BillFitzmaurice.info

My live rig is now practically perfect. Ironically, the phone has almost stopped ringing for live performance and DJ jobs for the past year. This is a little disheartening considering the amount of time I've been doing this. Sigh... I have two local wedding receptions in May and one in June, then the once a month Farmer's Market through November...that's it for the rest of the year. Granted this is not completely unprecedented...things may pop up at any time, but this is slow. I could probably put a little more effort into local marketing.

I've got two little girls, 2 and 5, a great wife, and I will say it's very nice to be home every evening, just like when I was a little boy...I remember spending Friday and Saturday evenings in my Dad's body shop and going to church on Saturday nights. Also, I don't miss driving the distances that I have done for some jobs since I started offering the DJ option. But...I'd like just a little more than this. Maybe I should just set up in the yard and play.

Just venting a little.

Don,

The live gig scene here is bad too. Or has been the past 3 months. The phone has just started ringing again. We were talking in the pub recently about how the money is the same now as it was 10 years ago. Also, pubs have been closing at an alarming rate round here. It's a 2 edged sword though, I don't go in pubs except to play....

Same thing here in Va., like you I do not do much other than word of mouth. I have a gig in May and a reception in August and one Christmas party scheduled.
Thats it.......so I am feeling your pain. I have all this equipment just sitting there. Enjoy the time with your family more gigs will hopefully come.

Can I join in your pity party?

Just got my rig where I want it.....new driverack, snake, and the Studiolive board....one gig scheduled - and it's a freebie.

Oh well, sometimes I think I just do this because I want to, not because I'm actually going to be able to use it as much as I want.

I staying busy running sound, just not on my system....instead on a hodgepodge of Peavey, JBL, and a Behringer board with 4 bad channels and one entire aux send that doesn't work......

Oh well.....

Well I see I'm in very good company. Yeah...I never go to any places where there's music except to play myself, which some people find odd...I'm very much a homebody. I've got a buddy of mine who has officially called it quits on his band of many years recently as well...same thing for my hair stylist. He plays bass and commented how by the time you practice, travel and move gear it's a not worth it...except (and a big except) for the enjoyment of actually playing. His group is aiming for 2-3 shows a year. Some people around me don't really understand that I don't just play for money (considering what I get sometimes, that was a very comical statement) . That can sometimes make it problematic for me to book my own jobs...I tend to get more when someone else books the job cause they don't look at playing the way I do. Hell, I'd do it for free...when I'm not in a rush, I really enjoy load in and load out. I make a great roadie.

doncolga wrote:I really enjoy load in and load out. I make a great roadie.

hmmmm.....we need to talk about a job for you...ever been to Texas?

I'm not above taking advantage of the mentally deranged....

It's the same everywhere. Lot of festivals cancelled or cut back this year.

But don't worry, I was watching the news and they said everything was great!

guitarkeys.com wrote:It's the same everywhere. Lot of festivals cancelled or cut back this year.

But don't worry, I was watching the news and they said everything was great!

I was supposed to have some business cards arrive a little while ago...not sure what happened, but I'm going to drop in on all the wedding vendors/venues in the area and at least leave some cards. I need to do that for the immediate surrounding counties too. There really should be enough gigs in 75 mile radius of Statesboro, I just need to market wisely.

doncolga wrote:when I'm not in a rush, I really enjoy load in and load out. I make a great roadie.

+1. When I've got plenty of time I like to spend some time setting up and fine tuning my little rig just the way I like it, crawl method with the subs and make sure the mains are placed and carrying well. Last gig I spent two hours loading in and 30 minutes loading out, then after loading in I do a good sound check to ensure the structural integrity of the building.

bassmonster wrote:

doncolga wrote:when I'm not in a rush, I really enjoy load in and load out. I make a great roadie.

+1. When I've got plenty of time I like to spend some time setting up and fine tuning my little rig just the way I like it, crawl method with the subs and make sure the mains are placed and carrying well. Last gig I spent two hours loading in and 30 minutes loading out, then after loading in I do a good sound check to ensure the structural integrity of the building.

A leisurely load in is a thing of beauty. Usually makes the rest of the job SO much better.

Last year we got asked to quote for a wedding evening bash. So we told them what we wanted, £400 and all the helium balloons afterwards. They tried to haggle, offered £200 for a 5 piece band. The cake cost £150. No deal.

£40 each for getting on for a 12 hour day, they're having a laugh.

very slow in wisco too. all the schools are taken, and if there are weddings they are 400$ and under, and it is always a rush for setup. what is your veiw on taking schools from other djs? if you can provide a better system for a bit less say, 300$ is that considered being a jerk? what is your viewpoint?

DJ Higgumz wrote:very slow in wisco too. all the schools are taken, and if there are weddings they are 400$ and under, and it is always a rush for setup. what is your veiw on taking schools from other djs? if you can provide a better system for a bit less say, 300$ is that considered being a jerk? what is your viewpoint?

I hate to low ball, but I know others probably do. There is only one group that I play that low for and it's basically a church youth group once or twice a year for group birthday parties. Getting paid something is better than nothing, but at a point, it's just worth the effort to load up, drive, and be out on the road. Like my barber told me this week...it doesn't cost anything to stay home on Saturday night.

Having said that, I have a local wedding reception this Saturday, and anther one at the end of the month, both paying pretty good and each about a 20 minute drive. I'm hoping there will be other potential couples there who may be interested for future events. I've not heard lots of other DJ's, but for the ones I have, I compare very favorably in my view.

wounded horse wrote:So we told them what we wanted, £400 and all the helium balloons afterwards. They tried to haggle, offered £200 for a 5 piece band.

And no balloons!? What has the world come to?

I do agree though, if you aren't doing this because you enjoy it, you could be doing better (i.e. more enjoyable and profitable) things with your time and energy.