To land yourself a residency how good do you have to be?

By this I mean mixing skills- for you regular club what is required

What about mic skills?

Do owners have any predgidism against cd jocks?

Finally how many of you have residencies in clubs?

Depends on the club but in my experience they like a good standard of mixing,mic work and programing,in other words a hard working dj.

That rules me out then Chris

Not saying this about night clubs in general but around here it doesn't seem to be what you know.....

Dont get me wrong we do have some good dj's, in the city centre a number of the fun pub/club really do have some qualtiy dj's which i get to see the odd once in a while on one of those odd nights off. They are spot on with the crowd, great mic work, not so much mixing but good selection (which is what its all about).

We have a couple of night clubs who do attract the 'big name' djs but local djs who ive spoke to certainly have some great contacts within the local scene! Mixing.....yeah they have got that perfected which I believe many people can but havent a clue with mic use (but yes they do try!)

I dont have a club residency, totally into hotels with mobile work now. I have however held a number of fun pub/club residencies which I immensley enjoyed, just to turn up with your music is nice! Ive never known anything to have been said against dj's using cds just personal choice i suppose. When i moved from playing vinyl to cd i certainly noticed a drop in the wannabe djs in your ear!

Steve

It really depends what sort of club you want to play in as to what the club manager will want i know i got my club residancy through being good at responding to a crown with a vast knowlege of music and then being able to mix which i see as a basic skill that with time anybody can do. also being good at talking to managers help a lot.

well I reckon you dont have to be that good... I dj-ed for kev in one of his clubs and they seemed to like me! heheheheh!

Howdy

Nothing to add here as I don't have the experience. but oh how I'd love to get a residency playing 70's and 80's...any ideas folks as I need some regular income from this lark

Darren

bless kev!

Darren... why not promote your own 70/80s night? You will have to do a bit of work and have a bit of outlay to begin with, but you could be quids in if it takes off... its just taking the chance in the first place! If you have a residency with a hotel it is always a good starting point... ask them to hire you the room at a very special date on a night that isnt usually busy - then split some of the profits with them.. plus they make on the bar etc etc etc...give it a go!

70's night....I hear How far away are you

Howdy

Paula...I'm in the Northants area.

Got a couple of good hotels very close by and their function rooms are excellent, will have to give them a call.

Flairs at the ready!

Darren

Bck combing Afro allready now where's my platforms

Darren.. when you approach the hotel... sell them the idea that it is going to make them money. You will have to convince them that the night is going to be run really well... perhaps making everyone take membership where they have to supply details of home address etc... plus make sure you have adequate security. Provided you go in there with solutions to any pitfalls the hotel may bring up, then you should be successful. Do yourself a problems/solution chart that you can also present to the hotel. Plus tell them that you wont even need their air conditioning with all the flares!

I DJ a club four nights a week that holds 1000 people. I started off in mobile discos, which I still run then went on the pubs, and bars and moved into clubs. The good thing in the club I work is the majority of people are over 25. So I play a huge variety of music from 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, chart, dance, RnB, Garage, Drum and bass, Reggae, Ska, Rock and dance. Basically anything goes. The manager is a little bit funny if I dance it up too much though.

I use the microphone and interact with the crowd quite a lot. It depends on what sort of club you work and if its suitable or not. If you are working a specific club that does specific music then you would probably just be a mixing DJ playing short sets of your typical music. No microphone skill is needed for clubs like this.

The club I work is for over 21's. We even get regulars who come in their 60's. So I have a large range of audience to cater for. At the end of the day I am not going to please everyone just as long as the majority are happy.

Agree with most of the comments but to be honest i think out in europe,mixing has become a must,mic work a bonus.I cant put a dj who cant mix into any of the four clubs i supply djs to and the music is very varied.

We seem to have 2 sectors of DJ's in Torquay, one does the clubs, one does mobile, only very rarely do they come together (No comments please I was going to type mix, but thought this would confuse even more)

i just finished at the club i was in
fell out with the managment
over
bet you guessed it monie
but the thing is
doesnt matter how good you are at mixing
the main thing is how you put the music together
and how full the dancefloor is
that is all that counts

i know what you mean m8