And by confidence, I don't mean arrogance - you can't become a DJ overnight.
Or can you? The rise of the 'Celebrity DJ' is growing at an alarming rate. It appears that should you feature on a reality show/are a glamour model/shagged/shagging a premiership footballer or the son/daughter of anybody remotely famous this automatically allows you to bestow the title of 'DJ' before your name. As a ' Celebrity DJ', not only are you faced with the laborious task of pressing the sync button for your pre-recorded hour set list (because an hour is all you can manage of pretending to DJ) , you are also confronted with the dilemma of continuously worrying whether your artfully placed headphones are ruining your hair, whilst trying to maintain that concentrated, aloof 'I'm really feeling the music' face, interspersed with the occasional inane grin should a pap turn up to document your new 'career'.
Don't get me wrong, advancements in technology are brilliant for DJing - I've recently switched to Serato and haven't looked back. Gone are the days of lugging two heavy, heavy suitcases stuffed full of CDs and Vinyls through various airports and incurring extra baggage charges, my music is easily accessible on one laptop and for me this is brilliant.
With advancement though, comes redefinition. The two come hand in hand - they're inescapable. For instance, take the earlier example of the 'Celebrity DJ' compared to the warm up DJ. Ostensibly, they both look the same, yes, one may be more polished/glamorous than the other, but essentially they appear the same. Both have the headphone, both have decks, monitors and both are playing the same music.
However, the celebrity DJ is merely an actor, playing the part of the DJ. To use the doctor analogy again, the celebrity DJ is like George Clooney playing Dr Doug Ross in ER. Very nice to look at, but should they be embroiled in a real medical emergency, wouldn't be the person to bet on to potentially save your life.
As Indeep once sang, 'last night a DJ saved my life', maybe more attention or credit needs to be paid to the warm up/ghost DJ. Because behind every Celebrity DJ is the warm up DJ, the real DJ, constantly saving these 'DJ's' by patiently playing to the initially empty club, warming the crowd up before the main star turns up and getting absolutely no respect or recognition for it. These DJs are the ones juggling both a day job and then playing until 4am in the morning, all because they love music. These are the DJs that are defining the music that we listen to today: they create, listen and learn. These are the true DJs.