Have you got what it takes to be a disc jockey? Wexford-based DJ Marky C has seen it all and is ready to answer our most pertinent questions about the industry…
DJs are a staple of the local entertainment industry. From pubs and clubs to weddings and birthdays, a good DJ can be the last line of defence against a bad night. They are an endlessly popular choice for partygoers who prefer the wide selection of a DJ’s catalogue over the more intimate experience of a live band.
Most music lovers have likely pondered at one time or another whether they would make a good professional DJ. But what exactly makes a good DJ? Is it really as simple as playing one song after another? We decided to sit down with someone with decades in the industry to get a look behind the curtain.
Mark Colliers Lewis, known professionally as DJ Marky C, is a popular wedding and party DJ based in Wexford. On weekends, you will find him performing in Maggie Mays in Wexford Town.
You’ve been doing this a long time. Do you still get surprised by song requests?
“The young adults surprise me every week. They ask for swing and I’m like ‘How do you know about that?’. But it’s all coming back around.
I make it personal to everyone and try remember their requests. When a regular walks into a bar, the bartender knows whether they drink a Guinness or a Heineken. He knows what their drinking before they even ask. They’ve half-poured it. It’s the same with music. It’s the same with deejaying. You know, because they’re always on to you.
There’s a young crowd sitting to the left of me in Maggie Mays and they often ask for the same songs. ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!’ by ABBA, Rihanna, Shaggy. But then you end up playing the same stuff. That’s the dilemma you’ve got.
You’re dealing with a selection of people from eighteen to sixty-something. And I’ve got to find a middle ground between eighteen and sixty. So, I have to find a song that a sixty-year-old would know, with a beat that an eighteen-year-old would like.
It can be difficult. You’ve got to cross boundaries. You’ve got to cross generations. I put ‘Sweet Caroline’ on and they’re all singing. From eighteen to sixty. I put ‘(Simply) The Best’ on and all the women get up.”
How do you keep things fresh?
“I do research every week. I try and find something new. If someone comes up to me and says ‘Can you play this?’, I take a photo of it. I’ll go home and have a listen to it and I’ll get the best version I can. I have to pay for them each time. I don’t mind doing that, that’s all part of the job. People think you can get songs for nothing. You don’t. Whatever song I get, I pay for.”
What would be your go-to song to get people on the dance floor?
“ABBA. Always works. Nine times out of ten when you go to a wedding, the DJ will play ABBA first. Or, if there is a band on, I will follow the band. We’ll say, for argument’s sake, that the band finishes with an Irish song. I’ll try follow them with an Irish song. You’ll try to keep it going that way and keep people on the dance floor.”
Do you ever have to deal with hecklers?
“Some people will go ‘Turn that off. It’s crap’. But someone has asked for it so I’m playing it. You’ll always get that. I don’t mind hecklers because I give as good as I get.”
Lewis then let us in on a little trade secret of deejaying.
“As a DJ, you see a lot. And you hear a lot. When you’re behind the music, you can hear everyone talking. Because you’re behind the speakers. They’re in front of the speakers shouting because it’s loud but I’m behind them so I can hear them.
A couple of weeks ago someone said to their friend ‘Go and ask him for I Wanna Dance with Somebody Whitney Houston’. They came up and I said ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody Whitney Houston yeah?’ and they were like ‘How do you know? How did you hear that?’.”
You do a lot of weddings. Is there a most common first dance song?
“It could be anything. Absolutely anything. One I do get asked for a lot, and it was my wedding song, is Christy Moore ‘The Voyage’.”
Has anyone ever asked for a song at a wedding and you’re like ‘Really?’
“Loads. I did a wedding once about twenty years ago. They gave me a list of songs. It was all gothic songs. Just real heavy stuff. Never heard it before in my life. I was like ‘Okay…’. They gave me a list of thirty odd songs. They said start at the top, go to the bottom and start at the top again. I felt so sorry for the guests at the wedding. People were coming up shouting ‘What’s this sh*t?’. It was a real long night.”
Before concluding our interview, I had one more burning question to satisfy my curiosity. I was wondering what a career DJ’s favourite album might be.
This might be the toughest question of all. What’s your favourite album of all time?
“It’s a cheesy one. AC/DC ‘Highway to Hell’. I love AC/DC. I have all their albums.”
One Reply to “”