EDITOR'S LETTER

All the Right Moves

Over the years, it’s become apparent that this generation’s DJ/artists don’t always graduate to the level of their predecessors. No, many of those famed jocks—Danny, Roger, Erick—climbed the mountain and they’ve stayed there. Outside the States, we have Richie or Carl or Tiësto—they’re not budging either. They remain our greatest globetrotters, but it’s been tough for up-and-comers to break into that realm.

One guy who’s getting close is Ryan Raddon. Known professionally as Kaskade, he’s a DJ who has kept plugging away and his career has enjoyed a steady incline. What’s instructive to the readers of DJ Times, we think, is that Kaskade has followed a well-considered path that has seen him sharpen his mixing skills—live and in studio—and hone his songwriting craft. Several artist albums and a few mix-comps later, Kaskade has become one of our country’s top draws. The America’s Best DJ candidate proudly graces our cover for the first time and, in his interview with Emily Tan, he gives us a peek at his professional roadmap.

Mobile DJs know that sales skills can be as important as performance skills—gotta get the gig before you play it, right? But once you’ve become adept at convincing clients of your professional virtues, what’s next? Can you offer additional services and sell those, too? In his piece, “Mobile Selling & the Domino Effect,” our Jeff Stiles shows us how that’s possible. He speaks with many of the country’s more successful mobile entertainers, who explain how upselling can produce tremendous long-term benefits for your company.

As our market continues to evolve in a digital direction, two of our tech scribes take on a pair of new DJ solutions. Denon’s DN-HC4500 (reviewed by Dave Gadbois) and Mackie’s d.4 Pro (reviewed by Nate Sherwood) offer features that were only dreamed about a decade ago. Mobiles and club jocks take note of this month’s Sounding Off on Page 26.

Of course, if it’s the August issue, we know that the International DJ Expo is right around the corner, so get ready. Set for Aug. 11-14 at the Trump Taj Mahal Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., the show heads “Back to the Boardwalk” for what promises to be our most exciting Expo ever. This year’s show will offer a new twist as we’ll honor the legendary Grandmaster Flash at a special Q&A/keynote session on Aug. 13. Flash will discuss his memoirs and share some of his unique life stories, like being the first DJ to be inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Afterward, he’ll play an Expo-only set in the exhibit hall. We hope you’ll make plans to be there and help honor one of the people most responsible for launching the DJ scene to the heights it now enjoys.

Cheers,

Jim Tremayne,
Editor, DJ Times



FEEDBACK

This is Feedback. A monthly feature that fields questions from you our readers and funnels them out to industry professionals. If you have any questions about DJing – marketing, mixing, equipment or insurance or anything at all – e-mail us at djtimes@testa.com. If we do use your question, you'll receive a free DJ Times T-shirt.

And remember, the only dumb question is the question that is not asked.

How can my club host a date on the America’s Best DJ summer tour?

– Various Emails from Several Venues

Dear Various,

In booking the dates for America’s Best DJ Summer Tour Presented by Pioneer Pro DJ, there are always several variables to consider.

First of all: Of course, the DJ you book for your club must be nominated for America’s Best DJ. Each year, DJ Times and its readership nominate 100 U.S.-based jocks. From that 100, we attempt to get the top-ranking jocks from the previous year’s voting to participate in the tour.
Each year, we’re looking to nail down 40 dates in as many different cities as we can. However, because most of our nominated DJs are of a certain stature, most of the cities they play tend to be larger markets for dance music. And in the United States, these hotbeds tend to be: in Northeastern towns like New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, and Baltimore; regional hubs like Chicago, Atlanta or Denver; the various Florida cities (Tampa, Miami, Orlando); and the major West Coast areas like Los Angeles and San Francisco. We’d love to hit a couple of the less-populated markets, actually, but it’s not often that they host our nominated jocks.

The dj’s schedules are of importance, too. This year’s tour runs between April 30 and August 9. Some of the nominated DJs, like Satoshi Tomiie and David Morales, for example, don’t play in the United States at all during that time period. Like other top DJs, they have residencies in Ibiza or in other global hotspots. Fans can still vote for these jocks at americasbestdj.net, but they simply aren’t available for the tour.
As for the clubs and DJs, it’s always helpful if DJ Times and/or sister publication Club World have existing relationships with them. It’s not essential, but it is certainly useful. For example, we’ve been working with Josh Wink’s Ovum Recordings and his resident club, Fluid, for more than a decade. It’s not a coincidence that, for the past two years, we’ve asked Wink and Fluid to kick off our tour.

So, if you have a club that’s suitable for the tour, feel free to contact us at djtimes.com. But, if you’re a fan of America’s Best DJs, we’d love for you to cast your vote and support the tour.

– Jim Tremayne, DJ Times

 

 

Dear DJ Times,

How do you determine what subjects you’ll cover at the International DJ Expo?

– Various Inquiries from Various DJs

Various,

We try to bring the magazine to life during the Expo seminars and workshops by covering topics pertinent to the club and mobile DJ or to those seeking to learn studio skills. Because the attendance of the Expo certainly leans more mobile than any other DJ sector, we make sure that more than half the 25 to 30 subjects deal with mobile concerns in some way—be it practical, technological or inspirational. For returning Expo attendees, we’ll offer new subjects each year; but, for the newbies, we’ll always present remedial subjects on topics like beatmixing, sales or recruitment.

In recent years, the inspirational aspect of the Expo has earned positive feedback, so in keeping with that notion, for this year’s show—set for Aug. 11-14 in Atlantic City—we’ve invited West Coast mobile veteran Ray Martinez to helm “Getting Into the Music: Making a Difference in Your DJ Business.” As DJ Ray Mar has made a living out of entertaining everyone from parents to presidents, we believe he can offer special insight for the DJ who wants to stay motivated to do a great show every time out. We believe you’ll want to listen to and participate in Ray’s thought-provoking ideas on: preparation; anticipation; relationships; life management; courage of your convictions and more.

As our market has seen video continue to blossom, we believed it was time for a more in-depth take on creating content, so we reached out to our pal, Lars Schlichting of DVJ Vision. The Brooklyn-based DJ Lars will team with Jonny Wilson of the video-remix trio Eclectic Method in presenting the workshop, “How to Create a Music Video in 20 Minutes.” Using hardware like DVD turntables, video mixers and DVD recorders, plus software like Sony Vegas and Apple Final Cut, the video duo will show you how to create content that perfectly syncs with your audio.
Are you a club or mobile DJ who wants to create your own mash-ups? Do you eventually want to produce your own material? If so, we believe that Russ Harris’ “Remixing 201: The Next Level” is for you. Harris, a successful Chicago-based mobile operator, also enjoys a chart-topping career as an EsNtion Silver recording artist. He’ll show you how he’s done it and how it can work for you, too.

In addition to more than 20 other educational seminars, companies like Pioneer Pro DJ, DMX Soft, X-Laser, MixMeister and Denon will present sponsored workshops that will demonstrate their latest technological innovations. We hope you can make it to the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J., this Aug. 11-14 for the DJ Expo. For the latest on the show, please visit djtimes.com/djexpo.

–Jim Tremayne,
DJ Times Marketing Manager



If we do use your question, you'll receive a free DJ Times T-shirt.
And remember, the only dumb question is the question that is not asked.

Email us at djtimes@testa.com