The first thing I did when I sat down in the car was turn on the radio. I was a little stressed, well, maybe not stressed, but I was tired. It was a nice fall evening...it was after midnight, so I guess it wasn't evening anymore, it was one of those late nights/early mornings where the windows fogged up just by sitting in the car and breathing. Truth be told, I was sorta glad I would have to wait to drive until the windows unfogged, is that really a word even, that way I could take a listen to what was on the radio. You see, I'm a music junkie...I'm a freak about it. I like almost any kind of music...I always thought if i didn't do what i do now for a living, I would do something that had to do with music. Maybe in the industry, or promotion, or heck, I'd even work in a record store....what...you don't know what a record store is?? oh....boy.....
So, maybe you don't know this about me, but in the past few years, I started to DJ. It started innocently enough, making mix tapes, errrr CDs for friends, and then making CDs for parties. I found a refurbished CD mixing board on eBay for pretty cheap. Bid, won! Then I hooked it up to an old home stereo receiver and a set of really crappy speakers and I would have dance parties in my basement....it was AWESOME!! I mean, I was the only person there, but it was pretty great....at least I thought so...from there I started to DJ, with pretty good reviews I must add, house parties. I had more fun, and to be honest, it got me out of the stupid party chit-chat, which I'm not too keen on, not really good at. So instead of that stuff, I got to hide behind my DJ table and do something I love to do and I'm marginally good at, which is play music.
Then, one spring i got the call...my first real paying DJ gig...it was at a Jr High-school...they couldn't afford a "real DJ" i was told. What...hello....what am I?? But for a 1/3 of the price of a real DJ, I took the gig! They even had posters with me on it...they said "Music by A DJ". I didn't have a DJ name, so I guess A DJ is a pretty cool name....haha...not really,but you know. From there I got other gigs, school dances, house party, fund raiser. It's not like the jobs were rolling in, but I made enough money to buy some really good equipment.
This night, the night of this blog, was my first wedding gig. I have to admit, i was one of the most nervous people at this function. It was an outdoor wedding, it was super windy, it was a little chilly, it was scary. I didn't get the song list until about 4 days before the wedding. By that I mean, I had not a clue what any of the songs were(first dance, intro, father/daughter dance, ect.) until 4 days before the wedding was going down. Short notice, ya think?? But I got that done, and it was all good....3 copies, on 3 different CDs of all of those songs, and 1 digital copy of all those songs too(backup, backup and backup). I'd like to say things went off without a hitch, but I don't want to lie. I will say this, I was a hit with the under 12 crowd. It is truly amazing what a little Miley Cyrus will do to your cred with the little ones, especially if you announce their names before said Miley song. The dance floor was filled the whole night. Not just because of me, but because of the alcohol, the lack of light, and the age of the party goers. Some of it was me, but it was a small part, but I'm happy with that.
The part about being a DJ that you don't ever think about is how the music gets there. Yes, I have to load, unload,reload and re-unload all of my equipment. That's the only part that sucks...well that and having to deal with people who have been over served and have no problem telling you how much you suck...alot....over 10 times at one gig....but I digress... As I broke down my stuff, I heard lots of comments. I was told I was awesome, great, the greatest(not true, but thanks) , that I was old. I'm not sure if the age comment was an implication on my DJing abilities, but it was made by an extremely drunken 18 year old...which makes it funny...
The rommie helped, it was great to not be alone all night, and to not have to do all the lifting myself. The gear was loaded, the roomie took off, separate cars, and i went back to the backyard to take a quick sweep to make sure I didn't forget anything. I ran into the mother of the bride, the person who actually hired me, who paid me. I thanked her, and I told her I had a blast, and I hoped everyone else did too. She said I was awesome, I did more than she expected. I was happy, she was happy. It was a good night.
It never gets old to hear you're good. It never gets old to hear someone likes what you do. It's always nice to hear when someone appreciates what you do. I've been told I'm the worst DJ, I've been told I'm the best DJ. I do not believe I'm either. I'm pretty sure I'm somewhere in-between. I've been told at a funeral how good I am at this. I've been told at a gig I should never do this again. I do not think I'm the best ever. I do think I'm the best to some people. I don't think I suck, but I am afraid I may suck.
When this night started, I was adding up the cost of my gear, to see if I was able to quit doing this and not lose money. If I never did this again, would I be able to break even? At the end of the night, as I sat in my car, tired from the stress of the day, from the loading and unloading and reloading , I was thinking of ways I could do this better. As the windows cleared, so did my head. I sat in the car, waiting for the windows to be clear doing research for the next gig.
You don't suck. You can't.
ReplyDeleteHere's the thing... you aren't afraid of sucking. That's why you are great.