What was your first gig ever?

I started out by pestering the resident DJ at UWE’s student night when I went to university. He kept saying "no" for weeks, then eventually said "not unless you have your own records" (this was back in the dim and distant early-90’s). The next week I fronted up with some records and Bob’s your uncle.

It’s worth noting that prior to that ‘first gig’, I’d never DJed before and didn’t own any decks, it was a bit of a baptism of fire!

I started at school by creating my own night (with another dj mate) that was a charity school disco thing.

There after i applied for a sound engineering job at the nightclub at my uni and when a DJ didn’t show up i said i DJ’d…and got a 4 year bi-weekly residency out of it. Now i just tell people and if they want it i give them a demo usb stick or cd or send them a linky via e-mail.

If you want to play out just to get a feel, i’d find your local drinking establishment (if you’re of legal age) and beg to have a go for free on their equipment before they’re like officially open. I’ve known a couple of friends who do that and if they’re good enough either get a gig at the place (playing for nothing though) or someone likes their sound and asks them to play at their gig…again for nothing.

You gotta just get out there and know what you’re about and believe it too.

I was just djing for one of my sisters friends. So i was djing at this girls party and one of her friends was a dj at a some local clubs and said i was good and asked if i wanted to try djing at some clubs. It’s all to do with connections.

I would DJ the local parties around my neihborhood and one of my friends uncle owned a bar and needed a DJ. I worked there a little while and soon after I tried out at a big club and got the job.

My first gig ever was my lil brother’s birthday party… Every one was drunk and nobody listened to the music I was playing. It wasn’t the better day of my life ^^

It was my first and only gig for now because I have a lot of work but I’m trying to get some other gigs and it’s on the good way !

my first REAL gig was at a smaller club, on a friday. But before that, I spun at a lot of parties and such. If your friends are having a party ask if you can spin. Just play wherever you gat the chance. pretty soon you will have quite a few references. Take your demo to a club, and hopefully you can get a warmup slot there. good luck m8

radio show on a website via virtual dj

[quote quote="Frank-E-666":3sbyt36b]My 1st gig was kinda similar, I organised my own in the cheapest place to rent per night. It was the clubhouse of a swimming club for 30 quid a night, n sound/light system for 120 lol

Me n a couple DJ mates split the bills n we charged 3 pound entry thinkin if we got 50 ppl we would make the money back. We ended up gettin close to 400 in (in a place that under safety regulations can only hold 110 hahahaha).

Best feeling was when I put one of my earliest remixes in the set, n Im concentratin on the mix lookin down, n when I finished the mix I look up see ppl jumpin, take headfones off n hear them screamin my name. Nothin like it.

From that gig I just got better n better gigs n now, 6 yrs later, I have jus done a gov appointed gig for National Day lol (our version of the US Independence Day). Hopefully I’ll get it next year too lets c.[/quote:3sbyt36b]

That sounds like a dream!
My first was for a friends party in a marquee on a farm. I wasn’t allowed to play music that the people wanted, I had to play only the music that was on the list she gave me. It was sh*t*. loads of cheesey stuff that had the dance floor packed for about half an hour, then people lost interest, and when i dropped chemical brothers galvanise, i got screamed at coz it wasn’t on the list!
It was really disappionting, and a lot of people gave me really dirty looks when I said that I couldn’t play their request.

Man, it was 1986 & I just got my tables & started doing the radio show @ Va Tech when my 1st real gig came thru…. I was only 16 but I did my thing….scratching was big back then & I was on top of the game….I also did on the fly remixes too, which was a 1st for my area & honestly there weren’t too many DJs doin it back then, so I gues you can say, I was 1 of the true pioneers of the remix