Reading A Crowd In Berlin (or anywhere else!)

READING A CROWD IN BERLIN

Berlin has some of the best clubs in the world, Berghain, Watergate (perhaps it's changing) and Tresor have held strong in the top lists. With such a title, Berlin clubs are naturally hard to get into, expensive and have varying types of people. This may lead to to believe that clubbers in Berlin will stay at a club all night, but music is important here. People don't go to clubs to see a scene, they go for the music. So one of the difficulties in DJing here is keeping a crowd interested.

             First off, it is often house or techno (in most clubs) in Berlin, this is the way it has formed and because of that many clubbers have their pick. I've often seen DJs try to keep both crowds, often unsuccessfully. So stick to what you like, if you have a more house vibe take a shot at it, just because people aren't dancing now doesn't mean they won't be in ten minutes.
           
            Pick music you like, because that is what you will play best! With modern day technology it is so easy to download a track and play it 5 minutes later in the club. But I'll be one to say that this doesn't mean you should. Though having new music doesn't hurt, you definitely shouldn't be playing tracks you don't know. DJs used to spend hours preparing sets and picking vinyl for the next show, don't be scared to play some old stuff (Frankie Knuckles had a revival)
           
            That leads me to my next point, if you are a DJ who plans their sets down to the second, try to see how the crowd reacts and maybe vary from the playlist, it is great to be secure, but often the best outcomes are from unexpected mixtures. Richie Hawtin is a good example of this, he often plans sets but adds loops on the fly, he can keep things organized but also push something if it is working. Other DJ's vary their sets by adding FX (Maceo Plex), creating unique loops with material they already have (Bakermat), and put acapellas on top of their sets (Felix Da Housecat).

                                                 
     With laptops, you often walk into a club and find a DJ deep in his screen. It is overplayed in the DJ community, but if you don't look like you're trying to read a crowd, they notice. Look up once in a while, see what catches people's attention. Though in certain situations you are forced to play genre based music you can tell what a crowd likes by their reaction. Does the crowd like breaks? (common thing in Berlin) On the contrary, should you be playing less breaks? When you upped the tempo did people like it? Is it the "drop" that people love? Try to find what works and stick with it. Even if a dance floor is empty, are you doing your best? If you're really playing your best music and it's just not what people are digging sometimes you just gotta keep going with it and try to build a crowd. If you're transitioning from the last DJ sometimes you will attract a new crowd!  If you're trying a new sound or vibe, it may take a while for people to get used to what you're spinning, but don't give up your integrity. Rock, Punk, Ambient, EDM, Dubstep, were all hated before they became popular so try try and try again.
     
      It is sometimes hard to find a balance between what you like and what the crowd likes, but you definitely shouldn't sacrifice your own interest for the crowd. (Forewarning, in situations where you are put in a club that is genre based, you shouldn't play just because it's an opportunity to DJ, sometimes the DJ isn't a match for the club) Meet them in the middle. Maybe hit them with something they know and mix it with something new. In Berlin DJs are often posed with a situation where they are playing a mixed party, aside from resident DJs people here often play at parties or events, this usually creates a mixed crowd and mixed batch of DJS. For this reason, DJS at these parties bring a mix of music, it is not strictly house, techno, tech house, they pick music they like from a few genres, make playlist, and if something isn't working they move to a new genre. This is a good way to organize for a mixed crowd! After a while you will build a crowd, and people will come to see you because they like your mix, part of building a crowd is using these playlists to create unique mixes.
       
      One last thing that is definitely worth noting is that you shouldn't be expected to know what everyone wants. Everyone likes something different, find your niche and stick to it, you'll have more fun anyway. Just played a cool set last night and got to play some tunes I really liked and even though I was the last set I had 7 people dancing really hard and the promoter was digging it, so don't mistake quantity for quality. EDM is becoming very commercialized and everything is becoming synonymous, try to be a DJ who changes it. Examples are Disclosure, Flux Pavilion, Nicholas Jaar, Shadow Child. Disclosure is turning Deep House popular, Flux Pavilion added the squeaky dub step, Nicholas Jaar started a live set revolution with his album Darkside and Shadow Child is mixing Techno and Deep House. Hope I informed you a little bit about crowds in Berlin and crowds in general. Take this with you to the next gig you do, or come to Berlin and try it out!