Looked at catgirl and catboy selections in my last post, going to look at DJ selections for Neko this time. This one is going to be a bit harsh and possibly controversial but what I’m writing here is the reality and I wouldn’t be surprised if many other event promoters feel this way.
So I’ll start of with the biggest positive, while yesterday I was a bit vague, especially since catgirls and catboy selections are a role I generally stay out of, the plan is for me to mostly do all the DJ selections if possible. Plus in general DJ selections are a bit more subjective than catboy and catgirl selections.
Positives out of the way, lets get to the harsh reality of coming on board to DJ at Neko or heck anywhere atm. So many people want to become a DJ nowadays, that it’s easily a promoters game, with DJs having to work super hard to get a gig. When I first started raving, mixing on turntables was a skill that took a while to master, getting equipment to practise on was expensive, collecting music on vinyl was expensive, there were serious barriers to entry. This has now changed in the laptop/controller, mp3, auto-syncing era. This is by no means me putting down current DJs, it’s more me making a point that technology has changed which has significantly reduced the financial barriers, learning curves and ease to get your name out there, there's a lot more DJs fighting for far fewer spots.
So applying to Neko, I’ll be blunt, if you’re reading this, you’re probably too late, since I’ve already sorted out a number of my DJ lineups for 2018, that said I’ll let you know my advice on getting gigs and things I look for which I believe a number of promoters do as well, so here’s my biggest tips.
It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen (maybe)
Do not think that if you spend an hour watching Youtube tutorials and practising for a week that you should start applying for gigs. Practise as much as possible, learn from other DJs and also try to gain respect. There have been people trying for many years to get a DJ gig with no luck, if you are hoping for short term results, then get out now, you need to commit to the long term to get somewhere.
Stand Out
I can not stress this enough, you can have all the amazing technical skills in the world but it won’t matter, trust me I mixed on 4 CDJs live at Neko a few years back and nobody cared. You need to realise that yes you might be good at your genre, but what makes you better than the hundreds of other DJs in your genre, especially over somebody with more experience and as mentioned earlier the skill and technical gap between DJs is very minimal now due to technology.
I can not stress this enough, you can have all the amazing technical skills in the world but it won’t matter, trust me I mixed on 4 CDJs live at Neko a few years back and nobody cared. You need to realise that yes you might be good at your genre, but what makes you better than the hundreds of other DJs in your genre, especially over somebody with more experience and as mentioned earlier the skill and technical gap between DJs is very minimal now due to technology.
You need to get your name out there, keep recording and/or streaming mixes, produce music, go on radio shows, help work with events, model, cosplay, make cool things, create jokes/memes, make people interested and get excited about you as a person. This sounds really counterproductive in terms of a role of a DJ but realise that with so much competition you need to do that little bit extra to stand out. Do everything you can to gain a following and gain fans and followers, it helps a lot, that said, I am always headhunting and I'm willing to bring on board those with small followings if you've got a unique and strong talent.
Oh and don’t send me your nightcore mixes of all the S3RL songs you’ve downloaded off the internet. Not interested, I know a guy who is really good at playing S3RL tracks, ;)
Be Relevant
They say for job hunting that it’s a good idea to tailor your resume to the job you’re applying for and honestly I don’t see how that’s different with applying for DJ gigs. You would think it’s common sense but I often get sent mixes of genres that I don’t think would work and have no relevance in an event dominated by anime, gaming and Japanese music.
A lot of the DJs that have had success on my end isn’t necessarily about understanding what music works, they know what animes are popular, what video games are popular, even things such as popular cosplays, trends, shows, heck even memes. Being relevant, understanding what’s hot and what works, regardless of what your personal tastes are is absolutely crucial with getting DJ gigs.
Trust me, I didn’t get goth and metal gigs by submitting loli catgirl hardcore mixes. XD
Expand your horizons
One weird thing that seems to get to me is how badly people want a DJ gig but they will only apply for one or two genres. If you want to make a start with a DJ gig, be willing to try new places, I’ve played at radio studios, warehouse parties, street events, house parties, alt events, conventions, raves and maybe the odd Neko Nation or two. Learn to play multiple genres, there are some genres where you’ll literally be competing with maybe a couple of people rather than a couple of hundred or event thousands.
I get the whole I want to play my favourite genre but think of it like getting your dream job, it’s very unrealistic to think you can get the gig you want and the genre you want straight up, get some experience, start looking around and later down the line you’ll be able to focus only on the gigs and genres you want to do but I see too many with a very narrow minded focus early on.
Start small
Finally most of the people who have gigs for Neko applied ages ago, when we were desperate for DJs, we were small we had little competition for most DJs. I’m at the point now that I don’t need applications, if I don’t need callouts, I usually can get whoever I want within reason, I mean heck we had TeddyLoid and S3RL last year. Gigs smaller than mine don’t have that luxury yet and ones that are just starting need help with the numbers, you should know what these gigs are. If not you need to get more involved in the scenes you want to DJ and play at.
