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ARTICLE
At the time of writing, here in the Czech Republic, the government has just announced that venues that serve food can open again. DJs are allowed to perform again, but there’s to be no dancing (sounds like a standard gig for me, then!).
I hold a monthly residency in the north of the country playing a retro night, as well as the offer of some weekend daytime gigs at a beach bar (it’s an inland lake with a beach – we are a landlocked country). My UK gigs are due to start in September with three successive 80s weekends for Absolute Radio, so there is a kind of normality returning after the enforced hiatus. But what will these gigs look like?
The rules surrounding social gatherings are being reviewed constantly, and whilst these are received with chagrin by some, I am just grateful to have any sniff of a gig. I appreciate that nobody completely understands the invisible enemy that has been society’s nemesis for the last 16 months. I just know that for once, I actually have a booking! That’s a good enough sign for me. Again though, what are we returning to?
We can say with some certainty that parties will be more sedate and reserved than before. DJing at 100mph will have a speed limiter attached (possibly a sound limiter too – the devil to every DJ), with a leisurely 30mph being more likely. So, how do we evolve our sets to suit this slower pace of event should this situation remain for a while?
When I started out on what I call my “journey of sound,” I was lucky enough to be mentored by genuinely great DJs who gave me solid advice. One nugget of wisdom was to “never be afraid of an empty dance floor, Jules.
If shoulders are moving and feet are tapping, you have a dance floor already, just not the one you were expecting.” This could quite easily be applicable to the new norm, as society feels its way out of the pandemic.
Drop your tempo. For now, it seems like ‘Mr. Brightside’ and ‘Summer Of ’69’ are out the window. Of course, if we do play ‘Summer Of ’69’, we are obliged to play Bon Jovi ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ afterwards, otherwise bad things happen (DJ’s Handbook, page 2).
Instead, perhaps you could tap into more of a radio mentality. What tracks could get people singing along and tapping their feet? Listen to the radio yourself and make notes: which tracks perk up your ears? Yacht rock, Balearic beats, new jack swing, Hed Kandi’s ‘Back To Love’ series – these are all viable choices. Now’s the time to flex your musical brain – rather than falling back on the obvious 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s tracks – and dig out those songs that are forgotten but still fantastic.
Taking each decade in order from the previous sentence, here are three from each (you may have better suggestions – these are from the top of my head):
I hold a monthly residency in the north of the country playing a retro night, as well as the offer of some weekend daytime gigs at a beach bar (it’s an inland lake with a beach – we are a landlocked country). My UK gigs are due to start in September with three successive 80s weekends for Absolute Radio, so there is a kind of normality returning after the enforced hiatus. But what will these gigs look like?
The rules surrounding social gatherings are being reviewed constantly, and whilst these are received with chagrin by some, I am just grateful to have any sniff of a gig. I appreciate that nobody completely understands the invisible enemy that has been society’s nemesis for the last 16 months. I just know that for once, I actually have a booking! That’s a good enough sign for me. Again though, what are we returning to?
We can say with some certainty that parties will be more sedate and reserved than before. DJing at 100mph will have a speed limiter attached (possibly a sound limiter too – the devil to every DJ), with a leisurely 30mph being more likely. So, how do we evolve our sets to suit this slower pace of event should this situation remain for a while?
BACK TO THE OLD SCHOOL
When I started out on what I call my “journey of sound,” I was lucky enough to be mentored by genuinely great DJs who gave me solid advice. One nugget of wisdom was to “never be afraid of an empty dance floor, Jules.
If shoulders are moving and feet are tapping, you have a dance floor already, just not the one you were expecting.” This could quite easily be applicable to the new norm, as society feels its way out of the pandemic.
Drop your tempo. For now, it seems like ‘Mr. Brightside’ and ‘Summer Of ’69’ are out the window. Of course, if we do play ‘Summer Of ’69’, we are obliged to play Bon Jovi ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ afterwards, otherwise bad things happen (DJ’s Handbook, page 2).
Instead, perhaps you could tap into more of a radio mentality. What tracks could get people singing along and tapping their feet? Listen to the radio yourself and make notes: which tracks perk up your ears? Yacht rock, Balearic beats, new jack swing, Hed Kandi’s ‘Back To Love’ series – these are all viable choices. Now’s the time to flex your musical brain – rather than falling back on the obvious 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s tracks – and dig out those songs that are forgotten but still fantastic.
Taking each decade in order from the previous sentence, here are three from each (you may have better suggestions – these are from the top of my head):
The full review can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 108, Pages 64-66.
