The Path to Success: Famous DJs Best Kept Secrets E-Book

Dan Van Casteele

• Herausgeber: Dan Van Casteele
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

There are techniques to DJ and to become a music producer. There are also methods to organize music events and to promote them. But, few people ever wrote about what truly makes everything awesome, or which criteria an artist should follow to gain success and reach the level of the most famous.

Even though many would refer to such knowledge as being impossible to gain or organize in obvious principles, this book is based on the biography of a famous DJ, Dan Van Casteele, who has been implementing it all his life to make himself and others successful, and reach top word charts dozens of times.

This book talks about experiences in DJing, organizing parties, managing DJs, producing and composing Music, as well as in competing against the best musicians in the world. And, while not referring to mainstream beliefs, it does show how to be the best in these situations. This is, very likely, one of the most complete manuals about how to be successful in the field of electronic music.

The content of this book may shock you, due to its simplicity and direct approach to complex topics related to the music industry. Nevertheless, the quality of the best DJs is measured by their results, and it's the intention of this book to maximize them, by promoting the use of good strategies and creative approaches to music.

A Musician is, above all things, an Artist and a Dreamer, and this is the book that shows how to combine these three characteristics altogether and efficiently. Anyone has the right to become a DJ, but only those that can use their heart to perform with love for music and are able to uplift the heart of others, should have such opportunity, and it’s for them that this book is intended. Here, you'll find the most hidden secrets of the music industry and, if you follow them, your chances of reaching popularity will dramatically increase. It includes descriptions, advices and recommendations about the most vital aspects related to the music career of a DJ.

For 4 years, from 2011 to 2014, this book was classified as a Bestseller on Amazon. So, read it, because nobody will ever tell you about the best kept secrets here exposed!

This book is dedicated to Louise Van de Casteele. May her soul rest in peace! But I would also like to express my gratitude to all the DJs, Producers and Nightclub Managers who collaborated in my projects and made the content here exposed possible.

Leseprobe

The Path to Success: Famous DJs Best Kept Secrets

Dan Van Casteele

Published by 22 Lions, 2015.

The Path to Success: Famous DJs Best Kept Secrets

By Dan Van Casteele

Copyright © Dan Van Casteele, 2011 (1st Ed.) All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © Dan Van Casteele, 2014 (2nd Ed.) All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © Dan Van Casteele, 2015 (3rd Ed.) All Rights Reserved.

Published by 22 Lions

Draft 2 Digital Edition

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND

HOW I APPEARED ON MTV

CREATING A NEW TREND

WITHIN THE UNKNOWN

THE PATH TO SUCCESS

THE FIRST PERFORMANCES

ORGANIZING EVENTS

BECOMING A FAMOUS DJ

THE POWER OF MUSIC

MUSIC AS A THERAPY

MUSICALITY AND CRITICAL THINKING

YOUR PERSONAL VALUE

FINDING GOLD IN THE TRASH

MAXIMIZING YOUR RESEARCH

THE PRICE OF BEING UNIQUE

A SYSTEM WITHIN ANOTHER SYSTEM

UPLIFTING WITH MUSIC

THE GOOD AND THE BAD

JUDGMENTS AND REPUTATION

THE EFFECT OF BAD DECISIONS

BEYOND SOCIAL STEREOTYPES

ORIGINALITY

TAKING ACTIONS

YOUR PUBLIC IMAGE

YOUR ARTISTIC NAME

THE WRONG ARTISTIC NAME

HIDING YOUR IDENTITY

ONLINE MARKETING

BEING DIFFERENT

ENTERTAINING AND PERFORMING

ATTRACTING FOLLOWERS

MANAGING FAME

PEOPLE THAT SHOULDN'T PERFORM

BEING ATTACKED

PRODUCTION AND PERFORMANCE

MIXING WITH A COMPUTER

PREPARING SETS FOR PARTIES

PRINCIPLES TO CREATE A GOOD SET

COMMITING TO YOUR VALUES

THE IMPORTANCE OF HOMEWORK

RECOGNIZING FRIENDSHIPS

BEING DIFFERENT FROM THE REST

CHOOSING A CLUB

APPLYING AS A DJ

NEGOTIATING YOUR PRICE

PROMOTING YOURSELF

MAKING FRIENDS

BEING IN DANGER

HIRING SECURITY GUARDS

REPLYING TO INVITATIONS

THE WORSE THING DJS DO

KEEPING YOUR FANS

PREPARING FOR A PERFORMANCE

DEALING WITH INCOMPATIBILITY

DJING STYLES

THE ORGANIC DJ

EQUALIZING RHYTHMS

EVALUATING YOUR WORK

THE SPIRITUAL ART IN DJING

CONTROLING A PERFORMANCE

STRATEGIES ON STAGE

SIMPLE WAYS TO MIX

WORKING WITH OTHERS

HAVING FUN

INVITING OTHER DJS

EVALUATING A DJ

REASONS TO ORGANIZE LINE-UPS

SHARING YOUR MEMORIES

MANAGING SUCCESS

DREAMING WITH A FUTURE

INTRODUCTION

There are techniques to DJ and to become a music producer. There are also methods to organize music events and to promote them. But, few people ever wrote about what truly makes everything awesome, or which criteria an artist should follow to gain success and reach the level of the most famous.

Even though many would refer to such knowledge as being impossible to gain or organize in obvious principles, this book is based on the biography of a famous DJ, Dan Van Casteele, who has been implementing it all his life to make himself and others successful, and reach top word charts dozens of times.

This book talks about experiences in DJing, organizing parties, managing DJs, producing and composing Music, as well as in competing against the best musicians in the world. And, while not referring to mainstream beliefs, it does show how to be the best in these situations. This is, very likely, one of the most complete manuals about how to be successful in the field of electronic music.

The content of this book may shock you, due to its simplicity and direct approach to complex topics related to the music industry. Nevertheless, the quality of the best DJs is measured by their results, and it's the intention of this book to maximize them, by promoting the use of good strategies and creative approaches to music.

A Musician is, above all things, an Artist and a Dreamer, and this is the book that shows how to combine these three characteristics altogether and efficiently. Anyone has the right to become a DJ, but only those that can use their heart to perform with love for music and are able to uplift the heart of others, should have such opportunity, and it’s for them that this book is intended. Here, you'll find the most hidden secrets of the music industry and, if you follow them, your chances of reaching popularity will dramatically increase. It includes descriptions, advices and recommendations about the most vital aspects related to the music career of a DJ.

For 4 years, from 2011 to 2014, this book was classified as a Bestseller on Amazon. So, read it, because nobody will ever tell you about the best kept secrets here exposed!

This book is dedicated to Louise Van de Casteele. May her soul rest in peace! But I would also like to express my gratitude to all the DJs, Producers and Nightclub Managers who collaborated in my projects and made the content here exposed possible.

BACKGROUND

According to many experts, my path to success was extremely quick and unnatural, for someone without any background in music and little knowledge about it. Nevertheless, it wouldn't be possible without so much hard word, dedication, constant studying and analysis of the new tendencies in music, as well as a tremendous effort to achieve uniqueness and maintain a never-ending flow of creativity within me.

My biography isn't similar to many others. I didn't grow up in a family of musicians and my parents weren’t educated in music. I have never learned to play a musical instrument, expect flute in school, and I always had bad grades in my examinations, apart from, very honestly, hating these classes. I couldn't do much more than listening to what my friends were enjoying, and trying to understand why, while watching MTV and the German Music Channel VIVA.

As a teenager, I started listening to Bryan Adams and Bon Jovi, and I really liked it. But, I was also a fan of intro music for cartoon series. However, when I started hanging out with fans of Iron Mayden, Metallica and Megadeth, a new world opened for me. I was actually addicted to metal, until I had a first glimpse of techno music from the Channel VIVA. I will never forget the moment I was at home zapping channels and suddenly stumbled upon a live broadcast of the famous Love Parade in Berlin. Carl Cox was playing and that first impression would change me forever. I never really understood what was music, but I knew what felt good, and what Carl Cox was doing was much more than techno or music, it was a new feeling I never had when listening to other musicians. I was 18 years old, and immediately obsessed with electronic music, especially German techno and trance. I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that I had surely been born in the wrong country, as I simply adored all the music coming from Germany. I would be obsessed for the next days, watching the German Charts for Dance music and recording them in my VHS video recorder. I will be listening obsessively and compulsively for the following weeks.

HOW I APPEARED ON MTV

Everything changed in my life, when one day I saw a commercial about eJay music software. I was astonished when realizing that it was possible to create techno and dance music with a computer. So, I spent the following weeks trying to find it. I just wanted to create my own electronic music and had fun with it. It’s much different from learning how to play a musical instrument, something I was never good at. The person that got me the software, Dance eJay 2 is today a rich CEO of a multinational company in the field of copper. It’s interesting how life unfolds.

I was so thrilled with the idea of creating my own music, that I immediately created a track in that same day, without any knowledge about how to do it, and simply by mixing some sounds and voice samples that I found interesting.

In the following week he got me Rave eJay, and that just made me even more excited with the whole experience. I basically stopped studying for my exams, because I was addicted to creating music.

Soon after that, I saw another commercial, named, “eJay of the Week on MTV" and that moment would change me forever.

In only one year, I learned to appreciate electronic music for the first time, created my first songs with a very basic software, named eJay, and was entering a competition for MTV. I was just having fun, but everything changed when my first track ever, entered the top 15 Europe, and the same happened to my second, third and fourth tracks. I was nominated in a total of 16 times, with different songs. And, that put the whole fun in a new ground. I was now competing to win, against millions of Europeans with background in music, DJs, professional composers and other amazingly talented people with machines plugged to their computers that I couldn't possibly afford to buy, professional singers teaming with them, and the best software they could find. Actually, most producers were using the best software in the world, because this competition didn't had any special requirement, and the uploaded songs were just mp3s.

The difficulties and the logical impossibility to ever reach number one were obvious, but my passion for music never fadeaway, so I persisted, by working harder than ever. Every single night, I would create an average of 2 to 4 songs, and in one year, I published more than 600 songs. As Danny Tenaglia said, “I wake up and eat music for breakfast”.

To leverage my opportunities, of being among the top 15 Europe, which was getting harder as time went by, I analyzed the best songs, compared their similarities and differences, and, as I couldn't get better software or have enough money to by hardware to help me, I though about other strategies to win, and they included a very extensive and difficult quest for samples that I could use to create better music with a software that was far too behind my competitors, which now included millions of professional musicians.

In the end, I lost hope, but not persistence. I created new tracks until the last day of the competition, and just when I least expected it, I was the winner, the last winner of the competition, with a song entitled “Goddess of Groove”, a new music style, which would later inspire a new trend, seen more prominently with Kylie Minogue “Can’t get you out of my head” and Lady Gaga “Bad Romance”.