Posts Tagged ‘filthy rich’
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
I recently received an email from Paul L. from San Diego Ca which read:
“It has been a lifelong dream of mine to follow what I love and become a DJ. Do you have any advice you can offer an up and coming DJ?”
This is the question I get asked the most so I thought I would answer this in a blog.
Ten years ago if you would have asked me this question I would have given a more optimistic answer but since the economy is in dire straights, my answer may not be pleasing.
Choosing a career as a DJ is a turbulent one in the best of times. Now since both the economy and the music business are in server decline, a career as a DJ is even more daunting. Not say it can’t happen of course.
The first thing I would suggest is get a day job and work on your music on the side. DJ’ing is a very competitive business; ask the people who do it now. You are only as good as your last music production or your last set.
You should use the web as much as you can to promote yourself as a DJ. Find promoters of club events and email them a demo 30 min mp3 mix along with a digital bio. Include nice photos so promoters can put a face to the name.
If you are not producing your own music you will have an extremely hard time making it in the DJ biz. I started making songs before I was ever offered a DJ gig. I believe if I had never produced music, DJ’ing would have been an uphill battle. There are 1,000’s of DJ’s who don’t produce trying to get their foot in the door with club promoters and resident club DJ’s. Producing your own tracks will make you stand out from the crowd. If you produce good songs then the resident club DJ’s may recognize your name and even play your music. This is a great way to become established.
Make sure you get a nice looking website where people can go to view your bio and music productions (should you have any).
Hope that helps you get started.
Till next time
- Dave
Tags: Breakbeat, Breaks, Dance Music, dave london, DJ, DJ Dave London, filthy rich, house, mp3, yes mate recordings, yesmaterecordings.com
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Wednesday, May 6th, 2009
I recently received an email asking me what got me started produceing music. It was one song. Let me explain.
I still remember the night I heard the song which inspired me to begin producing dance music. I can’t remember the exact year but I was at home in the UK visiting the Opera House in Bournemouth. The Opera House nightclub was this huge club that used to be a theater (hence the name). The sound system was amazing. The club had a night hosted by Slinky Records (a big label at the time) where they would play all house music all night long. Within 5 minutes of entering the club ,I heard this song with this massive synth line that literally gave me butterflies and made me fall in love with dance music.
The song?
Insomnia by Faithless produced by Rollo.
When I heard that synthline fill the massive space of the Opera House, it gave me goosebumps. I would say that was a life changing experience. From that point on I knew I wanted to make music.Believe it or not, I was completely sober the night I heard that song. For anyone who doesnt know me, I don’t drink or do any drugs.
Insomnia was a underground record at the time. This was a long time before the song ever became popular. I believe I was 19 at the time.
So that’s what got me into producing dance music. Thanks Rollo, you are an inspiration to me.
Till next time…
- Dave
Tags: Breakbeat, Breaks, Dance Music, dave london, DJ Dave London, filthy rich, house, mp3, techno, trance, yes mate recordings, yesmaterecordings.com
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Friday, May 1st, 2009
You can read part 1 of this story here:
http://www.yesmaterecordings.com/blog/?p=102
So here I was, stuck in the beginning of a snowstorm in Chicago, 4 records to play in my record bag, no change of clothes (did I mention I forgot to bring anything other than my wallet?), running on 3 hours of sleep. Oh the glamorous life of a travelling DJ…..
My stomach was gurgling because I hadn’t eaten anything for as long as I could remember so since I had some time to kill, I embarked on a quest for food. I finally found a deli and ordered a sandwich. I get to the checkout, swipe my card…the girl at the cash register shoots me this look, rolls her eyes and says, “declined”. This can’t be happen to me. She tries swiping the card again but alas, the Gods at Amex are intent on making my life hell today. I look in my wallet to grab another card and what do I see? No other credit cards and no cash. Of course I had left everything on my dresser at home and rushed out without the ever so important cash currency.
So I leave the sandwhich on the counter feeling as if the universe is trying to tell me something today. Maybe I’m not supposed to get to Vancouver; maybe the plane I’m supposed to board isn’t going to make it. I tell myself that’s just superstition and that I haven’t missed a DJ gig in over decade.
At this point I just want to get on the next plane ; maybe I’ll get some peanuts at least.
Eventually the plane out of Chicago is called and I board the plane. Of course, another a middle seat for 3 hours..yay!
We sit on the plane for about 30 mins and then hear what sounds like liquid being sprayed on the planes exterior. The Captain gets on the intercom and explains that they are de-icing the plane. Apparently you have to do this before the plane takes off or it will crash. That’s thoughtful of them to explain this in such detail. After another 15 mins, finally the planes pulls out of the gate and we head off towards the runway via the taxi ramp. Then we wait….and wait…and wait some more. 45 minutes of waiting and the snow is starting to fall harder. Then we pull off the taxi ramp and wait some more. 1h 15 of waiting. The Captain then explains we need to be de-iced again because of the waiting. 1h 3o mins after leaving the gate, we de-ice again and then head back up the taxi ramp…and wait. At this point the passengers are starting to get irritated. At least they had money to eat before they got on the plane so what do they have to be upset about??
1hr 50 mins after leaving the gate…more waiting, then another de-ice…you get the picture.
Eventually the plane takes off 3 hrs after leaving the gate. We managed to leave just in time because the snow was really starting to fall and I was thinking we would be stuck for good.
While in Chicago, I had managed to contact a friend of mine who lived in Vancouver and he was kind enough to let me use his vinyl so at least I was safe there.
Eventually we landed in Vancouver at 11.45pm. I was whisked away by the promoter, straight to the Plaza of Nations and straight up to the DJ booth for a midnight set. By this time I was so exhausted but as I entered the Plaza of Nations and saw 4500 screaming people the adrenalin started to flow and my spirits were lifted. The Plaza is an amazing glass building right on the waterfront in Vancouver. It looks like a massive convention center. It really is an amazing place to DJ.
I played for about 75 mins and enjoyed every second of it. The people of Vancouver maybe the greatest dance music fans in this part of the world. They just don’t stop.
I finally got to my hotel room at 3.30 am and collapsed into bed. The next thing I know I was awoken by a 7am wake up call. I looked at my air ticket, yep, 9am flight back to Orlando. Oh well. at least I’ll get some sleep on the plane…maybe I won’t get a middle seat on the way home….no such luck.
Ahhh the glamorous life of a DJ.
Some photos from that night so many years ago:
Till Next Time
- Dave
Tags: Breakbeat, Breaks, Dance Music, dave london, DJ Dave London, filthy rich, house, mp3, techno, yes mate recordings, yesmaterecordings.com
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Thursday, April 30th, 2009
I have been fiddling about with Live after having a horrendous time trying to sync it up as a slave to Logic 8. Seems like the “8′’s” are male dominants battling for master supremacy; Live doesn’t like being the slave.
With the help of Ray & Maltais from Dr’s of Rhythm, I finally got the 2 programs syncng correctly.
I think that Live will definitely speed up the studio work flow. Auditioning sounds is so much quicker with Live, you just go from kik to kik until you find one that sounds good in your mix. No more having to preload sounds.
Other than that, I don’t know how much Live 8 has really been upgraded from version 7. It seems like these music making programs have 1001 too many things I never use. Maybe I just don’t have enough time to read through the 600 page manual. Manuals are for techies, I just want to make music.
All in all I think Live 8 is a pretty cool program and I’m interested in getting a little deeper with it.
I’ll keep you updated.
Till next time..
- Dave
Tags: Breakbeat, Breaks, Dance Music, dave london, DJ Dave London, dj filthy rich, filthy rich, house, mp3, trance, yes mate recordings, yesmaterecordings.com
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Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
I receive many emails asking zany questions about music production, DJ’ing, and about how the Yes Mate offices came to be located in the basement of a medieval castle in the mountains of Bavaria.
Today I decided to post one of these emails and give my 2 cents worth.
“Dave, I want get into music production and aspire to have my music released on your label, can you recommend a good software program to get me started?” – Garry D. Indianapolis, IN. USA.
Well Gary from Indiana, I can only speak from experience and this is only my humble opinion so take what you want and leave the rest.
I haven’t used a PC to make music in years. I switched to a Mac from Cakewalk because Cakewalk had a mind of its own when syncing hardware sytnhs via Midi. It used to be so frustrating hearing one or two notes that would hit a milli second of beat during the recording of a song. After enduring years of this production torture, I bit the bullet and plonked down some serious money for a Mac G4 running Logic Pro version 5.
The learning curve swtiching from PC to Mac was pretty steep but well worthit. Everything synched perfectly and production became enjoyable again.
I know many people who are using a combination of both Logic & Ableton Live now which I would imagine is a good pairing. Logic does have the disadvantage of a steep learning curve but it editing and mixing functions are 5 star.
I’m not a big fan of Acid or Fruity Loops but that’s just me.
I have always been one to buy what I need from the start rather than buying something cheap and upgrading when I grow out of it. It works out to be more expensive the second way.
So my ideal production set up would be Mac G5 running Logic 8 alongside Ableton Live 8.
Till next time
- Dave
Tags: Breakbeat, Breaks, Dance Music, dave london, DJ, DJ Dave London, dj filthy rich, filthy rich, trance, yes mate recordings, yesmaterecordings.com
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Thursday, April 16th, 2009
Shouts to everyone who received their free mp3 just for reading our humble little blog…now that was so painful was it? Sound like your dentist?
Back when I gave birth to Yes Mate Recordings (one day Stan, our mascot, popped out of me, it was quite strange), mp3’s weren’t really popular. Makes me feel old. I told that to a 13 yr old kid a couple of days ago and he looked at me with complete disbelief; no Itunes? how could that be? He asked if I was born in the 1920’s! Anyways, that’s beside the point….
When Yes Mate Recordings was conceived, the only way you get your music out to the masses, was either to put it on a cd or press a recrord…remember those?? Since DJ’s didn’t play cd’s in the mid 1990’s you had no other choice but to press vinyl.
Just to give you an idea of the process of pressing a piece of vinyl:
Record a song – send it off for mastering – send it to the pressing plant – wait 2 weeks for an acetate test pressing – approve acetate (if you were lucky) – wait 4-8 weeks for test pressings – send the test pressings back because of an error -wait 2 weeks for more test pressings – Approve test pressings – wait 2-4 weeks for production copies – send production copies out to distributors – wait and hope.
Sound like fun? Imagine having 10 of these on the go at once…!
The pressing plants never once got it right in the countless records I oversaw production on. I honestly don’t blame DJ’s for not wanting to deal with the hassle. It took months to get a piece of vinyl out onto the market.
When you placed an order at a pressing plant, it was a roll of the dice. Sometimes the test vinyl would be wrong (I have been sent vinyl with someone else’s music on it). Sometimes the vinyl would be warped (synonymous with a plant in S.Florida)….sometimes the vinyl just sounded terrible. It was a shake of the dice.
By the time you sorted out all the errors, it was 3-4 months before we had a product you could actually sell. I can remember a record plant taking 6 months to get an order correct. When I finally received the test pressings, I could barely recall how the song on the record sounded. And all this to make $1.50 (if you were lucky).
So while I am a hugefan of vinyl and would rather play vinyl over cd’s any day of the week, I can definitely see why vinyl is becoming the dinosaur of the EDM world.
Maybe now you can see why too.
Till next time….
- Dave
Tags: Breakbeat, Dance Music, dave london, DJ, DJ Dave London, filthy rich, house, mp3, techno, yes mate recordings, yesmaterecordings.com
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Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
Here at the Yes Mate Recordings castle (our office is in the dungeon level of an old medieval castle, located deep in the heart of Bavaria!), sometimes an ocean of generosity washes through our souls. Today is one of the those days…!
It is free mp3 day! That’s right, we giving away a free mp3 today.
All you have to do is leave a comment on our blog and leave a valid email address.
We will then send you a download link to a randomized Yes Mate Recording track.
We will be doing this promotion quite frequently so make sure you visit our website www.yesmaterecordings.com and click on the Myspace, Facebook & Twitter links so you can stay updated.
Till next time
- Dave
Tags: Breakbeat, Breaks, Dance Music, dave london, DJ, DJ Dave London, filthy rich, house, mp3, techno, yesmaterecordings.com
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Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
I arrived home from a weekend trip to find my memory waiting for me. RAM that is, green gold, cyber tea. The Mac will be maxed out and should really crank with Logic and a gaggle of plug-ins.
A great source for RAM is www.crucial.com, at least for Macs, check it out.
I am getting a new midi controller to rock some of these great soft synths. We also plan to hook up the old Roland JP8000 for some warm, vintage, analog sounds. Yes she is more than just a prop for photos.
With some of the new plug ins that are available it should really create some amazing results. We are adding Ableton Live 8 to the mix this week. Thank you Jenny Smalls! The plan is to use it as a filthy little slave to Logic 8, cutting down time on the simple bits and then adding the meat and dressing the tracks in Logic. We are taking way too long to complete a track currently.
It’s no way to run a proper label, or even Yes Mate for that matter.
We vow to be more focused and you’ll see it in the tracks.
Don’t be surprised if you hear some different styles coming from the Yes Mate camp. Variety is the spice of rave!
Filthy….out!
Tags: Breakbeat, Breaks, dave london, DJ, dj filthy rich, filthy rich, house, techno, trance, yes mate recordings, yesmaterecordings.com
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Monday, April 13th, 2009
I get alot of emails asking me how I got my start into music production and what equipment I use; so I thought I would answer this in a blog.
I started producing electronic music back in 1995 (yes I know, I’m old). I can still remember the excitement of buying my first keyboard. Back in 1995 people were using Atari computers as sequencers but I was a bit stuck in my ways since I had learned how to use the sequencer on my Ensoniq ASR-10. It took me a few years to come around to the idea of using a pc to sequence music but eventually I made the switch to a PC running Cakewalk. I really don’t know how I managed without a PC sequencer because visually, it just makes producing life easier. Not being able to see what your song structure looks like visually is unthinkable nowadays.
In the olden days, soft synths didn’t sound anywhere near as good as hardware synths. Today it is so much easier and faster to produce music because of soft synths and programs such as Acid & Live. Im still not a big fan of Acid or Fruity Loops; it is just a personal choice.
I eventually mad the switch from PC to Mac back in 2001. I always had problems with Cakewalk since I was running many hardware synths.. The music never seems hold its timing. Eventually I broke down and plonked down the money for a good Mac system & Logic Pro and it was probably the best investment I ever made; no more timing problems.
Logic Pro really lets me get inside the guts of the song and do some cool editing. Some songs I hear I can instantly hear they were produced on Acid or Fruity Loops. They sound very mechanical. Nothing wrong with this though, it’s just not for me.
To be continued….
- Dave
Tags: Breakbeat, Dance Music, dave london, DJ, DJ Dave London, filthy rich, mp3
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Friday, April 10th, 2009
Rich and I spent an amazing night in the studio. It finally clicked after a few weeks of trying to throw a fun tune together.
Studio sessions have always been a love hate relationship for me. I LOVE making music but I HATE the technical side. I have always struggled with audio engineering and making my tracks sounds clear. This year I decided to stop worrying about it and just make the music; so what if it’s not perfect right? With this new mindset, Rich and I came up with a really bumping track (we think so anyways). It may be a while before it gets posted but I will keep you up to date.
Now we have the struggle of finding a name.
You can now sign up for our mailing list here:
www.yesmaterecordings.com ( near the bottom of the page)
We will be giving aways lots of free music in the upcoming months so make sure you sign up.
Till next time
- Dave
Tags: Breakbeat, Dance Music, dave london, DJ, DJ Dave London, filthy rich, mp3, Music
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