A DJs Annoying Top Tips Section
By danniekavanagh | October 7, 2008
Everyone likes to give advice or voice an opinion, especially to us DJs - and we usually get these golden pearls of wisdom while we’re working, and sometimes it often comes from another DJ that is’nt.
If you would like to feel like ‘one of us’ and really fit in with the DJ community, here’s a really useful guide to getting it right first time..
A TIP TOP TIP LIST FOR ALL YOU CUSTOMERS AND WANNABES ALIKE:
1: Ask for a mix, we’re always looking for somebody to show us how to do it properly.
2: You’re an MC? - Excellent, we’d love to stop what we’re doing right now and get you to show off your skills to the entire building.
3: You can scratch too? - Brilliant, you’re just what we’ve been looking for, someone to use our records and rip the living daylights out of them.
4: We don’t have the record/s you’re requesting - of course we’ll wait till you nip home quickly to bring it/them so we can play it for you, or even better, bring some CDs with you next time and we’ll play the lot just for you.
5: You sing this song all the time on the mic? - Excellent, here, take my mic now and we’ll let you sing the song, make it your own and we’ll all stand in awe as you turn an already well made, chart topping track into something really special - we wont even bat an eyelid when you forget the words due to the tenth sambuca you’ve had starting to melt your brains into pulp.
6: Make sure we are always taking the music in the right direction by telling us what to play next - especially if there’s ‘no one dancing to this’ We often forget what to do and we’re always needing someone to remind us what to do.
7: You’re going in 4 minutes?? - Well why didnt you say so, we’ll happily put your song on immediately regardless if we’ve either played it already/its a drum & bass track and we’re in the middle of a party set/it’s absolutely shite…
8: You’re a better DJ than I am, well you’d have to be to be able to break away from your own set to give me hassle while I try and do mine…
Topics: Random Ramblings | No Comments »
Phoenix FM - It’s Good To Be Back!
By danniekavanagh | October 6, 2008
Well, as promised way back in April, as soon as I had my son settled into school and my daughter all organised at hom I promised that I would return to our local radio station (Phoenix 96.7FM) here in Halifax.
As a result, I now have my own show, except, rather than it being the drivetime slot (I simply don’t have the time to commit to 5 days a week!) I now have a weekly Friday night show, which is just before I start my residency in Halifax. Perfect in my books because I will hopefully be able to get myself in the mood for the weekend as well as my listeners!
Another advantage of the new show, is that I can now stick to my preferred choice of music, that of the club classics and future anthems - which was something that was rather difficult before as the format for my Drivetime wouldnt allow it, which is fair enough really!!
If you fancy checking out the show - go to www.phoenixfm.co.uk and click on the ‘Listen Live’ button on Friday night from 6pm - 8pm and send us a message!
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The Ultimate Screen Villain…
By danniekavanagh | October 1, 2008
How many times have you been watching a film and as much as you support the good guys, you find yourself thinking “Well if the bad guy actually had a bit of common sense, he’d probably do a better job..”
Well, this is an article I came across whilst wandering aimlessly through the internet, and I’m sure if you were the bad guy, I’m sure there’d be a few things that you’d have on your checklist before you set up that all important evil empire..
Topics: Random Ramblings | No Comments »
Sign Of The Times…
By danniekavanagh | October 1, 2008
I was working in a rock bar not so long ago, covering for one of the guys for the night when this woman came to the DJ stand and started giving me grief for not playing ‘proper rock music’
To be honest, I can fully understand her opinion of the music I was playing, after all, I was working in an environment which is relatively new to me (I know very little about Rock) and that my music wasnt exactly suitable for the venue or to her taste, hence her coming forward to voice her somewhat detailed opinion to what I should be playing, and why I should be playing it.
However, it wasnt her complaint that made me come to writing this piece, it was more of the fact that I noticed her age.. She wasnt exactly in the prime of her life, if anything, she’d probably passed that at 100mph three decades ago.
So if this is a sign of things of things to come, I can only imagine that in a world where we begin to live longer, and party harder - Here’s a couple of things I forsee in the near future:
Nursing homes be populated by senior citizens covered in tribal bands and tattoos, At 50th Birthday Parties, the requests of the evening will consist mainly of RnB, Electro and Bassline. Will we be subjected to hearing people saying “I remember these when they first came out on ITunes” and Wallace Arnold will be doing coach trips to Creamfields.
Topics: Dannies Blog | No Comments »
Plastic Dreams…
By danniekavanagh | September 26, 2008
Well, as most of you will probably know, I made the step forward from odl analogue technology into the realm of digital gadgets and CDJ madness, and in order to meet certain requirements of the digital world, I purchased one of them vinyl to mp3 gadgets, ie a deck with a USB cable that literally rips the track into the shadowy depths of your pc hard disc.
“Very handy, saves me messing about with plugging a deck into a mixes, getting the levels right and running the gauntlet with loose crackles and of course the dreaded ‘jumping needle’ that you get with old analogue technology” I think to myself with a sneer similar to someone who’s just purchased the latest in High Definition televisual entertainment who laughs at people who cant even receive channel 5..
Thing is, in order to rip these tracks, I have to sit by this record deck and listen to every track as it records, praying desperately that the needle never jumps (one of the key reasons why I upgraded to digital technology in the first place…) or that the stylus doesnt accumulate that much fur and dust, the final track sounds like its been sung through a sock.
I won’t be the first to admit it, but it’s a bit of a nuisance having to sit through EVERY single track as it records, and in extreme circumstances having to re-set the deck to re-record any track that should have any audio fault with it - but it’s while I’m sat here, doing this in a room surrounded by numerous timeless tracks, crackling away on the deck that made me realise something, something that, over time as the digital age takes over, will be something that will eventually be lost in the past forever…
Do you remember when you bought your first record, CD or even an album on cassette? - I know I do, when you dig through your record collections at home (before you sacrifice your soul to the digital era as I have..) there’s a certain feeling of ‘belonging’ as you come across certain tracks.
For example, as I was ‘ripping’ my vinyl copy of Awesome 3′ ‘Dont Go’ my mind was flooded with memories of walking through Halifax Town Centre just to pick up this track that I’d pre-ordered, in the rain to my local record shop - hell I even remember some random guy getting shouted at because he walked out in front of a cyclist while trying to cross the road..
Do you remember the first track you downloaded or received through soulseek, was there the same feeling of elation when you finally received that vital track in your ‘My Music’ folder - I can’t imagine the memories are quite as personal can you?
After all, there’s no such thing as a limited-edition test pressing download on coloured vinyl is there?
Topics: Dannies Blog | No Comments »
Another classic returns on Wednesday!
By danniekavanagh | September 22, 2008
Having had a mediocre weekend in Halifax, it was a bit quiet on Friday night and Saturday was really boring - thankfully I was rescued by an old colleague from the past who invited me to his home for a few beers after work.
While we were there, he was going through some of his old tunes, and we stumbled across an acapella from a mega tune from the 90’s - and he’s kindly let me use the acapella so I can have a crack at mixing it!!
So, for the rest of the week, I’ll be hiding in the studio, messing about with a few ideas and hopefully in about a weeks time, I’ll add another top banana tune to my collection!
More news on this as the track develops - naturally, I’ll reveal the name of the track once it’s completed!
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StreetLife! - A Game Of Life…
By danniekavanagh | September 19, 2008
Well, at long last, I’ve finally got my head together and I’m currently working on my full game project ‘StreetLife’
This post will be a diary of what I’m doing with the game and it’s general progress, so this post wont be for the faint of heart!!…
Topics: Local News | No Comments »
Is It The End Of Clubbing, Or Just The Beginning?…
By danniekavanagh | September 19, 2008
Well, it’s a bizzare post to write I guess - but it’s something that’s been bothering me for quite some time - and due to me witnessing this phenomenon first hand, I’m sure some of you may agree with me on this one.
This may start a debate or two - but I guess there’s only one way to find out;
Oh well, here goes…
Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Local News | 3 Comments »
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