Get Your First VJ GIG | PRO VJ TIPS | HOW TO

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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JollyJosh: / jollyjoshvisuals
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[@malkomalkavian]

A friend had a livestream and the VJ left one day without notice. He asked me to fill in and gave me some kit. I'd not really ever thought about VJing. One week later I played my first live gig. That was about a year ago and I've had several paid gigs since then, and done dozens of livestreams. This channel has helped me technically and emotionally with the challenges. It really helps to talk to others doing the same thing.

[@SeanBowes]

Thanks for sharing your story!

[@legacymultimedia7316]

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!

[@SeanBowes]

Hell yeah that’s another great way in, and is actually a big part of my story too that I left out. Being a visuals creator is such a good way to make the connections that you need to also perform visuals.

[@bobbonniol]

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.

[@SeanBowes]

Thanks Bob, you really stated it eloquently here!

[@foroudifarhad]

Dude that was lightning fast making this video! Thanks for hearing my request man, you're awesome!!

[@SeanBowes]

Haha I had it cued up for next week, but I decided to swap it to this week. Gotta give the people what they want!

[@l.j.crandell5764]

Great tips!! These suggestions will work with pretty much any job in the industry.

[@SeanBowes]

Very true!

[@bloodywanker231]

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.

[@SeanBowes]

Thats the key right there. Definitely works for most things, not just VJing. Thanks for watching, and commenting your confirmation!

[@crmcfall]

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.

[@SeanBowes]

Major point there! Being enjoyable to work with and knowing when to ask for help gets you a lot of points especially when you’re new.

[@jjlovesjam]

Great video! Thanks

[@Kinetiphos]

Dude wow thank you for your channel

[@SeanBowes]

Thank you! Glad you dig it

[@IDeadpanTA]

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!

[@SeanBowes]

Nice! Way to go make your own opportunities with friends. The best way to learn is to actually go try it out! Hopefully the connections you made there lead to more fun gigs. Thanks for watching Tomas!

[@marcolorse1894]

Eres un crack!!! Cool skills for teaching and for vdjing!

[@s3dholographicdisplay]

Vj Tousif from India. Love your work. Keep it up

[@SeanBowes]

Thank you!

[@djjoeyo6554]

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

[@DuyenTran617]

Are you from Boston area? Love your videos, they're so helpful to get insights as there are not too many resources :) thanks for the content

[@SeanBowes]

Yeah I live in LA now but I grew up in New England and lived in Boston for a few years

[@DuyenTran617]

@@SeanBowes cool! I'm from Boston too. quick q, I'm a graphic designer that's interested in transitioning to VJ. Do I need to learn both 3D and After Effects to be a successful VJ? or just AE and Resolume

[@SeanBowes]

@@DuyenTran617 You really dont need to know either to be a successful VJ. Vjing and Content creation are different jobs. But they are complementary skills so it is nice to know. After Effects is a great place to start. And if you eventually want to learn more about 3D thats cool too.

[@DuyenTran617]

@@SeanBowes thanks!

[@sofiaavendano2045]

This is probably going to sound like a funny question but could you give me examples on how to practice with Resolume? thank you! love your videos!!

[@SeanBowes]

that is a great question! It kind of depends on what the goal of your practice is. In general, you can just toss on some music or a DJ mix and start jamming. You might also make some tweaks to your file as you go along and you see what works or doesnt work, or if you come up with ideas along the way. If you're practicing for a specific show you would want to get more specific about playing through the music thats going to be played and hitting your cues. If you want to practice improvising maybe put on a random playlist with lots of genres and see if you're able to switch up your style to match on the spot. Hope that helps a little!

[@sofiaavendano2045]

@@SeanBowes thank you!!

[@Andyanddiana467]

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.

[@SeanBowes]

Great advice! Thanks for sharing Andy. Definitely agree about working your way up and doing your best on the ‘little’ gigs. You never know where they might lead you!

[@VisualBeatLab]

Dope

[@SeanBowes]

Thanks! Hope you found it helpful

[@mediabrain7763]

❤❤❤

[@SeanBowes]

Glad you liked it, thanks for watching!

[@malkomalkavian]

How do people do back-to-back vjing? when I've tried it with a splitter the computers flip out because one of their screens is disappearing

[@SeanBowes]

Usually through a video switcher / mixer. Sometimes one person captures the other and acts as the switcher but that’s not optimal.

[@malkomalkavian]

A quick google tells me this might cost £250. Is this insane, or just what it costs?@@SeanBowes

[@SeanBowes]

Yeah that's about what a decent capture card or a really cheap switcher costs

[@marcosamarilla4787]

Podrian empezar siendo tecnicos, obviamente uno tarda en subir al puesto de tecnico de video. Pero todo se puede!

[@asifxmedia]

share some vj community links

[@SeanBowes]

Added socials for those featured in the video to the description. For more community, check out the VJ Union groups on Facebook. I will do some more about community soon! Thanks for the suggestion

[@grahamgrafx]

No one else doin it in my community. And I have the standard ADD internet-age attention span and needed something to watch while the local musicians played, particularly the slower ones. Respect for their craft, but I didn't have the attention, and I'm more of a visual person. I asked the event's manager if I could do video. He was willing, and people really dug it, so I started doing it regular.

[@SeanBowes]

Find an opening, and just ask! And then do something cool so they let you do it again and again. Thats it right there! Thanks for adding your story

[@krishort]

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.

[@SeanBowes]

Thats awesome! Congrats on the gig, and for taking a chance on yourself when you weren't sure you were ready. Now you have one under your belt and a lot of good information. Build the projector rental into the price of upcoming gigs. You can try to have a candid conversation with the dnb promoter about how you fronted it for the last one but will need to cover costs for future gigs. There might be a way to work it out. For new clients thats just part of the fee from the start. When you have your own gear, you can charge a percentage of its purchase price each gig to recover costs and prepare for maintenance and replacement costs in the future. You can also try to find venues in your area with LED walls or their own projector so you don't need to rent one, and use those gigs there save up for your own projection equipment. Small cities are definitely more difficult but its still possible. Investigate the venues around you and keep practicing so you are ready for the next one when it comes up. I believe in you!

[@krishort]

​@@SeanBowes Thanks mate, it was a bit nerve wracking to go there, but an awesome experience once I got it going. Also I just wanna say that your content was and is super helpful for especially newer VJs like myself. What I meant to say was that he did pay for the setup and helped build it too. It was just so expensive with the small budget that for the future it is not worth it unless I can figure out a way to do it cheaper. I should definitely ask if hes interested in hiring me with bigger pay if I get my own projector, thanks for the tip. I dont really even know if any clubs in my city have projectors let alone LED walls. Most clubs Ive been to have actually pretty decent light setups just nothing for visuals. Every few weeks I tend to go to rave at Tampere, which has a pretty active ug scene for Finland, and they sometimes have visuals, so I might be able to network there too. (Tho im often a bit too under the influence to care about anything but music, oops)

[@WillowSphere]

Thanks for posting this !!! 🫶🏻