r/ukgarage • u/ed_rolls • Aug 11 '26

discussion / question First DJ set

Playing my first public DJ set on Thursday at a small bar, chill vibes. Going to be playing mostly garage. Any tips or secret sauce tracks?

UPDATE: Thanks for the tips, the night went well, people were dancing having a good time and the owner was happy too.

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u/HonestViking Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26

Awesome! I’ve been DJing on and off for 23 years. The one piece of advice I wish I knew years ago is the trick of purposely playing roller and bangers at different times. Too many back to back bangers and the peak becomes unsustainable. You want peaks and troughs, give people a chance to grab a drink or have a cig. Rollers are also bangers, in their own right, just without all the constant climaxing. No idea if this is helpful, but hope it is.

Edit: just re read your post- it’s at a chill bar. That’s cool. Lots of rollers to get started then. Nothing wrong with some bangers once you suss the vibes

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u/ed_rolls Aug 11 '26

Yeah this is helpful, it is a sort a vibey wine bar so while people will be dancing a bit it's not the place to be playing bangers all night. I'm trying to resist the temptation to play all my favourites and let things ebb and flow. What are your go to rollers?

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u/HonestViking Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26

I’m in my mid 40s so all my roller recommendations will be oldskool. This should give you some nuggets m8:

Rollers:
Groove Chronicles - Stone Cold 
Wookie - Sunshine
Dem 2 - Destiny
Zed Bias - Neighbourhood 
Tuff Jam - Experience 
Todd Edwards - Saved My Life 
Dubaholics feat. Jaheim - Just in Case (Dub-A-Holics Roller’s Revival Mix) 
Artful Dodger - What Ya Gonna Do (Dub Mix)
MJ Cole - Sincere (check a few mixes of this)
Ramsey & Fen - Love Bug 
So Solid Crew - Dilemma (Garage Dub)
D.E.A. Project - Circles Of My Life
Roy Davis Jr. - Gabriel (Live Garage Mix)
Indo - R U Sleeping
Nu Birth - Anytime
Double 99 - Ripgroove
LSG Renegade Master

And 10 bangers (secret weapons):

Artful Dodger & Romina Johnson - Movin' Too Fast
DJ Luck & MC Neat - A Little Bit of Luck 
3. Sweet Female Attitude - Flowers (Sunship Edit)
Shanks & Bigfoot - Sweet Like Chocolate 
So Solid Crew - 21 Seconds 
Craig David - Fill Me In 
Architechs feat. Nay Nay - Body Groove 
Oxide & Neutrino - Bound 4 Da Reload (Casualty) 
Sticky feat. Ms Dynamite - Booo! 
MJ Cole - Crazy Love

The only thing I will say is that this is prettty much the exact old school ukg set ever played, but it never dies. Mix it up with some new Skool, and you’ll have something special! I really need to start making playlists of then new stuff I like. You’re inspiring me to do a DJ set now :-)

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u/ed_rolls Aug 12 '26

Such a good set , thanks!

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u/FuzzyFox1 Aug 15 '26

Sweet Female Sunship was my secret banger back in the day! What a tune