View Full Version : Most EFFECTIVE way of getting rid of requesters????
I know a similar thread has been done before, but it does not specifically cover this issue.
What I am concerned with is whether there is a PROVEN method for swiftly getting rid of these annoying people, one that works in most circumstances - stock answers. Body language also.
I usually try completely ignoring them, but they just stand there for ages so eventually I have to deal with them which takes up heaps of time. I also try being really rude, just saying "no chance", then getting back to the decks. I find the more authoritative you are the less they will annoy you. But thats just me. How about you?
What is the best way of dealing with these people?
PS - this article is prettymuch the same as the thread: http://www.beatportal.com/feed/item/10-excuses-to-avoid-dj-requests/
patrickbateman
05-Oct-10, 10:17pm
don't even bother being polite. shut them down hard, then they will feel embarrassed and not return.
avatar_karma
05-Oct-10, 11:10pm
don't even bother being polite. shut them down hard, then they will feel embarrassed and not return.
This.
I find if you try to be polite about it they'll keep annoying you. When I was playing a deep house warm up set, I got asked by some silly girl to play some Bloody Beatroots. I turned and blatantly said, "no, it's not going to happen".
In saying that, another time I shut down another girl real good when she wanted me to play Calvin Harris again when I was playing a deep house warm up set, and she started abusing the shit out of me. :mad:
In saying that, another time I shut down another girl real good when she wanted me to play Calvin Harris again when I was playing a deep house warm up set, and she started abusing the shit out of me. :mad:
Respond with:
"Ohhhh yeahhhh I like that baby...ohhhh yeah talk dirty...go on...ohhhhh so so dirty"
...whilst pulling an ejaculation face the whole time. Also make sure to lick one hand, rub it on your face and say
"Ohhhhh alll over my face...fuck yes....ohhhhhh yesss"
Continue to dj the entire time.
That is all.
underhousearrest
05-Oct-10, 11:27pm
"i've been given a list and i'm just working through it"
i like to feign complete ignorance at their request.
"Madonna?? Who the fuck is Madonna? Nah mate, never heard of em"
Usually results in me being called a 'shit dj' by the punter, but I have a giggle to myself and just go about my business...
It's also fun telling them you don't have the choon, copping the abuse, then dropping said choon.
Funny story the other nite tho - I'm playing some (loud) bar, chick comes up and asks me to 'take off my shirt'
I answer with a sheepish nooo.
"Shots?" Was her reply... of course, not one to knock back a free drink from a hottie i accept, nodding merrily
3 hours pass and still no shots
I find out the next day (when flicking thru the aria charts) that these are actually songs she's asking me for.
Good times, good times
oh, there was a time I went thru the stage where all requests were met with "Do you give blow jobs?"
win win imo
i wonder if there is a proven formula, being polite definately gives them the opportunity to speak back.
what I HATE is when they come at the most inconvenient of times... for they have no idea about DJing. you'll have 10 seconds of your track left and have a bitch come up to you...or you have headphones and a booth monitor cranking in your ears and they just expect you to be able to hear them. so infuriating. or "play it next" when you are already beatmatching the next track. in these circumstances I either totally ignore them, or hold my finger up to them as if to say "hold on, one sec". but i hate it when they just stand there and expect you to acknowledge them, fuck off I say - do I look like a personal jukebox? leave me alone and let me do my job
question for you guys - what does your body language say when they just stand there? when i first started playing out I used to point head in their direction to listen to what they say, but now I am wiser and dont want to engage with them at all in the first place, so how do you covey this message through body language?
RudeTed
06-Oct-10, 02:22am
Coupla weeks ago I was playing at a bar that was winding down for the night, only a few punters left. Most of the ones there were having a good ol' boogie. Then some dero chick comes up and tells me to play something different. So I respond with "Yeah I will be putting on a track when this one finishes"
Nevertheless the track that followed was of a similar nature to the one playing before. She then came up and told me that everyone still hates the music (meanwhile most drunken happy punters there are still boogeying).
Then she comes back a third time and requests a song. Now it all starts making sense. "Do you have the new song by enrique?" Me: :| "Who the fuck is enrique?" Her: "Oh haha you know who that is." Me: "Oh haha yes i'm just teasing, I know who he is. He is the definition of shit music." Her: "Do you want us to leave or something?" Me: "Yes."
Walks over to her friends and signals to them that they should leave. Friends still boogeying. Walks out by herself :slap:
Depends on the gig and how willing you are to protect your artistic dignity if there's such a thing. I play the odd jukebox gig and don't mind the attention! That said, I'm still a virgin :(
slackas
06-Oct-10, 07:27am
Stop playing at shit clubs...
I prefer to be nice, if there is one thing i have learnt it is that the drunk person who bugs you could be the person who books you for a gig years later...
If they ask for something ridiculous I’ll just tell them it isn't the type of thing i was told to play so I didn't bring it..
personally I’m not bothered by the couple of seconds wasted talking to punters, unless they are really drunk then I find it a very good idea to get friendly with one of the bouncers and get him to stand next to the console, I’ve even had gigs where the bouncers were nice enough to write down peoples requests for me!
Although there is always going to be one drunk f*#kwit, I’m sure it’s worse for the bartenders. I have got into fights while DJing with drunken retards but it’s isn’t as bad today as it was 20years ago when a lot of punters just had no idea what the hell you were doing with two turntables and wanted you to show them how to DJ right there and then and the bad requests weren’t for cheesy house they were for The Doors or Radio Birdman (mind you I like a bit of Birdman but not in a set). Oh and the constant requests to announce someone’s birthday or dedicate a song to someone, Thank god clubs don’t like us having microphones anymore, we all had the same fake radio-dj voice!!!!
TheReturn
06-Oct-10, 09:38am
http://stuffdjshate.wordpress.com/
http://stuffdjshate.wordpress.com/
LOL
That's good reading, very amusing!!
Funkedub
06-Oct-10, 10:24am
I don't see much point in being rude unless the requester is being a rude moron.
The best way to deal with requests is to point to a bag of records and let them know that that's that!!
It's a painfully trite line, but it still rings true and i still drop it on people when they want to complain about the selections .... "you can please some people some time, but you can't please all the people all the time"
i want a t shirt that says "no requests", i looked on ebay but they only have infants and women's sizes
Random_Kiwi
06-Oct-10, 10:53am
I don't see much point in being rude unless the requester is being a rude moron.
EXACTLY! Some of your sound like a-fucking-typical “I’m a DJ so I’m fucking awesome” class A wankers…get over yourselves…you’re hired entertainment and the people there in the club are paying your wages and just trying to have a good time and want to hear a song which will make their night.
If you don’t have it, just say “sorry, ain’t got it, can’t play it”…if you have got it, you obviously like the song (or sell out and play shit you don’t like), you play the song, they like you, they have a good night…everyone wins.
If they keep hounding you for tracks outside your style, cut them off and say "look, I was asked to DJ here to play this type of music, I only have *insert genres here* with me, if you have something from those genres you wanna hear and I have it, I'll gladly play it, otherwise I can't help you"...I've even suggested other bars which might be more their cup of tea since they were requesting radio play music while I was playing prog.
There's no need to get offended by their own taste or to offend them for making a request, nothing comes from being a rude prick to people for no reason other than them thinking you’re a fucking prick and possibly avoiding coming back to the place. Lose lose
I got nothing against request and if they ask for something on the same tip as I'm playing I even allow punters to go through my record bag to pick a tune.
It's just when people ask for tunes that have no association to the club/night. Like i'll be playing at a hip hop night and then get a request for something completely unrelated. In those situations I'm like "sorry only got hip hop/funk on me tonight". I don't think I've ever been rude even a few years back when this girl kept hassling me to play kylie...
"Can you play some Kylie", "why don't you have any Kylie", "you're a shit DJ", "Look if you don't play any Kylie me and all my friends are going to leave the club" -
The Bar Manager came up and told her is these exact words "Look we don't play that shit here, if you don't like it you can fvck off to *insert another venue*".
With that said none of em left the club =p
quantum8
06-Oct-10, 11:21am
i find ignoring them for a few minutes weeds out all but the most persistent ones. A polite refusal generally gets rid of them afterwards though, if they're reasonable that is...
"Look if you don't play any Kylie me and all my friends are going to leave the club"
someone tried this on me once, so i waved them goodbye.
Tell them that you just played that song and they're usually drunk enough to believe you. They walk away happy enough that you had the song they requested and are only annoyed at themselves for not paying attention. If they ask you to play it again tell them that it's management's policy not to repeat songs.
Works every time without coming across like a jerk.
bulldozer
06-Oct-10, 01:37pm
was DJing a mate's 21st on saturday night with the instructions to play a proper DJ set with trance as the main flavour (i.e. no 80s/90s/r'n'b/commercial bs etc). Later on in the night was playing 140bpm driving tech trance and some bitch comes up:
bitch - "do you have any britney?"
me - "britney who?"
bitch - "britney spears?"
me - "sorry i don't know that DJ"
bitch - "what about lady gaga?"
me - "what does that mean?"
bitch - "you're like the worst DJ ever?"
me - "LOL"
Digitalgrub
06-Oct-10, 02:50pm
I guess just be honest. If they ask for pop music and you're playing prog, tell them that it jsut won't work with the rest of the set and "It's like playing heavy metal at a country and western night". If you are playing a nigth where you would play pop, say you've already played it. Generally pop nights are keen for requests anyway, but that's a different kind of DJing to dance club DJing.
Random_Kiwi
06-Oct-10, 03:20pm
As I saw someone post on here before, print up a sign..."Text Requests to 04XX XXX XXX" with the number being the number for your slack-ass pikey mate who said they'd come but didn't :lol:
quantum8
06-Oct-10, 03:26pm
:lol:
awesome
jabbajaws
06-Oct-10, 04:58pm
take a dump in the dj booth at HOME TERRACE.
Oh, sorry that was the requester.
maxkruse10
06-Oct-10, 05:25pm
Generally say i've already played it (if its at a party), or I don't have it with me, but tell them to take a look through my cd wallet to see if they do like something.
Damien Goundrie
07-Oct-10, 04:53pm
I'm constantly surprised that with more music available than ever before, the scope of requests is getting narrower and narrower.
My Favorite is:
Punter "We can't dance to this Techno music"
Me "It's not Techno, its Called House Music"
Punter "Well can you play some RnB with a beat we can dance to?"
Me "Like who?"
Punter "The new one by Flo Rider, when love takes over?, no no, I mean the Kelly Rowland one, oh no, play the Akon one sexy bitch, how about Memories? Kid Cudi? How about I Gotta Feeling? I know!!! Fergi! Gettin over you!!"
Me "Really?"
Punter "Yeah, anything other than this Techno House music stuff your playing"
All House music, all David Guetta.
True story.
rebroken
07-Oct-10, 05:31pm
I guess that's commercial radio zombies for you. I swear those stations' playlists are like 5 songs long sometimes.
Damien Goundrie
07-Oct-10, 06:21pm
I listened to Today FM a few weeks ago. It was a horrible experience.
Girls aren't they worst its those dudes who ask for stuff like "Warp" or "Tiesto" (In fact they almost always ask for "Warp" or "Tiesto"). They lack any reason and are convinced that everyone will go off if you play it and they will annoy the crap out of you all night even it you tell them you don't have it.
If you ever do play something for them most of the time they don't even dance and just stand their like they were before.
dj deza
07-Oct-10, 08:07pm
I usually say yes but then don't play their request, half the time they forget and if they come back i say its coming up and then just resume my normal set !
Catdog69Kool
07-Oct-10, 09:58pm
I usually say yes but then don't play their request, half the time they forget and if they come back i say its coming up and then just resume my normal set !
this
just tell them that ill get it in line and see how we go, and occationally look at them and give them the fatherly aproving wink every now and again, and it stops them coming up and asking bout
varsityhearts
16-Oct-10, 10:18pm
I'm constantly surprised that with more music available than ever before, the scope of requests is getting narrower and narrower.
My Favorite is:
Punter "We can't dance to this Techno music"
Me "It's not Techno, its Called House Music"
Punter "Well can you play some RnB with a beat we can dance to?"
Me "Like who?"
Punter "The new one by Flo Rider, when love takes over?, no no, I mean the Kelly Rowland one, oh no, play the Akon one sexy bitch, how about Memories? Kid Cudi? How about I Gotta Feeling? I know!!! Fergi! Gettin over you!!"
Me "Really?"
Punter "Yeah, anything other than this Techno House music stuff your playing"
All House music, all David Guetta.
True story.
OHHHH yes. The amount of times i've had this exact conversation. Drives me insane.
If its a chick "i only play requests if u show the D floor your boobs from the booth'. Win win situation... And of course still dont play it
Catdog69Kool
16-Oct-10, 10:30pm
OHHHH yes. The amount of times i've had this exact conversation. Drives me insane.
If its a chick "i only play requests if u show the D floor your boobs from the booth'. Win win situation... And of course still dont play it
you sir, are wise
Sideshow Rod
17-Oct-10, 07:48pm
I don't see much point in being rude unless the requester is being a rude moron.
The best way to deal with requests is to point to a bag of records and let them know that that's that!!
It's a painfully trite line, but it still rings true and i still drop it on people when they want to complain about the selections .... "you can please some people some time, but you can't please all the people all the time"
right on, + this was much easier when you only carried vinyl with you - maximum in one bag was about 50 records so it was impossible to cater for everyone and people understand more
In saying that though if you are playing house parties or bar gigs (where anything goes) you should try to cover all bases
Jink121
17-Oct-10, 09:27pm
I just pull the classic "smile and nod" trick. Usually placates them, and if they come back later asking why you haven't played it, just say "I couldn't hear you." works, and you don't look like that much of an ass
littlebrains69
12-Nov-10, 11:54pm
Couldn't find it before, but found it tonight.
I had this up in the booth roughly this time last year.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs496.ash2/76954_10150116034788976_764208975_7659843_433108_n .jpg
pEAkeR_hAT
13-Nov-10, 02:37am
have a shit in the booth b4 hand,
Catdog69Kool
13-Nov-10, 07:02am
Couldn't find it before, but found it tonight.
I had this up in the booth roughly this time last year.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs496.ash2/76954_10150116034788976_764208975_7659843_433108_n .jpg
:lol: Excellent
bit off subject but I had the best request last weekend;
playing a nice little house set he comes up
Guy-'Hey man, do you have any house?"
Me-'this is house'
Guy- "nah, nah, like really hardcore stuff"
me - "you mean like hardstyle?"
Guy - "Yeah!, like Talio Cruz!"
http://picdump.darph.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/sisko-facepalm.jpg
bulldozer
13-Nov-10, 04:31pm
the fuck is a talio cruz?
the fuck is a talio cruz?
I think its the thing that women put in their vaginas when its that time of the month
Catdog69Kool
13-Nov-10, 06:13pm
I think its the thing that women put in their vaginas when its that time of the month
this
jabbajaws
13-Nov-10, 08:15pm
isn't it made from natural Native American hair?
bulldozer
13-Nov-10, 09:44pm
I think its the thing that women put in their vaginas when its that time of the month
ohhhh...
i thought that was called a guettampon
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