henrikdk

What is this track (it's approximately 2 years old) Anyone??? (It's Mark Knight behind the decks by the way)

Yeeeeeaaaahhhh!!! Finally an optimistic point of view. I was beginning to get worried. If I go, I am determined to make my living as DJ during the 6 months. Of course I would have to settle with mainstream gigs, if the competition is so hard for house gigs. Please say some more...

My considerations of why I want to move to NYC for 6 months is, I have a friend who's moving there also, and it would be a great experince together. If we're going I would apply for extended tourist visa, and not illegally immigrate, but I would have to work illegally though. In Denmark clubs are usually open thursdays, fridays and saturdays. But in NYC I'm sure clubs have open 7 days a week, which makes it easier to make it a living, eventhough the salary is modest. Regarding salary I've heard, that it's common in NYC, that DJs only play sets of 1-2 hours, because a typical club night has multiple DJs as line up for an evening. In Denmark ther's often only 1 DJ, who plays 5-6 hours. This of course justifies the lower salaries, if this is true!? My motive for going to NYC and make a living is not to "break through" and become a star DJ. The city already has many famous DJs that you can't compete with. And I certainly don't expect residencies at Crobar, Cielo, Avalon or Pacha I was more hoping that there were several smaller Clubs with opportunities for me to hooke up with. The most important thing is, to be able to make a living out of DJ'ing. I'm quite surprised to hear of the roughness and competition, mostly because when I vistited NYC (may 2005) I felt the mentality was very openminded, helpfull and networking-minded in general. But it doesn't sound like it goes for DJ business. One more thing. I'm also curious of how the skill level is amongst DJs, when you're not necessarily playing in big (famous) clubs. I have an experience from when I was in NYC. I was at Avalon, downstairs main floor Tall Paul was playing, upstairs (the R'N'B/Hip Hop room), this DJ was playing, I admit that he played some great tracks which is the most important, but he didn't mix them creatively together, mostly just cutting. When I went to the DJ booth I noticed, that he wasn't using the turntables (They were off and the cover down). He had a lot of burned CDs. I would think that, in a big club like Avalon, the "RNB/Hip Hop" DJ would use at least some vinyl, and with that amount of burned CDs, I thought maybe he is a noob - eventhough the choice of music was good, and he held a great party, that of course justifies he's residency there. I just think of newly started DJs when I see "no vinyls" and lots of burned CDs. That's also partly why I assumed that there's possibly (smaller) clubs for me to hooke up with. A website with streaming mixes is a great idea to promote oneself. But connections/networking is also necessary, which is why I turned to this Forum. Doesn't this change the perspective? A bit?

I'm seriously considering moving to NYC for 6 months, and work as DJ. But before deciding I need to know some more information about DJing in NYC. I've been a Club DJ in the second biggest city of Denmark (Scandinavia, Europe) for 10 years now. I get paid from $5-600/night (5-6 hours). That's before taxes (which is 40% in DK). This salary is in the top of the scale when you're not famous. At my residencies the music profile varies which means I play music of: House, R'N'B/Hip Hop/Old School, Top20, Rare Grooves, Breaks, Re-edits, Bootlegs... Which pretty much makes me a mainstream DJ, eventhough I would say I'm strongest in House music which is my great passion. First of all all, I've heard that it's very difficult to get a Green Card, especially if I'm not related to an employer throughout the entire stay. This makes me dependent on payment without tax authorities' knowledge or "under the table". When this is said, I would like to know: - Is it normal in NYC to get paid "under the table"? - What's the level of a DJ salary in NYC? - What are the chances of finding DJ gigs in NYC? - This is the first forum in which I ask these questions. If this is the wrong place to post this, which should go to? With some help from users in this forum or other places, I could imagine that I would correspond with some contacts and maybe send mixed CDs/DJ sets, in order to get gigs, or hopefully residencies in NYC. I hope you can help, and I will look forward to read your replies. /Henrik