August 5, 2024 • 38 mins
What’s it really like to handle overly enthusiastic party-goers while trying to keep the dance floor alive? On The Clever DJ, Ilia and Nino reveal the rollercoaster ride of DJing with hilarious personal anecdotes and insights. We start off on a light note, celebrating Ilia's recent birthday with some missed toasts and a showcase of his stylish new watches. Nino adds his own humorous twist, confessing his allergic reaction to wearing watches.
Ever had to fend off that one persistent guest who just won’t take no for an answer? We share our funniest and most frustrating stories, from managing repeated requests at weddings to dealing with the father of the bride who just can't get enough of his favorite song. Learn why trusting your DJ is crucial and how we keep the party going even under the most awkward scenarios. Plus, we discuss the unwritten rules DJs live by to maintain that perfect dance floor energy.
Finally, we tackle the real challenges DJs face, especially when starting out. From the controversial topic of accepting low or no pay gigs to the nightmare of poorly set up venue equipment, we offer hard-earned advice for fellow DJs. We also shed light on the importance of clear communication with event organizers to ensure a smooth performance. Join us as we share our passion for bringing joy through music, and invite you to be part of our ongoing journey in future episodes of The Clever DJ.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ilia (00:10):
welcome back.
Welcome back to another episodeof the clever dj.
A quick intro about ourselves.
My name is ilia and I starteddjing about two years ago.
I've done a variety of eventsand while bartending actually
right before I started DJingwhile bartending I met this guy
right beside me and yeah, what'syour story?
Nino (00:34):
Yep, I'm Nino and I'm a professional DJ.
I've been DJing over 20 plusyears now.
I started off with bars andclubs and private events, now
I'm doing weddings and I have aroster of 15 djs under my belt.
Ilia (00:46):
So all right, yeah, so, uh , this is a banter style podcast
.
Yeah, um, we are always onyoutube for those who want to
watch and kind of get theexperience.
Uh, I think that's the bestexperience really, but uh, we're
also on all the other platforms.
Spotify, apple Music, otherother platforms, right a dozen a
(01:09):
dozen, at least all of them,yeah, so hey, that's just a
quick intro so you know who weare and yeah yeah, so what's up
with my drink, man?
Nino (01:19):
where's my tea?
Ilia (01:21):
I decided to go for coolers because it was just my
birthday oh, that's right, itwas your birthday this weekend.
Yeah.
So who didn't show up?
Sorry, bro didn't show up.
I did it on a sunday thinking,okay, he'll show up for sure.
Sorry bro, you know you stillhave a gig on sunday.
Probably had several gigs onsunday, it's okay.
Um.
So how was it, man?
(01:41):
It was great, it was great.
There's just drinks left overand I thought you know what,
like, let's try this.
I love this drink.
We're not sponsored by them, no.
Nino (01:49):
What is it Basque?
Basque.
I have the green tea peach andyou, mine's a black tea, goji
and blackberry.
Oh, very healthy, let's trythis.
I Right up my alley man Allright.
Ilia (02:08):
Oh, cheers, buddy, cheers Right over our roadcaster.
That's good.
You know what?
Yeah, man, something I've beenwanting to do.
I mean, we probably shouldclean this, but there's
something I've been wanting todo for a while, yeah.
Nino (02:18):
Oh my gosh, yeah, so he's cleaning the roadcaster right
now.
Ilia (02:24):
Let me do something.
Nino (02:26):
Oh, you're taking off the plastic.
Ilia (02:28):
You know what you do, the rest you got it.
Nino (02:30):
Okay, you got it that was amazing.
Ilia (02:34):
That's it.
Look how clean it is.
Nino (02:35):
Look how clean it is.
It's brand new.
Put it back Literally okay, no.
I'm just joking.
No, look at these watches, manDid.
Look at these watches, man Didyou get these for your presents.
Ilia (02:43):
I was just showing you the stuff before the episode.
Nino (02:46):
Show and tell, show and tell.
Ilia (02:47):
So I got a bunch of gifts.
I'll go over two of them.
So this watch right here is aMovado watch.
Nino (02:56):
What yeah, For those who are just listening.
He's showing everybody hiswatches.
Ilia (03:03):
So I'm currently wearing a movado watch.
I got this I got this, uh, onmy 30th birthday from my parents
and my sister, and they decidedthat one of them wasn't enough,
so they got me another one,another one I still need to size
this, but get it fitted man Igotta I gotta get close to your
parents too, man, look at thisbeautiful thing right, I need to
(03:26):
watch.
Nino (03:27):
Yeah, that's beautiful man .
What is that like?
Black matte?
Ilia (03:30):
black.
Yeah, so I, I have this blackone, and then I have the so it's
black silver, one black withgold.
Nino (03:37):
Yes, oh, that's nice describing to the people, uh,
who are not watching.
Yeah, that's beautiful.
Ilia (03:42):
Yeah, so here we go.
I still need to fit it.
Yeah, uh, to size it, orwhatever you call that very nice
, very nice yeah okay, we arenot sponsored by movado not yet
atleast if you guys are watching
uh, but yeah, I got this one, sonice, you got two movado
watches yes, I got two now oh,what about this one?
(04:03):
So I'm getting to that.
Let me just put this back.
This one's like.
They're both expensive, butthis one was really pricey yeah,
there you go, man he's ballingand um, where is it?
Yeah, it goes right here yeah,there you go.
Nino (04:16):
I love the boxes put so much work, so fancy bro I'll
just leave it here for the fancy.
And then what's that one?
Ilia (04:22):
and then this one.
My girlfriend got me asmartwatch and I love it.
It's good, it's accurate, itdoes everything it's supposed to
do.
It also tells me when I'mmenstruating, apparently.
So that's something that Idiscovered that my body
apparently can't do Apparently,according to this watch.
(04:43):
But I love it.
I always wanted a smart watchand I thought, ah, it's not
going to be accurate, it's notgoing to be convenient to use.
I go to sleep with it.
It tells me how well I sleepthere you go man yeah.
That's good, so it's awesome.
I got this watch collection nowand, yeah, i'm'm gonna wear my
(05:07):
mobado for this episode, but I'mgonna put this right on top,
yeah I'm gonna put this right ontop, right here me.
Nino (05:10):
I never you're.
You're into watches?
Ilia (05:12):
I love.
Nino (05:12):
I've never been really into watches.
I actually get I get umallergic reactions when I watch
this.
Yeah, I'm good I'm.
I wish I could wow yeah, okay,alright.
Ilia (05:25):
Well, I'll get you something else.
Nino (05:26):
I'm good, alright wait, no , my phone, I use my watch oh
yeah, that's all you need.
Ilia (05:33):
That's all I wanted to say .
You know what?
So what's this episode about?
Man something different today,something special but special.
Something special, alwaysspecial.
We're gonna start something newhere.
We're going to start a newsegment Our pet peeves of DJing,
our DJ pet peeves.
Nino (05:53):
Yeah, we're going to talk about DJ pet peeves.
I know a lot of you guys.
Djs have tons of pet peeves.
You have pet peeves all thetime.
Ilia (06:02):
Yes, and some of the Wow, wow, there's still water on this
.
We got this yeah okay, theplastic okay.
Nino (06:15):
Okay, we're fine.
Okay, we're good, we're good.
I don't.
I don't think it's gonna impedethe recording process or
anything but worse comes toworse.
Ilia (06:21):
It's only like like close to a thousand bucks, right?
So we're just gonna get a newone, get a new one, all right.
So pet peeves, pet peeves, petpeeves number one.
Nino (06:32):
So requests for songs that don't fit the vibe or the set
that you're playing at currently, yes, right and um, yeah, it
really disturbs me when, uh,people that me, when people ask
for songs that don't fit thevibe because it doesn't fit the
vibe but that doesn't matter.
(06:53):
If it matters that it's a goodsong, then you're going to play
it anyway.
But if you're not going to playit right at the time, it kind
of it kind of ruins.
Ilia (07:06):
It ruins the vibe because each song kind of tells a story.
Well, each each song fits intoa certain part of the night, and
a good dj can play any songanytime, but at the same time it
could have been way better ifit was played at that part of
the night.
Right, you have, you have anidea, you have.
Sometimes, you have a plan,right and genres too.
(07:27):
Right, you kind of want to playgroup genres together and if
whoever asked for it is someonefrom the wedding party or a
client of a different kind ofevent.
You almost always have toreally find the time to play it
soon, either right away or soon.
Yeah, so they don't care aboutyour plan nope nope, normally
(07:49):
they don't.
Nino (07:50):
Some of them will tell you oh, you know what, you do your
thing but but if it's a good, ifit's a good request, then yeah,
we'll most probably play it.
Maybe not at that moment, butwe'll find time to play it yeah
and uh.
Ilia (08:01):
So yeah, like it just just a pet peeve.
It's not something terrible,but it really like kind of irks
yeah, it irks a lot of djs,right.
Nino (08:10):
Yes, uh.
Ilia (08:11):
Number two the over eager drunk patron.
So you have those overlyenthusiastic drunk people who
are just like hovering over youruh, your, your, your dj booth
and, um, they're trying to likebalance their drinks and
themselves at the same time andtelling you about their life
story they just won't leave youalone and until you play their,
(08:33):
their, their request, right, alot of the times they're gonna
forget anyway, right?
Nino (08:39):
like if you, if you um, just say oh, I'll see if I can
play it, just play it off, right, but though you don't end up
playing it, then they'll forget.
Ilia (08:47):
But those are at least the ones that have a mission.
Yes, and usually they'll leaveafter that.
Yeah, but they're the ones whojust came and just they're just
drunk, they just want to chatyou up, yeah yeah, yeah, right
when you're playing, right yeah.
And they're just chilling there,they will stay.
Do you remember the one guy whowent downtown Toronto to that
(09:08):
really cool studio?
Was it there or was it theother?
Oh, there was one gig wheresomebody would not leave.
No, it wasn't there, it wasn'tthat one, it wasn't that one,
and he wouldn't leave.
There was one guy who wasreally nice, who kind of didn't
really bother us, and we justlet him stay, but there was one
guy who would not leave?
Nino (09:27):
who?
What geek was it?
You don't remember.
I don't remember that one.
Ilia (09:28):
I remember like the situation, but not where it
happened, um, and I tried in thenicest ways to get him to kind
of step aside, or you know, andI said, hey, why don't you join?
Why don't you join?
Nino (09:40):
why don't you join the dance party?
Ilia (09:43):
or like hey, didn't you say you like that song?
And I thought, hey, I'll playhis song and he'll leave, right,
I knew he's gonna come back.
Nino (09:49):
I just didn't think he's gonna come back that soon that's
the thing when they request asong and you play it, they're
gonna ask for another one, yeahso that's that you have any uh,
overly eager drunk patronstories all the time.
No, I, I experience it all thetime.
So, um, there was one, one gig,one wedding, where, um, the
(10:09):
father of a bride kept on askingfor requests all the time and
there were weird requests, so Ididn't really want to play them
and I knew he'd been, he's beendrinking like throughout the
night, so it was like I kept onplaying.
Here was a request.
So it just opened the doors forhim to keep asking.
I'm like, okay, but there wereweird requests.
(10:30):
So, and it would clear off thedance floor, I'm like, dude,
okay, that's enough.
I played your request like fouror five times that I, I'm, I'm
good.
And he was like, no, no, no,you have to play it because he
was the father of the bride Iwas like okay, did, okay, did
you keep playing his songs.
I kept on playing his songs,yeah.
Ilia (10:48):
It just.
I find that you are one of theonly people I know who can shoot
themselves in the foot likethat Because you have to, but at
the same time, you know how tobring the crowd back.
Nino (10:57):
I try, yeah, I try to always crowd with like one of
the crowd pleasers, right, butit's tough man, it's hard to
make everybody happy and it'sthe father of the bride, so you
don't want to, you know not playit, so yeah it's, it's tough,
it's a fine line that you haveto cross, but number three
number three the play, somethingwe can dance to crowd or person
(11:20):
oh gosh, there's always thatone person or one group that
asks for a song.
Usually, usually it's a songthat you're already playing
already.
Uh, right at the can you playsome spice girls usually, and
then they're playing.
You're playing spice girls andcan, can we?
Yeah, can you play somethinggood?
Ilia (11:38):
or something like that.
Play some some old school likerap, and you're playing old
school rap, yeah, so either agenre or a song that you're
already playing or alreadyplayed, you play it again.
No, no, everyone else didn'thear it.
Oh my gosh, you didn't hear itbecause you went to the bathroom
for 15 minutes exactly, exactly, but it doesn't mean I'm gonna
play it again.
Nino (11:59):
We have uh, djs have rules like, like they can only play
one song like one time, unlessit's from the actual celebrant
or the bride and groom and whatI find usually is that when they
say play something we can danceto, normally the dance floor is
full always.
Ilia (12:19):
If it's not, I'll be like you know what?
What do you want to hear?
Yeah, help me, sure, fine.
What do you guys like to danceto?
These are your friends, theseare your people, and you're
wishing that.
You know what.
What do you want to hear?
Yeah, help me, sure, fine.
What do you guys like to dance?
These are your friends, theseare your people and you're
you're wishing that.
You know it hits right, yeah butif I'm doing well, which is
normally the case, leave the guyalone.
Leave the dj alone.
He's doing his job.
Yeah, like I don't want to, Idon't want you to like to tell
(12:40):
me what people want to dance,because there's like 60 people
on the dance floor right now.
Nino (12:43):
I know play something we can dance to number four number
four low pay or no pay gigs, lowballers this.
This is more for like newbiesor like people just uh, djs are
starting out.
There are no newbies here, butyeah, it's usually for for no.
Like DJs are starting out, but,um, yeah, you kind of don't
(13:07):
want to play for, just free, yougotta.
You want to get something inreturn, right?
Ilia (13:12):
Yeah, and since I'm the beginner here, um and we're just
talking about it earlier likeit doesn't feel like being a
beginner anymore.
I have so many stories, I haveso much success and so much
knowledge already, but stillcompared to what you know like
20 plus years and then two yearsright, and then one year out of
those two years I mainly focuson the podcast.
(13:33):
So we've been on for more thana year now, Like we've been, you
know, playing this and workingon this.
But one thing I will say aboutlow pay or no pay gigs a lot of
DJs, a lot of pro DJs, told meand I heard them telling my
fellow beginner DJ friends andthe people I studied with and
(13:55):
stuff like that how never accepta gig for free, never do gigs
for free.
And while I don't truly agreewith it 100, because sometimes
you know some places you can getextremely good exposure and you
should definitely take that gig.
Don't, don't be so full ofyourself.
Oh no, I'm gonna get paid.
(14:15):
Uh, because you really want toplay there, you should play
there no matter what.
But the way you approach or letthem approach you about doing
this for free, you got to reallyshow that you know you'll do
this for exposure.
You appreciate the opportunity,but don't get used to it kind
of thing Like you gotta, yougotta stand up for yourself so
they don't.
They don't get used to it orthink that you don't have any
(14:37):
value for yourself.
So even when you take it forfree, you need to know how to
present yourself.
Nino (14:43):
Yeah, there are exceptions , of course.
Now, when you do something forfree, you know that something's
going to come out of it.
Right that there are future.
There might be future gigs thatare lined up for you.
Ilia (14:54):
Yeah.
Or, for example, low-ballinggigs Like look if you're just
starting out.
Nino (15:02):
And it's a thing.
Right, you have to startsomewhere.
Ilia (15:04):
But don't make it a a thing, right, you start.
You have to start somewhere,but don't it's gonna happen.
Make it a habit, right?
Don't be like, well, it's justmy 10th gig or just my 20th gig.
After like 10 or 15 gigs, like,you should have been already
making some decent money.
And if you don't, it means thatyou are not really doing the
marketing, promotion, thepracticing, the making your own
brand becoming unique.
You're not doing somethingright, because there's a bunch
(15:27):
of DJs out there getting paidproperly or too much, and here
you are taking a tiny piece ofthe pie.
Why You're not worse than them?
Right?
There's a bunch of beginnerswho make way more than you.
Nino (15:38):
So know your worth too, and keep on practicing, man.
You get better.
Yes, get better.
Do you practice?
Ilia (15:47):
All the time, every time I call, every time I call you're
always scratching.
Nino (15:48):
I'm trying to get you know I want to get to that level um
number five.
Ilia (15:55):
Are we number five?
Nino (15:56):
yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, uh, badly set up equipment, so
that's well for venues yeah,more for for in-house venues
like the sound or if it's likethe outdated equipment, like
really old uh equipment that'sscratching or just bottoming out
and it just doesn't sound goodanymore what about that church
(16:16):
where we're at?
Ilia (16:17):
you remember how everything was in the back and
how all the mixers andeverything was just covered and
you had to like turn and rotateit in that tiny room and it was
a popular spot and somehow theirspeakers were shot.
Yeah, it was pretty bad.
It literally sounded likegunshots every time the bass
(16:38):
came on.
Nino (16:39):
Yeah, yeah, surprising.
Some people actually came upand said why does it sound like
that?
I'm like I don't know.
Ilia (16:44):
All I want to do is oh man , some people actually came up
and said what, why?
Nino (16:54):
does it sound like that?
I'm like all I want to do is ohman, that was pretty bad.
That's that song actually went?
Ilia (16:56):
yeah, pretty like, because the gun shots sounded like
actual gunshots, oh man yeah,but you gotta, you gotta just
power through, right.
Nino (17:00):
so it's a pet peeve and a lot of in-house systems are not
up to par, right.
So in-house venues, please makeit easy for us, please.
Ilia (17:12):
We don't have it for this list and we'll probably bring it
up on a different.
You know DJ Pet Peeves but likea DJ Pet Peeves segment.
But a lot of these places won'tlet you bring your own gear.
Nino (17:23):
Yeah, they won't allow it because it's a DJ company
actually doing so they'resetting up for failure and they
won't let you bring your owngear.
Ilia (17:31):
It's terrible.
Nino (17:32):
It's terrible.
Ilia (17:34):
Yeah, so what are you thinking?
Nino (17:36):
What can you do, right?
You kind of just have to gowith it, right?
Ilia (17:42):
Number six.
Number six Lack ofcommunication from event
organizers.
Nino (17:47):
okay, you know a lot about that, you go yeah, when it
comes to, like, uh, weddings andstuff.
I don't like it when they theydon't like talk to you about
certain events that are going on.
It's like they bring it up lastminute like a surprise oh,
we're gonna have this here andyou don't actually have the song
ready and prepared right.
It's like oh, so you're like onyour toes, so it's.
Ilia (18:10):
It's happened so many times to me that it's I could
have prepared well for it right,and there's just so many things
, so many different thingsrelated to being organized and
and having proper communicationwith the vendors, event
organizers, um coordinators thatif you don't have that set in
(18:34):
place, the whole, the wholeevent, the whole, the whole gig,
um the quality just diminishes.
Yeah, it's not nowhere near asgood as it could have been.
Nino (18:43):
It goes back like the time is.
It could have been like ontrack.
Everything could have been ontime.
Ilia (18:50):
Everything could have been smooth, Very smooth.
Certain requests from the eventor the event, the clients,
whether it's a wedding, abirthday party, maybe a club
night or something could havebeen fulfilled properly or
fulfilled altogether.
But again, when there are not,there's no organization, the
(19:11):
event organizers, coordinators,whatever you want to call the
people in charge, when there,when there's little to no
communication, it makes itreally hard working.
Nino (19:19):
Yeah, Right.
Communication is key for forvendors and wedding planners and
and venue management yeah,number seven people who lean
over the dj booth.
Ilia (19:33):
Oh, do I hate that.
This should have been numberone oh my gosh.
Remember how many times peoplehave leaned over my facade and
just over like tipped it over Imyself thought the facade was
like when I saw it from it'slike a, it's like a barrier,
right, but I thought it was likea table, right, yeah, but still
, even if it's a table, youdon't lean over.
Well, you know.
So how did I find out?
(19:54):
By going to the other side whenI first ever saw one of those
things.
Right, but those drunk peopledon't think about it, they don't
, so they lean on it, they losebalance, and then you're like,
oh, my gear yeah, be careful,please.
Nino (20:07):
Uh, it's supposed to be like a barrier to for everyone
else, like stay away, almostright, but they don't like a
stop sign exactly make a u-turn.
Ilia (20:20):
Um, that, uh, the one we did up north.
That barrier was gone,non-existent.
We did a lot of things up north, but like you know which one
I'm talking about.
Nino (20:32):
Yes, I know that barrier was not there no, they just went
around it and they're like hey,around it over and under it.
Ilia (20:37):
It was not like I had to.
I had to like, put it backtogether yeah, some people would
like.
Nino (20:41):
And then like, oh, catch it right, and our equipment
isn't cheap, so it's we're likeon our toes, like, oh my gosh,
be careful please.
Or and then like, oh, catch itRight, and our equipment isn't
cheap, so it's, we're like onour toes, like, oh my gosh, be
careful please.
Ilia (20:49):
Or else, and then you can't focus on what you need to
do.
Right, and luckily, I was there, but if I'm not there now, now
it takes away from your yeah,exactly right, from like like
you're starting to get pissed atthese people.
At some point you got to beprofessional, but at some point
it's just like they're takingtoo much the fun out of the
(21:09):
whole gig.
Nino (21:10):
Right, they're not respecting you.
Yeah, yeah, you can be.
You can be drunk and still havea good time, but please leave
the dj alone.
Ilia (21:18):
Let him do his job, just dance yeah, I'm okay with people
talking to me.
Yeah, I I'm very sociable,right, like, I like people
approaching me, but know when toapproach a dj.
Right, and don't tell me, ohwell, I'm not a dj, I don't know
when, when I can approach you.
If you see me doing somethingand I'm super focused, probably
don't approach me at that point,right, yeah, um, if you see me
(21:39):
just like dancing and likehanging out, then you know that
happens for like 30 to 60seconds.
Nino (21:45):
Yeah, that's a good window I appreciate the, the people
that when they see me mixing ordoing something, they wait.
I'm like they wait until I'mdone.
It's like I'm and then they,and then when I'm done, then
I'll go talk to you, right?
If you have a request orsomething, I'll talk to you.
Ilia (22:00):
I appreciate those people they're kind of like bystanders.
They're standing there and andthey know, you saw them.
Yeah and yeah.
Like let's say let's say youwant to speak to a cop about
something, do you have to be acop to know he's busy?
No, no, you can tell.
Let's say you want to speak toa programmer, can you tell it
(22:21):
doesn't matter?
You can tell a person is busy,it's focused on something, right
, it doesn't matter you can tella person is busy, it's focused
on something, right.
Nino (22:25):
It doesn't have time to talk to you right now, right?
Ilia (22:28):
And it just, it's hard, especially for beginners.
Like if you're a pro, like yeah, you can just make that
transition happen, no matterwhat, right, but if you're a
beginner, yeah, you have toconcentrate and make this
transition sound good.
Nino (22:38):
So if you're talking to the DJ, it's, it's.
It's tough, it's hard to tojuggle that at the same time.
Ilia (22:45):
Yeah so that's that um number eight clients or venues,
uh, who micromanage the volumelevels.
Nino (22:55):
Yeah, this is mostly for venues that have like volume
restrictions because of ofneighboring, like um houses that
uh have that that are just bythem, so they can't uh play too
loud yeah, I, I learned that ifyou're by a lake, apparently the
sound travels.
Ilia (23:14):
It does very, very well over the water.
Yes, and like it's not likewe're ignorant and we don't care
about people, but like we'redjs, we like music, we're there
to make people laugh and danceand and enjoy, have a good time.
Nino (23:28):
Yeah, and sometimes you need a little louder for that
you need it louder, like thebass and the, just the volume
level for them to dance.
Right it immerses you to feelthe music right, and if it's at
a low volume, everybody's okay.
This is background music now.
So it's yeah, it just it irksus, but sometimes we have no
choice.
Ilia (23:47):
We have to follow what the venue tells us to do and yeah,
and that also gets in the way ofyou know, making like hyping
the crowd and everything thatyour.
Your microphone has to be quiettoo.
Now, yeah, you can hear peopleover the music.
Yeah, or like kitchen staff orit's, just the volume has to be
at a certain level sometimes 80decibels.
Nino (24:07):
And you know what, sometimes, just talking in front
of this, in front of thedecibel meter, is already 85, 90
decibels.
So what are you supposed to do?
Yeah, so, yeah, it's it.
It sucks, but it's somethingthat we just have to deal with
sometimes.
So uh number nine peoplerequesting songs while you're
mixing this is something thatyou talked about already, but
(24:30):
yeah, it's exporter especiallywhen you're right in the mix,
like people coming up to you andjust don't respect that right,
because you're literally tryingto keep the energy level on the
dance floor.
And people, somebody, ifsomebody's talking in your ear,
you're like, oh okay, wait, wait.
Ilia (24:47):
You can't do two things at once, it's hard if, if you're
djs, especially if you'rebeginners, you know that you
have like one specific likepoint of entry where you start
something and and then and thenyou have to finish it by a
certain point and if somebodykind of like threw you off your
game, it's gonna be really hardto catch up to that.
Yeah Right, if you're, ifyou're a pro, you know how to
(25:09):
like recover from it.
Right but it's still hard.
Nino (25:11):
It is still hard, you never know.
It's just annoying.
Yeah, it's just annoying.
So please don't do that.
Please don't do that.
Ilia (25:17):
Number 10.
Listen to the lyrics at afamily event or anywhere where
it's inappropriate.
Nino (25:25):
Why, like, why I've got this so many times?
Is it clean?
Yeah it's clean.
No, no, I've.
I've got requests for for thisfrom a couples that especially
like um, they don't, they don't.
They don't want the cleanversion, they want their
original because it soundsbetter, it sounds real.
(25:52):
I'm like okay, but there's kidsthere and your grandma and
grandpa, your parents, are therelistening.
It's so awkward for me.
Ilia (25:56):
I look unprofessional, especially when one of the
instructions was oh, our grandmais very old-fashioned, yeah,
and then you're asking for thisyeah, you're gonna get some
looks on the from from the crowdlike, oh, our parents are
religious, and then you're gonnalike ask me for that because
you're drunk and you don't care.
Nino (26:13):
Oh man oh man you should have known better.
Ilia (26:15):
You're the dj.
Nino (26:16):
I was drunk no, but you get this even beforehand like
before, like like meetings andstuff like.
No, we don't want any cleanmusic, we want the explicit
stuff because it sounds better.
That's what they sound like itsounds better.
Ilia (26:30):
But but you know what?
I don't get us wrong we love toplay explicit music.
Oh, we do, we do.
It does sound better.
Don't like playing clean music?
I don't, I don't, it's justit's.
It's annoying to try to find it.
I need to like rearrange all myplaylists because usually I
play non-clean music, becausesometimes it's not out there.
Nino (26:49):
It's not.
They didn't make the cleanmusic yet, especially if it's
new.
I'm like I'll sing it for you.
Sometimes you have to turn onthe volume.
That's annoying man.
But yeah, don't.
It irks us, just not at familyevents.
When they're kids around likef-bomb, f-bomb, f-bomb, and
there's like a little johnnyjust running around the dance
(27:11):
floor, I'm like, yeah, it's no,don't do it, don't ask us to do
that, please.
Ilia (27:24):
I have so many ideas right now, mommy, what's up?
No, all right.
Number 11, late night setfatigue.
Nino (27:33):
Oh, you guys have gone through this for sure, that's
not nobody's fault.
Ilia (27:37):
It's just set fatigue right.
It just sucks when that happens.
Nino (27:40):
It sucks Well, because you've been there all day, right
?
You've been there for likeeight, nine hours already, and
now it's time to dance, to dothe dancing.
Sometimes you haven't snappedout of the dinner mode, right?
Ilia (27:51):
Sometimes you're a robot and you're still in that mode
when the dancing starts, youhave to wake up and just be
energized so everybody else canget hyped up.
Try not to inhale your food andyou'll feel better yeah, so you
won't feel sleepy, right Inever saw someone eat that fast
bro, I gotta do it though youeat steak like you eat pasta
(28:15):
it's gone right.
Nino (28:16):
You turn your head for one second and it's like where'd
the steak go?
It's crazy because are you as adj?
You have to be ready, prepared.
Ilia (28:23):
There has to be a guinness record that you beat in terms
of going to the bathroom andeating.
Yeah, tell you, you're out,you're out of, you're in and out
of the bathroom before the doorcloses.
I'm not even exaggerating, I'mgonna.
Nino (28:36):
You know what I'm gonna take a video one day and we'll
chill.
Ilia (28:41):
I don't want to tell you, so you will like be as authentic
as possible and just likerecording.
Nino (28:46):
Or see me take a video of me eating.
It's how fast I eat, right?
Ilia (28:51):
Seconds.
Nino (28:52):
But it's just a thing, right?
But it sucks to have late nightset fatigue.
Sometimes you have to just hypeyourself up right?
You want to get everybody hypedup, so you need to be hyped up
right.
Do what you got to do.
Drink coffee no-transcript,right, so you gotta be high and
(29:16):
you know that.
Ilia (29:17):
So you know you gotta wake up and sometimes it's hard, but
it's hard.
Just find what works for you,right?
Yeah, yeah, um, slap yourself,wake up, wake up.
Yeah, that's my job, wake thef**k up, all right?
So, um, number 12 people usingyour dj gear as their own desk
(29:41):
for their stuff man, yeah, astheir own.
Like, let's leave everythinghere.
Nino (29:46):
I'm dancing it's terrible because sometimes, a lot of
times, I have the facade but itsometimes it doesn't work.
The last gig I was at thewedding is like I had the facade
around me but then at the endof the night I I had like 50
drinks inside the DJ booth.
I'm like how did this?
Ilia (30:02):
get there, like if you put the phone there I'll be like
fine, hopefully they take itsoon.
But the drink Drinks Come on.
I almost want to put a garbagebag bin beside me and every time
there's a drink, just throw itin there.
Nino (30:14):
Or sign right.
Ilia (30:21):
No drinks on thej table or on my subwoofer, because
they're gonna read that right.
Yeah, no, like.
Oh wait, there's a sign here.
Nino (30:25):
Sorry sir, sorry sir, but yeah, it's very annoying, very
annoying.
Yes, we have.
We have facades and tables andboots for a purpose to, to look
the part right, and we don'twant, like um, drinks around our
equipment because we're scaredit might spill too expensive,
expensive gear.
Ilia (30:46):
You don't know how much we spend on gear yeah, so please
don't use our dj booth as yourpersonal storage space yeah,
that's good.
Nino (30:57):
That goes for purses, bags .
Ilia (31:00):
Yeah, pretty much anything umbrella, yeah, drinks
especially, and food, yeah, um,and then they leave it there.
So now that's like a like acooler, like you know, the when
people like gather around thecooler, like the water fountain,
yeah, exactly.
So now they're all gathering,they're eating and drinking and
I mean I like the company, butI'm stressed out.
Yeah, that something's gonnafall on my gear or on me.
Nino (31:23):
It's happened before, too right, and when happened so many
times?
One person puts down a drinkand everybody sees it.
Oh, it's just an invitation foreverybody else to put their
drink down, right?
So, uh, please don't do that.
Ilia (31:36):
Number 13 getting bumped or pushed, and not once or twice
, but constantly, like peopledon't respect your space and
understand that you're doingsomething and that all of your
gear is there.
So getting bumped or pushed um,and also you know kind of
people hitting your table inyour facade.
(31:56):
So one of those, like you know,like close contact situations
when it's too, when it's toocrowded, and they didn't think
about where, yeah, it's going tobe be set up yeah, it's tough
when you're set up in a weirdspot and the people are passing
by, like the.
Nino (32:11):
The waiters, or sometimes the servers, have to go behind
you to get through to the otherside or something, because they
don't want to pass the dancefloor.
Ilia (32:18):
Yeah, you have to go behind the patrons or, like it
could be, the people working.
Nino (32:22):
Yeah, it sucks, but when they bump you, when people bump
you like gas and stuff and itscrews up your mixes, they're
like oh, come on man, it happensit happens a lot right, so it
sucks, yeah, and sometimes wehave no control over that.
Ilia (32:35):
So yeah, sometimes you don't, and that it just stresses
you out again your gear and theperformance right?
Nino (32:42):
yeah, um number 14 playing outdoors with unpredictable
weather I'm shaking my headbecause it's happened so many
times like, tell them about themac story, macbook story.
Man, like I was outside doing aceremony and, um, people don't
(33:02):
understand.
Like it's not just rain thatwe're fighting with, it's, it's
direct sunlight on our gear,right, not on even the speakers,
on our macbooks, because ourmacbooks or our laptop is the
heart of their system.
So it only takes 15 minutes ofdirect sunlight for your, your
macbook to or your laptop tooverheat that's all it takes and
(33:25):
then it starts getting funkythe sound.
So I've been in that situationso many times.
People don't understand that weneed it to be covered, right,
we need shade to keep everythingcool and working properly and
sometimes our own gear.
Ilia (33:39):
Like our own, um, what is it called?
The thing I got tent canopy.
Yeah, um, I forgot the word uh.
When you want to bring your owncanopy, they'll say, oh, that's
too big for that uh venue.
Or like, oh, that's that's notgonna go with.
Like our you know our decor,decor.
(34:00):
So think about something that'sgonna protect me and my gear or
be be prepared to pay for anydamages.
Yeah, and that's notunrealistic.
I'll bring my own stuff, butnow you're telling me I can't
you know so come on yeah youhave to think about your event.
Nino (34:15):
It's gonna make it smoother, right?
We don't want any problems togo to happen at your ceremony
because it's important.
Ilia (34:21):
I have no idea how you save that macbook.
Nino (34:22):
That macbook has been through so much oh my gosh man,
the rain just poured down on theactual keyboard and it wasn't
working.
When I had to, how did you drymy ceremony?
I had, I had a fan blowing onit just to dry it, but it was
during the, like the dinner.
Oh man, that was.
That was so like.
I even asked the venue ownerfor them if they had an extra
(34:43):
computer, because I was.
I was gonna re-download, seratoon it and put on my.
I was like it was so stressfulbut it was tough.
It was tough but I still had.
I had mixes.
I had a backup on my phone.
I had mixes on my phone so Iwas playing that through the the
system while I was trying stuff.
But you know, I couldn't havekept that going throughout the
(35:05):
dancing man.
Ilia (35:06):
It was, yeah, that's so stressful you got lucky with a
computer man.
You gotta, you gotta changethat one.
I do, and the charge?
The charging cable is hangingby a freaking thread.
It's frayed and stuff and youkind of have to flick it so it
starts working.
I don't know what you're doing,man.
No man, it's still working.
(35:27):
You're talking about my laptopthat doesn't have a battery?
Nino (35:29):
Yeah, yeah, I got to change it soon.
Anyway, it's tough when youhave thousands of songs on your
actual laptop, your actuallaptop, and you have to transfer
everything.
Such a large business.
Ilia (35:42):
Yeah, you have a lot of stuff to do, but it's been a
year.
Man, come on, let's go.
It's been more than a year, Ihave no excuse.
Uh, by the time you you'reready, there's gonna be, like on
the origin, m6 or something.
Yeah, an m6 chip.
Oh man, yeah, all right, number15.
I'll take out my mic for that,because I'm gonna hand you my
mic.
Nino (35:59):
What are you doing, I'm stuck with it and I'm back um no
feedback from the crowd, so soit's like when you, when you ask
them to, when you ask them togo, um, when you're playing a
(36:23):
song you want them to sing alongto, like the roof, the roof,
the roof is on fire, like thatpart, when the middle part, when
this is I love Sokka, I loveSokka, and then no reaction.
I love Sokka and then noreaction.
(36:43):
I love soka, it's just nothingright.
So they, they don't react atall.
It's like what the heck?
Ilia (36:50):
and um, you know I'm just gonna do this, let's just hold
it, yes and and.
And.
You know you'd think maybe Ijust suck, maybe I just can't
hype them up, but normally, ifyou know you've done this so
many times and you're like Ilove Soca- they usually would
sing along with it, right?
Nino (37:11):
It's one of those call answer ones.
It's very, very popular, right?
But they don't.
And it's like, oh, and you'rethinking, okay, what am I doing
wrong?
Ilia (37:20):
There's so many songs like that and you've done it so many
times and always been verysuccessful, or almost always.
So you know something isprobably up with the crowd, not
with you.
Nino (37:31):
Yeah, yeah, sometimes you have those crowds that just
don't react or anything, theydon't dance.
Ilia (37:36):
More reserved.
They don't dance More reservedand that's also on you to know.
Yeah, I'm not saying we're notsaying that, what's wrong with
these people.
It's just that something thatwe like as DJs, these are our
pet peeves, so you know, we likeit when we can interact with
the crowd.
Nino (37:52):
That's why we do this right.
Of course we love doing this,of course, right.
So that's why we live.
So that's that's why we live.
We live to do events and makeyou dance and make you, like,
sing along, right.
So I feel like I'm on anewscast, like, should I take
mine out too?
We're done all right.
Ilia (38:09):
Well, thank you very much for uh joining another episode
of the clever dj.
My name is ilia my name is nino.
Nino (38:15):
Thank you guys.
We'll see you in the next one.
See you in the next one.
My name is Nino.
Thank you guys.
We'll see you in the next one.
See you in the next one.
welcome back.
Welcome back to another episodeof the clever dj.
A quick intro about ourselves.
My name is ilia and I starteddjing about two years ago.
I've done a variety of eventsand while bartending actually
right before I started DJingwhile bartending I met this guy
right beside me and yeah, what'syour story?
Nino (00:34):
Yep, I'm Nino and I'm a professional DJ.
I've been DJing over 20 plusyears now.
I started off with bars andclubs and private events, now
I'm doing weddings and I have aroster of 15 djs under my belt.
Ilia (00:46):
So all right, yeah, so, uh , this is a banter style podcast
.
Yeah, um, we are always onyoutube for those who want to
watch and kind of get theexperience.
Uh, I think that's the bestexperience really, but uh, we're
also on all the other platforms.
Spotify, apple Music, otherother platforms, right a dozen a
(01:09):
dozen, at least all of them,yeah, so hey, that's just a
quick intro so you know who weare and yeah yeah, so what's up
with my drink, man?
Nino (01:19):
where's my tea?
Ilia (01:21):
I decided to go for coolers because it was just my
birthday oh, that's right, itwas your birthday this weekend.
Yeah.
So who didn't show up?
Sorry, bro didn't show up.
I did it on a sunday thinking,okay, he'll show up for sure.
Sorry bro, you know you stillhave a gig on sunday.
Probably had several gigs onsunday, it's okay.
Um.
So how was it, man?
(01:41):
It was great, it was great.
There's just drinks left overand I thought you know what,
like, let's try this.
I love this drink.
We're not sponsored by them, no.
Nino (01:49):
What is it Basque?
Basque.
I have the green tea peach andyou, mine's a black tea, goji
and blackberry.
Oh, very healthy, let's trythis.
I Right up my alley man Allright.
Ilia (02:08):
Oh, cheers, buddy, cheers Right over our roadcaster.
That's good.
You know what?
Yeah, man, something I've beenwanting to do.
I mean, we probably shouldclean this, but there's
something I've been wanting todo for a while, yeah.
Nino (02:18):
Oh my gosh, yeah, so he's cleaning the roadcaster right
now.
Ilia (02:24):
Let me do something.
Nino (02:26):
Oh, you're taking off the plastic.
Ilia (02:28):
You know what you do, the rest you got it.
Nino (02:30):
Okay, you got it that was amazing.
Ilia (02:34):
That's it.
Look how clean it is.
Nino (02:35):
Look how clean it is.
It's brand new.
Put it back Literally okay, no.
I'm just joking.
No, look at these watches, manDid.
Look at these watches, man Didyou get these for your presents.
Ilia (02:43):
I was just showing you the stuff before the episode.
Nino (02:46):
Show and tell, show and tell.
Ilia (02:47):
So I got a bunch of gifts.
I'll go over two of them.
So this watch right here is aMovado watch.
Nino (02:56):
What yeah, For those who are just listening.
He's showing everybody hiswatches.
Ilia (03:03):
So I'm currently wearing a movado watch.
I got this I got this, uh, onmy 30th birthday from my parents
and my sister, and they decidedthat one of them wasn't enough,
so they got me another one,another one I still need to size
this, but get it fitted man Igotta I gotta get close to your
parents too, man, look at thisbeautiful thing right, I need to
(03:26):
watch.
Nino (03:27):
Yeah, that's beautiful man .
What is that like?
Black matte?
Ilia (03:30):
black.
Yeah, so I, I have this blackone, and then I have the so it's
black silver, one black withgold.
Nino (03:37):
Yes, oh, that's nice describing to the people, uh,
who are not watching.
Yeah, that's beautiful.
Ilia (03:42):
Yeah, so here we go.
I still need to fit it.
Yeah, uh, to size it, orwhatever you call that very nice
, very nice yeah okay, we arenot sponsored by movado not yet
atleast if you guys are watching
uh, but yeah, I got this one, sonice, you got two movado
watches yes, I got two now oh,what about this one?
(04:03):
So I'm getting to that.
Let me just put this back.
This one's like.
They're both expensive, butthis one was really pricey yeah,
there you go, man he's ballingand um, where is it?
Yeah, it goes right here yeah,there you go.
Nino (04:16):
I love the boxes put so much work, so fancy bro I'll
just leave it here for the fancy.
And then what's that one?
Ilia (04:22):
and then this one.
My girlfriend got me asmartwatch and I love it.
It's good, it's accurate, itdoes everything it's supposed to
do.
It also tells me when I'mmenstruating, apparently.
So that's something that Idiscovered that my body
apparently can't do Apparently,according to this watch.
(04:43):
But I love it.
I always wanted a smart watchand I thought, ah, it's not
going to be accurate, it's notgoing to be convenient to use.
I go to sleep with it.
It tells me how well I sleepthere you go man yeah.
That's good, so it's awesome.
I got this watch collection nowand, yeah, i'm'm gonna wear my
(05:07):
mobado for this episode, but I'mgonna put this right on top,
yeah I'm gonna put this right ontop, right here me.
Nino (05:10):
I never you're.
You're into watches?
Ilia (05:12):
I love.
Nino (05:12):
I've never been really into watches.
I actually get I get umallergic reactions when I watch
this.
Yeah, I'm good I'm.
I wish I could wow yeah, okay,alright.
Ilia (05:25):
Well, I'll get you something else.
Nino (05:26):
I'm good, alright wait, no , my phone, I use my watch oh
yeah, that's all you need.
Ilia (05:33):
That's all I wanted to say .
You know what?
So what's this episode about?
Man something different today,something special but special.
Something special, alwaysspecial.
We're gonna start something newhere.
We're going to start a newsegment Our pet peeves of DJing,
our DJ pet peeves.
Nino (05:53):
Yeah, we're going to talk about DJ pet peeves.
I know a lot of you guys.
Djs have tons of pet peeves.
You have pet peeves all thetime.
Ilia (06:02):
Yes, and some of the Wow, wow, there's still water on this
.
We got this yeah okay, theplastic okay.
Nino (06:15):
Okay, we're fine.
Okay, we're good, we're good.
I don't.
I don't think it's gonna impedethe recording process or
anything but worse comes toworse.
Ilia (06:21):
It's only like like close to a thousand bucks, right?
So we're just gonna get a newone, get a new one, all right.
So pet peeves, pet peeves, petpeeves number one.
Nino (06:32):
So requests for songs that don't fit the vibe or the set
that you're playing at currently, yes, right and um, yeah, it
really disturbs me when, uh,people that me, when people ask
for songs that don't fit thevibe because it doesn't fit the
vibe but that doesn't matter.
(06:53):
If it matters that it's a goodsong, then you're going to play
it anyway.
But if you're not going to playit right at the time, it kind
of it kind of ruins.
Ilia (07:06):
It ruins the vibe because each song kind of tells a story.
Well, each each song fits intoa certain part of the night, and
a good dj can play any songanytime, but at the same time it
could have been way better ifit was played at that part of
the night.
Right, you have, you have anidea, you have.
Sometimes, you have a plan,right and genres too.
(07:27):
Right, you kind of want to playgroup genres together and if
whoever asked for it is someonefrom the wedding party or a
client of a different kind ofevent.
You almost always have toreally find the time to play it
soon, either right away or soon.
Yeah, so they don't care aboutyour plan nope nope, normally
(07:49):
they don't.
Nino (07:50):
Some of them will tell you oh, you know what, you do your
thing but but if it's a good, ifit's a good request, then yeah,
we'll most probably play it.
Maybe not at that moment, butwe'll find time to play it yeah
and uh.
Ilia (08:01):
So yeah, like it just just a pet peeve.
It's not something terrible,but it really like kind of irks
yeah, it irks a lot of djs,right.
Nino (08:10):
Yes, uh.
Ilia (08:11):
Number two the over eager drunk patron.
So you have those overlyenthusiastic drunk people who
are just like hovering over youruh, your, your, your dj booth
and, um, they're trying to likebalance their drinks and
themselves at the same time andtelling you about their life
story they just won't leave youalone and until you play their,
(08:33):
their, their request, right, alot of the times they're gonna
forget anyway, right?
Nino (08:39):
like if you, if you um, just say oh, I'll see if I can
play it, just play it off, right, but though you don't end up
playing it, then they'll forget.
Ilia (08:47):
But those are at least the ones that have a mission.
Yes, and usually they'll leaveafter that.
Yeah, but they're the ones whojust came and just they're just
drunk, they just want to chatyou up, yeah yeah, yeah, right
when you're playing, right yeah.
And they're just chilling there,they will stay.
Do you remember the one guy whowent downtown Toronto to that
(09:08):
really cool studio?
Was it there or was it theother?
Oh, there was one gig wheresomebody would not leave.
No, it wasn't there, it wasn'tthat one, it wasn't that one,
and he wouldn't leave.
There was one guy who wasreally nice, who kind of didn't
really bother us, and we justlet him stay, but there was one
guy who would not leave?
Nino (09:27):
who?
What geek was it?
You don't remember.
I don't remember that one.
Ilia (09:28):
I remember like the situation, but not where it
happened, um, and I tried in thenicest ways to get him to kind
of step aside, or you know, andI said, hey, why don't you join?
Why don't you join?
Nino (09:40):
why don't you join the dance party?
Ilia (09:43):
or like hey, didn't you say you like that song?
And I thought, hey, I'll playhis song and he'll leave, right,
I knew he's gonna come back.
Nino (09:49):
I just didn't think he's gonna come back that soon that's
the thing when they request asong and you play it, they're
gonna ask for another one, yeahso that's that you have any uh,
overly eager drunk patronstories all the time.
No, I, I experience it all thetime.
So, um, there was one, one gig,one wedding, where, um, the
(10:09):
father of a bride kept on askingfor requests all the time and
there were weird requests, so Ididn't really want to play them
and I knew he'd been, he's beendrinking like throughout the
night, so it was like I kept onplaying.
Here was a request.
So it just opened the doors forhim to keep asking.
I'm like, okay, but there wereweird requests.
(10:30):
So, and it would clear off thedance floor, I'm like, dude,
okay, that's enough.
I played your request like fouror five times that I, I'm, I'm
good.
And he was like, no, no, no,you have to play it because he
was the father of the bride Iwas like okay, did, okay, did
you keep playing his songs.
I kept on playing his songs,yeah.
Ilia (10:48):
It just.
I find that you are one of theonly people I know who can shoot
themselves in the foot likethat Because you have to, but at
the same time, you know how tobring the crowd back.
Nino (10:57):
I try, yeah, I try to always crowd with like one of
the crowd pleasers, right, butit's tough man, it's hard to
make everybody happy and it'sthe father of the bride, so you
don't want to, you know not playit, so yeah it's, it's tough,
it's a fine line that you haveto cross, but number three
number three the play, somethingwe can dance to crowd or person
(11:20):
oh gosh, there's always thatone person or one group that
asks for a song.
Usually, usually it's a songthat you're already playing
already.
Uh, right at the can you playsome spice girls usually, and
then they're playing.
You're playing spice girls andcan, can we?
Yeah, can you play somethinggood?
Ilia (11:38):
or something like that.
Play some some old school likerap, and you're playing old
school rap, yeah, so either agenre or a song that you're
already playing or alreadyplayed, you play it again.
No, no, everyone else didn'thear it.
Oh my gosh, you didn't hear itbecause you went to the bathroom
for 15 minutes exactly, exactly, but it doesn't mean I'm gonna
play it again.
Nino (11:59):
We have uh, djs have rules like, like they can only play
one song like one time, unlessit's from the actual celebrant
or the bride and groom and whatI find usually is that when they
say play something we can danceto, normally the dance floor is
full always.
Ilia (12:19):
If it's not, I'll be like you know what?
What do you want to hear?
Yeah, help me, sure, fine.
What do you guys like to danceto?
These are your friends, theseare your people, and you're
wishing that.
You know what.
What do you want to hear?
Yeah, help me, sure, fine.
What do you guys like to dance?
These are your friends, theseare your people and you're
you're wishing that.
You know it hits right, yeah butif I'm doing well, which is
normally the case, leave the guyalone.
Leave the dj alone.
He's doing his job.
Yeah, like I don't want to, Idon't want you to like to tell
(12:40):
me what people want to dance,because there's like 60 people
on the dance floor right now.
Nino (12:43):
I know play something we can dance to number four number
four low pay or no pay gigs, lowballers this.
This is more for like newbiesor like people just uh, djs are
starting out.
There are no newbies here, butyeah, it's usually for for no.
Like DJs are starting out, but,um, yeah, you kind of don't
(13:07):
want to play for, just free, yougotta.
You want to get something inreturn, right?
Ilia (13:12):
Yeah, and since I'm the beginner here, um and we're just
talking about it earlier likeit doesn't feel like being a
beginner anymore.
I have so many stories, I haveso much success and so much
knowledge already, but stillcompared to what you know like
20 plus years and then two yearsright, and then one year out of
those two years I mainly focuson the podcast.
(13:33):
So we've been on for more thana year now, Like we've been, you
know, playing this and workingon this.
But one thing I will say aboutlow pay or no pay gigs a lot of
DJs, a lot of pro DJs, told meand I heard them telling my
fellow beginner DJ friends andthe people I studied with and
(13:55):
stuff like that how never accepta gig for free, never do gigs
for free.
And while I don't truly agreewith it 100, because sometimes
you know some places you can getextremely good exposure and you
should definitely take that gig.
Don't, don't be so full ofyourself.
Oh no, I'm gonna get paid.
(14:15):
Uh, because you really want toplay there, you should play
there no matter what.
But the way you approach or letthem approach you about doing
this for free, you got to reallyshow that you know you'll do
this for exposure.
You appreciate the opportunity,but don't get used to it kind
of thing Like you gotta, yougotta stand up for yourself so
they don't.
They don't get used to it orthink that you don't have any
(14:37):
value for yourself.
So even when you take it forfree, you need to know how to
present yourself.
Nino (14:43):
Yeah, there are exceptions , of course.
Now, when you do something forfree, you know that something's
going to come out of it.
Right that there are future.
There might be future gigs thatare lined up for you.
Ilia (14:54):
Yeah.
Or, for example, low-ballinggigs Like look if you're just
starting out.
Nino (15:02):
And it's a thing.
Right, you have to startsomewhere.
Ilia (15:04):
But don't make it a a thing, right, you start.
You have to start somewhere,but don't it's gonna happen.
Make it a habit, right?
Don't be like, well, it's justmy 10th gig or just my 20th gig.
After like 10 or 15 gigs, like,you should have been already
making some decent money.
And if you don't, it means thatyou are not really doing the
marketing, promotion, thepracticing, the making your own
brand becoming unique.
You're not doing somethingright, because there's a bunch
(15:27):
of DJs out there getting paidproperly or too much, and here
you are taking a tiny piece ofthe pie.
Why You're not worse than them?
Right?
There's a bunch of beginnerswho make way more than you.
Nino (15:38):
So know your worth too, and keep on practicing, man.
You get better.
Yes, get better.
Do you practice?
Ilia (15:47):
All the time, every time I call, every time I call you're
always scratching.
Nino (15:48):
I'm trying to get you know I want to get to that level um
number five.
Ilia (15:55):
Are we number five?
Nino (15:56):
yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, uh, badly set up equipment, so
that's well for venues yeah,more for for in-house venues
like the sound or if it's likethe outdated equipment, like
really old uh equipment that'sscratching or just bottoming out
and it just doesn't sound goodanymore what about that church
(16:16):
where we're at?
Ilia (16:17):
you remember how everything was in the back and
how all the mixers andeverything was just covered and
you had to like turn and rotateit in that tiny room and it was
a popular spot and somehow theirspeakers were shot.
Yeah, it was pretty bad.
It literally sounded likegunshots every time the bass
(16:38):
came on.
Nino (16:39):
Yeah, yeah, surprising.
Some people actually came upand said why does it sound like
that?
I'm like I don't know.
Ilia (16:44):
All I want to do is oh man , some people actually came up
and said what, why?
Nino (16:54):
does it sound like that?
I'm like all I want to do is ohman, that was pretty bad.
That's that song actually went?
Ilia (16:56):
yeah, pretty like, because the gun shots sounded like
actual gunshots, oh man yeah,but you gotta, you gotta just
power through, right.
Nino (17:00):
so it's a pet peeve and a lot of in-house systems are not
up to par, right.
So in-house venues, please makeit easy for us, please.
Ilia (17:12):
We don't have it for this list and we'll probably bring it
up on a different.
You know DJ Pet Peeves but likea DJ Pet Peeves segment.
But a lot of these places won'tlet you bring your own gear.
Nino (17:23):
Yeah, they won't allow it because it's a DJ company
actually doing so they'resetting up for failure and they
won't let you bring your owngear.
Ilia (17:31):
It's terrible.
Nino (17:32):
It's terrible.
Ilia (17:34):
Yeah, so what are you thinking?
Nino (17:36):
What can you do, right?
You kind of just have to gowith it, right?
Ilia (17:42):
Number six.
Number six Lack ofcommunication from event
organizers.
Nino (17:47):
okay, you know a lot about that, you go yeah, when it
comes to, like, uh, weddings andstuff.
I don't like it when they theydon't like talk to you about
certain events that are going on.
It's like they bring it up lastminute like a surprise oh,
we're gonna have this here andyou don't actually have the song
ready and prepared right.
It's like oh, so you're like onyour toes, so it's.
Ilia (18:10):
It's happened so many times to me that it's I could
have prepared well for it right,and there's just so many things
, so many different thingsrelated to being organized and
and having proper communicationwith the vendors, event
organizers, um coordinators thatif you don't have that set in
(18:34):
place, the whole, the wholeevent, the whole, the whole gig,
um the quality just diminishes.
Yeah, it's not nowhere near asgood as it could have been.
Nino (18:43):
It goes back like the time is.
It could have been like ontrack.
Everything could have been ontime.
Ilia (18:50):
Everything could have been smooth, Very smooth.
Certain requests from the eventor the event, the clients,
whether it's a wedding, abirthday party, maybe a club
night or something could havebeen fulfilled properly or
fulfilled altogether.
But again, when there are not,there's no organization, the
(19:11):
event organizers, coordinators,whatever you want to call the
people in charge, when there,when there's little to no
communication, it makes itreally hard working.
Nino (19:19):
Yeah, Right.
Communication is key for forvendors and wedding planners and
and venue management yeah,number seven people who lean
over the dj booth.
Ilia (19:33):
Oh, do I hate that.
This should have been numberone oh my gosh.
Remember how many times peoplehave leaned over my facade and
just over like tipped it over Imyself thought the facade was
like when I saw it from it'slike a, it's like a barrier,
right, but I thought it was likea table, right, yeah, but still
, even if it's a table, youdon't lean over.
Well, you know.
So how did I find out?
(19:54):
By going to the other side whenI first ever saw one of those
things.
Right, but those drunk peopledon't think about it, they don't
, so they lean on it, they losebalance, and then you're like,
oh, my gear yeah, be careful,please.
Nino (20:07):
Uh, it's supposed to be like a barrier to for everyone
else, like stay away, almostright, but they don't like a
stop sign exactly make a u-turn.
Ilia (20:20):
Um, that, uh, the one we did up north.
That barrier was gone,non-existent.
We did a lot of things up north, but like you know which one
I'm talking about.
Nino (20:32):
Yes, I know that barrier was not there no, they just went
around it and they're like hey,around it over and under it.
Ilia (20:37):
It was not like I had to.
I had to like, put it backtogether yeah, some people would
like.
Nino (20:41):
And then like, oh, catch it right, and our equipment
isn't cheap, so it's we're likeon our toes, like, oh my gosh,
be careful please.
Or and then like, oh, catch itRight, and our equipment isn't
cheap, so it's, we're like onour toes, like, oh my gosh, be
careful please.
Ilia (20:49):
Or else, and then you can't focus on what you need to
do.
Right, and luckily, I was there, but if I'm not there now, now
it takes away from your yeah,exactly right, from like like
you're starting to get pissed atthese people.
At some point you got to beprofessional, but at some point
it's just like they're takingtoo much the fun out of the
(21:09):
whole gig.
Nino (21:10):
Right, they're not respecting you.
Yeah, yeah, you can be.
You can be drunk and still havea good time, but please leave
the dj alone.
Ilia (21:18):
Let him do his job, just dance yeah, I'm okay with people
talking to me.
Yeah, I I'm very sociable,right, like, I like people
approaching me, but know when toapproach a dj.
Right, and don't tell me, ohwell, I'm not a dj, I don't know
when, when I can approach you.
If you see me doing somethingand I'm super focused, probably
don't approach me at that point,right, yeah, um, if you see me
(21:39):
just like dancing and likehanging out, then you know that
happens for like 30 to 60seconds.
Nino (21:45):
Yeah, that's a good window I appreciate the, the people
that when they see me mixing ordoing something, they wait.
I'm like they wait until I'mdone.
It's like I'm and then they,and then when I'm done, then
I'll go talk to you, right?
If you have a request orsomething, I'll talk to you.
Ilia (22:00):
I appreciate those people they're kind of like bystanders.
They're standing there and andthey know, you saw them.
Yeah and yeah.
Like let's say let's say youwant to speak to a cop about
something, do you have to be acop to know he's busy?
No, no, you can tell.
Let's say you want to speak toa programmer, can you tell it
(22:21):
doesn't matter?
You can tell a person is busy,it's focused on something, right
, it doesn't matter you can tella person is busy, it's focused
on something, right.
Nino (22:25):
It doesn't have time to talk to you right now, right?
Ilia (22:28):
And it just, it's hard, especially for beginners.
Like if you're a pro, like yeah, you can just make that
transition happen, no matterwhat, right, but if you're a
beginner, yeah, you have toconcentrate and make this
transition sound good.
Nino (22:38):
So if you're talking to the DJ, it's, it's.
It's tough, it's hard to tojuggle that at the same time.
Ilia (22:45):
Yeah so that's that um number eight clients or venues,
uh, who micromanage the volumelevels.
Nino (22:55):
Yeah, this is mostly for venues that have like volume
restrictions because of ofneighboring, like um houses that
uh have that that are just bythem, so they can't uh play too
loud yeah, I, I learned that ifyou're by a lake, apparently the
sound travels.
Ilia (23:14):
It does very, very well over the water.
Yes, and like it's not likewe're ignorant and we don't care
about people, but like we'redjs, we like music, we're there
to make people laugh and danceand and enjoy, have a good time.
Nino (23:28):
Yeah, and sometimes you need a little louder for that
you need it louder, like thebass and the, just the volume
level for them to dance.
Right it immerses you to feelthe music right, and if it's at
a low volume, everybody's okay.
This is background music now.
So it's yeah, it just it irksus, but sometimes we have no
choice.
Ilia (23:47):
We have to follow what the venue tells us to do and yeah,
and that also gets in the way ofyou know, making like hyping
the crowd and everything thatyour.
Your microphone has to be quiettoo.
Now, yeah, you can hear peopleover the music.
Yeah, or like kitchen staff orit's, just the volume has to be
at a certain level sometimes 80decibels.
Nino (24:07):
And you know what, sometimes, just talking in front
of this, in front of thedecibel meter, is already 85, 90
decibels.
So what are you supposed to do?
Yeah, so, yeah, it's it.
It sucks, but it's somethingthat we just have to deal with
sometimes.
So uh number nine peoplerequesting songs while you're
mixing this is something thatyou talked about already, but
(24:30):
yeah, it's exporter especiallywhen you're right in the mix,
like people coming up to you andjust don't respect that right,
because you're literally tryingto keep the energy level on the
dance floor.
And people, somebody, ifsomebody's talking in your ear,
you're like, oh okay, wait, wait.
Ilia (24:47):
You can't do two things at once, it's hard if, if you're
djs, especially if you'rebeginners, you know that you
have like one specific likepoint of entry where you start
something and and then and thenyou have to finish it by a
certain point and if somebodykind of like threw you off your
game, it's gonna be really hardto catch up to that.
Yeah Right, if you're, ifyou're a pro, you know how to
(25:09):
like recover from it.
Right but it's still hard.
Nino (25:11):
It is still hard, you never know.
It's just annoying.
Yeah, it's just annoying.
So please don't do that.
Please don't do that.
Ilia (25:17):
Number 10.
Listen to the lyrics at afamily event or anywhere where
it's inappropriate.
Nino (25:25):
Why, like, why I've got this so many times?
Is it clean?
Yeah it's clean.
No, no, I've.
I've got requests for for thisfrom a couples that especially
like um, they don't, they don't.
They don't want the cleanversion, they want their
original because it soundsbetter, it sounds real.
(25:52):
I'm like okay, but there's kidsthere and your grandma and
grandpa, your parents, are therelistening.
It's so awkward for me.
Ilia (25:56):
I look unprofessional, especially when one of the
instructions was oh, our grandmais very old-fashioned, yeah,
and then you're asking for thisyeah, you're gonna get some
looks on the from from the crowdlike, oh, our parents are
religious, and then you're gonnalike ask me for that because
you're drunk and you don't care.
Nino (26:13):
Oh man oh man you should have known better.
Ilia (26:15):
You're the dj.
Nino (26:16):
I was drunk no, but you get this even beforehand like
before, like like meetings andstuff like.
No, we don't want any cleanmusic, we want the explicit
stuff because it sounds better.
That's what they sound like itsounds better.
Ilia (26:30):
But but you know what?
I don't get us wrong we love toplay explicit music.
Oh, we do, we do.
It does sound better.
Don't like playing clean music?
I don't, I don't, it's justit's.
It's annoying to try to find it.
I need to like rearrange all myplaylists because usually I
play non-clean music, becausesometimes it's not out there.
Nino (26:49):
It's not.
They didn't make the cleanmusic yet, especially if it's
new.
I'm like I'll sing it for you.
Sometimes you have to turn onthe volume.
That's annoying man.
But yeah, don't.
It irks us, just not at familyevents.
When they're kids around likef-bomb, f-bomb, f-bomb, and
there's like a little johnnyjust running around the dance
(27:11):
floor, I'm like, yeah, it's no,don't do it, don't ask us to do
that, please.
Ilia (27:24):
I have so many ideas right now, mommy, what's up?
No, all right.
Number 11, late night setfatigue.
Nino (27:33):
Oh, you guys have gone through this for sure, that's
not nobody's fault.
Ilia (27:37):
It's just set fatigue right.
It just sucks when that happens.
Nino (27:40):
It sucks Well, because you've been there all day, right
?
You've been there for likeeight, nine hours already, and
now it's time to dance, to dothe dancing.
Sometimes you haven't snappedout of the dinner mode, right?
Ilia (27:51):
Sometimes you're a robot and you're still in that mode
when the dancing starts, youhave to wake up and just be
energized so everybody else canget hyped up.
Try not to inhale your food andyou'll feel better yeah, so you
won't feel sleepy, right Inever saw someone eat that fast
bro, I gotta do it though youeat steak like you eat pasta
(28:15):
it's gone right.
Nino (28:16):
You turn your head for one second and it's like where'd
the steak go?
It's crazy because are you as adj?
You have to be ready, prepared.
Ilia (28:23):
There has to be a guinness record that you beat in terms
of going to the bathroom andeating.
Yeah, tell you, you're out,you're out of, you're in and out
of the bathroom before the doorcloses.
I'm not even exaggerating, I'mgonna.
Nino (28:36):
You know what I'm gonna take a video one day and we'll
chill.
Ilia (28:41):
I don't want to tell you, so you will like be as authentic
as possible and just likerecording.
Nino (28:46):
Or see me take a video of me eating.
It's how fast I eat, right?
Ilia (28:51):
Seconds.
Nino (28:52):
But it's just a thing, right?
But it sucks to have late nightset fatigue.
Sometimes you have to just hypeyourself up right?
You want to get everybody hypedup, so you need to be hyped up
right.
Do what you got to do.
Drink coffee no-transcript,right, so you gotta be high and
(29:16):
you know that.
Ilia (29:17):
So you know you gotta wake up and sometimes it's hard, but
it's hard.
Just find what works for you,right?
Yeah, yeah, um, slap yourself,wake up, wake up.
Yeah, that's my job, wake thef**k up, all right?
So, um, number 12 people usingyour dj gear as their own desk
(29:41):
for their stuff man, yeah, astheir own.
Like, let's leave everythinghere.
Nino (29:46):
I'm dancing it's terrible because sometimes, a lot of
times, I have the facade but itsometimes it doesn't work.
The last gig I was at thewedding is like I had the facade
around me but then at the endof the night I I had like 50
drinks inside the DJ booth.
I'm like how did this?
Ilia (30:02):
get there, like if you put the phone there I'll be like
fine, hopefully they take itsoon.
But the drink Drinks Come on.
I almost want to put a garbagebag bin beside me and every time
there's a drink, just throw itin there.
Nino (30:14):
Or sign right.
Ilia (30:21):
No drinks on thej table or on my subwoofer, because
they're gonna read that right.
Yeah, no, like.
Oh wait, there's a sign here.
Nino (30:25):
Sorry sir, sorry sir, but yeah, it's very annoying, very
annoying.
Yes, we have.
We have facades and tables andboots for a purpose to, to look
the part right, and we don'twant, like um, drinks around our
equipment because we're scaredit might spill too expensive,
expensive gear.
Ilia (30:46):
You don't know how much we spend on gear yeah, so please
don't use our dj booth as yourpersonal storage space yeah,
that's good.
Nino (30:57):
That goes for purses, bags .
Ilia (31:00):
Yeah, pretty much anything umbrella, yeah, drinks
especially, and food, yeah, um,and then they leave it there.
So now that's like a like acooler, like you know, the when
people like gather around thecooler, like the water fountain,
yeah, exactly.
So now they're all gathering,they're eating and drinking and
I mean I like the company, butI'm stressed out.
Yeah, that something's gonnafall on my gear or on me.
Nino (31:23):
It's happened before, too right, and when happened so many
times?
One person puts down a drinkand everybody sees it.
Oh, it's just an invitation foreverybody else to put their
drink down, right?
So, uh, please don't do that.
Ilia (31:36):
Number 13 getting bumped or pushed, and not once or twice
, but constantly, like peopledon't respect your space and
understand that you're doingsomething and that all of your
gear is there.
So getting bumped or pushed um,and also you know kind of
people hitting your table inyour facade.
(31:56):
So one of those, like you know,like close contact situations
when it's too, when it's toocrowded, and they didn't think
about where, yeah, it's going tobe be set up yeah, it's tough
when you're set up in a weirdspot and the people are passing
by, like the.
Nino (32:11):
The waiters, or sometimes the servers, have to go behind
you to get through to the otherside or something, because they
don't want to pass the dancefloor.
Ilia (32:18):
Yeah, you have to go behind the patrons or, like it
could be, the people working.
Nino (32:22):
Yeah, it sucks, but when they bump you, when people bump
you like gas and stuff and itscrews up your mixes, they're
like oh, come on man, it happensit happens a lot right, so it
sucks, yeah, and sometimes wehave no control over that.
Ilia (32:35):
So yeah, sometimes you don't, and that it just stresses
you out again your gear and theperformance right?
Nino (32:42):
yeah, um number 14 playing outdoors with unpredictable
weather I'm shaking my headbecause it's happened so many
times like, tell them about themac story, macbook story.
Man, like I was outside doing aceremony and, um, people don't
(33:02):
understand.
Like it's not just rain thatwe're fighting with, it's, it's
direct sunlight on our gear,right, not on even the speakers,
on our macbooks, because ourmacbooks or our laptop is the
heart of their system.
So it only takes 15 minutes ofdirect sunlight for your, your
macbook to or your laptop tooverheat that's all it takes and
(33:25):
then it starts getting funkythe sound.
So I've been in that situationso many times.
People don't understand that weneed it to be covered, right,
we need shade to keep everythingcool and working properly and
sometimes our own gear.
Ilia (33:39):
Like our own, um, what is it called?
The thing I got tent canopy.
Yeah, um, I forgot the word uh.
When you want to bring your owncanopy, they'll say, oh, that's
too big for that uh venue.
Or like, oh, that's that's notgonna go with.
Like our you know our decor,decor.
(34:00):
So think about something that'sgonna protect me and my gear or
be be prepared to pay for anydamages.
Yeah, and that's notunrealistic.
I'll bring my own stuff, butnow you're telling me I can't
you know so come on yeah youhave to think about your event.
Nino (34:15):
It's gonna make it smoother, right?
We don't want any problems togo to happen at your ceremony
because it's important.
Ilia (34:21):
I have no idea how you save that macbook.
Nino (34:22):
That macbook has been through so much oh my gosh man,
the rain just poured down on theactual keyboard and it wasn't
working.
When I had to, how did you drymy ceremony?
I had, I had a fan blowing onit just to dry it, but it was
during the, like the dinner.
Oh man, that was.
That was so like.
I even asked the venue ownerfor them if they had an extra
(34:43):
computer, because I was.
I was gonna re-download, seratoon it and put on my.
I was like it was so stressfulbut it was tough.
It was tough but I still had.
I had mixes.
I had a backup on my phone.
I had mixes on my phone so Iwas playing that through the the
system while I was trying stuff.
But you know, I couldn't havekept that going throughout the
(35:05):
dancing man.
Ilia (35:06):
It was, yeah, that's so stressful you got lucky with a
computer man.
You gotta, you gotta changethat one.
I do, and the charge?
The charging cable is hangingby a freaking thread.
It's frayed and stuff and youkind of have to flick it so it
starts working.
I don't know what you're doing,man.
No man, it's still working.
(35:27):
You're talking about my laptopthat doesn't have a battery?
Nino (35:29):
Yeah, yeah, I got to change it soon.
Anyway, it's tough when youhave thousands of songs on your
actual laptop, your actuallaptop, and you have to transfer
everything.
Such a large business.
Ilia (35:42):
Yeah, you have a lot of stuff to do, but it's been a
year.
Man, come on, let's go.
It's been more than a year, Ihave no excuse.
Uh, by the time you you'reready, there's gonna be, like on
the origin, m6 or something.
Yeah, an m6 chip.
Oh man, yeah, all right, number15.
I'll take out my mic for that,because I'm gonna hand you my
mic.
Nino (35:59):
What are you doing, I'm stuck with it and I'm back um no
feedback from the crowd, so soit's like when you, when you ask
them to, when you ask them togo, um, when you're playing a
(36:23):
song you want them to sing alongto, like the roof, the roof,
the roof is on fire, like thatpart, when the middle part, when
this is I love Sokka, I loveSokka, and then no reaction.
I love Sokka and then noreaction.
(36:43):
I love soka, it's just nothingright.
So they, they don't react atall.
It's like what the heck?
Ilia (36:50):
and um, you know I'm just gonna do this, let's just hold
it, yes and and.
And.
You know you'd think maybe Ijust suck, maybe I just can't
hype them up, but normally, ifyou know you've done this so
many times and you're like Ilove Soca- they usually would
sing along with it, right?
Nino (37:11):
It's one of those call answer ones.
It's very, very popular, right?
But they don't.
And it's like, oh, and you'rethinking, okay, what am I doing
wrong?
Ilia (37:20):
There's so many songs like that and you've done it so many
times and always been verysuccessful, or almost always.
So you know something isprobably up with the crowd, not
with you.
Nino (37:31):
Yeah, yeah, sometimes you have those crowds that just
don't react or anything, theydon't dance.
Ilia (37:36):
More reserved.
They don't dance More reservedand that's also on you to know.
Yeah, I'm not saying we're notsaying that, what's wrong with
these people.
It's just that something thatwe like as DJs, these are our
pet peeves, so you know, we likeit when we can interact with
the crowd.
Nino (37:52):
That's why we do this right.
Of course we love doing this,of course, right.
So that's why we live.
So that's that's why we live.
We live to do events and makeyou dance and make you, like,
sing along, right.
So I feel like I'm on anewscast, like, should I take
mine out too?
We're done all right.
Ilia (38:09):
Well, thank you very much for uh joining another episode
of the clever dj.
My name is ilia my name is nino.
Nino (38:15):
Thank you guys.
We'll see you in the next one.
See you in the next one.
My name is Nino.
Thank you guys.
We'll see you in the next one.
See you in the next one.
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