I know its a rare occurrence that I'm posting new blogs now-a-days - and God only knows how many people even remotely care about what I have to say - but there's something that's been bugging me for a while now, and I feel that if I don't get it off my chest, it'll just make me bitter... well, more bitter, maybe. It'll be a long one, but here goes...
About 2 or 3 months ago, I got a phone call from a guy who was given my info by someone who had heard me DJ an event here in town. The call came in about 10:30 on a Tuesday night. Now I don't know about most of you, but at 10:30 at night, I'm not really in the mindset to talk business... but be that as it may, he wanted to talk about this new club he was opening, and having me involved based on my reputation locally (as well as the fact that I'm on the radio at least 2-3 days a week, I'm sure). So we spoke, exchanged info, and kept in touch here and there as the opening of the club was approaching.
Fast forward to 6 weeks ago.
I got an invite to go in and meet the owner on their first night. The club was beautiful. The atmosphere... the look of the place... the whole thing reminded me of being home (read: South Florida, for those of you who have no idea where I'm from originally). The sound system was a little lacking, but I figured that just had to do with growing pains, first night of working out the bugs, etc. That being said, there were two DJs going 5 for 5 (or so), and one of them was far better than the other - there was an obvious difference between the two that even the girl I was with (who is no expert) noticed it right away.
I spoke for a few minutes with the owner, who told me about their plans for the place, and what type of vibe they were looking to create, etc. He seemed to have a pretty good vision for what they wanted to do - and Lord knows we need a proper venue here in St. Augustine. The girl and I hung out for a while, and as the night went on, the place got pretty busy... especially considering it was their "soft opening," and they had done little to no promotion yet (most of the promo was basically word of mouth - news travels pretty fast in this little town of ours). As far as I could tell, the place definitely had potential, and I wanted in.
A about a week later, my friend Brian (Raggamuffin) was DJing there, so I headed back. I spoke more to the owner about coming in and playing. He told me the DJ they had in on Friday nights just wasn't cutting it, he wanted to bring someone else in, and basically offered me the night. Of course, I accepted graciously - I mean, what DJ worth their salt turns down a Friday night residency? He said we'd be a go for that Friday (it was Sunday night that we spoke). It goes without saying, but I was amped. It had been a while since I held a residency - I'd been playing gigs here and there, and still doing Subliminal Messages every week - and I was excited to get back into the swing of things. When we spoke, I explained to him that the DJ he heard on our local pop station was not the DJ he'd get on Friday nights. Sure, I'd play hits - I know this town isn't ready for DnB and dubstep on Friday night - but I'd be playing remixes and mashups... basically "party music," but not the radio versions. He said that was exactly what he wanted, but also asked if I could throw a little promo mix together for him, just so he knew what to expect on Friday. I figured that wasn't asking too much - even though I have 5 studio mixes and over 3 years of radio show archives on my website he could've checked out - so I threw together a 45 minute, one-take mix for him to download and listen to. I emailed him a link on Wednesday night, and asked him to call me once he gave it a listen.
Let's jump to Friday... after I had promoted the hell out of me playing there via Subliminal Messages, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
I called him around lunchtime to check in, make sure everything was still as we discussed, as I hadn't heard anything from him since we spoke that previous Sunday. Voicemail. I called again when I was on my way home from the radio station (around 4:30). Voicemail. Then, I called Brian (Ragga) to ask him if he'd be willing to meet me at the club a little early to soundcheck, as I wanted to be sure that the setup was ready to go. Of course, he said he would, so we planned to meet there around 7. I had not even put my cell phone back in my pocket when it rang: the club owner was finally calling me back.
He was calling to let me know we were going to push my gig to the next week... at 6pm the night I thought I was supposed to be DJing. He told me he had booked another DJ to play that night. I informed him that I'd been promoting it all week, talked about it on my radio show, had a ton of callers who asked for details and made plans to come out, and also had a bunch of my friends who were planning to head out there for their first time - because I was supposed to be the DJ. Long story short: he called the other DJ who he'd double-booked me with, and the two of us agreed to split the night, and take a little less money than we'd both negotiated.
I got to the club at 7 to soundcheck... the DJ booth was (for lack of a better term) a complete clusterfuck. The CDJs and mixer that I was told would be there had been unplugged and moved off to the side, and the other DJ had set up two 1200s and his own mixer, plugged in to his Serato (which, of course, was what I was planning on using, but on my laptop with my own music - I had planned on playing 4-5 hours, remind you). Unfortunately, the DJ booth was an afterthought when the owners renovated the building, so the turntables were picking up massive vibrations from the subs, and Serato wouldn't run correctly. After attempting to troubleshoot the issue, we decided it would just make more sense to scrap his 1200s and re-plug in the CDJs. at almost 8:30 (doors scheduled to open at 9). So in a massive hurry, Ragga and I re-wired the booth for the CDJs, with barely enough time to have music on when the first few people were coming in. It should go without saying that I had no plans to be there since 7, so I was still in my work clothes, and without some of the things I always have with me when I DJ (sweat band, towel, water bottle, etc.)... Luckily, I had my laptop and my headphones in the car. I should also mention that I hadn't eaten lunch or dinner that day. The other DJ said he was going to go home, shower and change, and he'd be back "in a little while." He was kind enough to offer to bring me back some food and a bottle of water, and I took him up on it.
2 hours later, he returned. It was a welcome sight. At that point, I just wanted to slam down some food, and smoke a cigarette... but the other DJ forgot to inform us that he'd never played on CDJs and had no idea how they worked (which I found a little tough to believe), so he was going to "let" me play the whole night. Mixed feelings aside, I'm a professional, so I just kept on doing my thing.
Around 10:45-11pm, one of the other owners came into the booth. There were probably 50-75 people there at this point (in a club that easily packs in 500), and he just wanted to BS for a minute, make sure I was doing ok and find out if I needed anything - a rare thing for an owner to do, but when your owners are also managers/promoters, I figured it was a nice gesture.
About 10 minutes after that, the "head of security" came into the booth (a guy I'd never seen before), telling me that I "need to get people dancing." Now, basic psychology (and years of experience doing this) told me that you can't get 100 people dancing at 11 o'clock when the club appears to be more than half empty... he "suggested" I start playing hip-hop, so I did. A number of hits from Pharcyde, KRS-One, Ludacris, Jay-Z and even Ying-Yang twins later, still nothing... a few girls bouncing around a bit, but nothing too major. Then, the security guy came back and told me I had to get people dancing and I needed change it up... not necessarily what I want to hear from a security guard. 10 minutes later, another "owner" (yet another person I'd never seen before) came into the booth and, when I was in the middle of a mix - headphones on, hands on the mixer/CDJ - starts tapping me on the shoulder. He told me to play "dance music." So I transitioned out of hip-hop and into (no joke) "Boom Boom Pow." I figured it doesn't get much more "dance music" than that. Not even two songs later, the "owner" is back in the booth - again, tapping me on the shoulder during a mix - and says, "This isn't dance music. This is like hip-hop rock techno shit. You gotta do something else." I was playing a remix of "Birthday Sex." Really?
At this point, it's about 11:45 and I'd venture that there was 150-200 people there... with about 40% of them moving to the music. Not a bad ratio considering how this town is (read: not lot of dancing to be found). The "owner" is now hovering behind me, watching over my shoulder - one thing almost every DJ will tell you is not a comfortable position to be in... especially in a booth this size. He keeps telling me I need to get people dancing, to which I reply, "I've played house, breaks, b-more, electro, and hip-hop... there's not much else I can try at this point. Just let the alcohol do it's job. Give it time." He doesn't.
Around 12:30, he comes back into the booth with "his boy," the DJ who - according to the original owner I had been dealing with - wasn't cutting it, and he proceeds to tell me he's going to take over. Problem being that at this point, I've got a pretty decent group gathered on the dancefloor, and people have begun streaming through the doors... I had just started to stop holding back and had begun to play my go-to gems in my library and slamming them with the stuff that blows up the dancefloor.
But, I came to find out, the equipment I was playing on didn't belong to the club, but the DJ that was going to take over - and we all know how badly things can go from here: if I were to tell him to piss off, that I was booked, its my night, and I was going to finish it out, he could've proceeded to unplug the equipment and take it away - it was his, after all. So, tired and frustrated, I simply gave up. I spun in my last tune - which killed, by the way - and started packing up.
Never, in my 12 years of DJing in a club environment had I ever been "kicked off" the decks. I've played plenty of "opening" slots - for acts like AK1200, Icey and Dieselboy to name a few - and I know the difference between playing for an hour and playing all night, opening compared to closing, etc., but I had never warmed up a crowd for 3+ hours to have a DJ come on (read: take over) and play the same type of music I was playing!
Worst of all, this guy is not a good DJ. His mixes are sub-par at best, his track selection has a lot to be desired, and he's got no flow whatsoever. On top of all that, he's not well liked - by DJs or by partygoers. He's known to be shady. He's known to act like a rock star. Seriously dude, you're not in a rap video: the bottles of champagne in the DJ booth? Not a good look. (And definitely not a good thing when you spill a bottle on the main mixing console for the club... well done, buddy.)
When I left the booth (and proceeded to take full advantage of my bar tab), I got nothing but compliments on my set, and was asked more than I care to remember why I wasn't playing anymore - especially now that the place was packed, and was getting complaints about the music and mixing from the guy who took over. It was just one of those nights...
A week later, I was asked by another local promoter/DJ to come out and play a set at his Friday night weekly - and as I hadn't gotten any calls back from the club where I was supposed to be a Friday night resident - I took it... and absolutely smashed the place.
I tried for about two weeks after this whole debacle to be in touch with the original guy I spoke with - the one who sought me out and I had been dealing with exclusively until the night of the gig - and I still haven't gotten a phone call, email, text message, or anything else back from this guy. Ragga was doing Sunday nights there, and come to find out, this past Sunday, Ragga shows up to play and no one is even there. The doors are locked, lights are off, and no one called to tell him they'd cancelled his night. I've also been told that they were a no-show on Tuesday night as well - which they'd been promoting as our only local "Latin Night." There have also been rumors flying around town about the club pulling some other shady business that I won't repost here, as I can't speak to the validity of the accusations.
What I can tell you is this: I lived in South Florida for 25+ years, and worked as a DJ for 10 of those, and never had anything close to the bad experience I've had here. Maybe I was spoiled. Maybe I'm over-thinking it. But maybe I'm not. Maybe I'm just a DJ who loves music, loves to play, and wants to work... and I guess that makes me a magnet for the few guys that give our scene and our industry a black eye.
Or maybe not. I guess the future will tell... but hopefully it doesn't get interrupted in the middle of a mix to be told what to do by someone who has no idea what they're talking about... and then can't get a call back to save its life.
DISCLAIMER: If you're reading this and feel like any or all of it is directed at you, you're probably right... but I'm really a pretty nice guy deep down. All it takes is a phone call to make things better - or at least start the healing process. Just sayin.
Posted via email from Adding To The Clutter
