Hands Up Night

HOMEDUST RECORD PRESENT
Hands Up Night

DJ HEADLINERS

Ajinn Buddies & Austyn
Peppen
Enrico & Echa
Dheelo
Electricat
Eiza

@ Woodsygab Makassar 10.05.2014 start from 16:00 - 23.30

Ticket : Rp.50.000 pre sale untill 31 April / Normal May Rp.75.000           **Include drink,giveaways and goverment tax 35% **

online ticket - www.tiketta.com

Ticket box : Homedust Record Office ( jalan singa no.6 makassar ) & Madama Radio

Contact person :
Fian : 08991542405
Ajin : 082291271033

www.homedust.com
@handsupnight (instagram)

Killer DJ Promotion 6

Use video editing software

This is first and foremost. I have seen too many folks just record and upload. That might have flown in the past, but with the easy access to editing software, you have no excuse. Windows has Movie Maker. Mac has iMovie. Even YouTube has an editing suite built into the web browser. Get acquainted with what’s available to you, learn the basics, and utilise the tools. I use an old copy of Sony Vegas, and it wasn’t very hard to get the basics of editing down. A DAW is way more complex in my book.

Use multiple cameras or do multiple shots

Dave Young’s video could have been improved if he tried a few camera angles. Had things change up in the video as opposed to just looking at straight-on, then it might have been more enticing. If you have access to extra cameras, set them up to record multiple videos at different angles. Do the straight-on, then maybe an angled one from a lower viewpoint, or even set one up above the gear so it looks like you’re looking down at the DJ set-up. If you don’t have multiple cameras, then do multiple takes with your one camera. Cutting around won’t show that you performed multiple times. Trust me.

Try other visual elements. It doesn’t have to always be just you performing. In fact, you don’t have to show yourself performing at all. Take your camera and do other things. Walk around town, shoot yourself playing at a club, drive somewhere with the camera on the dashboard, record a pretty girl (or boy) dancing etc. The only limit is your imagination.

Record and lay in a soundtrack

This is a big pet peeve I have with many videos I see. I’ll see a video from a festival or club, and the sound is blasting, all distorted, and you can’t tell what is going on. That or the DJ is in his/her bedroom, and he/she is using the microphone on their camera, thus the sound is low, canned, and you can often hear sliders moving, buttons being pushed, and other unnecessary noises.

If you’re using a software-based DJ program, then you should have the ability to record audio. Use it. Press record and get a good audio recording of the music you want to put in. When you use your editing software you can lay in the sound only, or intermix it with the sounds picked up by your camera’s mic. It’s up to you, but in the end we’re all music people, and it won’t reflect well on you if your sound is terrible.

Don’t forget branding

If you’re recording, editing, and making a super-awesome video for your promotional needs, then why aren’t you sliding in your branding? In my experiences putting in text or even imagery has been nothing more than just making PNG files of the items and layering them on top of the video with your editing program. A promotional video is like a flyer. It’s media that highlights you, entertains, informs, and thus should have in there some means for viewers to recognise and remember you. Your web address also helps, as many might encounter this video without ever seeing your website.

Thinking beyond performance…

If you’re diving into making promotional videos for yourself, always remember the goal is to gain viewers and eventually lead them to your website, or somewhere that they can get more information about you. Your end goal should be quality, but also to a certain extent quantity. One great video of you performing can only go so far compared to a plethora of video content covering many avenues.

One of the best examples of this is Armin Van Buuren. Go on YouTube and search for him. You’ll find live DJ performances, interviews of him and from him, music videos of his releases, previews of upcoming releases, his podcasts, and even Top 10 charts that are nothing more than a visual of his logo with song titles appearing. So here’s a few ideas if you want to think beyond just you DJing:

1. Blogging – Nothing to it. Just pop on your webcam, and speak your mind. You could be serious, silly, or informative. Anything you like. Even if it’s not DJing, it can still put your face and name out there, thus making you recognisable
2. Tutorials – If you have the skills or trickery you think you want to share, record it. Show how to scratch, do controllerist tricks, basic DJing, or even production tips. Videos get shared and people will remember you
3. Charts/podcasts – I mentioned AvB doing this, but I’m seeing many other DJs jump on board. It’s simply taking 10-20 snippets of tunes you’re rocking, putting them into an order, and have the visual be your branding with the names of the songs as they play. You would be surprised how much this can promote a DJ as an influencer in music… even land you more promos
4. Montages – If all else fails, then make a montage with one tune playing. Capture shorts of yourself performing at an event, get the crowd, girls, etc. You could even just make them five-minute memoirs of recent events, or just collages of clips for entertainment. You could go reverse and use this to promote upcoming events. Video flyers basically

Killer DJ Promotion 5

1. Keep your email blasts consistent – If your audience is used to one a day, great! But if one a week is your rhythm, don’t suddenly send 10 a week. I’d also suggest considering whether you want to set up a “do-not-reply” email address on your hosting so recipients cannot reply to you, or whether you’d rather have that ability for them to reply and start a dialogue (you can on Digital DJ Tips, for instance – all replies get read and responded to)
2. Test the best time to send – I’ve been shown that the best times to send an email blast are Tuesdays or Thursdays in the afternoon. Studies have shown that these times guarantee the best chances of recipients seeing them and opening them. But this can vary. Think about how many emails you find in your inbox every morning. Would you want yours in there? Or perhaps catch them when they are not overloaded with promotional email?
3. Be careful with your subject lines – Subject lines are the number one factor spam filters will look at. Try not to use the same old subject line every week. I’d also try to avoid using words such as “free” or “cheap” or “win”, as they will get you tossed into spam folders easily. I’ve also heard using several exclamation marks in your subject line will hurt you
4. Try to keep your file sizes small – Again, this is why I said you should have web versions of your flyers, as attaching a 1MB JPG will only get you set as spam. Remember that many people might be receiving these emails on mobile devices while out and about. They should open quick and not cause any hassles on the recipient
5. Make sure you put links to your website and social media in your email – It should be part of your template in some way. The best strategy for content is also to put short and sweet snippets of copy with a link leading them to a website for full information. Overloading an email with hyperlinks and text can also get you deemed as spam by some email clients.
6. Make sure you put a clear means for recipients to unsubscribe from your email list – In the US it’s law. Most of the services will automatically add it in, but you should still check and make sure outgoing emails have that link at the bottom where someone can unsubscribe
7. Before you can even fathom sending out emails to anyone, you need email addresses to send to. If you have a website for yourself as a DJ (or your promotion company), then you should be collecting email addresses through it right from the off. Some promoters also still carry the practice of collecting email addresses from patrons at their event. A pretty girl with a clipboard can go far.
   While I am not sure about laws outside of the United States, you have to be very careful in how you collect emails here in the US. You cannot take someone’s email off their website or public profile of any sort. So if you see someone’s email on their company website, Facebook profile, another email, or wherever, it’s off limits. You can only send to an email address that was voluntarily given to you. This is very important because the last thing you need is a citation or fine from the FCC. I’ll add to this that stealing or phishing emails can also lead you to trouble with the email providers themselves. If you were to somehow illegally obtain 10,000 email addresses, and then a large enough chunk of those recipients were to press the “Report Spam” button on your messages, whole email systems could literally block your domain. So any email coming from YourPromotionCompany.com to let’s say Gmail would be blocked.
   Now if you can’t get emails right off the bat, consider buying usage of a list legally. Many commercial DJ-related sites will actually sell usage of their email list. Users receive an email with graphics provided by the client, but with legal and other nomenclature showing it came from the list owner. This is ideal if you’re pushing yourself as a DJ or artist, but I’m not so certain when it comes to events. At that point I’d look into local news sites and even other promoters. Money does talk.
8. Finding A Platform to Use
   
   Now that you have your list set up (or are working on it), you will need to find yourself a platform to use. I see some out there sending hundreds to thousands from their own personal email boxes, but this isn’t a good practice. It’s more a sure-fire way to end up having your email account suspended or flat-out deleted, even if this is from web hosting. If you have a website, look into the control panel from the host. Many already offer basic email marketing software for you to use. If not, then consider looking into a service such as Constant Contact, MailChimp, or someplace with the right price for your needs
9. Designing And Building Email. When it comes to actually designing / building an email, you should first think about what you want to send out. Sometimes you’ll just have one message to speak of, like an upcoming event. Other times it’ll be multiple events, a new mix or track, and so on. Just like with a flyer, you need a hierarchy of information in your emails. Your goal is to first get past the spam filters, then grab the reader’s attention so they might actually want to look at your message. In my experiences, there are three types of emails I’ve seen. Many you’ll notice are completely made of images, either as one big one or as a layout chopped up and put back together using old-school HTML tables. This is wonderful to get a beautiful, solid layout in front of the recipient, but if they have their images turned off, they won’t see much of anything at all.
   Another solution would be a combination of text and images. Maybe you’ll have a branded header, information as HTML text, but with a reference image next to it for added colour and pizazz. These can be perfect, but sometimes you’ll see layouts fall apart in different email clients. And this very website (for example) sends out simple plain text emails, which means 100% of the viewing audience can read them. Granted they visually do not grab attention, but they work ideally for some audiences. It’s definitely worth testing this for yourself. Now you don’t have to be a designer or coder to make emails. All those email marketing services I’ve mentioned will offer you a plethora of templates you can use and loads of customisation options. I’d honestly say it’s the best path for the amateur or DIY-thinker since they build these templates to work perfectly on most email clients.

Killer DJ Promotion 4

What’s your advertising plan?

Before you even think of designing anything (or having someone design it for you), really seriously need to think about how you want to go about advertising your event. Basically, your tactics. Are you ready and willing to go out and network, handing out flyers to potential customers? Or are you just planning on leaving small stacks in local stores? What about online? Do you have a website? Social media? Email list?

The main reason to think about these things (and plan from them) is because you don’t want to spend valuable resources on physical paper flyers if you’re not going to really utilise the art of street promotion. Leaving stacks in local shops has become a losing situation, mainly because everyone does this and thus your flyer is lost in a mass of others.

I’ll also add in that promoting your event online is a different tactic than on the street. Too many will design one paper flyer and then use the same graphic on websites, social media and emails. The problem though is too many print flyers are just not easily read in the online medium. This is why you need to make a plan, and list out all the potential areas you’re going to seriously advertise in.

Designing a flyer for print

So let’s say a print flyer is in the plan. First you should decide if you want to enlist a designer to do the work, or if you wish to go at it on your own. Many DJs have toyed in graphic programs such as Photoshop or GIMP to make their own flyers in the DIY spirit. Others will know someone or even enlist a design student looking to build his/her portfolio.

A good designer can turn your mass of event information into an effective, distinctive and attractive flyer.

If you go the DIY route, bear in mind that some programs are better than others, but there isn’t a set “wrong” or “right”. I’ve seen flyers designed in Microsoft Word that can do the job just as well as those designed in Photoshop. What you need to be able to do though is provide your printing service an adequate file they can use. This usually means a PDF or even a JPG that carries a high resolution of 150-300 dpi (dots per inch).

The primary reason for the higher resolution is that a lower resolution will give you an end result of a blurry, pixelated flyer. I touched on this point in the article on logos. While you don’t need to make a vector file of a flyer, you do need something sizeable enough to print.

When it comes to size, that really comes down to you and what your budget is. Unless you’re an experienced designer in some regard, I’d tell you to shop around for a printer, and then talk to them about sizing and pricing. Flyers can be printed in black and white, or more often now “four colour”, which means CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black). Those four colours are what printers use and mix to make literally any shade of any colour you design with.

Talking to a printer in advance can help you because they often will advise, give you templates to work off of, or even offer you design services at a modest fee. It’s in their interest to help simply because not helping could end up with them receiving a “project from hell”. So talk to them, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. If they seem annoyed, then take your business elsewhere.

Clean design with a hierarchy of information

If you had to ask me for just one extremely important piece of advice in designing a flyer, I’d actually give you two: Have a clean design, and build a solid hierarchy of information.

When I say “clean design”, I mean a design that can be easily read and understood. Way too many times I’ll see complete rookies and even amateur designers get a little too enthusiastic with fonts, colours, filters and 3D effects, turning what’s supposed to be a flyer into a busy cluttered mess one can’t easily decipher.

‘A clean design with a hierarchy of information’: Here are the three areas on this flyer fir primary, secondary and tertiary information, so you can get a sense of how important getting this right is.

I don’t care how cool that font looks, or how glows and strokes make words blast out… if you can’t easily read the flyer then it’s useless. Best practice is to use the wild effects on what’s known as the “hero image”. That’s the main big logo or text lockup of the whole event.

So if you put “EDM DREAM” as the name of your event, that’s the big piece of text that could be jacked up in effects. Your lineup, address, and other vital information should simpler, clean, and easy to read. Even then, there is good creative design, and then there is overkill. You can only put so much “pop” on a flyer until you make it a mess.

The hierarchy of information is even more vital. This is when you take all the information you need on the flyer and break it down into a list based on importance. From here, the placement of that information, and even how big and “designed” you might make it, will begin to take on great importance.

Look at most flyers you’ve encountered. Usually the date and name of the event is treated as of the highest importance. Secondary to this would be what you see as the “main draw”. Bear in mind this won’t always be the DJ. It could be some kind of “contest” (like a hot body contest), or some unique attraction/vibe (like a white party or costume party), or even just a great food/drink special. I know we’re all DJs here and would love to promote ourselves as the most important, but always think business. Think what you believe the average person will come out for.

From there, the rest is only what you feel is important to put in the space you have. Of course the venue address (or hotline number if this is a rave) is important, as well as any web addresses you like. When it comes to the DJ lineup, you should only list names if you think they are truly beneficial to your marketing. Sometimes you just need to sacrifice the smaller names on the print flyer to push what’s more important.

You should also not try to cram everything into a flyer. Again, it’ll make a busy, cluttered mess. Always think like the consumer does… and what you think will attract them.

Other good tips

If you are using background imagery or colours, design your flyer with a bleed. A bleed is added background length/width put on a design that will be chopped off when the printer cuts your flyers. A 1/8-inch bleed is usually standard. So if you’re designing a flyer that’s 7″ x 5″, make your final design 7 1/4″ x 5 1/4″. This is how you get colour (or the photo) running to the edge as opposed to small bits of white showing up in the cut.

Here’s an example of a messy flyer. People’s attention is short, their time for anything you’ve got to tell them limited. Don’t make it hard for them by producing a flyer that doesn’t even look like a flyer, more like a screwed-up paper bag.

Make sure you use high-resolution imagery for anything you need. So if you have a photo of a headliner or some pretty girl you want to use, make sure it’s big. Taking a small photo off someone’s Facebook page won’t do. If you don’t believe me then try it and see how well it looks.

A big tip is to think branding and marketing in your design. Way back when I touched on the fundamentals of marketing, I showed a flyer I made for an event that failed. It was supposed to be a laid-back, fun night at a bar with some good music, and I used an image and design that would more fit an elegant lounge. It’s no wonder the flyer didn’t help promote our event. You need to watch yourself when you think pictures of gogo dancers, or DJs, or big space events could be a wonderful visual… when your night isn’t about that.

If you’re looking to save to money, consider designing two one-sided flyers and printing them on either side of the paper. This is ideal for those who perhaps have two weekly events and thus want one flyer to hand out for both (even if they are at different venues). Granted you lose valuable real estate in going one-sided, but you’ll save money and have one easy flyer to give out (as opposed to two).

Versioning for online use

Despite event promotion moving more online than offline, I still see too many out there not fully utilising the internet space for maximum return. Most simply take that large high-resolution flyer image and post it on websites, in emails, and all over social media. The end result are images sitting in hard-to-read sizes, and thus potential customers passing you by.

When you design a flyer for print, take down the sizes you would want for a full online promotion, and implement them. I won’t list any sizes here because they constantly change as these sites implement updates. I will say though that your online graphics should have a resolution of 72 dpi, as opposed to the 150-300 dpi of print. This is mainly due to the fact these graphics will be seen on screens as opposed to on paper, and screens (even HD ones) are low resolution.

Back to our friends at Ministry of Sound, and look how Defected uses a clean, simple (but recognisable) version of its branding on its Facebook page to advertise its events.

So let’s say you plan to heavily promote on Facebook. Many will want to put the flyer on news feeds, as well as the cover photo and/or profile photo. Notice though how you’re now dealing with three different sizes. The cover photo is very horizontal while the profile photo is a square, and news feed photos are smaller and rectangular.

So what’s the solution? Design three graphics, and make even bigger decisions on the information to be shown. That profile photo perhaps should be your “big text” telling the name of the event, and the date. Put other information in the description. Your end result will be a visible graphic that might entice someone to look deeper.

The same goes for the cover photo. Why are you cropping a big vertical image into a horizontal space? You’ll end up losing 80% of your information. Instead, make a big horizontal image that fits the space with the name of the event, date, venue, and one to two big pieces of important information, such as the headliner. In all honesty, barely anyone will even come to your profile page versus seeing your flyer in their news feed, so your cover graphic (if you want one) should be a quick read.

With the actual news feed, you’ll probably be posting the flyer as an image, like you would any photo. You might think your normal flyer design is ideal, and it just might be. However, if you have small text, then it won’t be easily read…even when they enlarge it. Your goal should be a quick read graphic that will catch their attention as they gloss over most of the junk on their news feeds. Again… think clarity and information hierarchy.

All of this still reinforces why you should have a website; a central spot to send people to where they can get all the information… including if they need to buy tickets. Your social media and email should all be about leading the patron to one spot where you can post full information in great detail.

Killer DJ Promotion 3

1. Entertain, then educate

I’ve seen it loads of times. A DJ comes on, head down, straight into what he or she loves – no consideration for the crowd, who came before, the flow of the night – nothing. And they wonder why their “amazing” music clears the floor. But then there’s the other way, which I’ve also seen, from underground as well as commercial DJs: You have a box of tunes that express you, for sure, but you also have tunes you are pretty sure will please the dancefloor. The thing smart DJs like these do is spend the first part of their set pleasing the crowd, then when they’ve won their confidence, feel their way with twisting things around to their way of thinking, gently and considerately.

It doesn’t hurt, either, that the second half of the night is usually the intoxicated half – or to put it another way, people aren’t going to generally become less likely to dance as the night wears on! So planning your set in this way gives you longer to weave in those 4am techno minimal must-hears that have been kicking around at the back of your collection for months. Get everyone onside, then test your “good” stuff – you may be surprised.

2. Tease and test

Of course, you don’t want to just play a whole pile of tunes everyone knows, then bang into some UK white label dub country step (i just made that up – please tell me I made it up!) and expect the whole floor to come with you. Teasing and testing is your friend here. You can tease riffs, beats, intro sections, vocals, drum loops – anything that is reminiscent of what you want to play later, just for a few seconds or eight bars, repeatedly, to get people used to the sounds you want to move across to.

This teasing is your “test” – you’re watching the dancefloor, watching who maybe recognises stuff you didn’t think they would, getting a feel for what you may or may not be able to get away with. You’re priming and preparing people for the direction you’d like your set to take, in good time. You’re marking our boundaries, pushing things slowly, and always with the dancefloor on your side.

3. There’s a difference between “like” and “know”

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking “like” and “know” mean the same thing. Just because your crowd doesn’t know a song, doesn’t mean it won’t necessarily like it. You’re a DJ, a tastemaker. Let people taste the new music – they might like it! Remember, every song wasn’t known by anyone, once. Use your judgement to decide if a song is going to suit the night or not.

Of course this ties in with points 1 and 2: You can tease and test new music, and you can save it for later in your set, but there’s nothing better than “breaking” a tune that goes on to become huge – it’s “yours”, even though it subsequently gets heard everywhere. People will remember it, and you for first introducing them to it. Having an ear for a commercial song before anyone else is a huge skill and one not to be sniffed at – just ask the likes of Pete Tong, who has signed hundreds of hits with his “record label” hat on over the years, to give just one example.

4. Mix it well

Throwing a different style in badly is one thing. But playing a considered build up to a surprising twist in a pre-planned mini-mix is something else entirely. If you want to play a different style, to try something new, to surprise the crowd, then it definitely pays to plan a little and make sure they way you are going to mix that new thing in is clever, or at least smooth and accomplished.

There’s nothing wrong with practising mixes; it’s not the same as sticking rigidly to a pre-planned set, which is wrong of course (in most circumstances, anyway) – many DJs play from lots of 2-3 tune mini sets, slotting them together as they go along, and this can be a great way of holding the crowd’s attention with more challenging material – plus of course it makes you look good as a DJ, and pulling off pre-planned mixes in public that are maybe that bit more technical as a result is a buzz in itself, whether the material is challenging to the audience or not.

5. Look like you’re enjoying it

It can be really easy to look sheepish when playing tunes you’re not sure of – or to look scared, or be rigid (“rabbit in the headlamps”). It can happen to us all – I remember several times throwing on a tune that just bombed while DJing, and being so embarrassed that I actually hid (crouched down, pretending to look for something in my bag)! Luckily it doesn’t happen too often…

Thing is, you’re the leader of the party. Most people (with the greatest respect) are usually sheep – they’re looking around them for clues and pointers as to how to behave, and will generally follow the crowd. And the leaders of the crowd? Well, on a dancefloor, they’re looking at YOU. If you’re confident, dancing behind your decks, having fun (even if the material you’re playing is unknown to the audience / suddenly challenging), they are FAR more likely to copy you. Make no mistake: when you’re DJing, you’re leading from the front. Be bold. Make it as hard as you can for people to NOT enjoy your music!

6. Use mashups and remixes to introduce styles

Classic advice, but very true. In “old times”, you’d throw a familiar acapella over a challenging instrumental. Crudely, girls can dance to the vocal, boys to the beats. Not always the case, of course, but hopefully you see what I mean: If you can introduce something familiar to your new material, people will more likely accept it – especially if you tie it in with 4 above.

Now, more than ever in this SoundCloud world, there are myriad version of all kinds of tunes available. Find remixes of commercial tracks in the style you love. Find clever or fun mashups where the remixer has done the hard work for you. Have a go at doing your own re-edits to meld stuff more to the way you like to play or mix. Music isn’t sacred; it’s a tool, there to be twisted into whatever shapes you can imagine for your floors. And don’t worry about not being “purist” – remember, this is meant to be fun! Break a few rules – you’ll be remembered for it.

7. Persevere

A DJ (who sadly I can’t recall) once said that he felt if he didn’t empty the dancefloor at least once a night, he wasn’t doing his job right. A bit extreme maybe, but you get his drift, no? It’s OK to like stuff nobody (yet) likes. Sometimes, a tune played one week will empty the floor, the next week it will fill it. Sometimes, the same tune played at the end of a set will work having bombed at the beginning. There are no hard and fast rules – if there were, everyone would know them! So it’s OK to mess up every now and then. In fact, it’s pretty much essential.

Bottom line is you don’t have to play music everyone loves all the time. For example, we all have our favourite comedian, right? But we don’t laugh at all their jokes. We don’t expect to. They’re allowed to push it too far every now and then, to “test out new material”. It’s the same with DJs – if what you do is part of a bigger picture, and you’re letting people glimpse parts of that picture every time you play, they’ll get it. They understand they’re not going to love everything you ever do. Be genuine, try your hardest, keep your vision, and you’ll at least start to work out where and how to get away with mixing the stuff you really want to play in with the stuff you have to.

Killer DJ Promotion 2

1. Brainstorm and research first

If you’re starting off this process sitting right now in front of a graphic design program, turn it off. Seriously, the biggest mistake most make in designing a logo is to just open up a program and go at it without any real research or brainstorming. Take a sheet of paper, or a notebook, or open a text editor if you like to type it all out. Start writing down adjectives, genre names, and any other words you can think of that you want to use to describe yourself as a DJ or artist. Don’t worry if it all looks like it won’t make sense. These are what will help you then do your research.

When you have a list to start with, then do your research. Look at the logos of DJs you admire and even emulate. Take notice to how they design their logos. Look at flyers and ads for the music and scenes you like and want to play for. Believe it or not, the branding of a rave differs from that of a mainstream club and that of a rap music event. I usually like to save logos of where I get my inspiration from. Sometimes it’ll be a treatment I like, or a font, or some unexplainable thing. Many designers will even sketch out rough ideas and shapes they find on the same page as their adjective list.

2. Move on to rough design

This is the point of the process where we hit a fork in the road. Do you want to try designing it yourself? Or go to an actual graphic designer to do the work? If you have the money to invest, then it can be better to get someone to design your logo. Again, I’d hold off on using any computer-based design programs at this point of the process. Right now this is more like writing the rough draft of your bio. You’re better off taking a pencil and a piece of paper. Just sketch your ideas, or what you like.

The main reason for using pencil and paper is so you can just think design and not get too enveloped into choosing fonts, colours, and making things “perfect”. You don’t have to make a fully-refined “polished” logo. You’re just more doodling and toying until you come up with the solid idea that you’ll want to polish.

The kind of logo you make is really up to you. Many logos will have some kind of symbol or item with the name all nicely laid out. Many others do not. I personally like simple text-based logos, but you might be different. One good tip if you want to incorporate symbolism is to look at your list of adjectives, your name, and thus pull symbolism out of it. Feel free to make a few ideas if you have them. You don’t have to just pick one sketch. If you’re torn between a few ideas, then keep them all as ideas you’re going to pursue on the computer.

3. Now you can use the computer

With your sketched ideas all in order, it’s time to move on to the computer and polish them up into what could be your final versions. You will need a vector-based design program. Adobe Illustrator is the most well-known program, but you can easily get all of what you need in the freeware program InkScape. Unless you have a deep need, I’d advise you not to use bitmap-based programs such as Photoshop, GIMP, or the web-based Pixlr. The main reason is a logo should be a vector file that can be easily resized for any purpose. It could be a tiny logo on the corner of a flyer, or a big billboard on the side of the road. With a bitmap image you cannot go larger than its original size without having blurring occur.

From this point, take your ideas and lay them out now in the program. Take your time, as rushing will only give you a mediocre deliverable. Explore not only your idea as a whole, but the font you’ll use, how the lettering will lay out, and the balance you create between your text and any symbols you might create. Don’t be afraid to “play around”. That means feel free to toy with or distort the font and shapes if you need to, or just sit there tweaking and trying variations until you are happy. Also explore colours if it is something that is important to you. I personally like to stay away from picking specific colours, but many others feel the opposite.

4. Review and revise

When you have one or multiple pieces ready, take a moment to review. If you’re going about this all on your own, then perhaps make some kind of rough design of a flyer or an album art with your logo. See how it looks to you. Many logos might look wonderful by themselves, but when you put them into context, you might find one standing out while the rest won’t. If you want to make it collaborative, then show your friends and ask their opinions, or even just check that your final designs fit the list of adjectives you wrote up in the beginning of this process. It’s not the rule you must make it fit that list, but more a good guideline to start from. If you need to collaborate and have no.one, try using our forum.

Make any changes you wish, and keep going back and forth until you feel solid on your final logo.

5. Export the final versions and make your guideline

When you’re finished with your design, you’ll need to save it out as graphics you would send out to designers or whoever might need your logo. The most popular file format for logos are EPS. I’ll usually have my logo ready as EPS files as well as PDF and transparent PNG. Since PNG files are bitmap (ie a “set size”), I’ll make the final file around 1000 pixels wide. It keeps things large in case someone has issues with EPS or PDF files (which are “vector”, as described earlier).

The main point is so you’re covered on all bases. If a designer is making a flyer with a darker image of a big crowd at a festival, he/she might end up using the white logo instead of the coloured one. That, or it could be an inexpensive flyer made on a copy machine, thus the designer will use the black logo.While making these files in every file type, I’ll also save versions in black, white, and any other colour scheme used. So if the final logo is let’s say, red and green, I’ll have EPS, PDF, and PNG files of that, but I’ll also have a white version and a black version in those file types.

A logo guideline isn’t a requirement, but you should make one if you have very specific “rules” on how you want your logo used. I personally hate them, because too many logo guidelines are super-strict and thus do not give designers much room to breathe. Regardless, if you want to make a guideline, then speak of your logo in the following factors:

• Colours / versions that can be used
• Sizing
• What colours can you put the logo on top of?
• Can you put the logo on top of gradients, photos, or textures?
• Space around the logo in design

Killer DJ Promotion

Step 1: Gather information

The first step in writing your DJ bio is to gather the information you want to talk about. Think about the following questions before you write anything:

• Where are you from? Has this had any bearing on the kind of DJ you are/want to be?
• How did you start DJing? Or what led you to want to be a DJ?
• What are your goals as a DJ?
• Who influences you? Where do you draw inspiration from?
• What have you done, in terms of gigs or projects?
• What are you currently doing now, in terms of residencies or other projects?
• What projects are you looking to do in the future?

Take some notes as you ask yourself these things. Even if you’re a rank amateur with little experience, you can still come up with an initial bio by simply focusing on the points that aren’t related to past or present gigs/projects.

Step 2: Write your draft

With your information gathered, it’s time to organise it into a first draft. This isn’t supposed to be a chronological telling of your DJ career, but more a combination summary/marketing story of you. A good way to approach the first draft is to use this basic structure:

• Who you are and what you’re about
• Where you started and what you’ve done.
• Your influences and goals
• Where you’re at now and where you see yourself going

I know it’s tough to talk about yourself, but it is one of life’s challenges that when you overcome it, you’ll be able to more easily promote yourself not even in the DJ realm but even in the normal professional world, if you happen to be seeking a job or opportunity that isn’t even DJ-related.

When you write, think about the tone you want to convey and which “person” you want to speak in. Speaking in the first person (“I did this and I did that”) will give a more friendly, personable tone to your bio. However, it might not come off as “professional”. The third person (“He did this and she did that”) is a better tone for most bios if you’re serious about going deep into this as a potential career.

In terms of tone, you want your bio to sound ambitious, professional, and positive. Try not to sound egotistical, negative, or narcissistic. Also try not to get long-winded, or put in things that have no real relevance to your DJ career. For instance, it’s nice that you were born in a little village and shovelled coal until you were sixteen, but does this have any real deep relevance to you as a DJ and what you bring to the booth? If the sound of a coal shovel rhythmically hitting the black stuff has given you a highly original take on programming drum lines, say so – if not, it’s not relevant!

So how long should your bio be? I’m sure you’re wondering. I will tell you that most promoters or even journalists are not going to have the time or patience to read a massively long DJ bio. I would probably advise not to go more than four or five paragraphs, but at least as long as one paragraph (if you don’t have much to say). One sheet, definitely.

When you get your first draft finished, approach the next step the same way you might have when you write or wrote term papers for school. Write your rough draft, read it a few times, and then tweak or change things as you see fit.

Step 3: Version it out

When you finish and perfect your final bio, you then need to make several versions of this. The main reason is your bio should also be easy content for whoever might need it. So let’s say you made a strong four-paragraph bio you’ll toss on your website and in your press kit. You should then whittle it down into a one-paragraph version showing the most important points. This is what some journalists or promoters might use in some cases, or perhaps for social media sites in the “About” section.

You should also make one or two more versions that are one or two sentences long. This might sound silly, but look at a lot of rave events. When they post their detailed lineups online, many promoters will put those small tiny bios next to each name. These mini-bios shouldn’t so much focus on achievements or where you came from, but more on just who you are and what one can expect of you. Think of this as your “elevator pitch” – what would you tell someone if you had to travel a single floor in an elevator with them about your DJing career, that gets the main point across?

Step 4. Got a related company? Do the same thing!

Are you planning on starting a promotions crew to throw events? Or maybe you’re a mobile DJ and want to present yourself as a company rather than an individual? In either case (or if you’re a PA hire firm, or you run an internet radio station, or you’ve founded a club wear shop, or you run the club listings website for your town…) the simple DJ bio will not do. You’ll still need a DJ bio regardless for your own individual use, but for a company, the “bio” is known as a mission statement. A mission statement is usually one or two sentences that tell what your company does and what it’s about. This could be something like:

“Our mission is to expand the musical landscape of the city while entertaining patrons and creating a balance between underground innovation and mainstream excitement.”

Or even:

“DDJT Entertainment provides top-quality music and entertainment services for your event. We bring the excitement of the club to your wedding, corporate party, or school dance.”

If you need to go further, then you would make a company history which tells of your achievements, growth, current projects, and goals, much in the way you did for your DJ bio. From that point you would perhaps list the principal participants in the company and show their own short one-paragraph bios (see why I had you version things out?).

In the long run, be it a bio or mission statement, the goal is to write copy that allows the reader to get to know you as a DJ, artist, or company. A demo can do wonders, but it’s the bio that separates you from the masses. That’s why it is so important, and why you should treat it always as a work in progress – keep updating and evolving your bio as you grow and evolve as a DJ or artist.

9 Tips for 1st Gig

1. Take your time
Avoid taking on a last minute gig. Give yourself at least three days to practise and plan before playing a gig. Taking on a last minute gig does nothing but open up the door of frustration. Many inexperienced or novice DJs make the mistake of thinking that they need to take on any gig they’re offered, at any notice. This is not true and in fact, it pays to be selective. Take the gigs you know you can handle and decline the rest. After all, if you botch a gig, how will that help you land another in the future?

2. Use the tools you’re familiar with
Whether your friend has a faster laptop than you, or you just bought a new deck, switching up your tools at the last minute is a recipe for disaster. In order to avoid the confusion of new equipment, or the possibility that it won’t perform the way you’re used to, avoid using equipment you’re unfamiliar with at your first (or any) gig. Stick to the tools you know, even if they’re slower or less fancy.

3. Play to the crowd
If the only place you’re used to playing is your room, then you’re likely playing to an audience of one: Yourself. When playing your first gig for other people you need to keep in mind that their tastes, and your tastes, may not line up. Learning to listen to the criticism and suggestions of others without allowing them to derail you is one of the great skills of DJing. Might as well start learning it right from the off.

4. Never leave home without a plan B
As a budding DJ you probably haven’t had a whole lot of experience with hardware failures. Despite what some DJs will say, hardware failure can and will happen. Whether it’s a frayed cable or a crashed laptop it doesn’t matter: they both stop the music. You should always have a plan B in place in case your plan A stops working…

5. Show up early
The last thing you want to be doing before you step behind the decks is rushing around tying up last minute loose ends. It’s better to show up too early than too late. Give yourself time to set up, and run a thorough sound check. This will alert you to any problems and give you time to fix them before they affect the sound of your set.

6. Plan out your set
As a DJ you know it’s best to start strong and end strong, but many well-intentioned DJs will forget this in the heat of the moment. It’s best to plan out multiple solid playlists that you can switch to depending on your crowd. This will keep people dancing, and help lessen the nervousness of a first gig. Having pre-planned “mini-sets” like this is not cheating; slotting together pre-planned segments according to what the crowd reacts to is a time-honoured why of mixing planning with spontaneity.

7. Promote the gig
It’s not enough to assume that your family and friends will simply pack out a club. They may or may not, but truth be told you’ll probably want some strangers there too, and bringing a crowd is certainly one of the best ways to get booked again, like it or not. Friends and family may be flakier than you think, plus they’ll always give biased feedback. Plus, winning over a room of strangers is always more fulfilling than playing to the converted.

8. Make sure everything makes it to the gig
You probably have a lot of equipment, cables, accessories and the like. Create a log so you can make sure everything you need makes it to the gig and back home. It’s a good idea to pin a checklist to the back of door in your DJ room, or keep one on your phone, or tucked in your kit bag.

9. Bring a trusted sidekick
Having a person available to help you isn’t necessary, but it will make a world of a difference. During the course of a two-hour set it’s very likely that you’ll need to step out for a break or to use the restroom, and it’s good to have someone there who can watch your stuff and make sure everything keeps running smoothly. This person can also act as a liaison between you and the audience so that you can receive requests and suggestions without having to shift your focus from the decks to the audience.

What not to do in Music Industry

THE PERSONAL ELEMENT

1. Don’t ever stop practicing your instrument.
2. Don’t be an asshole.
3. Don’t WANT WANT WANT WANT. Learn to give back first.
4. Don’t get defensive. Learn to take constructive criticism.
5. Don’t forget to learn how to take destructive criticism, too. You’ll get a lot more of it than you think.
6. Don’t forget that everyone’s an asshole.
7. Don’t stop learning.
8. Don’t lose your ambition.
9. Don’t lose touch of where you came from and who helped you out.
10. Don’t stop reading. Read more. Read a LOT more.
11. Don’t ever stop trying to meet new people and fans.
12. Don’t stop practicing. I fucking meant it.
13. Don’t make excuses.
14. Don’t make commitments you can’t keep.
15. Don’t say what you can’t back up.
16. Don’t exaggerate, everyone will see right through it.
17. Don’t be afraid to get into it.
18. Don’t owe anyone money. Pay it off as soon as you can.
19. Don’t think that they won’t fuck you over just because they’re a friend.
20. Don’t shit on the few friends that you do have.
21. Don’t be the guy who just floats along. Actively help your band out as much as you can.
22. Don’t rely on everyone else, make it happen yourself or lend a hand in getting it accomplished.
23. Don’t forget that you can’t change certain things, and bitching about it won’t help either.
24. Don’t forget how fucking stupid you are.
25. Don’t be afraid to listen to those who are smarter and more experienced than you.
26. Don’t forget that sometimes you’re wrong. In fact, more often than not, you’re wrong.
27. Don’t pretend you’re innocent.
28. Don’t pretend to be above something. Get your hands dirty. Hurt your back. Get scraped up and some real work.
29. Don’t live in the past or the future. Learn to love the moment and what you’re doing. You’re in a band. Love that fact.
30. Don’t lose sight of what you started your band for to begin with.
31. Don’t lose faith in yourself or your friends. They’ll help you out more than you think when you need it.
32. Don’t be naive. Believe it when you see it.
33. Don’t forget what it’s like to just be starting out in the industry. Explain things to people. Take on someone under your wing; teach someone something good.
34. Don’t blame the label. As a fan, you have no idea what the circumstances were. As an artist on that label, there’s always something you did that was probably shitty, too.
35. Don’t blame the manager, either. Same goes for them.
36. Don’t think bands are these innocent angels. They rarely are as good as they make themselves out to be. They’re people just like everyone else, and that means they can be just as shitty as anyone else.
37. Don’t be afraid to lend a helping hand.
38. Don’t get into arguments with people on social media. Stay away from it. It’s pointless.
39. Don’t judge a situation before you’ve heard both sides. This means you should basically never judge a situation or someone.
40. Don’t forget that everything is a joke and that you shouldn’t ever be too serious. No one gets out of life alive.

THE GENERAL BAND STUFF

1. Don’t assume anyone will care about your band. They won’t.
2. Shit talking doesn’t get anyone anywhere.
3. Don’t be that band that starts to do it for the money. It’s not that money’s bad, it’s that we can all tell you’re forcing it and no one appreciates a forced art form.
4. Don’t ask too much for your merch. It’s just a damn t shirt.
5. Don’t order too many CDs. It’s not worth having tons of them laying around.
6. The same goes for merch. Don’t order more merch than you reasonably think you can sell on a tour or in a small timeframe such as a month or two.
7. Don’t spend your money on stupid stuff. Spend it where it counts.
8. Don’t buy likes on Facebook
9. Don’t try to buy your way to the top.
10. Don’t skimp on gear, either.
11. Don’t forget to practice with a click. Drummers and guitarists, this goes for both of you.
12. Don’t ever stop interfacing with the people that buy your music. No matter how big or small you are.
13. Don’t forget to do cool little things for fans while you’re on tour. a small note or a signed drumstick will go a lot farther than you think.
14. Don’t expect respect.
15. Don’t forget that you have to do your time.
16. Don’t assume. Make everything as clear as you can, and get it in writing at every chance you can get.
17. Don’t stop creating. Not just music, either. Create in every format you can. You are a creator, after all. Photos, blog posts, new music, share music, share ideas, just put out content.
18. Don’t forget just how many ways there are to reach out to your fans.
19. Don’t forget to post on every social media network every single day.
20. Don’t forget to engage with your fans. If you master this, you’ve mastered the music industry.
21. Don’t stop trying to improve your sound and tone, both live and recorded.
22. Any publicity is good publicity.
23. And, additionally, people will hate you for anything and everything. Don’t worry about it.

BOOKING  & TOURING

1. Don’t ask for too much.
2. Don’t book a tour for your band unless you have the emergency fund to support it
3. Don’t book a tour with too little notice. You’re just shooting yourself in the foot.
4. Don’t turn down a door deal because you think you can do better.
5. Don’t blame the promoter when you haven’t helped promote the show, either.
6. Don’t blame the promoter when you haven’t helped, period.
7. Don’t expect to play to 100 kids a night. Be grateful for 5.
8. Don’t forget to say thanks to the sound guy.
9. Don’t forget what it feels like to be the opening band.
10. Don’t forget what it feels like to be shit on by the touring band.
11. Don’t get a rockstar attitude.
12. Don’t kiss ass, but don’t forget when to say thank you, either.
13. Don’t forget that the touring band usually needs a place to stay.
14. Don’t forget that they could use a place to shower, too.
15. Don’t think people will help you out just because. You have to give them a reason.
16. Don’t pretend to be better than the local bands you used to play shows with.
17. Don’t stop booking or helping to book your tours. Just because you have an agent doesn’t mean you can’t help out.
18. Don’t be the diva in the van.
19. Don’t be too cool to say sorry. Come on, dude, you and I both know you were being an asshole.
20. Don’t let what someone said get to you. Keep your cool.
21. Don’t forget to have fun on tour. That’s what it’s really all about, anyway.
22. Don’t skimp on buying your van. Quality counts when it’s the only thing getting you to your next show.
23. Eat at cool places and do cool things on tour. Those memories are just as good as the rest of tour.
24. Don’t stop drinking water on tour. Dehyrdation causes fatigue and you’re dehydrated before you even know it.
25. Don’t pass up the chance to shower. Ever.
26. Don’t buy anything that can go bad in the van. Meats, dairy, anything that’s perishable is a no-go in the van unless you eat it immediately. If it can’t sit for more than 30 minutes, don’t bring it in to begin with.
27. Don’t leave your dirty laundry everywhere in the van. Keep it in a sealable bag.
28. Don’t step without looking. You’re gonna break some shit.
29. Don’t gas up without checking the gas prices with the GasBuddy app. Find the cheapest gas.
30. Don’t get under a half tank of gas if you can help it.
31. Don’t pack too heavy, and I’m not talking about just your bag. Cut everything out of your life that you don’t need. Emotions and unnecessary clothes alike.
32. Don’t forget to call your loved ones back home. Family loves to hear where you’re at. Girlfriends love to hear that you’re not kissing another girl.
33. Don’t spend all your money on stupid stuff on tour. You don’t need that sombrero, homie, your money can go to better places while you’re being poor on the road.
34. Don’t forget to wipe a couple extra times. You can’t afford any leftovers, man.
35. Don’t forget to masturbate. That shit relieves stress. You’re a god damn musician, get creative and find a place.
36. Don’t forget to experience the locations you go to on tour. Find good food to eat, visit a national monument, go the Grand Canyon, check out Mount Rushmore, and take pictures.
37. Don’t forget to stop at cool places along the road on tour.
38. Don’t be a dick to the person who gives you a place to stay. Say thank you at every chance and try to do something in return for them. Clean the room you stayed in a little bit, help them do dishes.
39. Don’t be loud and obnoxious at 3:08 in the morning when you’re staying in a stranger’s house.
40. Don’t be the band who only cares about getting drunk or high after the show. Learn how to have a good time sober.
41. Don’t try and get out of driving duty.
42. Don’t stop talking in the van. Late night talks are food for thought and soup for the soul.

RECORDING

1. Don’t expect your drums to sound like Lars off the Black Album when you haven’t tuned them and put new heads on.
2. Don’t expect your sound engineer to work magic. This goes for live shows, too. Your instruments must sound good first.
3. Don’t show up to the studio without extra guitar strings, drum sticks, guitar picks, and drum heads.
4. Don’t forget to bring a source of entertainment. Studio time is 90% of waiting-for-someone-else time.

LOCAL SCENE AND SUPPORT

1. Don’t talk shit on your scene when you’re not doing anything to help it.
2. Don’t be an asshole, okay? Do you fucking get it? Stop that shit.
3. Don’t think you’re band is the best. You’re not.
4. Don’t stop trying to improve your live show.
5. Don’t shit on local bands because they’ll hurt you more than you think.
6. Don’t steal from other bands; Learn the subtle difference between paying homage and stealing.
7. Don’t show up late for the show. This goes for touring bands, too.
8. Don’t dip out before the show is over. Stay for all the bands.
9. Don’t be an elitist. If a band is doing well, then they’re doing something right, whether you agree or disagree with it.
10. Don’t stop supporting local music. If you start to get big, help out the local bands that you used to play shows with. They’re the same as you, and as much as you don’t want to admit it, they might deserve it just as much, if not more than you do.

AND FINALLY….

1. Don’t forget why you got into this.
2. Don’t stop putting your entire heart and soul into every show. It’s cliché, I know, but it’s true.

And there we have it. A cumulative list of 121 things to completely avoid.