JOIN USTake any event in the city — from a formal dining one to a casual party — and disc jockeys are an important part of it. From setting the groove of the party to livening up the crowd, these young magicians on the console have many things to handle at such events.
All of them love experimenting with music, but sometimes a performance can turn into a hilarious or weird experience. DJs in the city share some such experiences with Metrolife.
Technological and other faux pas are a regular part of musical gigs and they can happen with any performer, says DJ Suman. He adds that there have been times when he forgot his favourite headphones or pendrives. “Like every other performer, most DJs do their homework before an event. There was a particular event which had to go on for a couple of hours and I had done some research and made a special tracklist for it. But when I reached the event venue, I realised that I had a similar looking pendrive with me and my tracklist was missing,” he says. Suman felt flustered for a few minutes, but he played the tracks that he played earlier and managed well. “It’s all about managing the situation.”
He says that the audience stepping near the console setup can be another concern at events. “There was this time when a crowd member entered the console space. I think she had a song request, but she was so intoxicated that things went haywire. Not so amusing incidents like these happen too,” he says.
A harrowing experience awaited DJ Ma Faiza once when she was on the console and to her complete shock, a guest at the event just started fiddling with the tracks and equipment that was being worked with. “It was a New Year’s party. Suddenly someone just reached out to the equipment and started messing with the track. Everything sounded horrible and I was beyond shock. Later, the guest apologised and we shared a laugh about it, but at that particular moment, it was a nightmare,” says Ma Faiza. Other technical difficulties like missing tracks and equipment failing at an event are regular additions, she says.
Each DJ has their own style at the console. Sometimes when another DJ enters after one, they can be a bit confused about how to handle the equipment, despite umpteen number of years of experience. DJ Goapu shares such an experience. “Sometimes we get so used to performing on the go that DJs don’t do a sound check or tech check and take the equipment for granted. This one time, I forgot to check the equipment.
I went on stage and the toggle switch (which turns the tracks in the reverse order) was on,” says Goapu.
When he tried to play his tracks for the night, it wouldn’t play. “I kept fiddling with the tracks, trying to find out what was wrong, but everything looked fine. The room wasn’t well lit and I was trying to make sense of what could have possibly gone wrong. This is when I checked the button and soon, everything was back on track,” he says with a laugh.
Johnson Patrick, another DJ, says that one such amusing incident that happened with him recently included a flimsy stage setup at an event. “People often listen to the music and come to dance on or near the stage. There was this particular girl who kept coming to the stage and I had to keep managing her and convince her to get off.
Every five minutes, I would have to keep an eye on her, so that the whole setup didn’t fall off when she danced at the corner,” says Johnson. He adds that it was a bit scary too as the stage was tilting. “Finally, another girl tried to balance the whole situation by staying on the other corner, so that the stage wouldn’t collapse,” he adds. Johnson adds that it was a bit distracting and a challenging experience.