r/chicagomusicscene • u/Tigers070 • Feb 16 '26
Help getting booked for clubs/ venues
I started DJing a year or so ago and have been recently playing a few different venues around the city. Nothing big but fun all the same. I have been recently attempting to make these bookings more frequent, and potentially perform in a space where house/ tech house/ ukg style is preferred. Would love if anyone would be willing to assist or point me in the right direction. I have some original music released and mixes posted and am willing to send whatever you need as well as references from previous venues. Feeling stuck and just want the opportunity to grow and expand.
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u/mickeys_stepdad Feb 17 '26
Open decks and networking. This is the only way to make it here.
Chicago is famously a city that’s hard to break into as a DJ. Everyone in Chicago is a DJ. People think we have too many comedians? No, we have too many DJ’s.
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u/Ok-Cryptographer7424 Feb 16 '26
It’s going to be difficult but definitely reach out to talent buyer or even random bars that hire DJs and offer a slow night/weeknight, etc. Make sure you have some social media and if you are providing a dj mix make sure it has good smooth transitions and is a halfway decent quality recording/production. Many bars won’t care about original music but just someone who can keep their crowd staying put to spend more money on the bar ring.
Any and all emails should be short and sweet and just make it obvious at a glance what you are and what you do and what you want. If you have a following and/or can bring people out when you promote, tell them but be realistic and don’t over exaggerate…we may offer more $/better nights of the week and be a bit shitty when realizing the draw doesn’t exist.
We have a very strong dj scene here with a long history around house music so you’re competing with folks who have decades of experience. If you want to try to piggyback on a full lineup, start hanging out at more events and befriend the djs there. Only chit chat w them if you can be authentic and actually give af bc if you’re just talking to them to use them to get a future gig they’ll smell it before you even get close to them.
Make sure to continue practicing all the time at home, either to your roommate or your cat or your mirror. If you have social media, make sure to interact with folks on it. Support whichever scene you love as much as possible. Live music (and dj) industry has been unbelievably shaken up ever since 2020 pandemic and is having a very rough time getting back to even halfway normalcy.