We are thrilled to be a stop on the This Song Will Save Your Life blog tour! If you’ve seen the this one buzzing around the blogosphere, it’s been for good reason. Our very own Adrienne called it “highly addictive”. Today, Leila Sales offers practical advice on dating DJs. Her timing is perfect because just the other I was in the club with my totally hot DJ boyfriend, posted up on the wall like the awkward penguin that I am, wondering what I was doing wrong in life. Teach me your ways, Sama!
How to Date a DJ
This may come as a shock, but I have dated a few DJs in my life. To be perfectly honest, I have dated mostly DJs in my life. I have dated DJs to the point where, when random guys try to pick me up, I just assume they are DJs unless they expressly tell me otherwise, which they almost never do.
This is not actually as huge a coincidence as it may seem. I like to go out to concerts and dance parties, which are places where DJs abound. And I get very excited about music, and they do, too, because that is their job. Presumably if I spent my time at places like rock climbing gyms, I would meet fewer DJs, but I have never been to a rock climbing gym because I have no upper-body strength.
Anyway, what I have accumulated over my years of dating DJs is wisdom. Wisdom about how to date a DJ. I understand that that’s not particularly useful in a broad range of settings, but I shall share my wisdom with you, anyway, just in case you, too, ever find yourself as a DJ’s boyfriend or girlfriend.
- When you go to see them spin, bring a friend. Or be prepared to make new friends out on the floor. You will not be spending the night hanging out with your girlfriend, because she will be in the DJ booth, working. If she’s sharing the night with another DJ, she may get a little free time to dance with you, but even then most of her attention will be focused on the sound and the overall crowd response and she may abandon you on the dance floor at a moment’s notice to run and fix something in the booth. You can feel lonely and bad for yourself all night, or you can move on and enjoy the party with your friends. Remember: DJing is a job, and your girlfriend is at work.
- Be prepared to stay out really, really late. Or arrange your own transportation home. The DJ has to stay until the very end of the night. It’s his equipment up there; he can’t just grab his turntables and head out because you are get tired. And even once he is done DJing, he will probably be on an adrenaline high and will want to keep partying! He just got off work! Wooo! If that’s not how you want to spend your three A.M., just make sure you have your own ride home.
- Yes, you do get to make special requests. But don’t abuse the privilege. It feels amazing when your girlfriend plays a song she knows you love to a crowd of a hundred strangers. But at the end of the day, she is the DJ currently on the decks, not you, so you don’t get to dictate every song she plays. Trust her judgment. (Incidentally, this is good advice for anyone ever attending a party with DJs.)
- You have responsibilities here, too. Your boyfriend’s responsibilities are to play the right songs and get people up and dancing. But if that’s not happening, and he is getting frustrated or disappointed, then your responsibility is to stand up and start the dance party. (This is yet another reason why it’s good to bring friends. They can assist with this.) Once other people in the room see that dancing is happening, they will join in. It will make your boyfriend happy, and you will have lost nothing except for maybe some dignity. But whatever on dignity.
- If anyone starts bugging you and you don’t want to talk to them, just tell them you’re dating the DJ. Works every time.
[about-author]
Leila Sales is one of the Fierce Reads authors on the September Fierce Reads Tour with Alexandra Coutts (Tumble & Fall), S.A. Bodeen (Fallout) and Marissa Meyer (Scarlet). Check out the schedule to see if the tour is coming near you!
Follow the rest of the This Song Will Save Your Life blog tour to learn more about the book, Leila and enter giveaways!
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Monday 9/2
Wastepaper Prose
Tuesday 9/3
Alexa Loves Books
Wednesday 9/4
Good Books and Good Wine
Thursday 9/5
Once Upon a Prologue
Friday 9/6
Cuddlebuggery
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Monday 9/9
Ticket to Anywhere
Tuesday 9/10
The Book Cellar
Wednesday 9/11
Hobbitsies
Thursday 9/12
The Irish Banana Review
Friday 9/13
I Swim for Oceans
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Don’t forget to check out This Song Will Save Your Life, available September 17th!
Goodreads | Indiebond | Amazon | The Book Depository | B&N
Elise Dembowski is not afraid of a little hard work. In fact, she embraces it. All her life, she’s taken on big, all-encompassing projects. When she was eight years old, she built her own dollhouse. When she was thirteen, she taught herself stop-motion animation. And when she’s fifteen, she embarks on the biggest, and most important, project of them all: becoming cool. Except she fails. Miserably. And everything falls to pieces.
Now, if possible, Elise’s social life is even worse than it was before. Until she stumbles into an underground dance club, and opens the door to a world she never knew existed. An inside-out world where, seemingly overnight, a previously uncool high school sophomore can become the hottest new DJ sensation. Elise finally has what she always wanted: acceptance, friendship, maybe even love. Until the real world threatens to steal it all away.
In a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, Leila Sales delivers an exuberant novel about identity, relationships, and the power of music to bring people together.
Giveaway:
We have one hardcover copy of This Song Will Save Your Life and a CD of the playlist (pictured below) courtesy of MacKids to giveaway one lucky winner!
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Contest Rules:
- To enter, please fill out the Raffelcopter form below.
- We ask that all entrants be at least 13 years or older to enter.
- The giveaway is open to US/CA only.
- When the winners are chosen, it will be announced here and the winners will be emailed. Please check your email because we are only giving the winner 48 hours to respond! Otherwise another winner will have to be selected.
- Please enter your email address in the Rafflecopter form and not the comments.
- Also, please understand that we reserve the right to disqualify any entries we find gaming the system. Cheaters never prosper.
Violette
This book looks awesome and I am digging that playlist. I was more of a “band dater” in High School but DJs also always held a sort of intrigue. 😀 Thanks for the opportunity to win!
Tammy
How can you not want to get up and move when you hear Come On Eileen or at least put on a pair of overalls?
kristiemjm
Love the guidelines! They make perfect sense. Thanks for the giveaway 🙂
msbibliophile
That was an entertaining list of rules! (Especially the last one!) The book looks pretty amazing too!
KellisAmberlee_
Well, now I have what I need to snag a DJ 😉
Christianna
This was amazing! As another music lover who has friends in bands, I know what she says is truth.
Shelver506
I know next to nothing about DJs and what they do (you know, other than the obvious), so I really liked this post!
FlyleafHeather
Ha! Love this post! I’ve dated a DJ or two myself and Leila Sales speaketh the truth. Can I add one? Don’t overindulge on the free cocktails that your DJ boyfriend/girlfriend will get. You want to spend your evening in the booth or on the dance floor–not hunched over a toilet in an icky bathroom stall;)
ThoughtsandPens
Steph, maybe you should find me a DJ boyfriend first so I can test the efficacy of those tips. Haha. Sounds like a lot of fun and a lot of work. 😀
disquietus
I love this post so much. I definitely need to find a DJ boyfriend so I can put these tips to use now. Elise could have used them before getting involved with Char too. And a whole bunch of other tips about dating douchey college boys. AND THIS BOOK. This book is glorious.
heartJESS
This book looks so great and this post was <3 <3 <3
ReviewsAbound
I’m really excited to read this book, and I love how there’s a playlist to go with it! 🙂
teenysez
I’d never thought about the difficulties of dating a DJ, but that list was great! Also great: that playlist 😀
Thanks for the awesome giveaway!!
hellloitslate
I’ve been waiting for this one! 🙂
DarithL
I need this book in my life! The cover and synopsis are so magnetic! 😀
fakesteph
If I enjoy the book half as much as I enjoyed this post, then I am going to love it!
GiaochauN
This book sounds sooo good! I can’t wait for the book to come out.
caripao2001
I can’t wait for this one!
curlysueshi
This is awesome! Clearly I wasted my potential by never dating DJs! What I wouldn’t have given for such a fantastic musical connection back in the day. Alas… Thanks for sharing Leila! And thanks Cuddlebuggery gals for the giveaway!
Mona6014
I’ve read Adrienne’s review, and I’ve been really looking forward to this book. And the awesome DJ aspect definitely helps.
JezzaBelle
I am so excited for this book.
NovaBlogder
WHEE! THIS BOOK LOOKS AWESOME
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