Music festivals, nightclubs, and after parties. Those are the most common places that you’ll find DJs; regardless of their status on social media, how many mixes they have on Mixcloud, or the number of chart-topping hits that they’ve produced. There are also places where you wouldn’t normally find DJs doing sets; such as the Grand Canyon, or even the Empire State Building. (I know that’s on somebody’s DJ bucket list, but it sure won’t be on mine!) With all of that said, I have a place in mind where I wish some semi-famous (or even famous) DJs would spin music at; anime conventions. 

Okay, so I may have talked about this on a certain anime blog that I’m also the owner of, but I truly believe that DJing an anime convention might not be such a bad idea. Sure, it may not be the ideal place for some (depending if you like anime or not), but compared to the ‘club-standard’ rules of making sure that your selection is tailored to the venue’s taste, you have a lot more freedom in playing what you want to play. (They still have certain rules over playing uncut versions of songs.)

With anime conventions, your song selection can be pretty loose and non-restrictive in terms of what genre(s) of music to play. As a 12-year veteran; I can say without a doubt that anime convention rave crowds like a lot of Hardstyle, Kawaii Bass, Drum and Bass, EDM Trap, and Tech House. (Even some Hip-Hop and Moombahton too!) If you’re a DJ who spins that kind of music, you’ve got it made. Now you’re probably wondering if there have been any famous DJs who have DJed at an anime convention before, right? Well the answer is yes. DJ Heavygrinder, a DJ/Producer out of Seattle, Washington, has DJed for Anime Expo several times. Another is DJ Icey, who was the DJ for Otakon’s 2013 Otakurave. Imagine how turn’d up Anime Expo would be if you got guys like Skrillex, Steve Aoki, or Martin Garrix on the decks. Just a thought…

Wrapping up; DJing at an anime convention gives you so much leeway in song selection, and how the crowd reacts to said song selection. You will have the time of your life should you decide to DJ at one, as you don’t have to worry about anyone trippin’ on LSD (or whatever pills they used to pop at the old-school 90’s raves), wallflowers, or 75% of the crowd recording you and your set with their phones. Everyone is there dancing and having a nerdy good time, and you as the DJ are providing that for them. If you’re lucky, you might even get paid to DJ at some of these conventions (at least at the big ones), but regardless, DJing at an anime convention should be on every DJ’s bucket list!

Until next time, keep spinnin’! 😉