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DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
Hi, Im soo thankful I found this forum. Anyway I have an opportunity to DJ at a club here in NY. Just so you know I have had about 10 years experience in nightclubs but I know that doing a strip club is completely different. I am not takng this job to meet girls or do drugs, I could care less I just want to make money. I act professional and have no interest in trying to bone chicks. That said I have a lot of questions that I couldn't find on google
I want to know more specific how you handle the line up? Is there an order or do I just make the list up as I seee fit?
how do you know who is working, do all the girls come at the same time?
How do I know which stage to assign to which girl? (there are 2 maybe 3 I think)
Any tricks on remembering all the girls names?
Do certain girls have seniority on who gets to dance to which song?
Is it ok to play a song twice in one shift?
I know I wont be mixing really and doing mostly fading and will be doing a lot of MCing do you guys have any clever lines that always work?
Would it be a good idea for me to bring candy for the dancers when they come up to help them feel comfortable?
Thanks I know it is a lot of questions but I really NEED the money and wanna knock it out of the park the first night. Thanks
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
I will answer your questions when I wake up a little more but I have to say PIX PLZ MY FAVE DJ HAZ BLUE EYEZ AND HE'Z HOT.
;)
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
I want to know more specific how you handle the line up? Is there an order or do I just make the list up as I seee fit? It depends on your club. I've worked at clubs were they go by the order the girls check in and at clubs where the dj makes the line up to mix up the variety of girls/music.
how do you know who is working, do all the girls come at the same time? Like I said, depend on the club. At my club, the girls have to check in with the dj when they get on the floor.
How do I know which stage to assign to which girl? (there are 2 maybe 3 I think) Usually when more customers come in you open up more stages. Management might tell you.
Any tricks on remembering all the girls names? Sometimes a girl has a name that really matches her personality/how she dresses/what music she dances to, but most of the time you just have to remember it like anyone else.
Do certain girls have seniority on who gets to dance to which song? Yes and no. Usually the girls will give you a genre on what music she likes, and maybe a couple favorite songs too. In the clubs I have worked at, every girl has a "song" or two that are "her songs" and everyone knows that and everyone is cool with it. Pretty much their signature song or what not, lol. I've never had a problem with it and I've never known or heard of girls having problems with it.
Is it ok to play a song twice in one shift? No. People will notice, management will notice, and the girls will notice (might even get upset, such as having to dance to the same song twice). My club would be pissed if you did that, lol.
I know I wont be mixing really and doing mostly fading and will be doing a lot of MCing do you guys have any clever lines that always work? Try to make the girls stand out. Make them sound amazing and draw attention to them, make the customers notice. It most likely will increase your tip. As for clever lines, my djs try to be funny, or talk about the crowd.
Would it be a good idea for me to bring candy for the dancers when they come up to help them feel comfortable? I would ask management first. If they are cool with it, they hell yeah bring candy. Girls love candy. I love candy. Haha.
Thanks I know it is a lot of questions but I really NEED the money and wanna knock it out of the park the first night. Thanks
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
ha ok but im strickly on this for info, not trying to meet girls. I can email you some photos if you like. I mostly get that I look like a cute boy and no one ever gets my age right
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
cayday19 thank you soo much. Is there any other advice you can give me???
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
same song in one shift
it depends on how long the shift is I work 12 hour shifts and to be honest after 12 hours its kinda hard not to repeat (especially with some of the girls that I work with) just dont play the song twice in a row
had technical trouble once and ended up playing warrant cherry pie three times in a row people were a little upset with me
as an above poster said it mostly depends on the club, dont be afraid to ask questions
its better to look stupid than to have no idea what your doing and look incompetent
good luck and tell us how it goes
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
wow a 12 hour shift. Can I ask on average what you earn? and what state your in?
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
Quote:
Originally Posted by
BluEyeDJ
I want to know more specific how you handle the line up? Is there an order or do I just make the list up as I seee fit?
Sometimes the management does it for you, but if not, there are a couple of possibilities:
1) By group: You can have a group of girls come up at a time for a set of songs. The only good thing about doing it this way is that you can have the same genre of music for the entire group. That can also be a bad thing if you have a diverse crowd. I also hate it doing it this way because when you add girls to your list, sometimes you have to bump someone off the group.
2) One at a time: After every song, take one girl down and put a new girl up. This is my favorite way because no one gets skipped, everyone gets their song, and when you have to add a girl you don't have to wait for an entire group to finish their set. It's more talking, so you might have to play "intermission music" while making announcements in between songs.
Whatever you do, check with management, and give the dancers a heads-up on how you will run it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
BluEyeDJ
how do you know who is working, do all the girls come at the same time?
How do I know which stage to assign to which girl? (there are 2 maybe 3 I think)
Management should have that info. At some clubs the doorman does it for you.
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Originally Posted by
BluEyeDJ
Any tricks on remembering all the girls names?
Open up Excel or just NotePad/TextEdit on your computer and start a database with Name, genre, genres not to play, and songs not to play. When you meet a dancer for the first time, sit down and talk to them while you're playing a song. Smile, say hi, ask her how she's doing, what her name is, what she wants to hear, AND what she doesn't want to hear. Make small talk with her (if she has time) and say "one more time, your stage name is _____, right?" At this point she might give you her real name, but ONLY call her that when no one else is around. NEVER on the mic! As you're talking to her and afterwards, say her stage name repeatedly. NOTHING is worse than calling a dancer by another dancer's name so this is very important. When no one's looking, write a physical description of her in your database if that will help you remember. At the end of the night, give them your number so that when they come up with another song, they can text it to you so you can add it to their database.
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Originally Posted by
BluEyeDJ
Do certain girls have seniority on who gets to dance to which song?
You'll have the girl that says "This is my song, do NOT play it for anyone else!" or "If you play _____ when I'm on the stage I'll choke you!" You better do what she says cause she's tipping you at the end of the night!
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Originally Posted by
BluEyeDJ
Is it ok to play a song twice in one shift?
Never, unless someone tips you big, or if it's a great song. Keep in mind that bartenders, waitresses, and management have to listen to your music throughout your shift, so try to look out for them also.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
BluEyeDJ
I know I wont be mixing really and doing mostly fading and will be doing a lot of MCing do you guys have any clever lines that always work?
The best thing you can do is go to your club or visit any other GC's with a great MC on your night off, sit at the bar for a couple hours, listen to how they talk, and take notes. You'll probably also discover new songs from doing this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
BluEyeDJ
Would it be a good idea for me to bring candy for the dancers when they come up to help them feel comfortable?
Only if it's Lindt chocolate haha... Gum is good too, but only if it's really good.
Hope that helped!
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
Dont get to much into a set way of doing things before you hit the club. Each club has their own way of doing things and you will have to ask most of your questions once you are there (seniority, music type, song ownerships, and repeat songs).
You should definitely make a list of girls and write little despcriptions for your own memory (nice not perverted or offensive) Also list will aid in your line up and *will help you remember who has paid/tipped you yet* and how often theyve danced.
Feel free to make little music preference notes on your own dancer list. Unless they have a folder on the computer for dancers or allow ipods.
Good luck!!! And candy sounds very sweet, no pun intended. If a dj showed he cared that much from the get go id be softened :0)
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
'Hey, that's my song! Why are you playing it for her???!!!!'
I guarantee you you will hear this several hundred times if you last more than a couple years in this business. One time I had a dancer scream at me so fucking loud from the floor, the entire fucking club heard her--and I had never once played it for her! We had talked about the song, once, that was it--and it was a different version. Then she tried to sic members of a major motorcycle gang on me because I argued with her about it. It didn't work, but that really pissed me off...
You will run into dancers who will try to claim any and all songs by any given artist--or two or three artists even, and dancers who will try to claim a song if it's ever been played even just once for her, even if you didn't know as it was the other DJ (if he actually even did play it lol).
It's a great idea to let dancers have a few songs that are 'theirs', especially if they really look good dancing to those songs. But you have to weigh things carefully. If it's a new cheesy, shitty, overplayed poptop40 song, it should go to whoever looks best, makes your job easier in some ways, or is the highest bidder. If it's been 'their song' in that club for a year before you got there, go with the flow--just make sure they aren't lying to you about it and it's been played for several of them, lol. There's ways to find out these things.
It's not a great idea to play some songs for certain dancers, like if your club had lousy hiring standards and there are seriously unattractive dancers and you have to put one up next, don't play a song that goes on and on about how beautiful she is, etc., especially if it's a slow song, too.
I try like hell not to play the same song twice in a shift, but since I work with a lot of foreign dancers who barely speak English (like about 85% most nights) and it's almost impossible to figure out what they like in some cases, I will play one of the maybe only 4 songs I know they do like at the beginning of the night, and then at the end.
They'll sure let you know if they don't like a song, language barrier or not!
:D
When you make a rotation, if they have you do that, always try to balance out the really hot dancers with the unattractive ones. Hot girl/not hot girl/hot girl/not hot girl, etc. If you have 4-5 unattractive dancers in a row, you are going to kill your crowd dead, they'll be running out the fucking door. Ideally your list will be arranged so that the music makes smooth transitions, but that's much less important than balancing the appearance factor.
Keeping a list on the computer is a great idea, but nothing beats a real list on paper written in big black letters with a marker, you can see instantly who's next, etc.
Never ask them their real names, it's way too easy to get mixed up and call them that way, NOT a good idea! The customers may feel special somehow knowing the real name, but it doesn't matter for you, really.
Fading the songs into each other should give you plenty of chance to announce whatever, playing 'transition music' is a bad idea as it means even more work and will lead to wasted time in private dance rooms, and they HATE that! Keep the songs short, they LOVE that. Industry standard is 3:30, but in busier clubs like mine it's 3 minutes or less if it's busy, sometimes 2:30 even. That means no time at all to do anything in between, so you have to be on your game bigtime in these clubs
In most clubs I have worked in, the hardest part of the job is dealing with the dancers, much more so than the customers or the managers (though occasionally you will run into a flaming asshole manager, that's for sure!). Whereas most of them are usually fine, when you are working with 40-60 girls, there are always a few problem cases, and it only takes one on a rampage to ruin your night. Especially if she is sleeping with the owner.
You have to develop a way of catering to them and taking the best possible care of them, but you must avoid at all costs the horrible fate of being mistaken for a customer type. The worst thing you can do is put yourself on a lower level than they are, and that's what you will do if you act like a customer. Like you want to make them feel attractive and confident when you put them onstage, but never fawn over them like some customers do.
Never, ever buy dances from them on your night off!! Some will try to convince you it's OK. It's not. It's better not to date them even, go to other clubs if you must. If you are attractive you will get offers. Resist them. Especially if the manager is trying for them at the same time lol! I had to learn that lesson the hard way.
Customers have to pay the dancers for their time, dancers have to pay you to take good care of them. Big difference. The better you take care of them the more money you will make. Just don't piss off the owner or manager in the process.
Never, ever lose the respect of the dancers--mutual respect is the key to surviving and prospering as a DJ. If they don't respect you, they won't tip you as well, and many of them will pull shit on you, like saying they can't possibly go onstage for any number of contrived reasons, or try to get you to break the music rules, etc.
I literally cannot count the times I have had dancers bring me a song on a CD or whatever, I ask them if it's slow (because on busy nights in most clubs slow songs are a huge no-no and can get you fired). "Oh NO, it's not slow at all!! they will promise you--and sometimes they even actually believe they are telling you the truth. Then the song is some horrible whiny depressing shit that makes you want to slash your wrists--especially after the owner asks you what the fuck you are playing that horrible song for, and you're out the fucking door the next week.
If there is time at all, I will check any new song a dancer asks for before playing it, to make sure it won't get me in trouble. Same thing with hard core rap in clubs that don't allow it. They will promise you it's fine every time, no cussing, no guys singing about 'n***ers' or 'bitch suck my dick', etc., then you play it and it's nothing but.
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
^^^You're a genius. Why did I not ever work with you? o.0
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Djoser
When you make a rotation, if they have you do that, always try to balance out the really hot dancers with the unattractive ones. Hot girl/not hot girl/hot girl/not hot girl, etc.
I'd add mix it up as much as possible. Hot black girl/not hot blonde/hot asian/red head, etc. If you have 20 white girls and 4 black girls, make sure the black girls have plenty of separation and vice-versa. The more variety the better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Djoser
Fading the songs into each other should give you plenty of chance to announce whatever, playing 'transition music' is a bad idea as it means even more work and will lead to wasted time in private dance rooms, and they HATE that!
No kidding! My current club asks for a :45 break song between every girl. EVERY GIRL! It's nice to be able to control that much music but customers get mad when I play the good stuff for less than a minute. I usually end up running the break songs til after the 1st chorus (about 1:30) if not longer and it's a huge waste.
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
^^^Jesus Christ the dancers would flip the fuck out if we did that at my club!^^^
Oh I forgot to mention it is a good idea to keep close track of who tips you how much every night, especially if you work with a lot of girls. That way no one can stiff you, and you know who to take better care of. So many dancers will try to weasel out of tipping you! This way you can keep an eye on that.
I will stop whatever I am doing, count the money, and write it down right away. It can be tough when it's busy but it really helps.
And yeah you have to split up the black dancers, even they will ask you to do that if they are smart. It may not be politically correct, but it is the reality of working in the clubs. Some owners and managers will get right on your ass about it if you somehow fail to arrange it that way (like the white girls in between are all up in Champagne Room).
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
anyone else think this guy actually got eaten alive his first night, I dont think ive seen any new posts from him
my club doesnt have break songs no free ride for the people in the PD area
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
Hard to say, it depends a lot on the club, too. If it's a rougher club it can be even more brutal on a newbie DJ.
OTOH some guys seem to take to it easier than others.
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
Hi, here is my advice:
I want to know more specific how you handle the line up? Is there an order or do I just make the list up as I seee fit? No there is an order, if a girl gets skipped she is going to be pissed at you. Our club it works on a list the DJ just goes down, but when a new girl comes it she gets next song to start out, then is back at the end of the line.
how do you know who is working, do all the girls come at the same time? As far as who is working, they will check in with you. At my club we can come and go when we please so girls are always being added to the rotation.
How do I know which stage to assign to which girl? (there are 2 maybe 3 I think) We have a rotation, whoever trains you should tell you this. Then again, our DJ doesnt deal with that crap, we know our rotation!
Any tricks on remembering all the girls names? All I have to say is, who cares... they will tell you who they are.
Do certain girls have seniority on who gets to dance to which song? No fuckin way in my club. Yes, some girls will bully others into not requesting 'their' song but my DJ says "unless you can show me a royalty check, the song is anyones game" I love him <3
Is it ok to play a song twice in one shift? Um no, please don't it would be mortifying for the second girl trying to dance to it.
I know I wont be mixing really and doing mostly fading and will be doing a lot of MCing do you guys have any clever lines that always work? Our DJ announces five songs in advance who is up... then he always tells the custys how beautiful and sexy we are and mentions that we only work off tips ;)
Would it be a good idea for me to bring candy for the dancers when they come up to help them feel comfortable? WTF... is that like, the whole rape thing? "hey kid, want some candy" No, we have breath mints or gum because we are talking to people all night long, we don't need your candy.
Another thing to kind of help you out: I dont know what software our DJs use but they have a place where they can add lists with different songs. Each dancer has a list of songs she like to dance to for easy access, then if she doesnt request a song by her next set the DJ can throw one on he knows she like anyway!
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Djoser
When you make a rotation, if they have you do that, always try to balance out the really hot dancers with the unattractive ones. Hot girl/not hot girl/hot girl/not hot girl, etc. If you have 4-5 unattractive dancers in a row, you are going to kill your crowd dead, they'll be running out the fucking door. Ideally your list will be arranged so that the music makes smooth transitions, but that's much less important than balancing the appearance factor.
It's also good to mix up body types (big tits no ass, big ass no tits, small, round, etc.) and/or hair types/colors (blondes, brunettes, short, long, straight, curly, etc.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Djoser
Fading the songs into each other should give you plenty of chance to announce whatever, playing 'transition music' is a bad idea as it means even more work and will lead to wasted time in private dance rooms, and they HATE that! Keep the songs short, they LOVE that. Industry standard is 3:30, but in busier clubs like mine it's 3 minutes or less if it's busy, sometimes 2:30 even. That means no time at all to do anything in between, so you have to be on your game bigtime in these clubs
In most clubs I have worked in, the hardest part of the job is dealing with the dancers, much more so than the customers or the managers (though occasionally you will run into a flaming asshole manager, that's for sure!). Whereas most of them are usually fine, when you are working with 40-60 girls, there are always a few problem cases, and it only takes one on a rampage to ruin your night. Especially if she is sleeping with the owner.
::bows to you:: 5 nights a week I dj at two gentlemen's clubs (bikini bars) in southeast Virginia where there is an average of 12 girls on a FRIDAY night. I've ALWAYS wanted to check out a large nude club (large as in building size, not dancer size lol).
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Djoser
I literally cannot count the times I have had dancers bring me a song on a CD or whatever, I ask them if it's slow (because on busy nights in most clubs slow songs are a huge no-no and can get you fired). "Oh NO, it's not slow at all!! they will promise you--and sometimes they even actually believe they are telling you the truth. Then the song is some horrible whiny depressing shit that makes you want to slash your wrists--especially after the owner asks you what the fuck you are playing that horrible song for, and you're out the fucking door the next week.
THANK you! The dancers I work with don't understand that, mainly because they're all first time dancers. Then I have dancers that say they ONLY dance to slow music, so when it's busy, I try to stay around 93-108bpm. Otherwise, it's always AT LEAST 124bpm on busy nights.
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AJtheDJ
Then I have dancers that say they ONLY dance to slow music
A veteran knows you can't play slow music when it's busy and if a rookie dancer insists on it, tell her no. Be firm. If she threatens to tell the manager, let her. It'll make you look good.
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
Unless she is blowing him regularly, and also embellishes your shortcomings considerably, and he is not too swift. I have had all three happen more than once.
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
there are times I wish it was a requirement to be gay if you were a male strip club manager
I will admit I have legitimately screwed up sometimes and I deserved to be yelled at but there were plenty of other times, ah well what ya gonna do least I never ticked a girl off enough that they actually want me fired
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dirtycash
No kidding! My current club asks for a :45 break song between every girl. EVERY GIRL! It's nice to be able to control that much music but customers get mad when I play the good stuff for less than a minute. I usually end up running the break songs til after the 1st chorus (about 1:30) if not longer and it's a huge waste.
If it's a break song to make announcements, couldn't you just use instrumentals instead so that you don't waste your good songs? At one of my clubs, the owner and the main bartender LOVE techno, so I play the thick portions of house, trance, and drum n bass songs as break songs (since none except 1 or 2 of our dancers like techno)... I also throw in 120bpm+ dancehall riddims, which for the most part are very short anyway.
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
Great idea...
Also, a warning to newbie DJs. To put it crudely, 'The Squeaky Bitch gets the Grease.'
You can have all the professional dancers who really keep the customers in the club happy as can be and tipping hell out of you. Beware the one or two whackos that will freak out and run crying and whining to the manager and/or owners if they don't get every little thing they want--despite being the worst tippers and the least talented strippers, and constantly asking for what they cannot have.
It's a delicate balance. You can't win every time. If you are too accommodating they will run all over you, and you look bad to the owners. If you are a hardass and piss off the whining bitches, you look bad to the owners. Trying both will stress you the hell right out.
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AJtheDJ
If it's a break song to make announcements, couldn't you just use instrumentals instead so that you don't waste your good songs? At one of my clubs, the owner and the main bartender LOVE techno, so I play the thick portions of house, trance, and drum n bass songs as break songs (since none except 1 or 2 of our dancers like techno)... I also throw in 120bpm+ dancehall riddims, which for the most part are very short anyway.
I throw in some Deadmau5 or whatever but I don't really have that kinda crowd. I mainly play classic and hard rock.
Another thing about DJing, watch your crowd. If you work in a rock club, try to lay off the hip hop if you see a bunch of mullets, etc.
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Re: DeeJaying a Gentlemans club for the first time, need some advice
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Djoser
Unless she is blowing him regularly
That was me in Denver.