Like so many other things, a good DJ is something you may not fully appreciate until you're subjected to a bad one. Being, like my band mates, exceptionally white, I'm not big on dancing. So my exposure to DJs is/has been limited, and my experiences with them have been unremarkable. But holy crow, I was just at a function in which a DJ was involved, and I've come away with some notes.
Dear DJs:
Be very careful about how you use your strobe light.
Here's a general rule of thumb: Do not use your strobe light during songs which have no beat. For example, Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" would be (and was) a bad song to have a fast strobe to. Or any strobe at all, really.
Pay attention to what songs can and cannot successfully bleed into one another.
If I notice that you've slowed down track A over a just a few bars in a desperate attempt to get it to match the tempo of the upcoming song, you've failed. That is, of course, unless there's a huge payoff, and then only if the decrease in tempo sounded intentional.
Keep the momentum going.
Playing the Cupid Shuffle right after the Cha Cha Slide was probably a good move, but after that, you should probably continue to play songs that people know. Unless you're trying to clear the dance floor.
Speak as little as possible.
Sometimes speaking will be necessary, like when you have to tell people their cars are about to be towed. There will, however, never be an appropriate occasion to say, "the night is young, and so are we."
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All that said, The Raygun actually has a resident DJ, and that's Pippy. DJ Pippy if you're hip. DJ Longstockings if you're nasty. And Pip is a really great DJ—and now I really appreciate the difference. You can hear the Pipster in action on Thursdays from 9–11pm, at
http://67.23.43.73:8000/listen.pls.
So you know, most of the really awesome mash-ups we've done so far have been brought to our attention by Pippy—another advantage of having a DJ in the band.
Zach out.
