Age doesn't make a difference from a Dj's perspective. You are playing for the crowd, and it also depends on the type of event.

If you get hired to do a high school dance and you're playing stuff from ealry 80's, more than likely kids will request for newer stuff - regardless of you're age.

39yrs young, still going strong im into drum n bass i have some younger dj's around me, im not saying im an idol because im not,but i get respect and and i give it back, i also get alot of witt for being the old cheese, etc... then i tell them how easy they've got it ,no record boxes, internet for music, etc.... hahahaha!

If you can feel the music then by all means spin it but dont be that guy who thinks there hasnt been a good song made since 1981 and spin sets your not really into just to make a paycheck

When i see ads or websites of older guys djing I think to myself that they probably don't have any new music.

I'm sure I'm wrong, but I think of it from a club perspective and couldn't see an old dude in a top hat spinning the latest top40.

Yea i have been playing out 15 years! I play at a place that pays me out the ass because i can play to a 25+ crowd. They went through dj after dj that knows the top classics but cant kill it all night with out playin lil wayne exct. Lol i do feel like im in 95 every night but its packed with mostly all bitches..

I do play some college nights where """i gooo innn"""" all night!! Djing is hard when you try to sell your self as an all around dj I work all day at my craft downloading looking at chart after chart and trying to sound fresh out the box every night.

If you are killing it every night and bookings come to you age is not an issue. If you find you hate your "job" then quit! i hate hearing old dj's talk about how sorry the new music is! QUIT or go dj weddings! There are new songs i don't like as much as the songs in my era but i respect the game and love rocking crowds to me thats what its all about making people gooo crazyyy!!! Eater to lil wayne or dj kool lol!

I'm older than you are and I work hard to stay on top of the new music. As to playing in a top 40 club, I opened up some bad ass clubs over this last year and worked more clubs in the last two years than I have in the last 5 years.

I will say that I get bored more than anything. Scratching, been there...mash-up's, been there... Vegas, been there... Right now, and for the last 5 years, video is doing it for me.

For me, right now, being able to read the crowd, put together a great set, make the owner (and myself) some money, and having fun...that's what is all about....just like it was when I started.

As to the music, it all depends what type of club you are playing. I, personally like Top 40 with old school thrown in there. BUT, there is a time and place for that. If you are working Opera in Atlanta, you play Hip Hop, Fur in DC, much more house, you get the picture.

I love killin an all black crowd and hearing the "damnnn that old white boy is nasty""
Looks can fool ya for sure!!

lol I played a club back in Denver for a year and I WAS the only white guy in there. I saw some funny looks from the customers...but since they were looking at me from the dance floor, that was fine with me :)

good stuff guys thanks. I love all music new and old..i care less i just love djing. even though i might have a grey hair here and there its not going to stop me, well for now that is..maybe when i see myself having trouble with my reflexes and eyes i will have to think about it then, but for now im still going to rock them T's

music has been and always will be my life besides my family, when i was younger i always wondered what music i would into when i was my dads age (40). and to be honest it hasn't changed. still love the b-lines, my horizons are wider and i cater for all. to top it off i really can't see when it will end. i think technology will get the better of me (when im 70ish)

as long as you ain't stuck in one era, my friend uses virtual dj, dye his beard and mustach with just for men , and has the house mix of all the latest songs even Drake and lil wayne, talking bout he hate this new shit---I'm gonna burn for that----From Theodore to Atrak doesn't matter as long as you can move the crowd!

LOL this is interesting because the main DJ that's got me gigs here in L.A. is 38. With him, we get along 90% of the time, but there's an obvious struggle with me being 25...there's times that I'm DJing, and he's on some "go hot, play the hot songs" but to him, he tends to feel like anything on radio is "hot" and therefore should be played. When I first started doing parties for him, he'd even tell me not to play ANY West Coast music, even though our crowds are 98% L.A. natives...probably because in his era, Gangsta music brought the hood out of people...but that's not the case now. At this point, he plays just as much classic West as me, since he's seen how our crowds respond to it.

For the most point, he knows what he's doing with it, but he just tries to be too trendy at times, playing anything he feels is "hot."

Like was said before, I think as long as you don't hate all the new music it's fine. In the end DJing still should be about the love of music regardless.

I get naked when DJs play Sam Cooke

I'm 36 and officially in the game since 1992
I mix the new with the old and then some.
I freestyle 100% of the time. Fuck a mix on rails.

... and DJ will never be a job to me.

I still hold my own as I have 30 more days to reach 40. There are nights when I feel really old, but I think in my area, I get away with playing different styles of music then most of the younger djs and I am still a leg up on most with new music. But I really have a good understanding of what songs I can play and not play...in terms of programming, I think I am only getting better...in terms of skill and creativity, I don't devote as much time to my craft as I did when I was younger...

The younger djs in my market probably have a better skill level, but I still have a vibe that still connects me to the club audience...

The one thing I think I am always fighting is showing up to events and people expect me to be a wedding dj...I did a party for my own hs graduating class at a club and they were in shock how I kept them going while keeping the 21 & over folks going nuts playing new music...

We should start our own dj union...

just tell me if im on the pension scheme

Ha ha, love that one, I would love to see a DJ wearing a Top Hat a la Monopoly guy.... ;-)

Old news heh

Old news heh

I'm 43 been in the game since 12 or 13. I play for the passion and love of the music. I can't play music I'm not feeling, and expect to be as good as I could possibly be. I want no part of a top 40 but maybe for a song or two.

I'm mid 40's and since moving to Serato, Mp3's and a decent digital Record Pool, this shit is easy as hell and there should be no excuse for not keeping current and/or playing new music. Between the Internet and Radio drilling "what's hot" into people's heads, 50% of what U can play could already be mapped out for you.

Actually I have MORE problems sometimes playing old music because I tend to think in trends and genres when I mix because I lived much of it. If I am playing some classic Snoop, I tend to stray West Coast for a while or if I am playing old House, I'll continue down that path instead of crossing back over to another genre.

Younger DJ's may not have that "history" so they can hit a Old School banger and move on.

The only other challenge with the old stuff is keeping your music library of classics up to par. I am constantly thinking about and trying to find stuff I am missing.

I'm 30 and I'm not as old as you old guys lol.

No but on the real, props to the older DJs. The older, the wiser.

an old DJ is one who doesn't practice, doesn't care about finding new good music, doesn't care about getting better

i've met some who are in their 60s and some in their late teens

Sorrry beatdown I tak offense to that you must be ignorant.

I am constatly up to date and use many resourses to stay that way.
Every free moment I have Im either getting, loading and arranging sets and allways looking for more. Mix practicing? well for me playing for 6 hours a night Fri and Sat nights is really enough during the week all I really do is think of songs that will work well in my playlists. New or Old

Ive been Djing for 31 years, I learned how to beat match on my firends older brothers Dj equipment when I was 12 and got my firrst dj equipment for my 13th birthday.
I stay up to date and cater to a very diverse crowd 21 and up and mixed up in many different ways,
A younger DJ will have a harder time to acquire music knowledge of the DJ who was DJing for a long period of time.
It is easier for me to stay up to date thatn it is to try ot go back?
Thats just my opinion
When I first started I wouldnt of ever thought I would still be doing this @ 43.
Not hating the younger Dj I was a younger Dj once
Dont under estimate how quickly time passes and the younger become the older,
If you love Djing like I do why wouldnt you still be doing it later in life ?
Right now its 3:00am and I just got in from my regular Fri & Sat spot.

DJDynasty

Dynasty, I think you may have taken beatdown's statement the wrong way. I read it as age doesn't matter and an "old" dj is simply a dj who has given up on the craft regardless of age. I could be wrong though.

propz to the older djs,you let us young guys learn something every day

DJDynasty, did you read the second line of my post?



basically, you're not old as a dj until you become lazy - it can happen at any age.

Sounds like you're working hard, have the passion, and still love it, so props

Yes I understand your point now beatdown, laziness and not caring does happen at any age. I guess I was all hyped up and took your statement the wrong way. Peace :)

i've been asked to run/organise gatecrasher in nottingham next year and i'll be 40

dj old farts

I'm 42, started in 1972, hate new music, but will play it.

A brova is chasin' a check.

That will motivate you to stay relevant.

And today's "New Music" is easy.

If I have a function that requires it, I go to HOT97's Playlist page, download the top 5, and I'm good.

Works like a charm.

Playing at a 18+ club, makes you wanna jump in the crowd
when I play some old Luke/2 Live Crew!!

Watching young freaks dance > Old Cougars Dancing.

I dunno...

I've seen some seasoned Freaky Cougars in my time...

Ain't nuffin' sexier then GROWN WOMEN rubbin' on each other...

I'm 36...prefer to play in 21+ spots. I play old, new, what I like and everything in between. I play for the girls, because if the girls are dancing, the dudes will dance too. Then everyone's dancing.

I plan to DJ I'm 50+ haha. I already have another DJ name for when I get older "DJ G-Pop", stands for Grandpa. Haha.

I'm 32. I play retro nights at clubs with early 20s demographics.. 80s, 90s, new music, all mixed together. I wouldn't want to do a straight Top40 club...(no homo)

Jesse Jaymes said it best: Anywhere I go a fly girl will please me, East to West college girls are easy...

@ Discobee LOL LOL

But word i feel your never to old to DJ. I just got my gig back on the radio and still spin in the clubs. I'll be 38 in 3 months. Still got the hunger and still love to move a crowd.

but i have to be honest though, if it wasn't for serato, i don't know how much longer i would be spin'n. After being in the game for 20+ years, gain'n weight, having kids and a wife i wouldn't be spin'n.

A bad back will make you think twice before taking a gig with 3 flights of stairs, and then to come home and play with the kids.

NAW I would have retired.

So serato has kept me in it a little longer, and i can't wait till i get my senior discount with serato.

This is a cool thread, I'm 35 in a couple of weeks and start'd spin'n in 88' to be exact and to me music is timeless. DJ'N is a lot of work in so many different aspects from building the play list to meeting the clients or whatever. Still the hardest part of it all at this age is the balance with all the other things that "us" grown folks have pulling on us, unlike when I was a young kat I could care less about balancing my accounts or spend'n that QT with the ol lady or what have you. The advantage we have over the younger guys is that today's "new" is our old in a lot of the music so we already know it. Like everything else in life it just makes a circle. I was tell'n 1 of my student's just last night how much I LOVE THIS $HIT! I can't even see an end to it, hell I know I'm much better now than I was 10-15 years ago!!! "Fine Wine" my brotherz & sistaz.......

??? You must mean '82. 1972 was about the time Kool Herc started...


+1

umm how old is Jeff, Kid capri, Premier, Riz, ....all 40+ and they rock new and old stuff so whatevas

Another thing I forgot to mention, it really depends on your Market/Region too. I was out scoping a residency gig to snake last night and remembered that many Rap/R&B DJ's in Detroit don't mix. They do the "Drop/Snap on Beat" thing.

I came from a House background, so when I play new Radio/Rap/Urban garbage, it becomes a challenge for me to mix and blend and program it so that is why I also like to play new stuff. The fact that I mix and blend it, makes it more exciting and also tolerable to me as a DJ.

The bad thing is that MOST of Detroit patrons don't really give a fuck if the music is mixed/blended or not, they just wanna hear "they song".

I think older DJ's doing it right is awesome, as long as they are actually "DJ'ing." NOT just playing tracks and fading out every song into a different BPM (radio style).

Some guys tear it up that have been in the game for years and years. Then I have some in my town that don't give me any credibility because I've been doing it for 10 years and they have 20! And those guys are not mixing/beatmatching/etc. They also try to tell me that Serato is cheating and computers will ALWAYS fail. Those older guys stick to endless burning of CD's and downloading pirated MP3's. They say they're too old to learn a new system and that Serato is no better than regular burned discs. These dudes are in their 30's. That's not old to me. But they act like they're 50 or older, they way they talk.

I love watching the older pros get down and dirty on wax baby!

I love keeping it to Top 40 of all genres from all decades. Regular, Remixed & Mashed (good mash-ups - NOT different key mash-ups, ugh). Do the new while mixing in the old!! ;-)

Duh, I meant 1978....

When Chic released Good Times.

See??? This is what KILLS ME. Rockin' off of a CD (TO ME) is like "Cheating" anyway. You don't have to deal with skipping records, you have cue points, KEY lock, loops and all types of cheats.

I figured that if I'm going to "Cheat", I might as well be true to my roots and used "Control" Vinyl, and preserved SOME form of the art.

^^^^ exactly. plus you forgot to mention anti-skip! lol

oh never mind ... i'm dumb. i now see "skipping records" -- lol.

Just like sports honors it's veterans, djs that have been at it for a while and keep going should always get respect. Age has noting to do with it as long as you can still rock the spot. If we all just played the music we like a lot of us would not have gigs. Keep doing what you are doing. I am 41 and just started djing last year, so I have a lot to learn and couldn't do it without experienced djs to learn from.

Isn't this what the DJ's job is? Get music that we like that we will know is good for a party? To many cats are in this DJ thing for the $$$ and not for the true love it. They become whores for the dollar. Will play anything as long as the money is coming in. I ain't mad at you, you and your families have to eat. But in doing that you lose the integrity of what this craft was all about. A DJ's job was to dig for records that no one had. So they could rock parties. DJ's had their own identities, their own sound, their own vibe. They were not cookie cutter DJ's that play the same ole Top 40 crap that any fool can get their hands on. You guys sit here pissing and moaning about how someone else will under cut you. Why not? If he is going to play the same BS you play...why do people have to pay a higher premium? Just because you decided to buy expensive equipment to make you seem like you are the shit. On top of that some of you have gone a far a flagging people on Craigslist so that they could not get paid. What kind of arrogant, egotistical, childish shit is that? C'mon people....get a grip. If half of you were a great as you come off to be on this board, you would not have time to be here trolling around.

Sorry for the rant. This is not targeted at anyone in particular, but I'm sure it will strike a nerve with someone. And they will feel the need to retaliate. So be it. Just some shit that's been on my mind, that I wanted to share. Since I been reading the boards.

We are DJ's, we lead the sheep, the sheep don't lead us.

DJ Val-BKNY11203 - Amen to that!

@DJ Val... Ok I understand where you are coming from but I will further explain my statement. I am from Trinidad, I love Soca and Dancehall music, I now live in the upstate of South Carolina. There is no where around here I can do like you suggest and play what I like. I know your rant probably wasn't directed at me and you were using my statement to make a point. Also, with a retirement check after 20yrs in the Army and a job with Fluor, I am not in it for the money. At 42yr old with a 2yr old and another on the way I don't have time to be in it for the money.

Like digital underground says...
Do whatcha like.

I'm 30 years old played what I wanted always. Good MUSIC never dies it just changes to the times and peoples perceptions that's about it.

I'll play music from the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's,90's and make it knock like something new you never heard, I'll even try to pull off some classical every once and a while.

Just last week I dj'd a party and was asked to play SALSA music!!! Never played Salsa in my life thought id give it a try, but crazy enough I laced it with some Sean Paul ran some loops and it was extraordinarily fabulous!! never thought Id see so many people dancing or becoming so fanatical over something that I conjured up in seconds. It actually got me booked for a gig in feb.

I'd say new school or old school there's new cats out there teaching me tricks Id thought were never possible, I have new cats coming up to me giving me props like they heard something they never heard before. Its the BLENDING of culture, people, and theres no relationship to age when it comes to music. In this business you either have it or you don't and I'll give respect to anyone that deserves it whether there 5 years old or a senior citizen if they got what it takes they have my support.

Oh Schnap! You just burned a few souls to the CORE with that one. That truth HURT some hearts on this board...werd up.

I always say, if you're gonna DIS someone because you don't think they're worthy of said "spot/engagement/club/radio show/price paid/etc", then STEP YOUR GAME UP, point blank.

It might not be about the skill, but it IS about somebody's hustle....even if it was handed down "through the family".

I'm mid 20s but I feel like some DJs try too hard to push "their" music on people. . . Just play what the crowd paid for and you're good. I love house but never play it, that's not what I get paid 4. My car has over 30 CDs all house and 2 hip hop, but , I have never played more then 30 mins of house (what does that tell you?)

I'm coming up to 35, and TBH, it started bugging me the other night, I might be getting a little bit paranoid. Since moving here, I've slowly been getting back into DJing and just as it starts to pick up, I get doubts.

I always liked new music, since getting serato I always promised myself I'd start digitising some of my old vinyl, but I just haven't done it, I like the new stuff I've got over the last couple of years. I've digitised or repurchased a few of my older tracks, but for the most part, I'm trying to keep the music fresh and leftfield (not much top 40).

What bothers me, especialy as I'm not someone who's been doing this full time, is that I might be *that* guy who tries a little too hard to be young, I hope not. I think it started when I found out one of the places I got my name down for doesn't serve hard liqour (you can drink beer at 16 here, but no spirits till you're 18) and I realised the crowd was even younger than I thought it was.

I'm 43 and I my main set is a hip hop club that is 21yrs old and up. It my seem old to the younger dj's that are in their 20's because it sure in the hell sounded old to me when I was in my 20's. I also hold down a mix-show on the radio. The format is Hip and R&B and the demo is 18 to 34. Most people guess that I'm about 35 because I don't look as old as a I'm. Bottom line is, you have to play to your crowd. If you can't relate to them, then its time to think about doing something that you can relate to. Hip Hop started its big surge when I was a teen so I live and breathe hip hop. When I started out djaying, I introduced it to clubs that only played R&B. Hell, most clubs then did not even mix until I started. Every now and then I get hired to do mixed sets, meaning mixed race, age music type crowds. I attend every type of club imaginable for research and add to my bag of tricks. I usually know what works but the additional research is for the latest and greatest. One thing I have noticed is regardless of age groups, WOMEN dominate the dance floor, you can't go wrong playing for them.

Interesting thread. I'm turning 31 this Xmas.

I probably would have given up had it not been for Serato. Getting new reggae and rap tunes on time was near on impossible when I decided to make the change to a DVS and as much as I prefer that 90's sound I do like some of the new tunes out now and would never want to be restricted to playing throwback sets for ever.

i'm very lucky in the sense as a dj as I look about 20/21 so the young crowds don't really look at me funny for playing. In fact more often than not they seem shocked when I say I've never heard of some of their requests.

On the flip side when I play music for my age and older people seem shocked that I have the musical knowledge to play the songs that I do. For example most people's classic soul set consists of Cameo/Candy, Luther V/Never Too Much and Mac Band/Roses are Red. I love those songs don't get me wrong but there are a tonne of other equally big tunes from those eras that go over well with those crowds if you have the knowledge. If I'm playing for an older crowd I can churn out hits from that era easily and entertain.

The last thing I've noticed. Like Serious Cyrus. i've hardly ripped any of my vinyl to MP3. I've done a few of the must have pieces things that I couldn;t find a CD copy of but for the most part its new stuff and old CD rips. I thought I'd have to spend ages doing vinyl rips but even if I get a strictly rap booking these days the crowds have changed so much over the past few years that hardly anyone wants to hear the rare B sides and 1000 run 12" singles. They may say they want classics but realistically they just want to hear some TROY, Shook Ones, Ten Crack Commandments, etc etc. Tunes that are hard as nails but were never really ''underground''.

So this is where all the old farts hang out :)


J.k. .... I'm in the same boat.....the difference is, I'm still lost in the 80's

Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, U2

if you are an older guy like me, you'd feel a bit like Craig Robinson aka DJ Request from the movie "The Goods".....he has like 5 classic dj lines but includes this one "No boy tells DJ Request what to play. NOO BOODY".

I think older djs have a better frame of reference, we have more history....but I hear ya when sometimes I think I am trying too hard to be young...but in general, I think music keeps you young...and if you are working in a club, you have to wear clothes that match your clientele so i mean, it makes you look younger too...

NO BODY guesses my age, NOOO BOODY