Loosing the Passion

[Jaz]

hey lads, searching for some wisdom...

I dunno if im loosing that excitement and enjoyment in DJing, these days im working 40 hour weeks, then trying to DJ friday nights, you may have noticed im rarely around anymore, had a weekly residency at my club for months now and some nights its great...some nights its like a chore...i never have the time or motivation to touch my decks at home anymore...but i still love the music, always collecting Dubstep, electro, house etc...

Here is some of my typical weekends, Work all day friday, DJ till 3am afterwards, get home about 4am, get up at 7am for work satdy, work all day, go out drinking all night trying to have some fun in the odd spare time i get, get home at whatever hour, then get up at 8am for work at 9:30 sunday...come sunday night im wrecked

i dont know if its because its that quite part of the year where not many people are partying or...basically ive been waiting for parklife to see if it kickstarts that love again...

thoughts?

[Jaz]

oh and i was there tonight, stayed till about 11:30 with a headache, very quite night, ended up going home (had backup DJ)

[OxyKon]

Wow dude, very deep thoughts, I've achaly been wondering where u been lately and puff, u post this, you always need time to yourself, ALWAYS, especially wid tunes, I don't have a club residency like you so I wouldn't know how it achaly is, obviously it gets to the point where u hate the tues, me being on the radio is diff, people can tune in n out, maybe u need to try, and I say try as u need to take some time off

Also this is le ol DefKon

[GREMM1S]

Yeah should never try to keep doing it if youre not enjoying it man.

Try and figure out a way to get the passion back, might be good for a mew club/scene/genre or play less of you can.

[Gandy]

im in the same boat at the moment jaz, after buying hobberz setup i think ive touched the decks maybe twice, obvously im working ridiculous hours and have had some full on shit both work and personal wise, just feeling flat and no motivation/creativity flowing at the moment.

ive been through a couple of phases like this before, i just go dark and dont do anything music wise, then one day i just wake up and get the inkling to jump on and have a spin, nek minut back into it like its a new passion again. New genre's really seem to light the spark again, i just discovered psy/goa trance (thanks ysm!) and breaks, been pumping both those genres on pandora and i think im nearly ready to get back into it and make a couple of new mixes.

worst thing you can do is force it, music isnt like training for sports or being a mathematical genius, theres no logic in creativity it just happens. If your feeling down/flat/empty/bored/over it, as i said i like to go dark and have a break, doesnt work for everyone but works for me

[Jaz]

Thanks heaps guys, I still dunno what to do, I meen I've got next week off and hoping parklife makes me keen to get back

Plus it's a pretty commercial club, I just want more free time as well...knew you lads would have some good input

[street]

Nothing sparks my interest like discovering fresh new music. Go on massive hunt for some new stuff and maybe you will feel the same.

[Gandy]

also try different styles, i was getting bored with the standard stuff so i started to learn scratching seriously, and it was like going from knowing how to fly a tricked out F1 fighter jet to having to go back to training wheels on a push bike, also gave me a greater respect and understanding for the culture/genre of turntablists, as i always thought it was "lol scratch scratch wikka wikka derp" to "wow, this is truly an artform"

[Cupe]

i packed my decks up for a while

was keen when i unpacked them but getting traktor setup to stream on the radio without an issue made me get over it again and i haven't touched them

fuck you technology

[mattus123]

Maybe you need a change of scenery dude, i can only imagine how playing the same songs at the same venue at the same time could get me down after a while.

Try breaking the pattern, even pull a sickie and take the night off to just stay at home and mix the tunes u wanna mix

[Jaz]

Yeh I've been venturing into a little bit of trance here and there now

I've thought about a club change but I know it will be a downgrade, my club now I get pretty free range in whatever I play as long as the d floor is doing it's thing, I get free drinks, good pay, the other DJ who is my boss is pretty laidback and has become a friend ...where as my club I was at 9ish months ago was heavily RnB, terrible patrons, lower pay, longer hours by myself

I'm really relying on festival season to help me

[AlexJ]

the biggest mood factor would be the sleep

it doesnt matter how much you think your body has become accustomed to low levels of sleep any elevated sleeping patterns generally show positive mood improvements. I could start throwing studies at you if you like (big one by kwong-lee and michaels I studied in PE just to name one) Big tunes are great because they get the heart pumping, release endorphins and shit just gets hectic. If you dont have any sleep, your endorphins and other feel goods are going to stay locked away. If your generally djing when you are tired and overworked, then you brain is going to associated the negative body feeling with djing. Nek minit, even when you've had some good sleep and you go to dj you still feel terrible. its a vicious cycle. Im applying the same logic here as I use for elite swimmers (trust me when you start making big squads you do a million and 1 psychology courses), because ion reality your training yourself. To hit that next beat, vocal etc.

My advice would be to try and get alittle bit more sleep. if that means you have to suffer alittle bit in other areas then so be it, but thats a small price to pay when compared to loosing the lthings to love. Get more sleep and I guarentee everything will gain a new more vibrant shade.

[LabRat]

I've called it quits a while ago and I'm much happier for it! For me there were a lot of reasons why and it was hard at first to turn away from it but now it's been close to a year I don't miss the scene at all. It's a real shame coz I've got some good memories.

All I can say is really think about it. Check out new tunes and maybe experiment with your mixes a little. Look into new technology that might open up some time for ya

[OxyKon]

I've called it quits a while ago and I'm much happier for it! For me there were a lot of reasons why and it was hard at first to turn away from it but now it's been close to a year I don't miss the scene at all. It's a real shame coz I've got some good memories.

All I can say is really think about it. Check out new tunes and maybe experiment with your mixes a little. Look into new technology that might open up some time for ya

I'm currently in the process of changing this

[legunner]

Just do less man. You're doing too much!

[Hobberz]

I know how you're feeling Jaz. I got my 38+ hour a week job, then I DJ Thurs, Fri and Sat night on top of that(12-16hrs over 3 nights).

Every couple of weeks I hit a bit of a flat spot that can last for a few days or maybe weeks, but than I have a good night or find some new music and its sparks my interest again. Also take a weekend off here and there and just relax or chill with mates and try not to go clubbing, I found I was taking a weekend off but would still end up in the club with mates even when I wasn't working.

[Jaz]

I know how you're feeling Jaz. I got my 38+ hour a week job, then I DJ Thurs, Fri and Sat night on top of that(12-16hrs over 3 nights).

Wow, respect dude, you know my pain + more, yeh I know what you meen though, I'll have some shit weeks then an awesome week, like 2 weeks ago we had DJ hertz, that was a good night full of electro n house, then the satdy after that I did as well and another good night, n after those nights I'm like, who am I kidding this is awesome... then the shit nights just make that disappear...

You guys are a big help <3

[russell]

*losing

everyone will DJ at shit nights at one point or another. It's only if your DJ'ing at nights/playing music that doesn't interest you all the time that it will become a chore and you'll stop enjoying it.

It's never gonna be sweet every time you play. Especially if you play as regularly as you are.

[overit]

Honeymoon period over mate?

If it was a woman would you see it through and get deeper or pass on to the next for another amazing honeymoon period?

Personally I would prob lay back on DJing for fun. But dont expect anything to get you back into it. That is just lining you up for disappointment. Something unexpected will get you back into it when the time is right, then it will be right.

I would also keep doing the gig. If you can make it work when it is a chore then you pass the next stage in the game. Ask any pro DJ who has been doing the job for a while - they've all been through this at one point or another.

Good luck, keep it real.

[Tomy]

dont work saturdays for a start. get a decent pill in you and go watch someone with skillsssss

[crundyy]

dont work saturdays for a start. get a decent pill in you and go watch someone with skillsssss

this.

[AlexJ]

dont work saturdays for a start. get a decent pill in you and go watch someone with skillsssss

this.

crundos'll hook you up