Be a Better DJ

No one is born perfect. DJs are no exception. In order to be the best DJ out there, you have to put in some work. This week’s blog will give you a few tips to improve.

Prep is everything!

I know I’ve said this before, but it’s too important to not repeat. Practice makes perfect. Always put your set together well before your gig and then practice it over and over again. If you procrastinate your set until the night (or worse, the day) before your set, it will definitely show. If you don’t put in the work, you’re going to end up with a half-hearted set and no one wants that.

You don’t have to plan out your entire set though. For the parts that aren’t set in stone, give yourself some options. You can’t really predict the crowd when you’re planning, so leave a few good song choices that you can pull from while you’re DJing. 

If you’re ambitious enough to do a live set, don’t. Unless you’re some sort of DJ god that came to earth, stay away from full on live sets. Trying to find the songs that perfectly flow and transition into each other rarely happens when you’re on stage. Flush all of that out beforehand. The crowd will thank you for it later.

Go with the flow

Just like life, DJing can be a little unpredictable. Be able to be flexible with your set. If the DJ before you goes over time, be able to adjust your set so that you also don’t impede on the DJ after you.

At smaller gigs, you might get a lot of requests. Personally, we rarely play requested songs, so we wouldn’t recommend doing so unless you really wanted to. If they’re super unrelated to the vibe you’re going for, just brush them off. Do it nicely though. No one likes (or appreciates) a DJ that acts like a jerk.

Don’t overdo it

Trust me, I’m all for extravagance, but you might want to keep all of your cool techniques and effects on the back-burner for your set. DJing is supposed to produce a fun environment. It’s not a place to showcase all of your skills.

You also want to make sure that you’re not playing similar songs on repeat. One thing you can show off is your broad music scope. Give the audience a bunch of different songs instead of the ones that are on the radio. You should definitely throw in some crowd pleasers, but don’t let them dominate your set.

Be energetic

Bring back those college days and drink an energy drink or two if you have to. Your set could be lit af, but it will be pointless if you’re just standing up on the stage. You need to perform your set. Don’t just let the songs play themselves. Hype up your set just as your work is hyping up the crowd. Remember, DJing is supposed to be fun (at least it has to look fun on stage), so live up to those #DJGoals and rock it.

Amber Cavazos

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