Was it to become the next "Superstar DJ?" - No.
Was it to get girls? - No.
The reason I got into DJ'ing back in *cough*1992*cough* was simple. I really enjoyed the raves and warehouse parties that were incubators for techno, jungle/breakbeat (the forerunner of modern drum & bass) and house music. BUT, for every one good song that was played, 3 or 4 boring as shite songs would follow. After a while, I could not stand it any longer. I bought a used Pyramid mixing board from a friend, and cobbled together a jury-rigged setup of turntables and basic cd players.
My DJ philosophy then, as it is now:
1. Entertain - people are there to dance and have fun, not marvel in how cool/weird/awesome I am. If that happens, great, but it's not why 98% of people go out to most dance/raves/parties/clubs.
2. Educate - play music that people don't hear at 50 other clubs or on the radio. Broadening the music scene is one of my goals, and I try to pick songs that are accessible, but are not being played to death at a zillion other venues.
3. Do Not Starve The Audience - I listen to a lot of other DJ's, and they seem to play one dull tune after another, or layer a bunch of dull tunes together. This isn't me. It's not what I do. I do try to structure my set so they have high energy peaks, and then come down a more chilled-out level for a while, and then back up again (think of a series of waves). But, I avoid dull, repetitive song after dull repetitive song. I simply will not starve the audience - they deserve music that feeds their desire to dance and be entertained, and not bored out of their minds.
So that's my mindset! What do you think? What's your music philosopy?
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