Last night I had an amazing wedding. The bride and groom were super fun-loving and had invited well over 250 guests to their celebration. The ceremony was held outside in the courtyard, with the guests standing "in-the-round." When I first met with this couple, I went through my normal planning process, asking about their favorite and least favorite songs and artists. They simply told me "We trust you to do what you do best. The only thing we don't want is for a song to go on longer than a minute or two." I was super happy with that - I love quick mixing and consider couples like this to be my "golden couples." As we got closer to the wedding, they ended up gathering a sizable list of potential song suggestions from their many guests, with they shared with me. Many of them were great songs that I would be... [read more]

No one likes to be taken advantage of, right? Have you ever booked a gig only to have the client want to change what is expected without changing the price? How often have you received these messages: "We're extending the event an hour, you don't mind staying do you?" Or "Do you mind bringing microphones and sound for the musicians?" How do you handle a repeat client that suddenly wants to rearrange their event but pay the same price as last year? Many of us fail miserably in these situations due to one simple error. Lack of ownership. I still get surprised by how many DJ's do not complete an in depth contract with their clients for each event. I re... [read more]

It's no secret that everybody's a DJ, right? Every event we do someone has to come up and tell us that their brother, cousin, dentist, barber, carpenter, mechanic, aunt, lawn care guy or neighbor is a DJ. It's what people do to make some side cash. No training needed, just a Spotify account, disco ball and a system from "DJ in a Box". Being a DJ isn't a "real" job, right? It's not like you need a degree or certificate or something like that. ANY-body can do it. Maybe I'm over generalizing here, but we do have a tendency to shoot ourselves in the microphone. Case in point, about five months ago a video started to make the rounds from a "veteran... [read more]

Humans are very susceptible to suggestions and first impressions. The way we meet a new person can create a lasting thought in their mind that can be difficult to alter or remove. Our own perceptions can be changed by the slightest mention of a subject that triggers a negative memory, and the same can be said for our clients. In fact, there are many ways we can influence our clients without even realizing it, and in doing so we create problems for ourselves that never existed in the beginning. One of the most prominent examples in my mind is during the music-planning portion of our consultations. Everyone has seen a bad DJ at work and no... [read more]

When it comes to the DJ & wedding/event business, there is certainly no shortage of vendors! It seems as though every month, new wedding/event vendors are popping up, ready to begin their journey into the wedding world! In our area, the Austin Wedding DJ market certainly has no shortage of DJs and DJ companies. In the Austin, Texas area, there are over 150 professional DJ companies! Factor in all the DJ companies and solo DJs who do not advertise as much, or are on Facebook only, Craigslist, etc., and there are hundreds of more DJs in the business, right here in our area! On top of that, the Austin photo booth rentals market is increasing in competition, as well. It goes without saying, this is the same for just about every wedding market! So how do you stand out in a crowded market, full of new compet... [read more]

DJ tips in under a minute. This is how I put my mics now at weddings. The mike is about five or six inches below the officiant, the bride and the groom, sits in the middle like this, as you can see, because once they're up here talking, I really can't intrude on them. But what ends up happening is everyone is clearly heard, it's not in their face and I don't have to sweat the bride and groom not being picked up. I've done it this way where I am today at Park Manor about nine times. If you go to some of my Park Manor videos, you can actually see and hear part of the ceremony and you'll see how clear it is. So if you've got to put a mike in the ceremony, not only having that bad boy to protect from wind if you're outside, but put it in the middle of the three of them and you'll find it works really, really well... [read more]

Like most of my articles, this one was inspired by a recent post I saw in a Facebook group. A DJ had made a post asking for tips and instruction on how to program his lights via DMX, which is one of my favorite topics. However, he was looking for advice specifically dealing with a hardware DMX controller, and in the comments, other DJs were repeatedly encouraging him to make the switch to a software program. "For the price," they correctly said, "it will make your life SO much easier." While today's article isn't about choosing between a hardware or software DMX controller, there is a valuable lesson to be learned in this post. Sometimes... [read more]

I was nervous going into my wedding yesterday. I had been informed by my bride that the manager of a venue I had never performed at before wasn't too fond of DJs, having been burned by a few in the not-too-distant past. I reached out to another DJ in my area who had visited the venue recently, and he echoed the bride's sentiments. It's never fun to go to a new location knowing that you may be set up for a sour experience from the start, but I was determined to address the event with a positive attitude. When I arrived, I quickly found the manager and, with a big smile on my face, introduced myself with a firm handshake and a promise to ... [read more]

All right. DJ tips in under a minute. I've got about 30 minutes before I begin and I wanted to bring up social media at your wedding. It is totally cool to do check-ins. In fact, you should. You should let people know what's going on, you should let people know that you're busy, you should let people know that you have a wedding and where, but during the wedding, stay off Facebook. Don't tweet the bride looks goofy, don't tweet the groom is drunk. At the end of the night, if you took pictures, post them, put a review of your wedding, let people know things went really well, this was a challenge or that was a challenge or I played this song and it was a really good song. Be helpful to DJ's, clients, whoever sees your social media connection, especially clients, because they probably follow you or find you an... [read more]

If you've ever watched a DMC DJ competition you've most likely been as blown away as I have by the crazy amounts of talent that the participants possess. From behind-the-back scratching to intense tone-play routines, the DJs seem to always have fresh new ways to mix, transition, and blend the tracks they use in their sets. As mobile DJs, we may not have as many opportunities to utilize such radical mixing techniques in our dance sets, but I contend that the fundamentals, such as beat-matching and understanding phrasing, are some of the most important skills to master. In most circles, it goes without saying that for someone to be considered... [read more]