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• What makes one song better than another
• How to determine the amount of suck a song has
• What to do when the song has too much suck
• 10 Steps you can take to remove the suck from your local music scene
• and more…

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Hopefully I will see all of you at my talk on Saturday. Bring your lunch, a notepad and a strong desire to rid your dance scene of musical suckage.

P.S.  Music information from this year’s EBC competition will be posted on this site. Keep checking in, it wont be too long after EBC.

One of the most important responsibilities for a DJ is to pay attention to the crowd and respond to the energy the crowd is giving off.  This means speeding up the tempo and energy of song selections when the mood of the crowd demands and knowing when to change the mood of the music to flow with the ebb and flow of the evening.  This is not an easy thing to do, it takes hours of practice and a little instinct.  To become a great DJ there are three main responsibilities.

DJ’s have a responsibility to play music that is:

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• danceable
• enjoyable
• inspiring

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Playing music that is danceable.

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This is a highly subjective phrase. A song that one group or individual may consider to be the holy grail of dancing could turn out to be a song that is the bain of the dancing world for another group or individual. How does a DJ successfully interpret this? First, you do not have to only play songs that keeps the dance floor full. I have never subscribed to this philosophy. Playing a song where only 10% of the dancers are on the floor is not necessarily a failed song. If that 10% are having a great time, fully enjoying 3 minutes bliss, then the song is a success. It’s ok to let those others who aren’t excited by that song sit and rest a bit; get some water, socialize with friends, and get ready for the next tune. Now, this does not mean that a DJ should be happy filling the floor with 10% of the dancers the entire night. Not by any means.

A successful DJ will find a balance throughout the evening, playing songs that fill the floor, then on occasion, play a song that cleanses the dancers pallet. Know your community. Satiating the minority with their preferred musical selections is an acceptable practice. That 10% minority can grow to an 80% majority from being exposed to alternative tracks.

[warning_box]**Disclaimer:  There are some venues that specialize in specific types/styles of music. I am not advocating a DJ to play a 280bpm Big Band tune at a Blues venue and vice-versa. Understand your venue and pay attention.[/warning_box]

Music should be enjoyable

There are some really amazing songs out there. Being a Classic Big Band Swing fan, I am a huge fan of Duke Ellington. One of my favorite albums is The Duke at Fargo, 1940: Special 60th Anniversary Edition. That album has one of the most amazing versions of Cottontail of all time! However, the recording quality is quite…interesting. It was as if they recorded it using a potato and a jar of marbles. The song sounds amazing in my headphones. But I would hesitate to play it at a dance event because of this poor sound quality. Poor sound quality can turn into an unenjoyable dance experience, despite how much awesomesauce the song has.

Let’s further consider song quality.

Just because a song isn’t recorded in HiFi doesn’t mean you shouldn’t play it. There are plenty of LoFi tracks that have some cracks and pops, and are wonderful to dance to. Dead Man Blues by Jelly Roll Morton, is by no means a modern marvel of exceptional recording technology. However, these pops and cracks add a rich, vintage quality to the song that translates into a highly enjoyable dance. Again, the DJ needs to understand their community, the tolerances of their crowd, and playability of their music.

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DJ’s should be inspiring.

First and foremost, the DJ has to encourage dancing. Play music that the crowd loves and enjoys dancing to. You are not out there to stream your ego directly into the PA.

Second, a DJ has the ability, and when used wisely, to inspire the community to try new dances. Is balboa new to your scene? Play a balboa song to encourage it’s growth. Don’t just satiate those moaning bal dancers with a song that is 300bpm and is technically ‘jazz.’ Play a great balboa tune that is in the danceable range for the entire crowd.  This will inspire and encourage your community to get on the dance floor and help grow the community.

Great swing music is exciting, dynamic, and most of all inspiring to its listeners.
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DJ’s have the responsibility to be responsible.

[fancy_box]There is one reason, and one reason only, that you were asked/hired to DJ a dance event :To play music for people to dance to and have a good time.[/fancy_box]

That it’s it. It’s simple, understated, and possibly the most abused. You are not there to try to show off your musical prowess with ultra rare B-sides from artists that no one has ever heard of. You are not there to flex your e-peen to your friends and stump them on a game of ‘Name That Tune.’ If dancers wanted to play a game, they would be at home playing Farmville. They are there to dance.

You have a responsibility to play danceable music. Playing standards isn’t the end of the world nor your career. They are called standards for a reason. I most certainly wont get tired of hearing Swingin’ The Blues, Segue In C, Blue Drag or Business In F. Nick Williams will never tire of Rigamarole by Mora’s Modern Rhythmists, and Chris Owens will never be seen sitting while What A shuffle by Chick Webb is being played. Sure, play your rare tracks, they could be the next Joshua Fit, or At Sundown. But what if they aren’t? Are you ready to come back with a solid tune? Do you have a recovery plan?

One of the first lessons I got in the school of DJing was from a local DJ in San Francisco, Marc D’Olimpio. To paraphrase:

Ok, you have a song that you want to play, but aren’t sure if the crowd will respond to it. This is what you do: Have two tracks ready to go. One track that is the risky track, its not a standard, but you like and hope the crowd will too.  The other track should be a solid go-to standard (in his case it was Now You has Jazz by Louis Armstrong). Be prepared so that if the first song fails, you can immediately play your go-to song, and quell that rising tide of disgust from the previous track. So if your new song missed, you can immediately erase that bad taste, and move on.

The whole DJ process is about learning. As a DJ, if you are not learning and educating yourself you are only doing a disservice to your community and your venue probably won’t be around for long, and neither will your career.

As a DJ for too many years to count, I have embarked on a never ending quest to perfect the art of DJing. So I ask of you: What are your thoughts? What do you think are the responsibilities of the DJ? How do you define a ‘danceable’ song?

I am really excited to see the Killer Dillers perform (the routine they did at ILHC was amazing), see The Boilermakers perform and check out some of that fine dancing from the easy coast peeps. And best of all, my wife is going to make the trip as well. That’s two trips to North Carolina in the same year!

See you all there!

Four days of classes, competition, live bands and dancing ’til 6am. And once again, I will be DJing this great event. I am fortunate enough to be able to DJ for one of my favorite bands, the Jonathan Stout Orchestra. Stick around after the band, I’m DJing until 2am.

This year is also the year they induct more members into the Camp Hollywood Hall Of Fame. A great way to say thank you to those people who have been critical in the development, expansion and excitement that makes Camp Hollywood so great. Congratulations to all those inducted this year.

I like to view being a DJ like being the conductor of a train. The job is to take their passengers from A to B, and along the way provide them with an experience they won’t forget, filled with beauty, excitement, and wonder. The DJ is the conductor of an evening’s journey through music and dance. Taking the dancer from stop to stop, giving them the chance to get off where they wish, but hoping that the ride is just too good not keep going. This involves crafting a set that moves seamlessly from Lionel Hampton to Louis Prima to Django and on, taking my passengers to the familiar hot spots of Basie and Bechet, but pushing their musical boundaries, bringing them to new found hot spots like Edgar Hayes and Gene Kardos. The journey is a non-stop flight of excitement, thrill and musical seduction. My goal is to leave the dancing passengers wanting more.

My DJ experience is vast, some of the highlights include:

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• Camp Hollywood (Los Angeles, CA)
• All Balboa Weekend (Cleveland, OH)
• Eastern Balboa Championships (Raleigh, NC)
• Balboa on the Promenade (Nice, FR)
• Northwest Balboa Fest (Seattle, WA)
• Inspiration Weekend (Orange County, CA)
• Sin City Exchange (Las Vegas, NV)
• San Francisco Lindy Exchange (San Francisco, CA)
• Lindy Groove (Pasadena, CA)
• ATOMIC Ballroom (Irvine, CA)
• Hiball Lounge (San Francisco, CA)
• 920 Special (San Francisco, CA)

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