So I ask myself as I practice my live DJ skills getting better and better at the technical aspects of it all... How good do I have to be before I can get out infront of the people and give them a good time?

What are your stories and thoughts on going from a Producer of dance tracks to actually spinning them as a live DJ?

I went from making music to spinning it. The key is practice. Beat match as much as possible and watch videos on you tube. There are many different ways to match and get that perfect mix. You will develop your own way. Your first tracks you buy or try to mix, try to get them already the same BPM. That way you can practice mixing good than move to beatmatching, also songs that don't have any unusual beats or things that would throw you off.  

To be either I think you should do both.  If you DJ, your tracks will make more sense, and when you DJ, you'll find out where they dont.  I've learned alot that way, you can really see where the weaknesses and strengths are in your productions.  Before you go out, you may want to practice in your room a few times with the lights off 

I think I can get away with a "$150" pair of studio monitors as of right now... even the most high-end consumer stereos are lower quality than the cheap studio monitors.

haha Yeah I know what you mean... I'm a touring keyboardist so I've played in a lot of different clubs with no lighting ;-)

Good thing about using my laptop in my setup is that I can plug one of those usb led flexi lights in whenever I need it.

I have to say that the more I get into DJing the more I see what you mean about understanding your songs weaknesses.  Thats a very wise thing.
I'm familiar with live setups, bad monitors, feedback and such... shure e3c's have saved my hearing :-)   well atleast when they stay in my ears.

Beat matching is pretty easy when dealing with DJ software like traktor.  I really think my challenge is song selection and having a good flow for the night... learning to interact with a dance club crowd.


Do any of you try to stick to one style or are you really flexible with style just to get gigs and fit a different crowd?

Yeah I've def seen the advantages of playing multiple styles at clubs... its just very hard to prepare sometimes.

As someone who plays multiple styles.. how do you go about rotating your music library to keep it all fresh?

I remember this one night where the DJ was playing some sick trance music but the dance floor was pretty sparse... he switched it up to a bunch of old school house/dance tracks and the place exploded.