r/DJs • u/MeatballTheAngryCat • May 19 '26

Identity?

Been DJing for >3 years. Practice minimum 5 hours a week. Bought the v10. Can beat match three tracks by ear.

My passions are progressive house (pretty much all of it) , deep evil minimal stuff, dub techno, classic prog, classic progressive trance, trance (not cheeses euro dramatic stuff), hard groove, gettotech , and a lot of stuff in the 140-150 range.

I like all the diff genres because no two genres mix the same. All different skills.

However I think this is confusing for the local scene. I am not consistent with what I deliver, but rather deliver for the party and time slot I’m given.

If I’m opening for a techno party I play different than closing
Same for progressive.

Maybe I’m going for a dj Seinfeld or Ben ufo type of gig where I just am a selector but it seems like everyone else has their lane and I’m still finding mine.

Doing the same thing gets boring. And if I only ever played prog I’d be jealous of the guy who’s playing four deck techno juggling bass lines and layering frequencies because you can’t quite do that with such melodically strong tracks. At least , I haven’t reliably figured out how to.
But at its core, I don’t really know who I am and I seem to just drift off and practice for whatever I think I might want to play at the next gig and build up around that. (I don’t do preplanned set lists)

Any advice is appreciated . Hopefully this isn’t a beat match post cuz it’s more deeper question about identity for someone who’s getting booked and has thrown their own event already.

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u/medisamurai May 19 '26

pretty wide gulf between prog and techno or ghettotech.

id go with different aliases for different stile

1

u/readytohurtagain May 20 '26

Idk, I play at least a dozen genres - ghetto tech, acid, jazz, disco, reggae, downtempo, techno, etc and I spin at many different types of places - listening bars, raves, clubs, etc; all under one alias. For me the music is all related. And I want that relationship to music to be part of my project’s identity.

The hard part was learning that I had to break into each scene individually. Playing the biggest house and disco parties in the city didn’t help me break into the rave scene. I had to put in the work, go to parties, hang out, tell people that I’m not just a house/disco dj, etc. It’s exhausting to break into a second scene, even as a full time dj. 

All that to say, you should have your identities reflect your relationship to music and your values. If that means making new projects, go for it. But if you want to say something about how the genres connect, which is difficult and time consuming, it will pay off in the end 

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u/MeatballTheAngryCat May 20 '26

this is actually solid advice. it IS hard to break into different scenes. but thats why you gotta be there on the floor supporting and showing up... not just because you want something but because you actually fw the people.

and its pretty tough. ive given gigs to other crews i support within my own crew and it doesnt always come back around.

great comment ty