Dance music isn’t the easiest business to make into a career.  Trust me, I’ve been a DJ for over 9 years now, and I’m still trying.  However, it’s a dream that many of us still hold onto, and strive to achieve.  The biggest thing that holds back many young, aspiring DJs and producers from taking that next step from amateur to professional is knowledge of the industry.

Whether you want to promote events, start a record label or DJ agency, run a website, radio show or magazine, or anything else in the scene, the following tips should help you get started. Only you know what you uniquely have to give. Don't be afraid to step up, learn some new skills and make something happen. Once someone takes the lead, people are likely to follow and come along for the ride.

This is it; we talk about building a scene and seeing more parties on a national scale. Let’s make it happen. The first thing that needs to happen is the development of small groups or fellowships in towns. These small groups would eventually, but not initially throw parties in their hometowns. The initial focus is simply to get the people of Tastyfresh.com out of the virtual world and into the real one.

It’s been about seven months now since I first made a post on the forums calling for the start of what I then called Groove Fellowships. Through out a series of discussions on the site about the same time, it became clear that if we were going to grow this scene or if we were even going to help encourage each other in our faith, simply posting on a message board would not cut it.

Spending time and sharing with other people who have the same common bond of music that I do was the best thing to happen to my passion for DJing.  Just about anyone in the electronic music scene can probably relate to a feeling of loneliness in world full of people interested in all other genres but our own.  Especially if you are as passionate about music as I am.  That is why I love spending time throwing shows, or just playing Halo with some of my groove fellowship buddies, because of that common interest in music.  I believe that my Groove Fellowship may very well be the reason that I am still DJing today.

The So Cal Groove Fellowship started in 2001. The church I attend had small groups of every sort. There were men's motocross, book review, coffee club groups, and even a hiking group and paintballers that met. Why not something for us that where we shared a common interest and the love of God. It was birthed from a realization that other DJ's, producers and those in the scene or trying to create a scene were not getting connected. We needed a place where the importance of believers getting together and encouraging each other just as the bible says how iron sharpens iron came to fruition on a monthly basis.

Petra’s massive ministry could be boiled down to one simple little motto: Be focused and consistent. They never strayed from this simple live show script of opening with some fan favorites and new material, followed by praise and worship, followed by talking about World Vision and then presenting the gospel during an encore complete with an alter call. Even after 33 years, God moved at almost every concert they played and lives were changed.

When I sat down to ponder some of the key things that make up a good technical mix, three things came to mind; they are phrasing, EQ’ing, and Volume/Energy level.  There are other things that come into play when you construct top notch mixes as well, but these three are some fundamentals that are often missed by new DJ’s.

I am so hopelessly addicted to Star Wars in general, that I just can’t stay away for long. I guess this is where the spiritual tie-in comes: I am hopelessly addicted to Star Wars, but I can’t honestly say the same about Jesus. I should be. I want to be, but I am constantly screwing up.