Learn from professional VJs about how to get your first VJ gig, based on the actual stories of how they got their first gigs.
These VJs tour with major artists and perform at huge festivals and clubs around the world, but they all started out needing to get that very first gig.
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Great tips. I was a bit of a combination of the three like you but for me it boiled down to network/do what you have to do to get the gig (including working for free) and then prepare your ass off and nail the opportunity.
I believe it was pixeldust who talked about being someone people enjoy working with in her interview. That’s been huge for me. Go in prepared but also mindful of what you don’t know, and don’t be afraid to ask. Humility and vulnerability go a long way.
share some vj community links
This is good. A couple of things:
1) If working for free isn't possible, try to spread risk for the clients. For example: I do a lot of work with tribute/cover/party bands who often share the bill with each other. What I've done in the past was to split my fee among the 2-3 bands; that way, no one band felt like they had to shoulder my fees all by themselves.
2) Speaking of cover and tribute bands: We all wanna VJ for Lady Gaga and Metallica and whatnot, but those gigs are few and far between and often go to the top names. HOWEVER, there are LOTS of local events that want your services, so don't look down on a tribute, or a corporate gig, etc. WORK BEGETS WORK. Every single well-paying gig I got was the result of paying my dues working for some teenage BTS wannabe band or some Suburban Karen's Halloween party. If you're good and wow people with your skills, your name will get to the people in charge of the better gigs.
My first gig I did for free and it happened to be an Insomniac festival (anxiety at an all time high).I had made visuals for the artist and asked if they wanted someone to perform them live. We had synced and intro for the opener and it turned out great. If it wasn't for my good connections with people like yourself, I wouldn't have been as prepared as I was. Great tips!
My first (and so far only) gig was handed to me by complete chance via instagram. The guy arranging the dnb event cold messaged me to run visuals at a bar. I wasnt very ready, but like you said in the video, I accepted and practiced. The gig went fine, but the rental setup ended up being quite expensive for the small event, which is why I haven't been able to do more stuff for him.
I feel like in a relatively small city (100k residents, Finland) it's pretty difficult to create opportunities, especially without my own projector setup. If I could place the money down on a projector I could probably land gigs every now and then for that guy and see where that leads me to.
Without that tho I feel a bit stuck on where to find work as a VJ. Its also a bit hard to put more time into practicing and creating content when I have no idea when the next opportunity might come.
Fantastic advice. Go to where they are, make yourself visible, and persistently and without fear go for it in the moments when opportunity presents itself.
Dude that was lightning fast making this video! Thanks for hearing my request man, you're awesome!!
Great tips!! These suggestions will work with pretty much any job in the industry.
my first "gig" so far was at a private party with some friends, made so many mistakes micing my videos, but i was so happy to be doing it. so far it was just with friends but made friends with a bar owner, so im stocked to see if that can be something for the future, Hi from colombia Sean!
Good stuff! Involve yourself with the scene your interested in, make friends and show genuine interest in what others are doing and soon enough you will find opportunities arising! This works for many things.
Hey Sean. I'm trying to trigger a strobe effect for some of the clips on the layers. Any tips or advice? Greatly appreciate it. Thnx