Glog

DJ Debut

My first ever DJing gig, June 14th. It was a for a MoveOn.org fundraiser in North Hollywood. I was DJing between sets of the live band performances. It seemed that I did well, and at least one girl showed interest in booking me for another fundraiser.

I was stressing out about what music to play. The day before the gig, I went by for a sound check. The venue was a private house in an area known as Valley Village. The girl who invited me, Jaime, was hosting and her band was the main performer. Her mother was there helping her set up. I was getting my tables hooked up and playing some tunes to test the sound. Of course, I only have hip-hop vinyl, some soul, and one reggae album. Jaime's mom told me NOT to play too much hip-hop. But hip-hop is pretty much all I have. Jaime overheard the conversation and came to my rescue, explaining that I'm not a Top 40 DJ, and that I have "artistic freedom". So that made me feel better. Yet, I was still feeling sensitive about not putting off the crowd.

I spent the whole day at work thinking about what music to play. I came up with a game plan. When in doubt, play Reflection Eternal instrumentals. And so I did, and it worked. I had all the white people nodding their heads. I had not preplanned any mixes, really, so everything was being done on the fly (Like a good DJ should - read the crowd). I made a few mixing mistakes, but all in all, I think I faired well. I played the shit out of my one reggae album (Horace Andy) and played a lot of instrumentals to keep the misogeny levels down and not startle any baby boomers in attendance.

I'll write more about this later. More importantly, I met sweet Tara for the first time, a strikingly beautiful, knowledgeable hip-hop fan from Ventura. Lord Have Mercy!!!! And I went out with her for the first time last night. She's all that and a bucket of deep-ass fried chicken. She is also a dancer and the first female line cook at "the most romantic restaurant in LA". Ouch. I only had to wait 27 years to meet a hip-hop chica. Bout time.