Sister SF Resident DJ Amber brings her DJing advice column, Cue & A, to the pages of SisterSF.com! Every month she'll be answering two questions sent in by different DJs from around the world.

Cue & A for June 2003:

QUESTION: After about a year of spinning in the "party at this dude's house!" circuit I finally did a more legit gig with other DJs spinning that night but I found it a lot more nerve wrecking and scattered spinning for an hour and half at this event than spinning 4-6 hours at parties. Is this normal or should I just keep the day job?

ANSWER: Congratulations, this is normal. Jittery nerves at a "more legit" gig could be caused by (1) the plain fact that the gig is "legit"--that is, that people have likely payed to hear you, and you're being compared to other DJs (2) the soundsystem is louder and less like your own system at home (or at those houseparties you have been playing at) (3) there's more activity at a club venue versus a house--with people, lights, and interruptions pulling your attention away all set long.

The lesson hard-learned here is: A good DJ can select and mix tracks, the next step is to be able to play through interruptions, on any mixer, and with any quality of equipment you find when you arrive to play.

QUESTION: I am very new to DJing and I just purchased my first set of decks. I went to the local record store and bought a bunch of used records to start on, but I find I am having a hard time finding records that seem to sound good together. I also seem to pick records that are pretty intricate for a beginner to practice beat matching with. Do you have any suggestions for good records to start with or any advice of what to look for when I go record shopping?

ANSWER: Two simple steps will fix this situation: (1) Be sure to shop at a record store with a listening station so you can check out your purchases before you buy and, (2) for learning, buy house music. House is the easiest genre to learn with, due to the simple bass rhythm and intermediate tempo (120 - 130 BPM). It is also the roots of nearly all modern electronic music and dance music events--so pay your respects and then find your own sound.

For a Bay area DJ's first record purchases I recommend:
(1) Buying a small used collection of house from a friend
(2) NEW house records - Primal Records 2420 Parker Street, Berkeley http://www.primalrecords.com/
(3) NEW house records - HouseWares 1322 Haight Street, San Francisco
(4) USED house records - Open Mind Music 342 Divisadero St., San Francisco

Want to ask Amber a question? Email her your burning request at amber@sistersf.com. Amber can't reply to all the mail she receives. We also can't guarantee she'll answer your particular question in this column, but check back often just in case! And don't forget, if Amber tells you to do the DJing equivalent of sticking your hand in the fire, don't hold us liable!