DJ Lesson advise on how to get more work and a Vlog from ellaskins AKA The DJ Tutor May 2013

0:00 It'd be very messy and the camera would be rolling and he'd be sit

Alright ladies and gentlemen, this is a bit of a video vlog. Also it's information on how you can get more gigs and life the universe and everything. First of all I have been very busy by the way if I do run in and out the room it's because I've got my little boy Blaze watching a bit of telly at the moment so I've got to keep an eye on him. Well not literally because if I did that I'd only have one eye and it'd probably be blood everywhere. Wouldn't be very good, I'd have to go to the hospital and they'd have to put it back in. It'd be very messy and the camera would be rolling and he'd be sitting there for about five hours wondering where I'd gone. Anyway, I have been very busy over the past couple of months. I've been in and out the country goodness knows how many times. In fact, the last week went to Switzerland and met a very good friend of mine called Felix who didn't know I was turning up. It was so cool. A very good friend of his invited me over there and I turned up at the house and Felix was there in his room.

2:16 Maybe you should play something completely different

Ellaskins, The DJ Tutor. The DJ tutorial by Ellaskins, The DJ Tutor. I suppose when you go to a nightclub and the crowd are used to the normal run-of-the-mill tracks, then it's almost like you get used to it and it gets maybe a little bit boring. Maybe you enjoy listening to the same songs over and over again. But what Felix and I did, we went in there and we played some new stuff. People actually did enjoy it. Which begs the question, is that something that you should do in your normal event where you play? And you play the same things over and over again, and people like it because you play the same things. Maybe you should play something completely different. Try this. Three in one. Play three tracks they know, and mix in one they don't know, and then go back to three tracks they do know. What you're doing is you are... You're almost creeping in the occasional new track. If you do that all the time...

4:57 Tomorrow there's Mayball in Aberystwyth, which is always a fantastic e

And what you do is the third, sorry, the one track that you play is the new and exciting one that they've never heard before. But you also then play that maybe once a night definitely if you're playing in a club say seven nights, six, five nights a week. If you always bring that one track in because you know it's a great track, then guess what? That track that you're sort of sneaking into your set Ellaskins, The DJ Tutor. The DJ Tutor is available for purchase at Ellaskins, The DJ Tutor. Ellaskins, The DJ Tutor. Ellaskins, The DJ Tutor. And where are we? We're Thursday today. Tomorrow there's Mayball in Aberystwyth, which is always a fantastic event. It's in the Arts Centre. I'm going to be there. I'm going to be hiring some kit out and I actually have to... I've got a load of kit pat tested anyway but I've got to get more of it pat tested. Which begs the question, and leave a comment if you want to, do we really have to pat test everything? In other words...

You go to a store, a shop, this is just for the UK, I don't know what it's like around the world. But you go to a store, a shop, you buy a new item and if you take it to a place that requires everything must be pat tested, guess what? You've actually got to get that pat tested as well. Now, for me that's stupid because if it's still under warranty under a year old, why on earth then should you have to pay more money to get it checked over? You know, it's made in the factory. It should be working perfectly. There should be no problems at all. Why should you then have to get it pat tested? Brings up another conversation. Even to the extent of a plug. A plug here with a lead has to be pat tested. Minimum price is around about a pound. So why spend a pound on getting that pat tested when you can buy probably a new one for that money? But then...

Even if you bought a new one, you've still got to get it pat tested. So really that's wrong. There's a lot of conning going on here. What are your thoughts on that? Right, how to get more work. How to get more work as a mobile DJ. Now, my work is ticking over quite nicely. I know I could get more work, but I've got a lot going on in my life at the moment. A lot of you know what it is, some of you don't. The ones that you do or the ones that do know, know. The ones that don't know, don't worry about it. Don't want to go there. But how do you get more work? Now first of all, wherever you live around the world, there must be hotels, there must be event places where there are events taking place and managers of those places. You need to contact them. You need to speak to them personally. If you're like me with a baseball cap, don't go with a baseball cap, alright? Please dress up smartly. Have some business cards. Go in with a laptop.

7:22 On the first night, what you do is you tease them

The DJ Tutor is a great way to get started with your first meeting with your partner. On the first night, what you do is you tease them. You know, you buy them flowers, chocolates, you invite them with a rose and then after three or four nights, get out of here boy! Sorry, sorry. So yeah, what you do is you just, the manager, you meet them for the first event or the owner of the hotel, you hand them the cards over, you take your tablet, you say look, here are the pictures of the kit I have. Here is a video that I took, a gig log. Do gig logs, they're really important and they will help you long term. What is a gig log? A gig log is when you just take your video to an event and you just film it. Film your setup, film you, film the crowd dancing, always ask permission of the public to make sure you can film them. Some people might not like it. Try not to film children, just make sure you film.

The crowd, if you are going to happen to have kids in there, don't go full on, just like a random kind of footage. So you're speaking to the manager, show them the gig, say look this is an event, look this is me, there's the light set up etc. Also good idea to take your PL licence with you, show that you are legit. PL is public liability, say here you go, here's my public liability licence. If you want to, pat testing. Show that all of your kit is pat tested as well. You are showing that you're professional. Leave cards. Leave with a smile. Handshake. Now this to a lot of people is a handshake is a handshake. But a handshake is not just a handshake. A handshake can be many things. It can be a little foldy grip, a wobble. No.

9:42 Handshake, a good, solid handshake

Good, solid grip. None of these like wifty-wifty, oh thank you, or safe, or like yeah, slap, no. Handshake, a good, solid handshake. That will confirm to the manager or the owner that you mean business, alright? If it's a lady, don't start squeezing her hand because her eyes will pop out and the nails will fall off. You don't want to do that. What you do want to do is be polite. If it's a lady manager, I would hold their hand and I would bow, not bang, but just... Like that, thank you very much. Be polite. It's about you giving your first impression is so important. If you walk in, you could have a hundred suits at home, but you've decided when you're going to meet this manager, you're going to go in with some relatively tidy jeans and a shirt. No, go in black trousers, shirt and a jacket. It doesn't matter second or third time if you go in with all of those clothes on.

Your first time, if you go in with just jeans and a t-shirt, they will remember the first time. Again, digressing slightly, as I've said before, if you go to an event or you are booked to an event and you're late, you could be the best DJ in the world. The best light show, the best music, they will remember that you were late. If you go in early and you're an average DJ and you play average music. That doesn't matter as much because you were early, you were on time, especially at a wedding because the bride, especially the bride, the groom probably won't be bothered that much. The bride will always be, she will always be bothered, she'll be concerned so if you are there at a reasonable time then she'll love you forever and the whole crowd will love you forever. Alright, Cam, good things with Cam, yes competition's going to happen so watch this space, there are more gig logs coming.

Thank you for watching.

This transcript was produced automatically from the audio of the video and may contain mistakes.