Half a Shoebox of Gear
I truly don’t know how DJs used to do it. As a mobile and event DJ, I have to bring all my stuff. There’s no way I would’ve pack all those crates of garbage back then. Somebody told me a long time ago, “If you could perform with your watch, you probably would.”
Probably.
It’s why I like the MPC Live 1 and 25-key synthesizers. Tight and compact. They just do the job.
This weekend I’m doing a gig with a Reloop Mixtour Pro and an iPad. That’s about half a shoebox worth of gear. I may bring my SP-404 for effects, but I don’t know if this gig really calls for them. It’s a resort pool.
I saw an amazing quote from someone in Wet Leg the other day: 'The gatekeepers want to tell you it takes three chords to make a rock and roll song. They’re lying to you. It takes two.'
Hilarious, if you get it.
The point is, DJing with this setup is pretty frictionless. I’m doing a deep house set from this playlist. There’s not much to do except curate and mix at the right time. Most of the music is around 121–123 BPM.
You know what? I’m going to have fun playing it, and that's going to come right through those speakers.
As always, no one cares as long as the music’s good.