9 Things I Learned Playing My First House Party

Over on the Digital DJ Tips Platinum Facebook Group, one of our members Aaron Nicdao recently recounted for us playing his first house party – and tells of how he bagged himself a paid New Year’s Eve gig through it! Here we reprint what he wrote. Over to you, Aaron…

“I just played my first house party last night, and it was a hell of a ride! It seemed like all the stories about what to expect as well as the unexpected came together! So here’s what I was expecting… and how things actually turned out…

Expected: Set-up would take half an hour
Unexpected: Set-up took 50 minutes
Learned: Don’t take more equipment then needed

Expected: Drunk friends would hassle me all night with requests
Unexpected: Drunk friends of friends would hassle me with requests
Learned: Take my hard drive of all my songs for unexpected Spice Girls request just in case

Expected: Friends would want to play on my equipment
Unexpected: Friends of a friend would muscle in on my booth with their own controller to play off each other
Learned: Not worth it to make a scene if they are mostly respectful (albeit a little overexcited about playing out for the first time too)

Expected: Unsolicited advice on how to DJ
Unexpected: Tag team DJ cranking on my EQs when I step out of the booth for a drink and another time telling me it’s incorrect to DJ with the channel fader all the way up
Learned: Have lots to learn myself and probably look back at the times I criticise the DJ (in my head) when watching them play with a little more humility

Expected: Drunk friends telling me what type of music to play
Unexpected: Having the host tell me to switch from EDM to hip hop as the drunk chick felt like throwing up every time I switched back to EDM
Learned: Probably best to keep the drunk chick happy and not have chunks blown all across my controller

Expected: Party would get loud
Unexpected: It’s the young couple on one side of our building and not the grandparents on the other side who text us to put the bass down so they can sleep
Learned: It’s fun when it’s loud but having been on the other side myself, probably best to keep it reasonable when it gets late…

Expected: DJing a party for friends would be fun
Unexpected: Wanted to be outside the booth to hang out with buddies a bit more
Learned: Bring a mixtape for those times I need an extended beak

Expected: This would be the longest gig I would play
Unexpected: When I shut it down at 3am (needed to get up at 7:30am the next day) there were boos, with everyone asking the host how to hook up their iPhones to a ghetto blaster or sound system…
Learned: You’re the lifeline of the party and you’re expected to play until everyone leaves… I finally left at 4am and they were still rocking to an iPhone!

Expected: People to ask me if I can DJ their parties, too
Unexpected: Was asked to DJ on New Year’s Eve, for cash!
Learned: Playing for free can get you paid gigs

A final word from Aaron:

“So… if not nothing earth-shattering here, I thought I’d share my experience. Hope everyone had as much fun playing their gigs as I did this weekend!”

Indeed, Aaron! Thanks for sharing, and whatever everyone’s up to tonight, have a great party and see you in 2016!

Let us know your experiences, whether you’ve played over Christmas or will be playing tonight at a New Year’s Eve party yourself…