DEPTH PERCEPTION

Almost every party revolves around the headline DJ. His or her name splashed across the flyer in some extravagant font, conspicuous notice that the DJ will be flown in from some exotic locale, and whispers of that brilliant set spun on what is actually a computer-synched DJ mix. Nothing should be taken away from the headliner – his/her status and reputation is what gets people into the venue. But I want to focus on the name that goes below the headliner on the flyer: the set-up DJ.

The set-up DJ is the one who comes on before the headliner, the DJ who is mixing while people are filling up the club, buying their first rounds of cocktails, and showing love to their friends and cohorts. This DJ actually has a difficult balancing act to perform: he/she must create an atmosphere that points towards greater things to come, i.e the headliner, while building a vibe out of thin air. There are many ways to mess up the set-up slot: a tempo that’s too fast, the volume too high, the music either too deep or worse, that tries to be peak-time fare. When it’s done properly, the room is abuzz about what’s too come from the headliner. The set-up DJ builds the platform from which the headliner will launch the crowd into the stratosphere of sonic delights.

I’ve been DJ’ing a good part of ten years now, and I was always good either at mixing peak hour sets or really chill, lounge affairs. It wasn’t until I ran my own monthly, and consistently opened for the DJ’s I booked, that I began to understand the nuances of the set-up. In that sense, the most difficult slot is the set-up slot because the entire night essentially depends upon it. It’s too easy to have people leave the venue before the headliner because the atmosphere isn’t balanced between music that is both immediate and reserved at the same time. The sound has to loosen people up, put them in the mood, and keep them wanting more. In a cruder sense, you’re the fluffer.

But while this DJ may be the most critical link in the line-up, he/she is often forgotten at the end of the evening after the superstar headliner has blown the crowd away with peak-time record after record. So I want to give a shout-out to all the DJ’s out there who have dutifully done their best working in restraint, teasing the crowd without giving in to the urge to go all the way, and then stepping aside as the headliner stands on your proverbial shoulders to be showered in accolades at the end of the night. Here’s some love =)

This entry was posted on June 14, 2008 at 12:24 am and is filed under Music with tags club, DJ, Music, party. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.