I've been doing this job for 16 years now..
..and you come across some right characters, I've worked in all kinds of venues, rock bars, fun pubs, big nightclubs, you name it, there's a chance I might have done it.

I never differentiate between any music genre, I love it all, and have had more fun playing in the local Roxy, than covering a large superchain of clubs on some occasions. It's all down to who you're entertaining at the time, keep them happy, and you'll have a brilliant night.

The places I prefer, are the few remaining privately owned, or small company venues, which don't have a music policy run by some arse in an office on the other side of the country. Some of the roughest places I've worked have had more atmosphere than some of the trendiest wine bars.

There are loads of great DJs out there though, they're not all bad, these are usually the quieter ones, who work the circuit at their own pace, stick to what they're good at, they're generally a lot older too. It's the young wannabe wankers who've just got a pair of Pioneers for Christmas, or a laptop, and after beatmatching 3 tracks together in their bedroom, suddenly think they're Pete Tong that wind me up.

The dance club DJs are the worst though, real egos, especially if they've got their own 'night' going - when I say 'night' - it usually consists of a DJ (them or their mates) a couple of banners on the wall, and a room.

Some party DJs can be a bit nasty, especially if you work the same night as them, I've been accused of stealing jobs, undercutting others, and all kinds of dirty tricks, when the bottom line was they were just unreliable, too pissed, or simply terrible.

I only work 2, maybe 3 nights a week, and I get paid to play music I like, meet new people, and have a laugh in the process, I even get free beer in most places!!

I've never really understood the rivalry to be honest..

That said, I still draw the line at radio DJs - they really are terrible live, and they too, really do love themselves.

Not to be the pot who calls the kettle, I was like this in my younger years, until one of my mates asked why I was acting like such a twat, made me realise that I didn't have to be better than everyone all the time.

There's a post in this QOTW somewhere that suggests one should sit in the corner of a room and listen to a group of people (career managers or something), and you'll see the real side of people slating each other. This definitely applies to DJs.

A while ago, I was browsing stand up comedians on YouTube, and I came across this guy, don't really know that much about him to be honest, he goes on a bit and seems very angy at everything, but this piece he does on DJ's hits the nail right on the head:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyRDDOpKaLM

DJ'ing - Brilliant profession. Full of twats.
(danniekavanagh did nothing constructive on, Fri 28 May 2010, 18:15, 1 reply)

Henry Rollins is great
I haven't seen much of his stand-up comedy stuff but he did a lot of RAWK in Beavis and Butthead times.

He also made a track with William Shatner that I love:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM6pYG1DQ4s
OK, in this case with puppets, but it's just superb.
( sanityclause is waiting until, Fri 28 May 2010, 20:35, closed)

Having watched the 'Rave and Rock' link I posted again..
I decided to check out his other videos, he's a little rantish, but once I got past the shoutyness, I found him to be rather interesting.

He's a good storyteller is'nt he?

Never heard of the guy before, so I did the old Wikipedia search, and I was quite surprised to discover that he's done loads of stuff, a lot of which I've seen/heard and not even realised.
(danniekavanagh did nothing constructive on, Sat 29 May 2010, 8:56, closed)