Roadies

[jackcu 0]

I was catching up on the weddings / worth thread and noticed a comment from Chris about hiring a roadie to do the donkey work at the end of a long night when it's raining ;)

 

I must admit that that's the bit about Dj'ing that annoys me too.

 

So who uses a roadie? How did you find them and how much do you pay them? Don't worry if you don't want to spill ALL the beans - I'm just interested as I'd never considered this so far.

 

Cheers,

 

Jack.

[C.S 0]

Not unless i have to !

[YourBigEvent 0]

Never

[AJS Mobile Disco 0]

I have a friend who comes along for the night out. I know we should both get out more!! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/rolleyes.gif

Anne

[BigBen 0]

I started out with a roadie, for confidence and his CD collection than anything else! But then he had a career change and took up a job with shift patterns...so he became completely unreliable. I then worked with another two - neither of whom were up to the job, or a patch on my first.

 

I then tried it on my lonesome.

 

I miss having someone to half the lifting at the beginning and end of every night. I miss someone to watch the gear whilst I can't be with it. I miss someone to bounce ideas off, or to take requests, or to suggest tracks himself. I miss someone for a bit of company. I miss someone to press buttons if I want to be in front of the gear on the mic. Perhaps I miss someone to be with me if a bit of trouble occurs - although that's not happened yet (fingers crossed it never will).

 

The only bad thing about having a roadie was paying him at the end of the night.

 

Perhaps I was just lucky with my first roadie?

[tonyj 0]

nope never used 1.

[robbiedj 0]

Don't need a roadie as there are two of us.

 

Carol carries smaller cases and we set up together, having a routine that we always follow e.g. sound set up, she plugs in anti-surge gangs, speakers etc while I connect amps / lap-top / mixer. Then she begins music and sound checks while I fix up lights etc. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/thumbup.gif

 

We can have music started in 15 mins when needed. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/whistling.gif

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

I always use a roadie.....

[High Fidelity 0]

Only when my son decides to join me as all he gets is a couple of drinks for the evening.

 

Not being mean not paying him. He's paying off his debts to me. Ony thing is, the balance seems to be going up instead of down.

 

I find it nice to have somebody with me though. Yes it's nice to have someone to help with the lifting etc., but as Richard says, it's nice to have someone to bounce ideas off etc.

[Hugmaster 0]

Hi

 

There are two of us and we've got a great routine worked out.

 

He does all the work and I sit and watch, lol, just kidding.

 

He lugs in the gear for obvious reasons, I set up the stands, wire everything up, sound check etc, he takes care of lights and tidying my wiring up, lol.

 

We tend to rotate in half hour DJing sessions dependnat on what function we're doing and it works well for us, we play off each other and he says he doesn't know where I get all my one liners from, keep telling him I'm a genius, but he's not convinced.

 

Darren

[AJS Mobile Disco 0]

Hi Bigben, I thought I heard violins then http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/014.gif

Anne

[brianmole 0]

I always use a roadie or two. Very rarely, I cannot get one, and I do it on my own (violins again) http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/laugh.gif

 

I use roadies for several reasons:

 

- I only have one back, need help lugging

- At the end of the night, when I am tired, the dismantle and carry to car is a lot quicker and easier on me with a roadie

- Roadies also receive requests whilst I am working (don't want someone interrupting in the middle of a mix or announcement)

- Roadie can fetch the drinks

- Roadie can be a second set of eyes for security reasons

- Roadie can take over for a few moments if I need the loo, or a break

- Roadie can drive back to base if I have forgotten something (has never happened to me so far)

- good company when it gets boring

 

What do I pay? Minimum £40, usually £50, sometimes up to £90 if they drive an extra pair of speakers to the venue or we have an extra long day. I also pay for all the drinks, meals. NYE is different, I pay about £125 + meals, drinks, and the hotel for the night as we are in Bury St Edmunds (3 hours+ from home).

 

I have a choice of chaps I use to roadie: a student, a mobile DJ, 2 x ex-mobile djs, a few good friends. Generally, I try to avoid young Kevin types as they are not interested in anything and are more of a hinderance than a help. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/kid.gif

[Corabar Steve 0]

Wish I could afford to pay one. Especially now I've increased the size of my lighting rig, which has increased my set up / take down time quite a lot

[cookiecat 0]

I started out as a roadie,although my job description was Apprentice DJ?

Basically this meant setting up/down.

This was in the days of vinyl and there were a lot of record cases to be lugged about.

I would start the next track if the dj was indisposed,then graduated to cueing(1/4 backspin on citronic Thames II).Then progressed to 1/2 an hour and so on.This worked well for us.

[BigBen 0]

QUOTE

Hi Bigben, I thought I heard violins then Anne

http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/tongue.gif

[speedy 0]

I used to if i was feeling lazy http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Dynamicdiscos 0]

I'm just lucky I have a free roadie http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif

 

My poor fiance!

[Kingy 0]

I have had a couple of incredibly good roadies, but sadly, both moved on to women!

 

I have one now & again, but often manage on my own.

 

Thats why I prefer small gigs and smaller set ups!!

[Dukesy 0]

I've used roadies on and off since 91/92.

 

Recently, I've only used roadies a couple of times in a couple of months. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/smile.gif

 

[nrgize 0]

I used to use them alot. But then my mate starting working in a Bar so doesnt come and help anymore. My family help out unloading the car into the house, and transporting gear for bigger venues. But always set up on my own.

 

And me needing the money think the money is better kept in my pocket http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/yucky.gif

 

When I have had a roadie I have found that nobody can pack the gear away the way i like, and wind cables the way i do. So doing it myself I know excatly where everything is!

Friends from work offer but know that they would want paying and not only £20 as I used to pay!

[Cheezy 0]

I have a fab roadie, my wife Jackie! She's great at the visual stuff, she loves displaying the rope lights!!!

 

It is great having someone to help, moving the big stuff is quick & easy but knackering! But packing away all the fiddly time consuming stuff, mics, headphones, ropelights, fans etc

 

Occassionally I wish I'd got a roadie especially for venues with stairs! But as said already you have to pay 'em!!

 

Cheezy

[DJ SPARKO 0]

When i first started out i had two friends with me for about a few months then started on my own and have been ever since.

[Steve_Mitchell 0]

Brian

 

The money your payin give a ring I`ll carry your gear

Steve

07740950715

[YourBigEvent 0]

So will I mate

[ChrisPointon 0]

I have a very good, reliable Roadie, who is also a Good friend who I have known since High School. He started helping me out to gain experience to become a DJ himself, found he didn't want to get involved with the red tape of running a business and starting from scratch himself and was just happy with being a Roadie for me.

 

Good Roadies are very hard to find, especially one who works for nothing, and no that isn't just because the Inland Revenue may be reading, he really does help out for the enjoyment value and the Free Buffett alone http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/rolleyes.gif . Instead of payment, every Xmas I pay for him and his current Girlfriend to have a weekend away - all expenses paid and I also pay for drinks, late night kebab on the way home etc. This isn't just a fad or a temporary arrangement he's been helping me now for 14 out of 17 years!.

 

A roadie isn't just somebody to help out with lugging the gear around, and if you take that attitude then you will have to pay somebody full whack because then you'll just be 'The Boss' and there will be little mutual respect and zero loyalty. If you treat a Roadie as part of the team, let them learn and develop the skills which you have, then not only do you have somebody reliable and experienced who you can bounce ideas off, but you also have a capable roadie who can cover for you as an experienced DJ during illness / holidays etc http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/smile.gif

 

There are 100's of people out there wanting the opportunity to learn how to become a DJ, who would welcome becoming a Roadie for somebody on here for little or no payment. Some people perhaps feel guilty about expecting trainees to become roadies on this basis, but I don't undersatnd why. After all, you are teaching them a valuable trade and no price can be paid for true, real time, hands on experience and tuition in a gig environment. After all, some people are willing to pay £400 - £1000 to attend a DJ course to learn the basics, so what is the difference between helping somebody out in return for real work experience and training - fair exchange is no robbery.