Things I’ve learned as a DJ so far…

I’ve only been DJing since the start of the year and my thoughts so far:

• Master the basics (beat matching / mixing in key / phrasing etc).

• Be open to trying different genres/formats.

• Track preparation, boring after a while, but so useful down the line.

• Know your audience (I got loads of praise/good feedback just from playing more rock / older bangers from 80s rather than usual dance/club/dnb at a bar recently).

• You can’t please everyone.

• Mistakes will be made (I find that some sessions at home, I’ll completely fluff a transition over and over, but other times there’ll be several decent transitions without even thinking about it).

• Use YouTube tutorials as much as possible (I’ve paid for a few Crossfader courses, but truth be told I’ve learned half of it for free, just from watching YouTube and practicing 🤦‍♂️).

• Get friendly with local DJs (also learned a few different techniques from watching other DJs, which has helped me with different transitions).

• Don’t go too crazy with FX.

• Don’t pick up bad habits, I’ve noticed so much with other DJs that I’ve just turned around and said to some of them, you might as well just setup a Spotify playlist and hit play…

• Most important of all, have fun!