Working as a mobile disk jockey (DJ) presents a whole load of challenges that a resident club DJ simply doesn’t have.One of the main issues is the need to carry all of that essential DJ equipment to each and every gig, wherever it is.
I’ve worked as a DJ onboard cruise liners, in a hospital, on the radio and in various clubs but these days I make my money as a mobile DJ. Each week I get to visit new locations and meet a whole new crowd of people. I’ve gigged in stately homes, onboard ships and yachts, on a private jet and even one night in a well known London museum. It’s the variety that I particularly like about this work, but lets get back to the challenges.
One of the main problems we must manage as mobile DJs is carrying all the equipment we need to each gig. The club DJ only has to carry his tunes, maybe as records or CDs, whereas I need a medium sized van to carry all of my gear.
These days I have an assistant who is a great help in setting up and breaking down my PA and lighting rig at each gig. But back in the old days, before I was commanding a decent fee, I had to do it all myself. One key factor to consider when choosing DJ equipment for mobile use is how compact it is. It must be compact and as light as possible.
The DJ speakers that I use are the powered variety. This means that I don’t need power amplifiers and my system setup is much simpler. These mean fewer cables to worry about and less that can potentially go wrong. For the past two years I’ve been using a really excellent pair of active JBL PA speakers and these have proved to be worth their weight in gold.
Another important consideration for us mobile DJs is the lighting system. Club DJs rarely need to concern themselves with club lighting systems as these are generally already in place and often have their own dedicated operators. Working as a mobile DJ means we’ve got to do it all ourselves. But luckily these days there are some compact DJ lights that use LEDs making them relatively lightweight, low power and cool.
But I think the most important piece of DJ gear is the music. This is music media, not equipment, I hear you say and you’d be right. But I’m really referring to the medium which might be vinyl records, CDs, DVDs and increasingly MP3 files. This means I need to carry turntables, CD players, a DVD player and some sort of MP3 player. These days I stick to one DJ CD player, a pair of Technics 1210s and my laptop computer which has a DVD drive. I route all of these through my excellent DJ mixer and I’m just about ready for any requests, from Mantovani to the Wombles.