So you want to be a deejay. According to the Oxford American Dictionary, a deejay is “a person who introduces and plays recorded popular music, especially on radio or at a disco.” (Perhaps the O.A.D. hasn’t checked in with popular culture in the last several decades.)
Why do you want to be a deejay? Maybe you play great music in your room. Your friends tell you you’re fabulous! Maybe you always thought spinning discs, or ethereal MP3s, would be cool. And hey, how hard can it be? Johnny Fever jockeyed on WKRP—and he was never entirely sober. Well, here are the steps you should follow in order to become a successful (or at least a working) deejay.
Congratulations on your new career choice! You are following in the footsteps of Ray Newby, the first-ever deejay. In 1909, when Ray was 16 years old, he began playing records on a small transmitter. The term “disc jockey” wasn’t coined until 1935, by radio commentator Walter Winchell. Deejays often appear on the screen, as well as on air. Disc jockey legend Wolfman Jack played himself in the classic movie “American Graffiti.” DJ Casey Kasem played the voice of Shaggy in the Scooby-Doo movies. Deejays have even been awarded stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “The Real Don Steele” received his star in 1995.
But a transmitter is so 1909. What does it take to be a deejay in 2015?
Find a station. In order to be a disc jockey, you need a place to jockey your discs. Check your local radio station for any available slots. Shameless Plug: KWMR offers incredible opportunities for youth deejays. According to its website, “The project uses radio as a way to give voice to local youth.” For more information, check out kwmr.org.
Go to school. No, not actual school-school. Disc Jockey school. You’re going to have to take your station’s training program. There will be no avoiding it, so don’t even try. (I studied for 30 hours in the classroom and put in an additional 30 hours of operating the board—or “board opping”—before landing my show.) During training, you will learn how to connect with callers on air, navigate weekly checks and answer the emergency phone. But most importantly, you’ll learn how to avoid screwing up. The complicated process of operating the sound board and hooking up a computer to play your music can take a while to master. I cannot count the number of times I put my mic on instead of my music. If (or rather, when) you mess up on air, you might get upset. And when people get upset, swearing can occur. Which leads us to the next step…
Don’t swear on air. Learn the “Carlin words,” the seven dirty words you should never say on the radio. (Comedian George Carlin performed a stand-up routine in which he discussed the infamous seven dirty words.) Of course, I can’t print them here, but suffice it to say there are seven of them, and you should know what they are. (Unless your parents don’t want you to. In which case, la la la. You can’t hear me.) Listen to your music thoroughly before you broadcast any songs. And I mean thoroughly. Double and triple check to make sure you know what is actually being sung. Then look up the lyrics, and read them. You’re probably thinking that all of this is too much work. But trust me, there are many songs that include unexpected swear words. (“Apeman” by the Kinks and “Rockstar” by Nickelback feature difficult-to-hear expletives.) Also, be sure to confirm with your station to get a complete list of all words to avoid saying live.
Find your niche. What will you be playing? Ask yourself if you want to dedicate all of your air time to one genre, or instead mix and match your musical tastes. Keep in mind who is listening. Maybe your favorite band is the Sonic Death Monkeys, but your station prefers country western. Work with the station manager to incorporate sets that appeal both to you and your devoted listeners.
Get your groove on. There’s more to spinning discs than spinning discs. Being a disc jockey is about connecting with those people out there with their radios on. Yes, I’m talking about audience interaction—and how to master it. Some people have a natural talent for this. I am not one of them. Rather than attempt to speak off the cuff, I research interesting tidbits of information about the songs I play, and intersperse music with cool, pre-written facts. (Giel Beelen of The Netherlands holds the record for the longest time a deejay was on air—he lasted for 198 hours in 2014.) Experiment to discover how much talking works for you. Be patient. Developing your own on-air personality can take some time.
So now you have your show. You know not to swear. You have chosen your music. You understand which button turns the mic on. The only thing left is to become rich, famous and get a star on Hollywood Boulevard. When you do that, let me know how. But if you follow my simple tricks, you are sure to be a deejay in no time! (Or, at least, in no time plus the 60 or so hours of training.) As Casey Kasem said, “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.”
Devon McMorrow, a student at Pathways Charter School, is a youth DJ at KWMR. Her show, The Retro Rock Hour, can be heard every other Monday from 9 to 10 a.m.