With Christmas and New Year on the horizon, parties will be aplenty. But just how do you make sure your choice of music doesn’t kill the vibe. TOAD spoke to DJ Angelo of The Yacht Club to find out.
We all know how to plug our MP3 player into a pair of speakers in an attempt to blast out the best party music ever (in our opinion), but rarely will this achieve universal popularity. We spoke to The Yacht Club’s resident DJ Angelo about how to be a party-master. ‘People here, 90 percent of the people that go out, just want to have fun,’ DJ Angelo says. ‘And music is one of the key factors to make a night a success.’ With that in mind we wanted to get his top tips on what it takes to get the party rocking.
Prepare your playlist
DJ Angelo recommends planning in advance, having your playlist ready before the fact and having enough music on hand to cover the time. ‘For me, I play five hours, so I would have around 300 songs, but I always have an extra few hundred because you don’t know where the music may end up. I normally prepare the entire track-list for the night beforehand. You need to know what you are going to play – you want everything prepared,’ he explains.
Pick your mood
Have a vague idea of a genre and keep it chilled for the first hour or two while your guests are arriving. DJ Angelo says, ‘The flow is important, building the night. First you have to set people in the right mood – if you start banging it from the beginning, after an hour people will start to get tired. You need to start with a groove and take them into a party mood.’
For example, at The Yacht Club, he follows the trend. ‘We are usually waiting for the crowd from 10.30pm until midnight, so I keep it chilled with deep house, a nice groove to build up the night. Then after midnight, we change to more commercial pop and a bit of R&B.’
Read your crowd
When you are gearing up into full-time party mode, watch your crowd. You want to read the people and see what they are responding to. DJ Angelo says, ‘Always know your crowd; know what your crowd wants. Reading the crowd is very important – I play house music and if I feel the crowd is not responding, I might change it up to some R&B. I’ll always play what the people want, but with my own signature to it – every DJ has their own touch.’
Be ready for anything
DJ Angelo recommends having another genre or playlist at the ready though, in case you need to change it up. ‘When you are changing genres, it’s not a matter of just changing the song. I use a bridging song, to ease it into the change,’ DJ Angelo says. ‘You can’t just pick tracks at random, I prefer to have a bridge because you’re transitioning to a different mood. You can’t just pick random songs. Yes I prepare my playlist, but it’s not the only things I am going to play. It depends on the mood, the crowd and how they are responding to the songs.’
DJ Angelo plays Mon-Fri 10pm-2.30am. The Yacht Club, InterContinental Abu Dhabi, Al Bateen (02 666 6888).
Learn to DJ
You need to start somewhere, and that means getting yourself the right equipment, DJ Angelo says. www.DJCorner.ae is a website from which you can order the best equipment. They also have an outlet in Al Wahda Mall. (050 741 2561).
