Do you stay with your preferred genre?

[Kodiak]

My problem is I like so many kinds of music.... Not just EDM but I like classic rock, modern rock, metal, acoustic ballads, blues, hip hop and damn it even the occasional bit of commercial pop. I am only very new to this whole DJ thing and I have found the sub-genres of EDM I like the most have been Progressive House and Electro House.

But the longer I am here the more I am liking other forms. Breaks, House, Moombahton, Hard Style, Trance, Tech House and now today after listening to some of CBG's work I am starting to like some techno too. But it's just too hard and expensive trying to cater to all these tastes and building a library of tunes.

So baring a professional requirement (usually to have commercial) how many of you stray from your chosen genre?

I understand any mixes do not have to be exclusive to a particular genre, and I do like to mix it up a little. For example I have found a couple Tech House tunes that slot in the middle of a progressive mix really well.

[andyman]

I primarily play deep house, but love having a dabble with other genres!

[mattus123]

i generally have a focus that i mix mainly (electro house)

but i still love listening to trance and love DnB, im not as inclined to mix those as often though

nothing wrong with listening to other things

[Gandy]

I mainly do trance and hard dance, and commercial club once and awhile, I really enjoy mixing those.

I love listening to dubstep but hate mixing it, and the rest of the genres I just enjoy listening too

I'm a very technical mixer focusing on perfect phrasing and eqing/levels (probably because of my theory knowledge) and nothing makes me happier then doing a long 2-3 minute big room trance transition, still to this day gives me goosebumps when I do it.

[djrhysj]

Man the only person that can decide what you are going to play is you.

But this decision has to be made based up on two things in my opinion.

a) the crowd

what management wants

What I would advise you to do if you are stuck at the "What genre should I go with" decision is maybe go out to a few clubs or events and decide which club you want to DJ at or which bar, pub whatever, and then go from there.

This will change your scope and keep you focused on what music to collect, what to listen out for when other people are playing, etc etc.

In my case, I went to ivy one night with a strong commercial/electro house taste.

Seeing some guys DJ there, in particular Roger Sanchez, it opened my mind right up to the whole techno side of house and I incorporated some of that into my style.

Now I tend to play a mix of techno, electro, and breaks which I call the Rhys J Bounce.

Hope this helped/opened your mind a bit man!

[LabRat]

I would've loved to stick with my preferred genre but the hard house scene just isn't that big here. I started playing dubstep to get a few gigs but then switched to electro because that's where I found work. Playing on BYP was good for a while because you can play whatever you like.

If you're struggling to pick one genre then try get involved with a radio station where you're able to freely play what you wish

[Kodiak]

Man the only person that can decide what you are going to play is you.

But this decision has to be made based up on two things in my opinion.

a) the crowd

what management wants

What I would advise you to do if you are stuck at the "What genre should I go with" decision is maybe go out to a few clubs or events and decide which club you want to DJ at or which bar, pub whatever, and then go from there.

All excellent points. I have no real intention of taking it to that next step. With my work/life situation I just don't have the ability to do it if I even wanted to. But saying that there are only 2 places here (plus some more an hour up the road) that really only play commercial/RnB type of stuff with the odd bit of Electro/dubstep chucked in there. Basically they are not serious clubs. More get pissed and start fights while music is in the background places (ok that is a nasty generalisation, but you get the idea).

For me my audience is the very few people who I know, and listen to my stuff. For them it is mostly Electro, but I really prefer the more serious sides of EDM. I am hoping to educate them though.

I am happy sticking to what I like doing. I was more interesting in what everyone else does.

[russell]

i try to collect a bit of everything that I enjoy. Generally when I played out it would be funk/disco/house/techno kinda vibe.

[MelodyIlliterate]

If your worried about money, you should sign up to a subscription based music service like dj city. Multiple electronic genres, and all you can eat

[GREMM1S]

Very easy to get trapped in a genre, it's always good to broaden your horizons.

But really unless you are a mobile dj, it's going to be quite hard to professionally cater for crowds of many different genres.

Of course in a commercial sense, house, electro and rnb will all cross over quite alot, but yeah nothing wrong with mixing and listening to new genres you just have to realise genres have their time, place and crowd.

Eg i love trance lately but you cant go around dropping it at hard electro clubs, just doesn't work.

[mattus123]

it kinda sounds like your thinking of mixing genres that you dont LOVE, because thast what people want to hear. I got caught in that trap a while back, made me lose the passion for DJing

mix what YOU want to. Doing this will make u enjoy it more, and as a result ur mixes will be infinetly better

[russell]

^ true that.

I could never play anything I didn't believe in.

[Gandy]

it kinda sounds like your thinking of mixing genres that you dont LOVE, because thast what people want to hear. I got caught in that trap a while back, made me lose the passion for DJing

mix what YOU want to. Doing this will make u enjoy it more, and as a result ur mixes will be infinetly better

Did this exact same thing having to flog out commercial mixes just because that's what ppl wanted and started to hate it

It's one thing for everyone to say "yay your commercial mix was awesome"

But when you introduce your audience to a genre your passionate about and educate them, then they come back and go "wow that was awesome, I don't usually listen to this but it rocked can't wait to hear more"... Words cannot describe the feeling

[mattus123]

^ couldnt agree more

i did a party for a 21st, played a fair amount of commercial to keep everyone happy.. everyone enjoyed it and that

about 8 months later (like last month) i did another house party, which had pretty much the exact same group of people. I played all the shit that im into and i had people coming up to me weeks later saying how much they enjoyed the set

dealing with people winging about u not playing 'stuff they know' is WELL worth it, when the same people come back and say how great ur set was, when it was full of shit they didnt know

[GREMM1S]

that said you cant forget guys if you are playing in a paid environment you aren't there to educate them you are there to entertain them, 99% of people wont care what cool genre you like they want to hear the same rubbish they can recognise.

As girls will put it "something we can sing along to".

The whole passion thing is really important imo to being a good dj, dont like playing commercial rnb crap, then dont ask for gigs in those clubs lol.

It really makes it so much better when you are playing stuff you love when the crowd is going nuts.

[OxyKon]

I would've loved to stick with my preferred genre but the hard house scene just isn't that big here. I started playing dubstep to get a few gigs but then switched to electro because that's where I found work. Playing on BYP was good for a while because you can play whatever you like.

If you're struggling to pick one genre then try get involved with a radio station where you're able to freely play what you wish

Wise ^

When I'm playing at the BYP it's either dnb, dubstep, drumstep or breaks, it takes a lot of time to build up a decent collection of music, I have 3cd wallets completely full of all the genres I just mentioned and I still feel like I don't have enough, and I'm slowly starting to get into glitch hop so there will most likely e another cd wallet I'll need

[LabRat]

I would've loved to stick with my preferred genre but the hard house scene just isn't that big here. I started playing dubstep to get a few gigs but then switched to electro because that's where I found work. Playing on BYP was good for a while because you can play whatever you like.

If you're struggling to pick one genre then try get involved with a radio station where you're able to freely play what you wish

Wise ^

When I'm playing at the BYP it's either dnb, dubstep, drumstep or breaks, it takes a lot of time to build up a decent collection of music, I have 3cd wallets completely full of all the genres I just mentioned and I still feel like I don't have enough, and I'm slowly starting to get into glitch hop so there will most likely e another cd wallet I'll need

I was into glitch hop a while ago. So bad ass

Ps: b2b soon

[Mitch]

Keen for another spitfire vs Defkon.

Always the dopest sets

[djrhysj]

Man the only person that can decide what you are going to play is you.

But this decision has to be made based up on two things in my opinion.

a) the crowd

what management wants

What I would advise you to do if you are stuck at the "What genre should I go with" decision is maybe go out to a few clubs or events and decide which club you want to DJ at or which bar, pub whatever, and then go from there.

All excellent points. I have no real intention of taking it to that next step. With my work/life situation I just don't have the ability to do it if I even wanted to. But saying that there are only 2 places here (plus some more an hour up the road) that really only play commercial/RnB type of stuff with the odd bit of Electro/dubstep chucked in there. Basically they are not serious clubs. More get pissed and start fights while music is in the background places (ok that is a nasty generalisation, but you get the idea).

For me my audience is the very few people who I know, and listen to my stuff. For them it is mostly Electro, but I really prefer the more serious sides of EDM. I am hoping to educate them though.

I am happy sticking to what I like doing. I was more interesting in what everyone else does.

Well to cater for your mates, I'd recommend you check out what they like, listen for certain sounds, rhythms etc, and then see its possible to mix that up with the stuff YOU like, this will ease them into it.. I rekon they will end up liking it!

[mattus123]

that said you cant forget guys if you are playing in a paid environment you aren't there to educate them you are there to entertain them, 99% of people wont care what cool genre you like they want to hear the same rubbish they can recognise.

Yea that one is important to remeber^

my little sotry was about a house party and my mate basically gave me complete freedom. he was requesting felguk anyway, so we were on the same page. It deffinetly doesnt apply to club gigs, unless u scare a gig where they never play commerical crap (the dream)

[legunner]

I think you should DJ, Produce and try all genres after you try them all you will be naturally inclined to one or maybe a couple genres. Then you will know what you are "meant" to play. Me personally i like electro house.

[AllAccessEDM]

You know what? I absolutely HATED electro house. And Minimal also. I had a House radio show, (just online) and cos House was going into this Electro House movement thats what I played and my show got moved and turned into a Electro/ Tech House & Minimal show!

I was so pissed off because it meaned I had to play music I didn't like. Anyways, I did it for a while (better than nothing right?), a while being I think 2 or more years and it grew on me. The genre's matured themselves and I started to find shit that I'd say "hey this is actually allright". But having that initial dislike meant that I wouldn't play BAD songs. Because there was so much I had to sift through that I thought was crap (which in all honesty was probably mediocre), but then to ONLY play the good ones which I felt EVERYONE could enjoy.

Now I look back on my collection and I'm getting gigs to play that stuff, I'm producing it etc and it makes me happy because yeah, it's not my preffered genre, but I took it on as a challenge and I don't want to say I mastered it, but I acheived a level of success in it enough so to feel confident with it.

At heart, I'm a House & Techno guy. I still make and play both of those also and Electro is the middle ground. But I also play DnB and Breaks and everything. I couldn't imagine being any other way because it allows me to be different ALL the time.

[SolDios]

I tend to variate from dancy club stuff to jump up and down till your brain comes out your nose stuff.

[BeatLeSS]

I would've loved to stick with my preferred genre but the hard house scene just isn't that big here. I started playing dubstep to get a few gigs but then switched to electro because that's where I found work. Playing on BYP was good for a while because you can play whatever you like.

If you're struggling to pick one genre then try get involved with a radio station where you're able to freely play what you wish

Wise ^

When I'm playing at the BYP it's either dnb, dubstep, drumstep or breaks, it takes a lot of time to build up a decent collection of music, I have 3cd wallets completely full of all the genres I just mentioned and I still feel like I don't have enough, and I'm slowly starting to get into glitch hop so there will most likely e another cd wallet I'll need

I was into glitch hop a while ago. So bad ass

Ps: b2b soon

Glitch Hop is fucking dope. Thats what I live and breathe now!

[OxyKon]

I would've loved to stick with my preferred genre but the hard house scene just isn't that big here. I started playing dubstep to get a few gigs but then switched to electro because that's where I found work. Playing on BYP was good for a while because you can play whatever you like.

If you're struggling to pick one genre then try get involved with a radio station where you're able to freely play what you wish

Wise ^

When I'm playing at the BYP it's either dnb, dubstep, drumstep or breaks, it takes a lot of time to build up a decent collection of music, I have 3cd wallets completely full of all the genres I just mentioned and I still feel like I don't have enough, and I'm slowly starting to get into glitch hop so there will most likely e another cd wallet I'll need

I was into glitch hop a while ago. So bad ass

Ps: b2b soon

Lol you got my number, hit me up yo, maybe we can mix the genres up a bit