Just a few questions!

There are plenty of trance events on up here actually. You have godskitchen at digital who do big events every now and then, and in addition to those you have smaller nights like warped for people who like something a little different. Keep an eye on the 'going out' forum for more information on those. As much as the main forum here isnt absolutely rammed with dicussions, you will notice that the going out forum is probably one of the most up to date listings for the north east you will find.

In terms of getting sets and the like, i'd imagine its more about becoming friends with the promoters, and contributing to the scene, as much as it is about sending cd's out and the like - There is definitely no shortage of quality talent in this region and because of that it can get quite incestuous (not saying that is a bad thing). Stick around, do some mixes, and find out who the dj's and promoters are and make yourself known (in person) and you never know what might happen.

Welcome to the forum

As far as trance up north goes, it's fairly well represented (which is a good thing). You have big quarterly events at digital (usually gatecrasher/godskitchen), plus you have warped (which is on at the end of every month), and transfusion (they used to run monthly, I think they're planning a comeback fairly shortly). You also have detox (they're not primarily a trance event, they tend to have lots of rooms at their events representing different styles of music), and they seem to run on a regular basis.

Brid's pretty much hit the nail on the head - it's just as much about networking around here as it is about handing out demos. If you're interested in playing out, get involved. Get along to some of the local nights, make your face known, and let them know what you can do

Another thing that may help get you noticed is our podcast. It's available for free with mixes by everyone from bedroom DJs and occasional club-botherers (like myself ) to residents of established long-running nights in Newcastle.

If you've got a demo mix done, give me a shout and I'll whack it on the podcast for you

It's personal preference. I usually make mine somewhere between 58-80 mins. I usually do one under 60 mins if it's going on soundcloud, (so I can put two mixes up at once on a free account), or just under 80 mins (so it will fit on an 80 minute CD).

Somewhere between the two is probably good, but there's no written rule.

If you're doing one for the podcast, anywhere between 1-2hrs is cool

Alot of people seem to start up their own nights as a means to playing out, due to the saturation of other nights, promoters and their mates being on the roster. Its pretty understandable really, considering the amount of effort, money and support you need to get a night up and running.

Turning up and playing tunes is so easy, its not very often that you see DJ's that havent in some way shape or form, put lots of groundwork in with the people involved running the nights.

One good thing about the 'back room' project that Conway has up and running here, is that it tries to get away from the whole closed shop nature of alot of promoters and their musical policy (and the people they deal with).

..... which is why you have dj's connected with alot of various different nights having played, or going to play under the nucastle.co.uk umbrella in coming times.

A refreshing change i think.

Didn't see your last message, I'll sort it out for you now fella