How DJ Erin Stereo Salvaged Her First Gig

“I played a pre-recorded set, and when it ended, I dropped my first tune. What I didn’t know was that my DJ mentor had changed a setting, locking any spinning turntable from loading a new song until you hit ‘stop’ on the deck. As a new DJ, I didn’t even know this option existed, let alone how to disengage it. I tried frantically to load the next track, to no avail. I abandoned the turntables to seek out my fellow DJ, but within seconds, the music died completely. A confused and angry audience glared at the empty DJ booth.

“Alerted by awkward silence, another DJ came to my rescue and explained what happened. Flustered, I mixed into a techno tune and the disaffected dance floor began to move again. I tried to pump up the party, but I was shaken and the crowd was sour. Finally, a drunk girl stumbled over to the booth and shouted, “Play some hip-hop!” – and so I did. The party perked up and the dance floor packed out. I ended up spinning until sunrise and was the recipient of innumerable high fives.”

Erin Stereo‘s new monthly DJ night, “Vinyl Jeopardy,” starts May 17 and continues the third Thursday of every month at Syntax Physic Opera.

Editor’s Note: The Denver Bootleg is a series chronicling the history of local music venues by longtime Denver cartoonist Karl Christian Krumpholz. Visit Krumpholz’s website to see more of his work.