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    It Shouldn’t Happen to a DJ

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    DJing can bring us into many different situations. Some of which can be exciting, some challenging, but most rewarding.

    Here are some stories from different situations I have found myself in.

    The Show Must Go On…

    I was loading into a less familiar local venue for a birthday party, and I worked out the most efficient load in. This involved stepping over an 18-inch-high wall, rather than wheeling up a longer ramp. My roadie was arriving independently and was nearly there. I stepped back over the wall to get more equipment from the car. As I stepped over, I forgot about a small slope of concrete along the length of the wall and went flying in the car park as I did so. I was in shock and some pain. People came running as they heard me yell. I received paracetamol, a stool for my knee or to sit on and ice in a tea towel from the venue manager and help with the equipment from my roadie. My ankle had a swell night and I called my husband who brought crutches and ice packs from the house. Did this stop me? Oh no! I played for the whole night. My husband later returned in an Uber to drive me, the roadie and equipment in my car home. When it seemed no better the next day, a trip to A&E showed a break. I made sure the following week I had lots of help, plus my husband had to do the driving for a few weeks.

    Coventry…

    When we were serving a famous clothing brand on a regular basis I went to DJ for the opening of a store. I set up outside the shop facing the open space in a pedestrian area. I thought it rather strange when a man started pacing up and down with a clipboard after putting some tape from one side to the other of the middle of the square space. I was even more puzzled when he came up to me with the clipboard and asked if I was part of the East or West of Coventry. I replied I wasn’t from Coventry, so neither. He then said “yes, but are you with the East or West side?” I just shook my head and said, “I am not from around here”.

    He seemed to be approaching others asking questions.

    I took a lunch break, putting on a mix that would last long enough for me to have a sandwich. I just got tucked in when I thought it odd the music had stopped… then the manager rushed upstairs to ask me to fix it. I came down to find the volume had been moved. I put it back up, and the clipboard man came back and moved it down again! I moved it back up, and when he went to touch my mixer again, I went in to tell the manager what was happening. She ran outside and said, “It’s Dom Jolly from Fool Brittania!” She was quite excited. It didn’t air.  It goes to show though, you can certainly get some surprises when DJing!

    End of the night surprise

    At a wedding I was happily leading up to the end of the night, preparing for the last song. I like as many people to be gathered for the last song as a finale to the party. All of a sudden, a bunch of young men started running up onto the balcony above me. I then saw that all guest’s eyes were on these young men and that many guests were cheering and pointing at the balcony. I asked a guest what was happening and was told the young men were stripping!  Soon I had the duty manager at my side as he had come to find out what all the cheering was about. As the venue had a strict end time policy I asked him; “Please can I play one more song?” The manager agreed it would be appropriate to do so. I asked everyone to make a circle around the dance floor and we returned the attention to the newlyweds.

    “Best Night of My Life” ….

    I was about to pack down after a wedding and the Best Man came up to me and said “thank you so much, it’s been the best night of my life!” to which I replied “I’m so glad you enjoyed it, would you like a card?” to which he replied “No but I’d love a hug!”

    I obliged. 🙂

    Working in Film and Television

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    I remember the excitement Sam and I shared when Dr Who were looking for DJ equipment for a wedding scene. I asked them if it wouldn’t be useful to also have an actual DJ on set to operate the equipment and play the part? The answer was yes! Sam was able to set up as he would for a wedding at Miskin Manor and experience the unique and exacting creation of film. You can see this episode here (Sam appears in the last 10 minutes)

    Doctor Who, Series 5 Episode 13, The Big Bang

    I had a similar experience some 10 years later, when DJ equipment was being sought for the drama series The Pact. I am in the background providing the DJ set up and lighting for episode 1 and 4 of series 1. This was in the middle of the pandemic, and mask wearing was a constant rule on set until the director said “And set…” Covid Testing was a prerequisite, as it still is in 2022.

    The Pact

    What is it like?

    There is a lot of preparation and testing, and at least one rehearsal for each shot. Sometimes there can be around 6 takes of the same scene. The reason is often that in order to get the multiple camera angles without getting crew in the shot there will need to be a repeat of the same action for each angle. There is also the fact that there are slight differences between each take in terms of how the actors and support artists perform it. There is a lot of discarded footage in the cutting room!

    Often actors and support artists will be asked to dance in silence as if there is music and the music is layered over the top afterwards. This is so that they can record the speech of the actors clearly.

    There are frequently long days and it isn’t possible to get an understanding of the whole story of a given episode, as each scene will only contain a small part of the bigger picture. If the story takes place at night and the filming occurs in the day, then windows need to be blacked out. If filming of day takes place in the dark, then often large cranes will supply artificial daylight through the windows. We have also provided equipment and DJ for two different scenes on the Sky series Extinction, for Casualty, and also equipment for Y Golau and Pobl Y Cwm.