People have parties for many reasons, not just wedding receptions. I recently did a party for a guy who was just in the mood for entertaining some friends. It was an indoor/outdoor event at one of his properties here in Northern Michigan that was catered both food and bar. He offered little tours of his land in one of his four wheeler ATVs.
Another example was a Homecoming dance in Pellston. The kids danced for three hours to everything from Hip-Hop to some of the Classics that I grew up on. It was nice to see a bunch of young people all dressed up!
I have done many types of parties, conventions and events, classic car shows are one of my favorites but I am about to find out what it’s like to play in an ice box! This weekend I will be DJing at Griffin Arena in Harbor Springs during their “open skate”. I wonder how tough it will be negotiating the mouse of my new state-of-the-art DJ computer system in the fridgid conditions. If you are interested you can give me a call or call the Griffin Arena.
For more information about my services check out my“BIO”page.
http://www.mgdj.net/bio.html
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Club jock vs REAL DJ
I recently was involved in a "conversation" with one of those "club" DJ's who seem very interested in his equipment so much as he was unable to understand the importance of his audience. You see, he is so into his techno geek speak, scratching and beat mixing that the important aspect of his job might as well have been tossed out the window. The important part? The listener, the requester, the audience, the GUESTS!
Don't make the mistake of hiring a one of these whipper snappers, but really why would you? You wouldn't. For one thing those guys are too busy spinning in circles behind some glass panel in a DJ booth in some smoke filled "nightclub" (meat market) for pennies on the dollar.
If I sound bitter, it's just because I'm just venting here in my own space, I hope you don't mind.
Anyway...Oh yeah, my point! Club jocks (not to be confused with real DJ's) only play to a dance floor. They'll take your requests but they probably won't play them. You gotta love those guys.
Professional disc jockeys work with the understanding that they actually have been hired to perform a service. A service that we get paid well for. That being said, you may actually get a real good deal if you hire a club jock! Just think you'll only have to pay him fifty bucks or so and give him free drinks. I don't know about you but that already paints a bleak picture in my mind.
I take requests and then I play them! If you hire me, YOU are the BOSS!
Bottom line, be careful and sensible when looking into hiring a DJ. Talk to many, take notes, ask questions. Get what you pay for!
Look here to see what some of my clients had to say:
http://www.mgdj.net/testimonials.html
Don't make the mistake of hiring a one of these whipper snappers, but really why would you? You wouldn't. For one thing those guys are too busy spinning in circles behind some glass panel in a DJ booth in some smoke filled "nightclub" (meat market) for pennies on the dollar.
If I sound bitter, it's just because I'm just venting here in my own space, I hope you don't mind.
Anyway...Oh yeah, my point! Club jocks (not to be confused with real DJ's) only play to a dance floor. They'll take your requests but they probably won't play them. You gotta love those guys.
Professional disc jockeys work with the understanding that they actually have been hired to perform a service. A service that we get paid well for. That being said, you may actually get a real good deal if you hire a club jock! Just think you'll only have to pay him fifty bucks or so and give him free drinks. I don't know about you but that already paints a bleak picture in my mind.
I take requests and then I play them! If you hire me, YOU are the BOSS!
Bottom line, be careful and sensible when looking into hiring a DJ. Talk to many, take notes, ask questions. Get what you pay for!
Look here to see what some of my clients had to say:
http://www.mgdj.net/testimonials.html
Sunday, September 16, 2007
The Other Guys
It always makes me laugh when I see some of the other DJ's boast about how they are the "best" or how they offer "premium" DJ services. Some brag about how many songs they have, 6000, 10,000, some even claim to have hundreds of thousands of songs! That must mean they have songs like In-A-Gotta-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly (a real crowd pleaser) or all the b sides of every Jimi Hendrix single ever released.
Most of these guys have never even used a 45rpm record but "somehow" they have found all this music and feel they have cornered the market on music selection. Truth be known, a DJ would be hard pressed to play more the 75 to 100 songs on any given night. That being said,when you have an audience ranging in ages 16 to 80 years old, not many of them are interested in hearing Jimi Hendrix or Iron Butterfly. Just in case you are wondering, I do have both but I don't brag about it.
My music selection ranges from the 1940's to the current hits. All the hype about how much music one has is really irrelevant. What really matters is do you have the songs that are most recognizable and most importantly acceptable. Much of today's music from R&B and Hip Hop is plagued with profanity and Grandpa doesn't care if Baby's Got Back (I have that one too).
When you hire a DJ I would hope you would be concerned if he or she has enough common sense not to play something that might offend one of your guests or family members. Often there are children who attend these receptions who may be able to make even the most seasoned DJ blush with some of the song content they know, still that does not give the DJ the right to play some of the garbage so-called recording artists put out. There are a few questions you will want answers to and you can find my answers in my F.A.Q. page on my website. Check it out! http://www.mgdj.net/FAQ.html
Most of these guys have never even used a 45rpm record but "somehow" they have found all this music and feel they have cornered the market on music selection. Truth be known, a DJ would be hard pressed to play more the 75 to 100 songs on any given night. That being said,when you have an audience ranging in ages 16 to 80 years old, not many of them are interested in hearing Jimi Hendrix or Iron Butterfly. Just in case you are wondering, I do have both but I don't brag about it.
My music selection ranges from the 1940's to the current hits. All the hype about how much music one has is really irrelevant. What really matters is do you have the songs that are most recognizable and most importantly acceptable. Much of today's music from R&B and Hip Hop is plagued with profanity and Grandpa doesn't care if Baby's Got Back (I have that one too).
When you hire a DJ I would hope you would be concerned if he or she has enough common sense not to play something that might offend one of your guests or family members. Often there are children who attend these receptions who may be able to make even the most seasoned DJ blush with some of the song content they know, still that does not give the DJ the right to play some of the garbage so-called recording artists put out. There are a few questions you will want answers to and you can find my answers in my F.A.Q. page on my website. Check it out! http://www.mgdj.net/FAQ.html
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
DJ I Am
Welcome to my new "blog". My name is Mitch and I am a DJ. I have been doing my thing for almost 30 years. Now either that makes me old or very experienced, I'd like to be considered experienced.
I started off DJing in a club in South Eastern Michigan in a place called Top Sail Lounge. Actually it was kind of a red neck bar with an old geezer for a DJ spinning the oldies. That is until I took his place. My buddy Bob and I made up fliers and handed them out in all the local shopping malls to all the hot babes and some of the not so hot babes.
We turned Top Sail into one of the hottest places to dance and party all nite. Remember this was during the early 80's when Michael Jackson and Madonna were huge. It was a great time for music however it was also when 45rpm records and 12 inch dance mixes were the mainstay as far as media for DJs went.
After about six months or so we had developed quite a reputation for not only the best DJs in town but also the sleaziest! We began hosting wet tee shirt contests for the girls and hot buns contests for the guys (more like the other way around). The guy who owned the bar was a large overbearing Indian who did not realize what he had until we pulled up stakes and left due to his unwillingness to give us a fair raise based on how much money he was now making. Within a couple of weeks, after his son (Pistol Pete) took over DJing, the bar was closed down due to a lack of entertainment value. Pete only had a handfull scratchy old records (I think they were his father's records).
I moved on to play in several other bars in the area for a couple of years and then I discovered that there was much more money to be made in private parties and it was much safer too. Hip-hop music really didn't have a name then other than "rap" and scratching was something I never had any interest in. Good thing, because by that time I was using bulk loaded cassette tapes and my records began gathering dust.
Believe me, I could go on and on about all of the questionable subjects that go along with being in the entertainment business but I will stick to the technical stuff for now. I used tape for many years until the "recordable" CDs came on the market. As well as the recordable CDs a new media submerged called MD (Minidisc) created by Sony. After careful consideration I chose the Minidisc to be my new choice of media. Which brings me to today. I recently learned that MD manufacturing is going to come to a halt in the next year or so and that leaves...you guessed it, HARD DRIVE. I'm not the happiest camper in the world to learn this news but just like the last three forms of media I really have no choice.
To http://www.mgdj.net/
I started off DJing in a club in South Eastern Michigan in a place called Top Sail Lounge. Actually it was kind of a red neck bar with an old geezer for a DJ spinning the oldies. That is until I took his place. My buddy Bob and I made up fliers and handed them out in all the local shopping malls to all the hot babes and some of the not so hot babes.
We turned Top Sail into one of the hottest places to dance and party all nite. Remember this was during the early 80's when Michael Jackson and Madonna were huge. It was a great time for music however it was also when 45rpm records and 12 inch dance mixes were the mainstay as far as media for DJs went.
After about six months or so we had developed quite a reputation for not only the best DJs in town but also the sleaziest! We began hosting wet tee shirt contests for the girls and hot buns contests for the guys (more like the other way around). The guy who owned the bar was a large overbearing Indian who did not realize what he had until we pulled up stakes and left due to his unwillingness to give us a fair raise based on how much money he was now making. Within a couple of weeks, after his son (Pistol Pete) took over DJing, the bar was closed down due to a lack of entertainment value. Pete only had a handfull scratchy old records (I think they were his father's records).
I moved on to play in several other bars in the area for a couple of years and then I discovered that there was much more money to be made in private parties and it was much safer too. Hip-hop music really didn't have a name then other than "rap" and scratching was something I never had any interest in. Good thing, because by that time I was using bulk loaded cassette tapes and my records began gathering dust.
Believe me, I could go on and on about all of the questionable subjects that go along with being in the entertainment business but I will stick to the technical stuff for now. I used tape for many years until the "recordable" CDs came on the market. As well as the recordable CDs a new media submerged called MD (Minidisc) created by Sony. After careful consideration I chose the Minidisc to be my new choice of media. Which brings me to today. I recently learned that MD manufacturing is going to come to a halt in the next year or so and that leaves...you guessed it, HARD DRIVE. I'm not the happiest camper in the world to learn this news but just like the last three forms of media I really have no choice.
To http://www.mgdj.net/
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