Standing on a podium presiding over a crowd of thousands – they’re dripping with sweat, throwing shapes and hanging off your every beat, transition and word.
Then, just as you think the rush can’t get any better, a queue of girls (or guys) is waiting to meet you.
This is being a DJ, a hard industry to crack but one in which if you make it, you make it big.
You may not become the next Fat Boy Slim or David Guetta, but working DJs and industry experts tell TNT you too could get a taste of the action …
Rob LoCo, DJ/Club Promoter
For LoCo, who makes a living as a DJ, it’s all about the music. He gets paid to listen to it and mixes both vinyl and digital tracks – it’s the perfect job for the dance-obsessed 34-year-old.
It all started when he was 15 and went backstage at a festival. “A DJ was performing to a large crowd of thousands of people,” LoCo says.
“I was mesmerised by what he was doing, I knew then it was what I wanted to do.”
A love of music isn’t enough to be a great DJ, though, as LoCo says the show is key. “I’m a real performer,” he says.
“To become successful, you need to be creative and think of ways that you can be different.”
LoCo’s played major London clubs and the massive Burning Man Festival in Nevada, and one philosophy follows him always – he says a DJ should always remember they’re “playing for the crowd and not for yourself!”
“Some DJs get paid thousands of pounds to play for just one hour,” LoCo says. “But you will only ever reach that level if you commit to it 100 per cent, and if there is something very special about you.”
A good way to start is to DJ for free – you’ll get exposure and hone your show. “After a while, you may find that you start getting paid gigs,” he explains.
“Embrace the new technology being created for DJs and learn your craft.”
John BUZZ Behan, ex-DJ/MC
For former DJ Behan, 37, the profession has more obvious advantages.
“I‘m not going to prattle on like some DJs about loving the music,” he says. “Fuck the music. I will sum it up in two words: alcohol and girls.
“I went from being Shrek to Brad Pitt overnight,” he says, recalling being 5ft away from a free bar after his set and “all eyes were on me”.
“Girls were queuing up and I was getting paid for it. I would have done it for free.”
At Behan’s peak, he was playing in commercial clubs across the UK and earning £600 for about 20 hours a week of work. It’s not all free booze and babes though, he warns.
Only become a DJ if you “don’t mind having drunken chavs spit in your ear every time they ask for a song to be played”.
“I can mix, I’m cocky and confident, and so I find the job incredibly easy and incredibly enjoyable,” he says.
But it takes work to reach that point and success won’t come to you: “Find the door yourself … and kick it down.”
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Seb Fontaine, creative director
Fontaine, 39, books DJs for Portobello Road nightclub Westbourne Studios and says it’s “bloody hard” to get gigs when you’re starting out.
But he knows what clubs are looking for. “Technical ability and musical knowledge are paramount, but it’s not enough nowadays,” he says.
“You need to be up there with the social networks and the latest online mixes.”
He adds: “Be realistic and don’t promise a promoter or club things you can’t deliver – that’s a surefire way to burn your bridges.”
Ryan Tutt, DJ
Tutt, 32, has been a DJ for more than 15 years and now teaches those looking to get into the industry with Flash_Backz Promotions. He says it takes relentless dedication to reach a point where the hard work is rewarded.
But if you make it, “You get paid for something you love doing and people love you for doing it!” he says.
“You get job satisfaction, to travel and the buzz of the crowd roaring when you drop a big tune,” he says of the perks.
“Does it get any better than that?
Where to start
• Listen to as much music as you can. Find out which genre really moves you and what type of DJ
you really want to be.
• Once you have a goal in mind, the next step is to get some budget decks and a mixer, and find out how to use them properly.
• Booking yourself into a DJ course is a fast track way to learn. There’s plenty out there, such as Flash-Backz Promotions, the DJ Academy (djacademy.org.uk) and Become A DJ (becomeadj.co.uk).
• Record yourself mixing and actively seek feedback from friends and, more importantly, other DJs.
• Practice, practice, practice!
Photos: Thinkstock