Here was I going hell for leather to get a resident spot at a local hotel and I'd never actually put much thought into what it must be like.

Those of you who have a regular slot: you must get fed up? I presume you're playing virtually the same set every night to similar crowds? You must need extra clothes (tux, DJ, etc.)? Your voice must take a pounding? Your proper job must suffer? You must be knackered for the whole month? You must have everything ready for Christmas day by the end of November? Your other halfs must hate you? You must hate Christmas itself? You probably sleep when you're not working? I expect you have to be there early to start the background music playing? And then run out fresh as a daisy after the meal to kick start everyone? Is it three hours work for your usual rate or does the venue get a reduction?

What else? Do you just think of the money? Does your equipment suffer from nightly use? Do you use a roadie? Do you share the burden? Do the staff get on with you? Do they treat you like a fellow employee?

Have I asked enough questions? Do I remind you of Macaulay Culkin in Uncle Buck?

On the bright side...

The gear gets put up once, in November and stays that way until Jan 2nd... This is beneficial for the gear (less transporting around) and a key part of keeping suffcient sleep time available to the DJ, by releasing him/her from the energy sapping task of setting up/packing away.

Be sure to have some mistletoe above the disco, and keep a tin of Cadburys Roses labelled "Staff Chocolates." topped up at all times.

Yes, the music is fairly samey, each night, but requests add variety.

OK let's answer each one: No. No each night is different to a certain extent. 2 sets of clothes. Yes the voice does get a pounding. Yes it does - I'm lucky to be self employed and my other job almost closes down. Not if you pace yourself. Yes do your Christmas shopping now. No mine comes with me, and enjoys them more than I do. I spend Christmas day in bed (well most of it - it's a family tradition (for me)). Yes I sleep & DJ. I live in the place when I'm not sleeping. Yes. I give the venue a reduction for booking me so often (No setting up etc).

Para 2. No I don't think of the money - I enjoy them. The equipment enjoys being in the same place & not being taken out in the cold (so it tells me!). Yes - my wife.
Yes. We love them & they look forward to seeing us. We have respect for each others role in bringing goodwill in the festive season.

Para 3 who the is Uncle Buck?

PaulS

Hi,

This is my job and has been for 30 years,for me christmas is no different than the rest of the year.I try never to play the same set and i never work christmas day or new years eve (family days).I work clubs so the gears not mine,my voice is used to it,its a golden rule of mine to make sure i always get on with staff and the money pays the bills just like the rest of the year. No i dont get knackered and any daytime work i do is not affected.

This is a fair enough question and to even out the answers:

Yes, you do get knackered - Luckily I used the venue's equipment but still had to work there 7pm till 1am every night so the day job did get a bit much...

Set wise, no you dont really get bored..... I like the odd Christmas track and its nice to play it as you only get to play them for one(ish) month a year.... And as you are doing the dinner/dance/parties for loads of different companies, you do get different audiences.. For example if you are doing one for a local clothing factory (think Corrie!) it's gonna be a lot different than that for a local Accountants firm (well should be ) so musically you get a lot more challenges..

Plus, sometimes if a company doesnt have that many staff, or they organise it themselves, you will have 4 or 5 different companies all celebrating their parties together....

As they are ALL paying customers, imagine if you will trying to keep them ALL happy... Usually at a birthday party or wedding you are aiming to please the bill payer....... These people are ALL bill payers so it does get quite "entertaining" to keep them all amused.....

The family do get a little annoyed that I dont see them all the time, but then it is your job and you can a> buy them a lot more presents with the money and b> it makes you a much better DJ with all the experience/ideas you get..

YOU GET KNACKERED !!

For the last x amount of years I have done every night in December (excluding 24th) plus a day job. Leave the house at 7am, get home again at 2am to do the same thing again.

I get boring of Roy Bloody Wood by the 9th, Slade lost its appeal in 1984 nad as for Cliff.....

Seriously it is great fun, set the kits up in November and breakdown in January, I have three or four hotels, and the kit lives there in December and I move around (its a lot easier that way ariound !).Just walk in, and walk out again atthe end of the night. One venue, which is being done up will have a disco done via radio waves, so we can set up anywhere, plug into a transmitter, the reciever will be placed with the amps (HZ Nexus DPX1100 at the moment) etc to feed the in-house speaker sysytem (4 x HZ PE200's), radio mic and lights built in too, so plug laptop into the wall and bingo !!

Chris's nickname was Maclauley, because at the end of the night he always went 'home alone.'

So did ET

However getting back on topic..

Xmas, or indeed any long term nightly residency is great, provided you can keep your gear there. However I once did a run of Xmas gigs at a small hotel where I had to keep packing away and setting up for every gig!.

And then the cheeky buggers wanted a block booking discount!.

So don't be too hasty when booking these and offering a discount until you have cleared whether you can indeed leave your stuff set up, at some venues the room may double for another use during the day and hence you'll need to still go through the usual gig routines - every night .

My xmas residency is great, setup each Wednesday and break down sunday morning, with our resident band everynight so its a v. easy night / nice change from weddings all year round.

Background music is all 'in house', i have to be there each night by 9:30ish for 9:45 start, finish at 12:30 with the band playing an hour.

yes i'm always tired, full time job is, thanfully, flexible and I can work wkend days to catch up with 'proper work' during the silly season

Love chrimbo...you might be playing at the same venue night after night, but at least its to a different crowd. Its even better because you know that the maximum playing time will be 2 hours....and in most cases, people get straight on the dance floor hoping to dance off the great big meal theyve just had!
The staff and myself always have a great time....but do find that as most of the "dos" are corporate functions, the guests can be extremely rude.... give em free booze and they think they own the place... I probably dont get as much abuse as some of the bar staff though!

Conferencing is big business round here, so at most of my regular venues the gear needs to be set up and taken down every night.

Not complaining though, always a good earner in December!

Well, just enough to pay the taxman at the end of January