I’m sorry to open a 4 year old thread but I have a little story about myself.
In 1989 I was about 16 or 17 when I got my first job working at Empire roller Disco in Brooklyn ny. At the snack bar. Back then I ran with a bad Set of kids. Dad passed away when I was 9 and long story short a family member got me The job to save me from having a juvenile record and from a cage. After a while my crew started hanging out at the roller rink so my cousin who was the assist manager got me moved/hidden upstairs in the DJ booth so they would stop coming there looking for me.
This was my first time laying hands on a technics 1200 mk2 DJ setup. They actually had 3 of them but I never saw the 3rd one on. I was taught by 2 very gifted DJs even tho is was mostly dropping it on the 1 from a set list they showed me a few tricks and how to use my ear. After a while I was working on my own days and certain nights. I gave myself a lame DJ name and started buying 2 copies of every freestyle (Latin hip hop) song. I bought 2 cheap Gemini turntables and a cheap mixer and practiced. I enjoyed it but I didn’t really take it seriously. But I ditched the crew I was bangin with and kept working and practicing. Still couldn’t care either way. It was just a lame ass job at a skating rink. *****UNTIL*****1992****!!!!
My girl and I went to see JUICE in the movies. Just before I go further into this story this is still my absolute favorite movie still in 2019 I could watch this movie over and over again!!!! I swear this movie changed my life. The very first scene the camera pans out on a set of technics 1200 mk2s in Omar Epps bedroom. And had well over 10 different scenes with the technics 1200 mk2s in it.
I was blown away by the scratching ,best juggling, cue points, everything. And for years after that I actually thought Omar Epps was really doing that. But then I found out it was all DJ Scratch.
The next morning I bought my first technics 1200 mk2 (back then they were only $300 each brand new). 3 weeks later I had enough money to buy my 2nd 1200 mk2. I bought both of them at Sam ash. And from then on I took it as serious as cancer. Every time I went to work at the Rink I treated it as a preference. I changed the format to only playing not more then 90 seconds of a song and instead of just dropping the new song on the first beat. I thought myself how to count music and used the hook and breaks of the songs to blend the same songs that were on my set list to one continuous mix. Which was what the other DJ s tried to explain to me how we would correctly mix if we were actually getting paid a DJ salary vs just playing records. By 1993 I had all my own equipment and a van. I shared records with 2 other DJs I knew. And I was working block parties in my hood and every weekend I had work. It was an amazing feeling having a job that you can watch people loose their mind because of something that I did like transition into their favorite song without them realizing it. In 1994 after going through hell I became a nyc firefighter in Brownsville Brooklyn. I literally spun 90% of the fund raising parties for fdny nypd ems transit and even sanitation. And still unless I was actually working my fdny job I was working now in my own business with my nephew working for me. Yes I schooled him and put him on with serato scratch one when it was new every 4-5 years I would buy a new set of Mk2s just to stay on top of things. And every 2 years I had all my audio wires replaced. By 2008 when I bought the best turntable ever made I bought 4 technics 1210 M5Gs. I AJs I had 8 technics mk2 turntables and it’s funny I retired from fdny in 2014 and moved to Florida and I never really put myself out down here because kids with these little controllers can under bid me and do a while show for $70. I mean If I wanted to show up with a controller and let my laptop DJ the party while I dance ,fist pump, and look stupid I guess I could work. But that’s not what I’m about. I never do a show without headphones. These kids don’t even use headphones. The only thing I really did was audition and pitched the idea to an Orlando radio station about a Sunday night mixtape show with 2 separate formats I pitched one set of classic early 90s hip hop and one set of classic late 80s early 90s freestyle (Latin hip hop). But I never got the spot. I tried the same at hot 97 in nyc and funkmaster flex never called my back.
so that’s how a set of 1200s In a little movie called juice literally changed my life for the better. Watching the DJ scenes gave me all the Motivation I needed to take this craft seriously. And my side DJ career made me the responsible person that I needed to be to become a firefighter and make it out of probe school.
sorry for the long story.
bill