May 27, 2024 • 21 mins
Ever wondered how to turn a good party into an extraordinary one? Join Nino and myself as we reveal the secrets to commanding the dance floor and creating those euphoric moments that people talk about for years. Our latest discussion is like striking gold for DJs eager to electrify their sets and for music lovers fascinated by the wizardry behind the decks. We're laying out everything from the finesse of tuning into the crowd's vibe, to turning down the music at just the right moment for an epic sing-along. Remember that stag and doe where the energy level hit the roof? We're breaking down how moments like that aren't just happy accidents—they're crafted through skill and intuition.
But wait, there's more than just playlists in a DJ's arsenal. Our chat dives into the full experience of DJ performance, where I share how my experiments with singing and live instruments have added a whole new layer to the party atmosphere. Picture a DJ who can drop beats, breakdance, and belt out a tune—all while keeping the crowd pumped. We talk about the art of hyping yourself, handling live song requests with grace, and even navigating the tricky waters of social media interactions during gigs. Whether you're behind the turntables or just a heartbeat in the crowd, this episode is your backstage pass to the showmanship that makes a night unforgettable.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Welcome back everyone to another episode of the
Clever DJ with Ilya and Nino.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
All right we are at episode number 22.
22.
Wow, wow.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Look at that Double digits.
Actually it's been doubledigits, but we're up to 20
already.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Yeah, yeah, we're getting there 22.
Closer to 100.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
I hope you guys could hear us.
I completely forgot to lowerdown the music, so, yes, welcome
back to another episode of theclever dj.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Uh, we are ilia and nino yes, in case you didn't
hear that, because I completelyforgot to lower the music.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Um, and yes, episode 22.
We're gonna have a specialepisode for you guys because
this is extremely important.
Um, most of the stuff we speakabout is important, though it's
all important, of course.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
What am I saying?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
no, but this is, this is honestly.
You need this skill or this setof skills as a dj yes and today
we're going to talk about greatways for a dj to engage with
the crowd.
Yes, so the first one isobviously you need to read the
crowd, right?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
So, whatever you're playing, you got to pay
attention to their energy, thebody language, how they're
reacting to the songs thatyou're playing.
It'll really get them going ifyou're playing the right mix of
songs, right?
You've seen it first hand,right?
Speaker 1 (01:44):
That's why I always say you're a great dj, because I
have never seen a person do itthat well.
I mean real, like top notch.
You bring people from the dead,especially for real, especially
like thriller uh well, it'sjust let's say guys, photo
booths are a killer of a dancefloor.
(02:06):
Yes, people are go, are goingto the photo booth and
especially when they start atthe same time.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
When the dance floor starts, they open it up.
It'll kill the dance floor.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Yeah, almost always.
Right, there are obvious, uh,exceptions, but yes, that's
probably what's going to happen.
Uh, but yes, that's probablywhat's going to happen.
Uh, also, if it's bar by thebar.
Remember how many times thephoto booth was by the bar.
Yeah, we stood no chance.
Yet you like brought them backlike zombies towards the dance
floor because you just knew whatto play.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yeah, to get them going man, yeah, of course it
was incredible.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
And then you read them.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
By looking at they were, they started like glancing
back and you're realizing howmany heads are turning yeah, but
when I'm playing I'm like, okay, they're really, really feeling
it, they're doing woohoo, sookay, they like this stuff, keep
going or they start drinkingmore, like yeah, like furiously,
like going crazy, right.
So you let, yeah, you canengage the crowd that way.
(03:03):
That that's the obvious reason,right?
And that's the number one thingof being a DJ.
It's reading the crowd playingthe music that they like.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yes, I'm just going to send a quick text here.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
What the yeah, it was important, Priorities man.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
So, number two get them to sing along.
Get them to sing uh by playingsing-along bangers uh, and turn
down the volume at parts wherethe crowd sings like sweet
caroline.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yeah and uh, that's like I love doing that man, it's
, it's.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
It's the best way to get people like it's also kind
of cheesy, but at the same timethey're waiting for it.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, yeah yeah, it's different when they're singing
over the music, but when you,when they're, they're just
singing like you.
You turn it down and they'rejust singing like acapella, it's
like whoa, but they just singlouder that that, like that.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I find it incredible, or because I'm kind of new to
this right.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
So, uh, dj, new to this yeah, you used to call me
that yeah, yeah, that was, thatwas one of your names that's the
name you were thinking about djnew to this and uh, I stuck
with my name dj ilia, and it'snot very common here in canada,
so I like it.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, there you go, um, but um.
Yeah, I may come up with likean alias at some point, but for
now that's, that's what I'mgoing by.
And um, what was I gonna say?
You're?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
talking about music, uh singing yes long.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
I find, you find what I find it really cool where,
towards the end of the night,when there's like 10 of the
crowd left, yeah, that's themost fun.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yeah, like whoever's.
Whoever's there left is thereto party right there.
They stayed the whole night,right, so they're, they're
gung-ho for anything.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Remember the stag and doe when the guy was doing the
warm.
Yeah, oh man, these people weresmashed.
Oh my God, they drank so much,it was fun, but great example of
actually engaging with a crowd.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Next one so, alternatively, you can bring
around a wireless microphonewhen you're playing those
sing-alongs and actually givethem to the singers.
They'll actually grab themicrophone and sing along.
They're not waiting, they loveit right.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Especially when they're drunk.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, especially when they're drunk, or Filipino.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Yes, filipino, he is Filipino, he gets to say it, so
I can say it.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I bet that we are all singers, right?
So we love to sing Talent shows.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Filipinos are such good singers.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
It's true, it's true.
So it's a great way to engagethe crowd Getting out there
passing the microphone around tothem.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
They'll go crazy over that.
Koreans they love.
They love uh karaoke do you doyou, do you find it in korean
weddings?
Speaker 2 (06:11):
yes, you have that.
Yes, I've done that.
I've done that too as well.
I've done to every, almostevery genre, every crowd.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I rememberyou had some.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Uh, it works.
Yeah, I remember you hadethiopian music.
I'm like when did you have?
You saw it in my crates, right.
I'm like what?
How did you get to that?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Bro, I've done every nationality out there, bro, I've
done everything.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
So that's a really good way to do this.
Also, it's going to be a littleexpensive because those
wireless mics are not cheap, buthopefully they don't drop it.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Don't use a corded mic yeah, don't use a corded mic
.
They will drop your entire gear.
They'll pull it?
Yes, not recommended.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Not at all, like fight for my gear, stay on the
day on the on the table.
Um, another one is get on thedance floor and teach them a
dance, sort of like a danceinstructor.
Uh, this used to be done backin the day.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Yes, uh, that's what you said more, more back in the
day.
Um, djs used to do this, butnow it's more cheesy, I guess.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
But you were saying that in, maybe in certain, uh,
yeah, in certain in certaincountries, you know it's more um
, an mc would be expected toactually do that stuff right,
like really engage with thecrowd.
Um, especially if it's not anum first language, like english,
(07:30):
native english speaking country, I can find a really cool, you
know oh, this guy's american orcanadian, yeah and they want to
engage with him or her or herright so, and then he'll come on
the dance floor and he has lotsof other skills which we'll get
into.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
That's one of the other, yeah especially if you
don't know the dance and he'sthere to teach them.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
They really like that a lot of people don't dance
because they don't, they justdon't know how yeah and if you
show them how simple it is,they'll they'll, they'll do it
all night, and then you go fromlike five people to 25 30 60
people on the dance floor uh,let's see that's.
That's one that I like to do,mm-hmm, risky sometimes, but let
(08:08):
the bride and groom or theguest of honor, if it's not a
wedding, uh to mock play orpress play.
Uh on your decks, uh for gueststo take pictures and hype the
crowd.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
We like, we can even upload some content yeah, yeah,
I do this a lot for for weddingsand events and stuff.
Um, it's a great way to justtype everybody up because
they're all cheering for thebride or groom or the guest of
honor.
It's awesome.
It's great for pictures,especially if the photographer
and the videographer are there.
It's yeah, goes without saying.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
What I do.
Let's say, if I support youwhen you're DJing, I'll go to
the photographer and thevideographer and I'll tell them
listen, I'm going to do this.
I may have already spoken tosomeone, I may be winging it
right and I say listen, payattention to the decks there,
like to the booth, we're goingto do something cool.
And then that one wedding whenwe did together, like last year
(09:04):
you know which one I'm talkingabout they loved it.
And the person who got behindthe decks was actually like one
of the more popular ones.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
The one who got behind the decks was actually
like one of the more popularones, the one who brings
everyone on the dance floor.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
So this was a really good way of enforcing, like kind
of supporting what you'realready doing with reading the
crowd, and everyone ended up onthe dance floor, yeah yeah yeah,
yeah, that's pretty cool, butbig.
But if they're drunk, ifthey're smashed out of their
mind, you don't want them closeto your equipment at all.
Sometimes they invitethemselves that one, that one
wedding.
that was a fun wedding you gotta, you gotta be careful she was
(09:37):
aggressively like I'm gonna bestanding here and playing with
your gear, and she was she wasplaying, literally touching the
gear and stopping the music.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Yeah, don't do that, stop it.
Yeah, you're playing with yourgear too.
Yeah, and you're right there Iwas like stop it.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
I went to the bathroom for I'm like what's
gonna happen?
Let me just go for like 10minutes in the break.
I come back and I see you.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
I see you like trying to dj, like like push her up,
pushing her away, and herboyfriend was pulling her too
man she was.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
She had no idea what was going on.
I've never seen someone thisdrunk.
She was like mad drunk yeah mad, yeah angry drunk and you gotta
be careful.
You can manhandle a woman on onlike you know.
Yeah it, it is what it is.
You, you gotta be careful withthat stuff.
So don't invite a situationwhich you, you know don't be in
(10:22):
so be careful with this one.
So, yeah, so you can definitelyuh invite people on the to your
booth, but if you see thatthey're very intoxicated or
something like that, you knowthat it's not a very good idea.
Maybe skip.
It also depends on the event,depends on the people.
Maybe they'll be uncomfortable.
Normally it works right.
Normally it's a very good point.
Yeah, it is all right.
(10:44):
Uh, that's a very good one.
Uh, if you're a decent dancer,get on the.
Get on the dance floor and bustthe move.
Uh and show your show, yourstuff.
Play an instrument.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Drums like trumpet yeah, didn't you have a fire
show?
Speaker 1 (11:01):
yeah, that's the person who was teaching me
before you and I ever, ever metwhat was his thing break dancer
not like a professional one, butyeah, but good enough right
decent that that people werelike cheering, wooing and like
you know.
Um decent rapper oh yeah, right, like he was, uh, singing bust
the move, like pretty, prettynicely did he sing along with it
(11:22):
while dancing?
Oh, shoot.
And and then um michael jackson,he would do like the, he would
do like the moonwalk and stufflike that and, and you know,
people really loved it and it'skind of like a big guy yeah, and
you wouldn't expect him to tomove like that.
Yeah, really cool, and youshould have seen just the energy
(11:42):
.
I can't describe it.
I need to find the video.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
It's electric when you, when you, when you see
someone doing something likethat right, and it's out's out
of the blue too, so people willgravitate toward that and just
make noise.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Yeah, so we sing right.
Nino is more of a professionalsinger.
I do it as a hobby and I playguitar, piano.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
I can confess, back in the day when I first started
DJing weddings, I used to singin packages too, as well.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
But not anymore.
Uh, I know some people who havelike, um, they play the violin,
or yes, they're break dancersor something right yeah that's
other ways to make money andengage with the crowd and show
off yeah, your skills right.
You're not just a dj the oneswho bring, like a drum machine,
along with, uh, their decksright I know guys that do that
yeah, for like samples and stuffyeah, so it shows your
(12:34):
versatility.
You're not just a dj, you canplay instruments right, so it's
it's cool and you're good atthis one playing games with a
crowd.
Depending on the on the event,you won't do it in like a
celebration of life yeah,especially right you mostly do
this at like corporate stuff, uh, weddings and stuff, yeah,
(12:55):
birthdays, birthdays.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
So it's.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
It's a good way to yeah it's a nice breaker.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Get them warmed up for dancing right, and you want
to do that definitely um miccontrol.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Yes, sir, you go.
Yeah, mic control literally athing.
Yeah, well, it's, it's like ayour own hype man, right so
getting Um my control.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yes, sir you go, yeah , my control, literally.
Yeah, well, it's.
It's like a your own hype man,right?
So getting on the microphoneand telling them what to do,
telling them to to throw theirhands up?
Um, when the beat drops you,you count it down like three,
two, one and just go crazy andstart jumping up and down.
Yeah, there's so many thingsthat you can do, right.
You've seen it firsthand again.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
I hesitated once and if I did it when I wanted to, it
would have worked out.
And then I was about to go likethree, two and I'm like nope, I
missed.
So I turned on the mic and Iwas about to do it, but because
I hesitated, because I wasn'treally emceeing back then I
barely emcee now, but I'mgetting into it.
If you know how to do it, do it, if you can do it properly.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Well, it takes practice, of course, doing it in
front of crowds, but if you cando it, man, it really levels up
the liveliness and the actualevent.
And again, it's kind of likesinging it levels up the
liveliness and the actual event.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Yeah, right, and again, it's kind of like singing
.
You got to match your voicewith the song properly, because
I remember once I was doing itand it kind of looked at me like
what are you doing?
Because I was almost liketalking.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
You have to say it with enthusiasm, More like
you're telling them what to do.
I was terrified.
I was like telling them what todo.
I was terrified.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
I was like this is gonna sound stupid.
I'm doing it, I'm going for itthree, two, one.
I forget what it was.
It wasn't three, two, I wassomething else, um, but then you
know, I was like okay, like Ieither do it or I don't.
Yeah, I did it again, it wasfine it'll get better the more
you do it.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Right, yeah, but you have to know your songs too.
You have to know when the dropis otherwise it's awkward if you
do that, so yeah being your ownhype.
Uh mc helps a lot and a lot ofclub djs can do this sort of
(15:06):
skill yeah, um, this one issocial media.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Now you said that that's uh, it depends on.
It depends on the event.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Right, it's more tacky if you're gonna, if it's
very tacky if you're doing it,uh like a corporate or a wedding
and stuff, I wouldn't do it.
Um, I've done this, uh like therequest.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Uh, taking requests that's a good one poll um on at
a prom.
Yeah, so did you use an app orwere you using cool?
I used an app.
So when we went to one of thoserestaurants where I actually
used to work as a waiter back inthe day, when they have those
club nights on Friday, saturdays, they have an app and sometimes
(15:48):
you the only way to ask for asong is if you pay a dollar.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
yes, yes, I've seen that too on social media they're
they're adding like tips youcan tip the dj and the more you
tip them the, the, the song.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
It depends on the song too, right yeah, and when I
wasn't tipping him, when I,when I decided, okay, I gave him
like six, seven by now, like adollar every song.
How about?
I just don't and see if heplays it?
Speaker 2 (16:15):
He still played it just later if he liked my
suggestion right.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
One time when I sent it, he could see that I'm
sending it.
He could tell, because you alsohave a username on that one.
He kind of went like this to meyeah, he knows.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Yeah, there you go.
Like DJs love it when youactually tip.
Like yesterday I did a prom andI played this song that I
really didn't want to play andactually the organizer was like
don't play too much of thisstuff Because we don't want them
to get too rowdy.
But he said you played itanyway.
I played it.
No, no, no, I got the okayapproval from him first.
(16:49):
Okay, just play it.
And it was during dinner too.
So there were, it wasn't really, it was out of the blue, it's
more controlled.
So I did play it.
And then after like it was likea 10 minute song and I played
it already for like five minutesand people are just watching
these guys dance, right.
So after like five minutes thisguy comes up to me and it just
(17:10):
throws me like like five, likeuh, ten dollar bills.
I'm like, oh, okay, if, if,this is how it's gonna go.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
You know the stripper , you can request as many songs
as you want, yeah, so that's,that's how that went, but it was
a good night.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
It was a good night, great gig.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah.
So at the end of the day, ourlast point is be yourself.
Let your personality shinethrough your passion for music,
your enthusiasm and just yourcontagious energy kind of thing.
We'll take over the dance floor.
We'll take over the people.
If you are not confident, theywill know yes, Right, so do what
(17:52):
you do best.
Don't try to do somethingbecause we wrote it and you
don't really want to do it oryou don't know how to do it.
Well, you don't have experiencein that and just do it because
we said that right, Practice it.
You know, I was doing entrancesas a practice.
Remember how you told me thatit's actually tougher to do
entrances.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah, yeah, tougher than I thought it was.
Yeah, because you're playing,you're doing multiple things,
you're thinking about names, howto pronounce them, and then
you're playing music at the sametime, especially if they're
cute and certain Levels I wantthis song to come in at this
part.
And then I want this transition.
Oh man, some people.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
So I started oh man, exactly.
So I started literally speakingon the mic at home.
There's nobody there and I justhad a list of people and I just
like I just started introducingthem right, because I wasn't
really good at that back thenyeah and same, like if you.
If there's something you likehere, try it like.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
I know it sounds ridiculous be yourself, do it,
get used to it, do your ownthing, do what you do best, and
you'll know that right.
So, um, yeah, make.
There's so many djs out thereand, uh, we all have to stand
out in our own way, so let it,let it shine, yeah when, when
did you, uh, were?
Speaker 1 (19:05):
did you always have like your own personality?
Or at first you're more likerobotic, like I'll do things
this way because that's what Iwas told.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Yeah, well, not that I was told, it's just.
That's how I learned how to doit Right, and I was more careful
at the beginning because ofcourse you don't want to make a
mistake.
But as you get more experienceand you do it, you come up with
certain things, you get moreconfident and it just comes out
Right.
You come up with certain things, you get more confident and it
just comes out right, like thestuff that I do now.
(19:32):
The first two, three years Ididn't do Like I'm seeing and
hyping up the crowd.
I never even talked on themicrophone at all At all, at all
for the first four or fiveyears.
And then I just started gettingon the microphone, getting more
comfortable on it, and I foundthat people would just go crazy
and like go along with it.
So I'm like, okay, this isreally working.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
So I, I just did it yeah, but it was always, uh,
even back in the day, it wasalways, uh, a skill that djs
used right, I mean like engagingwith the crowd with a mic that
was always acceptable.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Right it's.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
It's acceptable, but not all djs do it honestly yeah,
not all djs will do it I findright now being an mc as a, as a
must yeah yeah, you have tohave a mic, you have to know how
to use the mic.
Yeah, and yes, there are certainthings we said to do here that
you don't have to.
You don't have to sing, youdon't have to uh, rap or
whatever, uh, or really likehave lots of chatter, chatter,
(20:27):
even even if the crowdappreciates it if you don't know
how to do that.
But at the very least, havethose moments where you're
hyping them up, right, yeah,yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
All right, so that's our list.
These are some of the greatways to engage with the crowd.
Yes, as a DJ, and make it amemorable night.
Yes, sir, all right.
Well, thank you very much forjoining another episode of the
Clever DJ.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Episode number 22.
Yes, sir, we'll see you guys.
Next one, all right See youthen
Welcome back everyone to another episode of the
Clever DJ with Ilya and Nino.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
All right we are at episode number 22.
22.
Wow, wow.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Look at that Double digits.
Actually it's been doubledigits, but we're up to 20
already.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Yeah, yeah, we're getting there 22.
Closer to 100.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
I hope you guys could hear us.
I completely forgot to lowerdown the music, so, yes, welcome
back to another episode of theclever dj.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Uh, we are ilia and nino yes, in case you didn't
hear that, because I completelyforgot to lower the music.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Um, and yes, episode 22.
We're gonna have a specialepisode for you guys because
this is extremely important.
Um, most of the stuff we speakabout is important, though it's
all important, of course.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
What am I saying?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
no, but this is, this is honestly.
You need this skill or this setof skills as a dj yes and today
we're going to talk about greatways for a dj to engage with
the crowd.
Yes, so the first one isobviously you need to read the
crowd, right?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
So, whatever you're playing, you got to pay
attention to their energy, thebody language, how they're
reacting to the songs thatyou're playing.
It'll really get them going ifyou're playing the right mix of
songs, right?
You've seen it first hand,right?
Speaker 1 (01:44):
That's why I always say you're a great dj, because I
have never seen a person do itthat well.
I mean real, like top notch.
You bring people from the dead,especially for real, especially
like thriller uh well, it'sjust let's say guys, photo
booths are a killer of a dancefloor.
(02:06):
Yes, people are go, are goingto the photo booth and
especially when they start atthe same time.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
When the dance floor starts, they open it up.
It'll kill the dance floor.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Yeah, almost always.
Right, there are obvious, uh,exceptions, but yes, that's
probably what's going to happen.
Uh, but yes, that's probablywhat's going to happen.
Uh, also, if it's bar by thebar.
Remember how many times thephoto booth was by the bar.
Yeah, we stood no chance.
Yet you like brought them backlike zombies towards the dance
floor because you just knew whatto play.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yeah, to get them going man, yeah, of course it
was incredible.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
And then you read them.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
By looking at they were, they started like glancing
back and you're realizing howmany heads are turning yeah, but
when I'm playing I'm like, okay, they're really, really feeling
it, they're doing woohoo, sookay, they like this stuff, keep
going or they start drinkingmore, like yeah, like furiously,
like going crazy, right.
So you let, yeah, you canengage the crowd that way.
(03:03):
That that's the obvious reason,right?
And that's the number one thingof being a DJ.
It's reading the crowd playingthe music that they like.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yes, I'm just going to send a quick text here.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
What the yeah, it was important, Priorities man.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
So, number two get them to sing along.
Get them to sing uh by playingsing-along bangers uh, and turn
down the volume at parts wherethe crowd sings like sweet
caroline.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yeah and uh, that's like I love doing that man, it's
, it's.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
It's the best way to get people like it's also kind
of cheesy, but at the same timethey're waiting for it.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, yeah yeah, it's different when they're singing
over the music, but when you,when they're, they're just
singing like you.
You turn it down and they'rejust singing like acapella, it's
like whoa, but they just singlouder that that, like that.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I find it incredible, or because I'm kind of new to
this right.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
So, uh, dj, new to this yeah, you used to call me
that yeah, yeah, that was, thatwas one of your names that's the
name you were thinking about djnew to this and uh, I stuck
with my name dj ilia, and it'snot very common here in canada,
so I like it.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, there you go, um, but um.
Yeah, I may come up with likean alias at some point, but for
now that's, that's what I'mgoing by.
And um, what was I gonna say?
You're?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
talking about music, uh singing yes long.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
I find, you find what I find it really cool where,
towards the end of the night,when there's like 10 of the
crowd left, yeah, that's themost fun.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yeah, like whoever's.
Whoever's there left is thereto party right there.
They stayed the whole night,right, so they're, they're
gung-ho for anything.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Remember the stag and doe when the guy was doing the
warm.
Yeah, oh man, these people weresmashed.
Oh my God, they drank so much,it was fun, but great example of
actually engaging with a crowd.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Next one so, alternatively, you can bring
around a wireless microphonewhen you're playing those
sing-alongs and actually givethem to the singers.
They'll actually grab themicrophone and sing along.
They're not waiting, they loveit right.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Especially when they're drunk.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, especially when they're drunk, or Filipino.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Yes, filipino, he is Filipino, he gets to say it, so
I can say it.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I bet that we are all singers, right?
So we love to sing Talent shows.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Filipinos are such good singers.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
It's true, it's true.
So it's a great way to engagethe crowd Getting out there
passing the microphone around tothem.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
They'll go crazy over that.
Koreans they love.
They love uh karaoke do you doyou, do you find it in korean
weddings?
Speaker 2 (06:11):
yes, you have that.
Yes, I've done that.
I've done that too as well.
I've done to every, almostevery genre, every crowd.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I rememberyou had some.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Uh, it works.
Yeah, I remember you hadethiopian music.
I'm like when did you have?
You saw it in my crates, right.
I'm like what?
How did you get to that?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Bro, I've done every nationality out there, bro, I've
done everything.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
So that's a really good way to do this.
Also, it's going to be a littleexpensive because those
wireless mics are not cheap, buthopefully they don't drop it.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Don't use a corded mic yeah, don't use a corded mic
.
They will drop your entire gear.
They'll pull it?
Yes, not recommended.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Not at all, like fight for my gear, stay on the
day on the on the table.
Um, another one is get on thedance floor and teach them a
dance, sort of like a danceinstructor.
Uh, this used to be done backin the day.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Yes, uh, that's what you said more, more back in the
day.
Um, djs used to do this, butnow it's more cheesy, I guess.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
But you were saying that in, maybe in certain, uh,
yeah, in certain in certaincountries, you know it's more um
, an mc would be expected toactually do that stuff right,
like really engage with thecrowd.
Um, especially if it's not anum first language, like english,
(07:30):
native english speaking country, I can find a really cool, you
know oh, this guy's american orcanadian, yeah and they want to
engage with him or her or herright so, and then he'll come on
the dance floor and he has lotsof other skills which we'll get
into.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
That's one of the other, yeah especially if you
don't know the dance and he'sthere to teach them.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
They really like that a lot of people don't dance
because they don't, they justdon't know how yeah and if you
show them how simple it is,they'll they'll, they'll do it
all night, and then you go fromlike five people to 25 30 60
people on the dance floor uh,let's see that's.
That's one that I like to do,mm-hmm, risky sometimes, but let
(08:08):
the bride and groom or theguest of honor, if it's not a
wedding, uh to mock play orpress play.
Uh on your decks, uh for gueststo take pictures and hype the
crowd.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
We like, we can even upload some content yeah, yeah,
I do this a lot for for weddingsand events and stuff.
Um, it's a great way to justtype everybody up because
they're all cheering for thebride or groom or the guest of
honor.
It's awesome.
It's great for pictures,especially if the photographer
and the videographer are there.
It's yeah, goes without saying.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
What I do.
Let's say, if I support youwhen you're DJing, I'll go to
the photographer and thevideographer and I'll tell them
listen, I'm going to do this.
I may have already spoken tosomeone, I may be winging it
right and I say listen, payattention to the decks there,
like to the booth, we're goingto do something cool.
And then that one wedding whenwe did together, like last year
(09:04):
you know which one I'm talkingabout they loved it.
And the person who got behindthe decks was actually like one
of the more popular ones.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
The one who got behind the decks was actually
like one of the more popularones, the one who brings
everyone on the dance floor.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
So this was a really good way of enforcing, like kind
of supporting what you'realready doing with reading the
crowd, and everyone ended up onthe dance floor, yeah yeah yeah,
yeah, that's pretty cool, butbig.
But if they're drunk, ifthey're smashed out of their
mind, you don't want them closeto your equipment at all.
Sometimes they invitethemselves that one, that one
wedding.
that was a fun wedding you gotta, you gotta be careful she was
(09:37):
aggressively like I'm gonna bestanding here and playing with
your gear, and she was she wasplaying, literally touching the
gear and stopping the music.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Yeah, don't do that, stop it.
Yeah, you're playing with yourgear too.
Yeah, and you're right there Iwas like stop it.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
I went to the bathroom for I'm like what's
gonna happen?
Let me just go for like 10minutes in the break.
I come back and I see you.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
I see you like trying to dj, like like push her up,
pushing her away, and herboyfriend was pulling her too
man she was.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
She had no idea what was going on.
I've never seen someone thisdrunk.
She was like mad drunk yeah mad, yeah angry drunk and you gotta
be careful.
You can manhandle a woman on onlike you know.
Yeah it, it is what it is.
You, you gotta be careful withthat stuff.
So don't invite a situationwhich you, you know don't be in
(10:22):
so be careful with this one.
So, yeah, so you can definitelyuh invite people on the to your
booth, but if you see thatthey're very intoxicated or
something like that, you knowthat it's not a very good idea.
Maybe skip.
It also depends on the event,depends on the people.
Maybe they'll be uncomfortable.
Normally it works right.
Normally it's a very good point.
Yeah, it is all right.
(10:44):
Uh, that's a very good one.
Uh, if you're a decent dancer,get on the.
Get on the dance floor and bustthe move.
Uh and show your show, yourstuff.
Play an instrument.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Drums like trumpet yeah, didn't you have a fire
show?
Speaker 1 (11:01):
yeah, that's the person who was teaching me
before you and I ever, ever metwhat was his thing break dancer
not like a professional one, butyeah, but good enough right
decent that that people werelike cheering, wooing and like
you know.
Um decent rapper oh yeah, right, like he was, uh, singing bust
the move, like pretty, prettynicely did he sing along with it
(11:22):
while dancing?
Oh, shoot.
And and then um michael jackson,he would do like the, he would
do like the moonwalk and stufflike that and, and you know,
people really loved it and it'skind of like a big guy yeah, and
you wouldn't expect him to tomove like that.
Yeah, really cool, and youshould have seen just the energy
(11:42):
.
I can't describe it.
I need to find the video.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
It's electric when you, when you, when you see
someone doing something likethat right, and it's out's out
of the blue too, so people willgravitate toward that and just
make noise.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Yeah, so we sing right.
Nino is more of a professionalsinger.
I do it as a hobby and I playguitar, piano.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
I can confess, back in the day when I first started
DJing weddings, I used to singin packages too, as well.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
But not anymore.
Uh, I know some people who havelike, um, they play the violin,
or yes, they're break dancersor something right yeah that's
other ways to make money andengage with the crowd and show
off yeah, your skills right.
You're not just a dj the oneswho bring, like a drum machine,
along with, uh, their decksright I know guys that do that
yeah, for like samples and stuffyeah, so it shows your
(12:34):
versatility.
You're not just a dj, you canplay instruments right, so it's
it's cool and you're good atthis one playing games with a
crowd.
Depending on the on the event,you won't do it in like a
celebration of life yeah,especially right you mostly do
this at like corporate stuff, uh, weddings and stuff, yeah,
(12:55):
birthdays, birthdays.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
So it's.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
It's a good way to yeah it's a nice breaker.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Get them warmed up for dancing right, and you want
to do that definitely um miccontrol.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Yes, sir, you go.
Yeah, mic control literally athing.
Yeah, well, it's, it's like ayour own hype man, right so
getting Um my control.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yes, sir you go, yeah , my control, literally.
Yeah, well, it's.
It's like a your own hype man,right?
So getting on the microphoneand telling them what to do,
telling them to to throw theirhands up?
Um, when the beat drops you,you count it down like three,
two, one and just go crazy andstart jumping up and down.
Yeah, there's so many thingsthat you can do, right.
You've seen it firsthand again.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
I hesitated once and if I did it when I wanted to, it
would have worked out.
And then I was about to go likethree, two and I'm like nope, I
missed.
So I turned on the mic and Iwas about to do it, but because
I hesitated, because I wasn'treally emceeing back then I
barely emcee now, but I'mgetting into it.
If you know how to do it, do it, if you can do it properly.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Well, it takes practice, of course, doing it in
front of crowds, but if you cando it, man, it really levels up
the liveliness and the actualevent.
And again, it's kind of likesinging it levels up the
liveliness and the actual event.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Yeah, right, and again, it's kind of like singing
.
You got to match your voicewith the song properly, because
I remember once I was doing itand it kind of looked at me like
what are you doing?
Because I was almost liketalking.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
You have to say it with enthusiasm, More like
you're telling them what to do.
I was terrified.
I was like telling them what todo.
I was terrified.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
I was like this is gonna sound stupid.
I'm doing it, I'm going for itthree, two, one.
I forget what it was.
It wasn't three, two, I wassomething else, um, but then you
know, I was like okay, like Ieither do it or I don't.
Yeah, I did it again, it wasfine it'll get better the more
you do it.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Right, yeah, but you have to know your songs too.
You have to know when the dropis otherwise it's awkward if you
do that, so yeah being your ownhype.
Uh mc helps a lot and a lot ofclub djs can do this sort of
(15:06):
skill yeah, um, this one issocial media.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Now you said that that's uh, it depends on.
It depends on the event.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Right, it's more tacky if you're gonna, if it's
very tacky if you're doing it,uh like a corporate or a wedding
and stuff, I wouldn't do it.
Um, I've done this, uh like therequest.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Uh, taking requests that's a good one poll um on at
a prom.
Yeah, so did you use an app orwere you using cool?
I used an app.
So when we went to one of thoserestaurants where I actually
used to work as a waiter back inthe day, when they have those
club nights on Friday, saturdays, they have an app and sometimes
(15:48):
you the only way to ask for asong is if you pay a dollar.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
yes, yes, I've seen that too on social media they're
they're adding like tips youcan tip the dj and the more you
tip them the, the, the song.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
It depends on the song too, right yeah, and when I
wasn't tipping him, when I,when I decided, okay, I gave him
like six, seven by now, like adollar every song.
How about?
I just don't and see if heplays it?
Speaker 2 (16:15):
He still played it just later if he liked my
suggestion right.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
One time when I sent it, he could see that I'm
sending it.
He could tell, because you alsohave a username on that one.
He kind of went like this to meyeah, he knows.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Yeah, there you go.
Like DJs love it when youactually tip.
Like yesterday I did a prom andI played this song that I
really didn't want to play andactually the organizer was like
don't play too much of thisstuff Because we don't want them
to get too rowdy.
But he said you played itanyway.
I played it.
No, no, no, I got the okayapproval from him first.
(16:49):
Okay, just play it.
And it was during dinner too.
So there were, it wasn't really, it was out of the blue, it's
more controlled.
So I did play it.
And then after like it was likea 10 minute song and I played
it already for like five minutesand people are just watching
these guys dance, right.
So after like five minutes thisguy comes up to me and it just
(17:10):
throws me like like five, likeuh, ten dollar bills.
I'm like, oh, okay, if, if,this is how it's gonna go.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
You know the stripper , you can request as many songs
as you want, yeah, so that's,that's how that went, but it was
a good night.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
It was a good night, great gig.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah.
So at the end of the day, ourlast point is be yourself.
Let your personality shinethrough your passion for music,
your enthusiasm and just yourcontagious energy kind of thing.
We'll take over the dance floor.
We'll take over the people.
If you are not confident, theywill know yes, Right, so do what
(17:52):
you do best.
Don't try to do somethingbecause we wrote it and you
don't really want to do it oryou don't know how to do it.
Well, you don't have experiencein that and just do it because
we said that right, Practice it.
You know, I was doing entrancesas a practice.
Remember how you told me thatit's actually tougher to do
entrances.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah, yeah, tougher than I thought it was.
Yeah, because you're playing,you're doing multiple things,
you're thinking about names, howto pronounce them, and then
you're playing music at the sametime, especially if they're
cute and certain Levels I wantthis song to come in at this
part.
And then I want this transition.
Oh man, some people.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
So I started oh man, exactly.
So I started literally speakingon the mic at home.
There's nobody there and I justhad a list of people and I just
like I just started introducingthem right, because I wasn't
really good at that back thenyeah and same, like if you.
If there's something you likehere, try it like.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
I know it sounds ridiculous be yourself, do it,
get used to it, do your ownthing, do what you do best, and
you'll know that right.
So, um, yeah, make.
There's so many djs out thereand, uh, we all have to stand
out in our own way, so let it,let it shine, yeah when, when
did you, uh, were?
Speaker 1 (19:05):
did you always have like your own personality?
Or at first you're more likerobotic, like I'll do things
this way because that's what Iwas told.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Yeah, well, not that I was told, it's just.
That's how I learned how to doit Right, and I was more careful
at the beginning because ofcourse you don't want to make a
mistake.
But as you get more experienceand you do it, you come up with
certain things, you get moreconfident and it just comes out
Right.
You come up with certain things, you get more confident and it
just comes out right, like thestuff that I do now.
(19:32):
The first two, three years Ididn't do Like I'm seeing and
hyping up the crowd.
I never even talked on themicrophone at all At all, at all
for the first four or fiveyears.
And then I just started gettingon the microphone, getting more
comfortable on it, and I foundthat people would just go crazy
and like go along with it.
So I'm like, okay, this isreally working.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
So I, I just did it yeah, but it was always, uh,
even back in the day, it wasalways, uh, a skill that djs
used right, I mean like engagingwith the crowd with a mic that
was always acceptable.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Right it's.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
It's acceptable, but not all djs do it honestly yeah,
not all djs will do it I findright now being an mc as a, as a
must yeah yeah, you have tohave a mic, you have to know how
to use the mic.
Yeah, and yes, there are certainthings we said to do here that
you don't have to.
You don't have to sing, youdon't have to uh, rap or
whatever, uh, or really likehave lots of chatter, chatter,
(20:27):
even even if the crowdappreciates it if you don't know
how to do that.
But at the very least, havethose moments where you're
hyping them up, right, yeah,yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
All right, so that's our list.
These are some of the greatways to engage with the crowd.
Yes, as a DJ, and make it amemorable night.
Yes, sir, all right.
Well, thank you very much forjoining another episode of the
Clever DJ.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Episode number 22.
Yes, sir, we'll see you guys.
Next one, all right See youthen
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