Sweet Hereafter April 25, 2006: Advice to anyone wanting to DJ, how I don't know, the Grad Formal

Open letter to the DJ brother who DJed the Grad Formal:

Dear DJ fellow,

In my mind, there is no one more important to the success of a party than the one who sets the music, because you are setting the tone of the evening and you, yes you, have the greatest amount of power to get your fellow partygoer shake their moneymaker. Having DJed a few dances and weddings, I can tell you that perhaps the most difficult part is to leave your a bit of your college hipster DJ tastes behind for the sake of the party. While I had a great night at the Grad Formal (don't ask about the morning after though), I found the DJing left a lot to be desired. While I was very pleasantly surprised to hear such great tracks at Such Great Heights by the Postal Service, Neighbourhood #3 (Power out) and Dead Disco by Metric, the rest of the set left a bit to be desired because there was an apparent lack of familiarity between the crowd and the music, which left the crowd disappointed (and not dancing). DJing a party is different than Djing a radio show because during a radio show, you assume that people have made the effort to tune in or download your podcast because they like what you've played before and trust that you will take them on similar listening pleasures. When DJiing a party, there is very little history between the listeners and the DJ. It is up to you to figure out what they want to hear, not to impose your tastes on them.

And so, when you find a couple slow-dancing to Michael Jackson's Beat It at the end of the night because they were so desparate to slow dance to anything but you had deprived them of that simple pleasure, that is not an example of catering to your crowd. Again, had the great indie tunes that I mentioned above been played alongside more popular songs to serve as catalysts for the party, I would have stopped whatever I was doing, stood up and deliver a slow applause for a masterful performance. The potential was there but alas, I found myself mostly busy talking to others who were uninspired to groove it up, while the rest of the crowd was headed towards the exit.

Tuan

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Okay, so for today's show, expect to hear the Subways and definitely some Silver Hearts of whom I have heard nothing but praise (hi Justin and Melodie) for their live show at the Grad Club (there were twenty of them in the band!), and sweet remixes from the Feist Machine who just put out an album of remixes called "Open Season". Yeah, even more excuses for me to play Feist!

Cheerio,
Tuan