@ Map - I appreciate the "I started DJing in 2020" types telling me about open signups but yeah, I'm not tossing ten at the door and driving half an hour to play 3 songs for 12 straight dudes just waiting their turn. I know I kinda started this thread with "they didn't show up" but they eventually did and I had an okay run here ten years ago. And I came back to stuff hot, getting nods from a lot of mags for the work I was doing during the pandemic. I'm not too elite for lowkey hometown gigs and I'm not demanding headliner slots, I'll open for something cool or someone nice for funsies and two drinks at a house party if I don't have to go far, but yeah, I have a limit.
― Xii, Monday, 3 April 2023 22:28 (one year ago) link
I'm a complete nobody by comparison and I steer clear of open decks gigs like that, the only way I could imagine justifying them would be if I just wanted a chance to get some extra practice in on a professional setup.
― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Monday, 3 April 2023 22:34 (one year ago) link
i'm doing my tea dance again this summer! old bar wants me back. the one that just canceled my thursday has basically ghosted me and is going down the shitter / getting sold. sundays 5-9 are sooo much better for me time-wise too.
― ꙮ (map), Thursday, 20 April 2023 01:07 (one year ago) link
yay that's great!
― donna rouge, Thursday, 20 April 2023 01:27 (one year ago) link
Sounds great! Them selling explains some of the issues you've been having - sounds like lots of behind closed doors drama. Glad you can wash your hands of it.
― Xii, Thursday, 20 April 2023 01:34 (one year ago) link
first sunday went well overall, had a few of last year's regulars come & managed to please 2-3 other groups who wandered out onto the patio. happy to be back at it but it's still a wonder to me how hauling a few fairly light things into a bar and standing there for 4 hours can make me so incredibly sore and tired.
― ꙮ (map), Monday, 1 May 2023 15:27 (one year ago) link
i think it's because that whole time you're in "performance mode" - like even when i feel kinda bored in the booth i'm still conscious of being perceived/on alert to whatever's going on with the decks, plus standing still for four hours is kinda exhausting anyway. glad the first sunday went well!
both my gigs this past week were very fun. the rugby boys apparently liked my set at the LGBT happy hour, heard secondhand from someone that "everybody was vibing" to my set (lol LA). my pals' wedding went over a treat too, the dance floor stayed consistently hoppin' throughout the evening. i had one sorta-humiliating screw-up there (accidentally loaded a song onto the deck that was playing), but the crowd compensated for it by singing along to what i'd been playing which was very sweet. i'm not used to commanding an actual dance floor, it was kind of an amazing experience.
if anyone's interested, this is what was played at the wedding (i did roughly the first and last thirds, another friend of the couple took over for the middle third). the couple in question are gays with very cool tastes, i had planned to play some deeper cut italo stuff but had to cut a bunch of selections for time:
Rufus & Chaka Khan - Ain't NobodyPointer Sisters - AutomaticDiana Ross - Upside DownPatrice Rushen - Forget Me NotsSister Sledge - Lost in MusicBlack Box - Everybody, EverybodyCompany B - FascinatedTaylor Dayne - Tell It To My HeartNew Order - Bizarre Love TriangleHuman League - Don't You Want Me?Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The HeartMary J. Blige - Family AffairTLC - CreepPrince - Let's Go CrazyMadonna - Ray of LightKylie x New Order - Can't Get Blue Monday Out of My HeadShannon - Give Me TonightJennifer Lopez - Waiting for TonightAzealia Banks - LuxuryCrystal Waters - 100% Pure LoveJanet Jackson - EscapadeGoldfrapp - Ooh La LaRobyn - Hang With MeCher - BelieveWhitney Houston - It's Not Right but It's Okay (Thunderpuss Mix)Sharon Brown - I Specialize In LoveDonna Summer - I Feel LoveMariah Carey - Heartbreaker (feat. Jay-Z)Beyonce - Cuff ItPrince - U Got The LookHaddaway - What Is LoveCorona - The Rhythm of the NightReal McCoy - Another NightKlymaxx - Meeting In The Ladies RoomRigheira - Vamos A La PlayaChris & Cosey - OktoberQ Lazzarus - Goodbye Horses
― donna rouge, Monday, 1 May 2023 16:18 (one year ago) link
i'm not used to commanding an actual dance floor, it was kind of an amazing experience.
totally!
loading a song onto the deck that's already playing is something i still do from time to time but the ptsd from it has created a muscle memory where whenever i get to the load to deck option i'm super deliberate about it now lol.
that wedding set looks fav, thanks for sharing it!
― ꙮ (map), Monday, 1 May 2023 16:30 (one year ago) link
super good wedding playlist - seismic last 2 tracks!
― stirmonster, Monday, 1 May 2023 20:48 (one year ago) link
Was just driving to Company B yesterday. All time fave. I still take the needle off the playing album. It only happens after a really good transition. Never a bad one.
― dan selzer, Monday, 1 May 2023 22:52 (one year ago) link
Spun for an hour at the local record fair yesterday. Was a fun experience, if a little expensive. Got a gratifying number of people coming up and asking what a song or other was, compliments, and just seeing people generally grooving & having a good time. One guy came up and asked where he could hear me play — nice! (Even though the answer was “nowhere, ECK-tually”) When the main DJ came back on, one of the other vendors texted me just “Get back on the decks.”The expensive part came when I was back-cueing and hit “start”, which I assumed would cause the table to stop spinning backward and run forward — but instead it ran backwards at speed and threw the tonearm off the record. Stylus was damaged & I’ve ordered a replacement for the owner, whoops.
― The land of dreams and endless remorse (hardcore dilettante), Tuesday, 2 May 2023 01:09 (one year ago) link
lol at "get back on the decks," good work. sucks about the stylus :|
― ꙮ (map), Tuesday, 2 May 2023 01:26 (one year ago) link
And then out of the blue today I got a call to do a coffee shop set on Thursday afternoon. It’s during work hours, but I don’t have any meetings so I’ll take the afternoon as a PTO and do it! Fifty bucks plus free lemonade, at least it’ll pay for half that stylus.
― The land of dreams and endless remorse (hardcore dilettante), Wednesday, 3 May 2023 03:54 (one year ago) link
I love it when deeper cuts unexpectedly land. Tonight it was Azymuth “Jazz Carnival” into X-Press2 “Tranz Euro Xpress”. Frankly, I was trepidatious, but they got solid reaction and track ID requests for both. You just never know.
― mike t-diva, Saturday, 13 May 2023 00:04 (one year ago) link
totally, it's so gratifying.
so far my sunday tea dance has been .. attended, lol. 10 people or fewer each sunday but that's ok. if a handful of people come and enjoy i have a reason to be there. last night we had a huge electrical storm roll in around 8:30, torrential downpour. bar owner had installed a tin roof over the patio before last winter and it held up pretty well. i got kind of emotional playing "together again" by janet jackson with lightning and pouring rain in the background.
my last bar has asked me to return on thursdays and i've said yes. it's going to be a busy summer. i've already spent a few weeks of the extra income on new outfits lol.
― ꙮ (map), Monday, 15 May 2023 15:49 (one year ago) link
started back up at the other gay bar on thursday nights last night and it was great. i have this run of 10 or so tracks that i roll out at the right time and folks got a little delirious. the queen who i had issues with previously was not there. i had several compliments / people asking me what nights i'd be playing, and handed out business cards twice. couldn't have asked for a better return. also apparently the bar isn't even sold yet, i was huffing on rumors lol. but who even knows what they're telling bar staff.
― ꙮ (map), Friday, 19 May 2023 15:50 (one year ago) link
Got a last-minute gig tonight at a brewery. “Don’t bring anything, just your records.” I brought 45 adapters, headphones & cartridges, all of which I ended up needing. One of the turntables had low, crackly output. Swapping carts revealed it wasn’t the cartridge; swapping channels revealed it wasn’t the mixer. I ended up cobbling together an aux cord from stuff I had in my car and stuff that was lying around, and “spinning” every second song from my phone. Not ideal, but it worked out and they asked me to do another night later in the summer. Success? Success.
― The land of dreams and endless remorse (hardcore dilettante), Wednesday, 24 May 2023 05:07 (one year ago) link
nice work, love to troubleshoot sound when you were supposed to start 5 minutes ago
― broken breakbeat (sleeve), Wednesday, 24 May 2023 13:24 (one year ago) link
way to go hd, sounds hectic but awesome that you pulled it off. very professional.
― ꙮ (map), Wednesday, 24 May 2023 16:03 (one year ago) link
one of my biggest challenges is not getting stressed when there are sound issues.
― ꙮ (map), Wednesday, 24 May 2023 16:04 (one year ago) link
Same, map. I agonized over that for years and then finally just decided to relax and let house sound guys do their job. I'm just one aux cord nowadays so whatever.
I finally got an offer from a local dude to play something at something that isn't a house party, but I have to bring all my own equipment + I'd need to buy new stage monitors because they apparently don't have any (??) and my reference ones from home are underpowered for the space + carry those monitors four blocks to load em in and out. Also there's another DJ who has to have all their own equipment and we have to have two separate setups all night. Pay was laughable. I'm back to not playing locally, at least until my friend's art gallery opens and I'll be doing a downtempo social function there.
― Xii, Sunday, 28 May 2023 22:11 (one year ago) link
I DJ'd the wedding of an ex at the weekend. It was really well received, but I have a new found respect for wedding DJs. So many supposedly upbeat "good times" party anthems actually have meta-textual lyrics about heartbreak and how everything is going to go to shit. I'm sure no one who is drunk and dancing would care too much, but it's only when you're up there playing these songs, they suddenly develop a weird context
― Do I look like I know what a jpeg is? (dog latin), Monday, 29 May 2023 12:17 (one year ago) link
Weddings are hell to DJ. You have my infinite sympathies.
― Xii, Monday, 29 May 2023 15:20 (one year ago) link
Yeah I don't enjoy doing those kinds of things, but it was a favour and I was playing mostly to old friends
― Do I look like I know what a jpeg is? (dog latin), Monday, 29 May 2023 21:08 (one year ago) link
man i'm grateful i have a busy pride weekend
last night was a good night, even though there was literally one shitty speaker on the floor that worked (something popped last saturday and they lost the rest).
i have an hour set tonight at a party with lots of other djs. going full gay-club-pop.
sunday, who knows what's in store, but i'm grateful i can go a little deeper in that venue without feeling like i'm letting down the floor or whatever.
― ꙮ (map), Friday, 2 June 2023 22:05 (one year ago) link
hell yeah, get 'em
― broken breakbeat (sleeve), Friday, 2 June 2023 22:07 (one year ago) link
last night some cool girls gave me lots of compliments and followed my insta, and the bartender told me a dj i like was throwing my name around recently in a good way. i have to remember the good things.
xp :)
― ꙮ (map), Friday, 2 June 2023 22:09 (one year ago) link
love to hear all this map (except for the blown speaker part) <3
― donna rouge, Friday, 2 June 2023 23:20 (one year ago) link
i don't have another night until the end of the month but it's technically a pride gig so i guess i should have 'padam padam' at the ready lol
― donna rouge, Friday, 2 June 2023 23:27 (one year ago) link
haha! <3
― ꙮ (map), Friday, 2 June 2023 23:45 (one year ago) link
I’ve got a couple of Pride gigs coming up, the second one at a great venue in the nearest city, and I’ve got an 80s Hi-NRG night in Nottingham to look forward to as well (thanks to what turned out to be a most advantageous hook up in Manchester a couple of months ago, ahum).
― mike t-diva, Saturday, 3 June 2023 16:31 (one year ago) link
any other way of landing a hi-nrg night would be lacking.
― ꙮ (map), Saturday, 3 June 2023 18:29 (one year ago) link
I just ‘inherited’ a collection of a few hundred Hi-Nrg 12” singles. My partner’s best friend moved to Thailand and her husband was trying to find a good home for his collection and asked me if I’d be interested. Was I ever!
They are all in immaculate condition, so much so that it’s hard to believe they were ever played, yet he says he listened to them relentlessly in the mid to late 80s. It is the only music he ever bought and he was obsessed with Hi-Nrg for a few years. There is a handful of late period Italo 12”s in there too and oddly also two 12” singles by The Cult, but all the rest is pure Hi-Nrg. I’ve not had a chance to listen to much yet but from looking through probably know a third of it already and can tell that a fair chunk of the rest is going to be on the extreme cheesy end of the Nrg spectrum, but I am fairly sure I’ll find some gold in there. The “Male Stripper” picture disc I never knew existed looks awesome!
The guy who gave me the collection is autistic which I guess could be reflected by how well kept the records are but also in that he had this obsessive interest for a few years that very suddenly stops. He never bought music before he discovered Hi-Nrg and said when House music came along and more or less replaced it at the dance music record shop he frequented he lost interest and never bought another record again, ever. It’s also interesting to me that he is straight and seemed to have a particular penchant for the most suggestive of Hi-Nrg tracks. He had a lot of Recca 12” singles which rather than A-side and B-side designations, have a Top side and a Bottom side.
Hi-Nrg was of course huge in straight mainstream working class clubs in Scotland and a lot of England at the time. It was the dominant soundtrack for many years as demonstrated by the Saturday late night ”live from a nightclub” hit ITV programme “The Hitman & Her” hosted by Pete Waterman who made most of his millions with PWL’s diluted (but sometimes brilliant, and always brilliantly mixed and produced - shout out to Phil Harding) Hi-Nrg sound. I’ve long bored people to death going on about how the vast majority of Man 2 Man’s “Male Stripper” sales were in Scotland and if a Scottish chart had existed then it would have been number one for here months. It is firmly lodged in the psyche of almost all Scots of a certain age - an eternal favourite for so many people, the vast majority of whom, at the time at least, were somehow unaware of its gayness. Such a curious thing! The guy whose collection it was told this story about how he used to play his 12”s at home so much that they would get stuck in his dad’s head. His dad, a very working class Glaswegian worked in a factory and his work mates started giving him curious looks as he was constantly (unconsciously) singing the chorus of “I Need A Man” by Man 2 Man at work. So, I guess some people did notice.
I asked him what he liked so much about Hi-Nrg and he just said ‘“the energy”. Fair enough.
― stirmonster, Saturday, 3 June 2023 21:41 (one year ago) link
irl lol
― serving bundt (sic), Sunday, 4 June 2023 01:47 (one year ago) link
The “Male Stripper” picture disc I never knew existed looks awesome!
oh my god
― Tracer Hand, Sunday, 4 June 2023 16:03 (one year ago) link
irl lol but also feeling a little called out w/r/t neurodivergency / owning the most suggestive of tracks
― Xii, Sunday, 4 June 2023 16:12 (one year ago) link
Aren’t we all neurodivergent here? That’s the only reason I hang out here.
― stirmonster, Sunday, 4 June 2023 16:18 (one year ago) link
Well jel of your haul there stirmonster (and also dying to know what cult records were in there)
― rincton monkspoon (NickB), Sunday, 4 June 2023 16:50 (one year ago) link
“Resurrection Joe” and “She Sells Sanctuary”.
― stirmonster, Sunday, 4 June 2023 17:51 (one year ago) link
haha great choices! Resurrection Joe still bangs, was secretly hoping that would be one of them <3
― rincton monkspoon (NickB), Sunday, 4 June 2023 18:15 (one year ago) link
i mean its no Floorshow but then what is?
― rincton monkspoon (NickB), Sunday, 4 June 2023 18:17 (one year ago) link
Yup, it’s my favourite Cult 12” too.
I said hep cats…
― stirmonster, Sunday, 4 June 2023 18:23 (one year ago) link
I watched video for it for the first time today, amazing
― rincton monkspoon (NickB), Sunday, 4 June 2023 18:25 (one year ago) link
It's probably the reason I've always felt safe to post here, yeah, and why I'm still here so many years later. I take long lurker breaks, but yeah.
― Xii, Monday, 5 June 2023 00:22 (one year ago) link
Good!
proto-Peaky Blinders!
― stirmonster, Monday, 5 June 2023 02:47 (one year ago) link
Any plans for a Hi-NRG mix from that collection Stirmonster?
Living in Brighton has meant I’ve built up quite a good selection of second-hand Hi-NRG from the charity shops… the condition of them is usually less than pristine to say the least though!
I bought a portable Tascam to record gigs out and about quite recently, mainly these days our monthly italo/Hi-NRG/general 80s vocal dance music night Flex. Anyone interested in hearing any of them?
― Chewshabadoo, Monday, 5 June 2023 09:10 (one year ago) link
We even managed to get ILX board royalty NickB make his first public DJing appearance a few months back… he might be too shy for me to share that one though.
― Chewshabadoo, Monday, 5 June 2023 09:12 (one year ago) link
perhaps!
and yes, interested!
also, i've lomg toyed with the idea of putting together a Hi-NRG comp, though these things are an enormous amount of work and i reckon it would be a big licensing headache, but maybe...and maybe some ILX hive mind input would be good?
― stirmonster, Monday, 5 June 2023 13:52 (one year ago) link
i for one am VERY interested in hearing live hi NRG mixes/a hi NRG compilation - i have long been hoping some boutique reissue label would release a high-quality comp of this stuff with liner notes and the whole shebang (and i have a few ideas for stuff i’d like to see on said comp :))
― donna rouge, Monday, 5 June 2023 15:31 (one year ago) link
i was a little burned out on disco comps when this series started so i never looked that closely into it, but i think that was sort of the idea here?
https://www.discogs.com/label/391234-Disco-Discharge
― the late great, Monday, 5 June 2023 15:41 (one year ago) link