#djslife

Michael K. Williams in Davidson Petit-Frère 2021

I love mixing, always have – but I didn’t like the bit when I started out DJing – the bit where my hands were shaky as I tried to cue up the next track, just as I’m getting into my set. They shook because of the nerves of wanting to make it a smooth mix and keep the party going. Back then I felt little like an imposter, like I wasn’t good enough to be up there in the booth – the one choosing the tunes – but there I was: feeling a dose of imposter syndrome regardless. Imposter syndrome affects people everywhere, even DJs.

This article is for DJs who go through imposter syndrome: self-doubt around their skill, intelligence and achievement despite evidence of on-going success plus a fear of being exposed as a fraud. It’s brutal.

I’m writing this from a few years of experience DJing at weddings, nightclubs, parties, music festivals, business events, shopping center events, university open days, 40ths, 50ths and pubs. I’m writing to give some insights (and encouragement) to DJs everywhere who experience a little fear about being exposed as a fraud, even though they know they can do the job and venue managers continue to book them because they can do the job.

Does imposter syndrome come with the DJ territory? Maybe. Does it have to? Not forever. 

DJing is performing. It’s also pressing a lot of buttons and turning a few dials too. There is an element of you being watched by the audience and they are relying on you to put on a good show. We get up in that booth, hook up our console and (besides having a bunch of fun) it’s still possible to have a little voice in our heads say, “don’t screw this up or they’ll find out you’re not a real DJ.”

What is a real DJ anyway but an unnecessary, unrealistic, and exaggerated mental comparison to Carl Cox, Subfocus or Astral Projection? Perform with some heart. Be present for the crowd.

I remember I’d been DJing for over two years and had weekly bookings around town, yet I rocked up to this one event and there was something about it that caused my nerves to shake and for imposter feelings to return – even though I’d thought I had conquered it.

I can imagine there are DJs who never experienced it, and some that have in varying degrees. So what can be done about it in order to keep the music playing and a smile on your face? Well, we all know what it means to remix the tracks in order to create the mood on the dance floor, so apply the same idea to your mindset. Remix it. 

The causes of imposter syndrome, according to research, include things that happened in childhood, plus environmental, cultural, systemic dynamics, narcissistic tendencies (self-deception and self-absorption), perfectionism, over-thinking, etc. And though tackling imposter syndrome from those angles can be a bit of a rabbit hole, we can certainly practice self-governance and manage our mindset to reduce imposter syndrome - which is what I help my clients with in my private consulting and coaching sessions - book a session here)  When you are not aligned to your highest values, you’re an imposter. When you’re living in alignment with your values, you’re authentic. Live in alignment with your highest values – the things you hold important, meaningful and worthwhile and you’ll feel confident in what you do, you’ll be willing to endure the pain of your chosen path, willing to endure moments of doubt, because you are focused on contributing to the joy of your audience out there on the dance floor – not to mention you get paid to play. Put it this way, when you remix your mindset, the dance floor is not ‘out there’, your audience is not out there (or down there) on the floor, you are there with them in the dance.  I’m not a religious person, however if I was to choose, I think I’d be Hindu for the one fact that they see the cosmos as a divine dance between Shakti and Shiva – the two polar energies of the universe. It’s all encompassing. It says, yes humans, you are part of this dance with your strengths, creativity, dreams, AND your faults, defects and nightmares. It gives you permission, or rather invites you to chill out and accept things the way they are and navigate and mix from that expanded and inclusive mind-frame. In short, if you’re a DJ with imposter syndrome, get present to what is of value to you and you’ll never be an imposter, fake or fraudulent. You’ll be in the flow. Now drop that next track with some heart. 

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