Metro Spirit - 10.19.17
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V28|NO42<br />
Hey, Mr. DJ<br />
kris Fisher<br />
Most people know by now that my main side-hustle is DJing weddings, parties<br />
and events. I was DJing a 15-year-old’s birthday party last weekend and encountered<br />
a young man that we DJs talk about from time to time. It’s the over-requester. There<br />
are many forms of over-requesters. This kid was an over-requester on several fronts.<br />
It’s not his fault. Most people don’t know party etiquette at 15. Some people don’t even<br />
know at later ages. So, I figure I’d lift the veil a bit and let you know a few unspoken DJ<br />
rules that might help you at the next party, club night or wedding you attend.<br />
1. Most DJs don’t take requests. I do. Maybe it’s the radio DJ in me but, if the song<br />
is important enough to you to come up and request it, I’ll do my best to play it. That<br />
leads us to No. 2<br />
2. I take requests; it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll play it. Like I said, I’ll do my best. A<br />
DJs job at a party or event is not to keep you happy (unless you’re the one who hired<br />
me, of course) — it’s to keep the crowd happy. You may LOVE Slipknot, and I’m a fan of<br />
some heavy rock here and there, too. But there’s a time and place for it. Unfortunately,<br />
this ain’t the time, and this ain’t the place. You may look cool to the couple of friends<br />
you’re hanging out with if you get me to play “Duality,” but it’s most likely going to<br />
clear the dance floor. For a DJ, this is like running out of tortillas at Taco Bell. It’s bad.<br />
DJs all have a general sense of what is going to keep the dance floor happy, so let us<br />
operate. I don’t come to your job and tell you to use a jack-hammer to change oil or to<br />
answer all your emails in Arabic. So don’t expect me to play a song that doesn’t belong<br />
at the event.<br />
3. The reason we don’t take requests is because we’re pretty in tune to what works<br />
for the type of event for which we were hired. More times than not, your request —<br />
unless it’s something really obscure — will get played at some point before the night<br />
is over without you even asking for it. Just be patient.<br />
4. If we’ve already played your request, we’re not going to play it again. So, don’t ask.<br />
We don’t care that you just got there and missed it. You’re going to have a good time<br />
with or without hearing that song. Just let it go.<br />
5. We also don’t care that you and your friends are about to leave. So don’t say “Hey,<br />
hurry and play my song, ’cause we’re about to leave.” That just means I can cross your<br />
song off the request list without playing it. That’s what you get for leaving.<br />
6. If you do happen to get us to play a request, don’t come back to ask for more.<br />
Unless you’re the one that hired us, you have a one request limit.<br />
7. Be patient. If you request a song, it’s not going to get played next (if it’s played at<br />
all). We’ll have to work it in. Don’t come up after the next song and go “What happened<br />
to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’?!”<br />
8. If you do keep coming up asking what happened to your song or re-requesting it<br />
like I don’t know that you’ve asked for it four times already, your song gets moved to<br />
the bottom of the list each time you come up, if there even is a list. Remember, I’m one<br />
of the very few who take requests.<br />
9. If I have to download your song, the likelihood that I’ll play it diminishes greatly. It<br />
better be really friggin’ good. If the song you want is only available on Soundcloud or<br />
YouTube, save yourself the trip to the DJ booth.<br />
10. And don’t say “this song will set this party off!” Every single time someone has<br />
said that to me, they ended up being the only person in the joint who knew the song.<br />
11. No, I will not plug in your phone to play music from it. I get it. I was always the<br />
guy requesting stuff from the DJ. I requested really obscure stuff because I thought<br />
it impressed the DJ. In fact, it’s my love for music that made me want to be a DJ in the<br />
first place (both radio and otherwise). Unfortunately, I can’t play most of the things I<br />
want to hear, either. But that’s what the ride home is for. These rules are tongue-incheek<br />
anyway. DJs know that people are going to do all the things mentioned above.<br />
It’s just a minor work aggravation, like the people who drink the last cup of coffee and<br />
don’t refill the pot. We’ll make sure you have a good time. So, just relax and enjoy the<br />
night… and don’t bump the table.<br />
KRIS FISHER is the midday host and program director for HD98.3 and an Augusta radio staple. He<br />
is a husband, father of three and lover of all things adventurous, as well as activities most people<br />
would have outgrown years ago. djkfish.com.<br />
19OCTOBER2017