Halloween 2010

Had a great time at the Paul Mitchell School today. I go down there about once a quarter to have some fun. I barter for hair care and other products but it's really just a part of my overall marketing efforts. I just try to get myself in front of people when I can. There are a bunch of twenty-somethings going to school there, about 120 of them, that will likely be getting married in the next few years... I've already booked several events from my appearances there over the months.

I made a nice little gobo to project right in front of the check-in desk that they all loved.
This is Terry, one of the faculty there. I think I liked her better last year as Lady Gaga...This guy works at the front desk. He's dressed as 5-yr old "Stewart" from Mad TV. He's got the voice and the moves and everything. I don't know this student's name but she slid all the way across the floor in her socks- a la Tom Cruise in Risky Business. She's rockin' my guitar here.

This is student body president Stacy on the left of the shot and also various and sundry other students filling the rest of the shot. They were doing the Cupid Shuffle here.

Off to work I go

I worked for a real sweetheart of a bride last month. She wept with joy most of the night and was completely comfortable doing so in front of everybody. It had been a pleasure to have her and her fiance in my home office a couple of times planning the music of the night. Congratulations Nic and Christine!

I purchased a new toy this year- I have a gobo projector system thingy that can project a monogram of the bride and groom or a corporate logo on the dancefloor or a wall. I had a very nice monogram for the new Mrs. deKeyser here with their wedding date and everything. She was nice enough to snap a pic with me using my logo on the dancefloor at the end of the night. I also did a retail promotion for Swarovski at Scottsdale Fashion Park a couple of weeks ago. Someone in the corporate office in New York did a Google search for local DJs and they found me even though I'm some distance down on any Internet search. They were looking for something specific and found me. That's really cool. Any event on a weeknight- which is off-peak, is "found" money as far as I'm concerned.

The whole store is only 700 sq feet (there are hundreds of thousands of dollars of jewelry and home fashions for sale in that small space) but display counters, cabinets, cash register and storage closet take up probably 450 feet of that. With my lighting rig and full sound system and everything, I take 400 sq feet! We weren't allowed to extend out in to the mall at all. I brought all of the stuff but ended up leaving most of it in the van. I took, two speakers, my DJ workstation console and one tripod to mount the gobo projector for a "Swarovski Autumn/Winter 2010" logo, which I actually projected through the store window out into the mall hallway. I don't think there was anybody that walked by without it catching their eye. This is just a .jpg file of what becomes just white light where ever it is projected.
I was able to cram my stuff into about 22 or maybe 23 sq feet and make it work. A caterer brought a tray on wheels to help serve some hor d'oeuvres and drinks and that took about 30 sq feet. The remaining 100 feet of floor space was filled with about 70 customers sipping champagne. There was some corporate staff from LA, and the local Swarovski staff but they kinda stood outside the door (other than a cashier) to make more space. They were selling lots of jewelry that night too. I'm confident that my presence added energy and increased the sales.

This is Avril Graham. She's a fashion expert that can be seen on the Today show occasionally. She was brought in from New York to narrate a fashion show. Even though we weren't supposed to spill out into the mall traffic at all, the fashion show just couldn't have taken place any other way. We were barely in the entryway of the store. You can kinda see my equipment in the window there, my left elbow is pointing at it.
Here are the two local models that took care of the fashion show. Not only are they stunningly beautiful, they are probably the most professional I've ever worked with. They really complimented the fashions and jewelry that they were hired to display. I sound like a heel saying this, I did ask their names and then repeated them a couple of times as I shook their hands, but I didn't write them down and now that I'm writing this a few weeks later, I've forgotten. I apologize to both of you but it really was a pleasure to be on board for such a great event and to be surrounded by true professionals in each of our various crafts. I forgot to say thanks to Jeff Colling of Colling Photo for sending me a copy of the picture from the deKeyser wedding you see at the top of this post. Thanks Jeff, you ROCK!

Rewriting history

I'm playing at a Class of '65 reunion tomorrow night at one of the best resort hotels in this city- very POSH! I've been preparing my music for the event based on a music survey function that the class committee put on their website that would collect up the most requested songs to be played- if class mates would just take a minute to request a few while they checked for details of the various activities planned for the reunion weekend.

I compiled the list and noticed there wasn't any music listed from Bob Dylan, The Doors, The Mamma's and Papa's, The Beatles or Elvis Presley yet they want music from the entire decade representing their high school and college years. I would have thought those artists would feature a little bit more prominently. There was one song by The Beach Boys and one listed from The Rolling Stones. I was born in 1965 and I was hardly a gleam in my fathers' eye while these classmates were in high school, but I've been a DJ for nearly 31 years now and I think I know what to play for this occasion.

Does anyone ever notice that when there is a late night infomercial selling a Time-Life music collection of "The Definitive 70's Collection" that there is no Queen or Aerosmith or Elton John included? Do you know why that is? It's about licensing the rights to sell that song. Queen has no problem selling their body of work packaged any way they want it. If you want "Bohemian Rhapsody" you can buy one of the greatest hits packages or find it on A Night at the Opera and you'll pay for the other songs on there whether you want them or not because they are Queen and "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a great song and they can do that! (you can steal it from various nefarious sources on the Internet)

Itunes is changing the landscape as the years go by but there are several artist who still won't license their music to be sold that way. If Pepsi suddenly said, we are no longer selling single cans, you have to buy at least a 6 pack, there would be rioting in the streets. The music industry tried to hold on to that dream of only selling albums and full CDs for some time even alienating what should have been their next generation of customers who just wanted to buy one song. They fought it so long and hard that there is a whole generation of people who were teens in the 90s who still think that music is free.

I think the big Beatles remastered boxed set that came out a couple of years ago will be the last major CD release of any consequence and it kinda signalled the end of CDs. The Beatles only sell CDs and I think that the bulk of their audience would still purchase them that way. Strangely, there are several "tribute" bands that sell crappy cover versions of Beatles songs on Itunes. Kid Rock had a hit song a couple of years ago called "All Summer Long" and since he wouldn't license it to Itunes, there was a horrible karaoke version of the song that went to number 1 on the Itunes chart for a few weeks. Itunes is the #1 retailer of music in the world now. There are teens discovering music now that have never known anything but their ipod or their iphone for music.

I haven't used CDs in over a decade now. I use a music service for professional DJs so I can keep current with the music I need and find songs for occasions such as this if I don't already have the requested songs. (I already had about 85% of their list)

I have a hunch that any classmates that took the survey probably did a google search for music of the 60s to jog their memory and several Time-Life collections came up along with some Amazon suggestions and people didn't really search their memory to think of the songs that meant something to them or try to remember the theme song from their Senior Prom. They just accepted what was given as the truth and accepted that the list they saw really was the " 16 Most Beloved Songs of the 60's" or the "Most Requested Songs of the 60's" when clearly the Beatles probably outsold every artist on those collections combined. If the Beatles didn't, Elvis did.

15 years ago, my favorite act "Styx" went to put together a greatest hits package. Their first hit song Lady was with one record company called Wooden Nickel Records and then they had a dozen more top ten hits when they left Wooden Nickel for A&M Records. Upon creating the greatest hits package, A&M asked Wooden Nickel in 1995 if they could license the song Lady but Wooden Nickel refused. That was one of the few things they had of any value to sell. So Styx went and recorded a clone version of Lady using the same arrangement and instrumentation and called it Lady '95. This version had the added bonus that Tommy Shaw was included in this recording when he hadn't been on the original; he joined the band later and wrote several of the other hit songs.

I think that most music fans could spot the differences between the two versions and certainly the recording quality- 1995 technology had marched on substantially from when the original was recorded in the early 1970's. I also have a hunch that most casual Styx fans would have purchased the Greatest Hits CD anyway- without Lady on it- and just enjoyed the other songs and would NOT have purchased Styx II that contained the original version of Lady. The gods of rock smiled on Styx as their music was featured in a popular Volkswagen TV commercial and in some Adam Sandler movies at the time and the Styx Greatest Hits package sold several thousand copies every week for almost 5 years. Wooden Nickel guessed wrong and they got nothing from those sales as they would have if the original recording of Lady had been included.

I know that retail sales and radio play and the impact of a given work on the art form or on society as a whole don't always coincide with each other and that some songs may grow over a period of time, when we get some hindsight on them and can see their place in a larger whole even though maybe they didn't mean as much at the time they were released. Journey's Dont' Stop Believin' is bigger now than it was nearly 30 years ago when it came out. Come Sail Away by Styx is a good, solid song but it probably didn't change the world. It arguably changed my life though.

So, congratulations Class of '65! That's a lot of years. I'm sure it will be great for you to see each other this weekend. It's going to be a great night and we'll dance to The Newbeats, The Dixie Cups, The Shangri-las, The Supremes, The Temptations, The Kinks, The Dave Clark Five and maybe I'll throw in some Herman's Hermits for good measure.

Some reasons why the DJ can't play your song NEXT

I'm happy to take requests and I thank you for requesting a song you'd like to hear. Please know that I'll make every effort to play it as soon as possible (often with in 3 or 4 songs) but keep the following in mind:

• In the old days, when carrying several road cases of vinyl or even CDs, it took a couple of minutes just to find your song. With my computerized DJ system, I can find any song in a few seconds but when you are asking as the current song is ending, it's too late. The next song is already in the queue.

• Others may have requested songs ahead of you. Songs are 3 1/2 to 4 minutes each and if I'm beat mixing in and out of songs quickly, I still like to play at least 90 seconds of a song so that it has a chance to speak its message, its flavor, its groove. With 5 requests ahead of yours, it could possibly take 20 minutes to get to you.

• We may be at a place in the event where I have other things to do such as speeches, presentations, dinner service, toasts, garter toss and bouquet toss or cake cutting.

• I may have been specifically asked by my customer to NOT play that song.

• The song you are requesting may have profanity or overtly sexual content that doesn't belong in mixed company.

• The song you are requesting may not fit in the format that I've been hired to do or fit the nature of the occasion. George Strait's "All my exes live in Texas" doesn't belong at a wedding. Styx's "Come sail away" is one of the greats, and a personal favorite, and it may fit during cocktail hour at a Class of '77 Reunion, but it isn't danceable.

• Even if it fits the format of the event, it may not fit what is being played at that moment. If I'm in a set of Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, Sean Kingston and Timbaland, a request for a George Strait song wouldn't fit at that moment but I'll get to it shortly. Maybe I could play Taylor Swift after Ke$ha and then move to a couple of country songs so it's not so jarring.

• Lastly, please choose a song that a few people might know. An obscure song that you and your two college buddies used to sing karaoke to and... "we used to... Hahhahahahaaa... we stayed up way too late and Hmm... I guess you had to be there... man, those were good times... Can you play that one?" If it's an inside joke, keep it inside with you and your buddies and allow me to try to appeal to the wider group.

Whenever possible, I always try to avoid setting up on a stage, I like to be on the floor where the people are. I can do a better job when I can feel the pulse of the room. When I'm on my game, when I've won the confidence of the dancefloor, people are hugging each other and getting into it, singing along with every word, dancing up a storm. I feel that energy, I dig down, crank it up, send a renewed energy back to them, and they feel it and nurture it and send it back to me and I feel it and I'm singing along and getting into it and I crank up some more energy and send it back to them and they are dancing and hugging and sweating and we have a rock and roll party going on!

I'm still happy to take requests, but the funny thing is, when I'm doing my thing, the requests just stop. The people trust me to take them on a ride and lead them through several waves of musical energy.

Summer School for brides

I was honored to teach a class a few weeks ago at Thee Wedding Warehouse to a few dozen brides and moms and maids of honor. There were photographers talking about how to pose for portraits, a caterer on questions to ask a caterer, an event planner on budgeting etc. I spent a few minutes on questions to ask a DJ on the occasion of hiring entertainment for a wedding or other social occasion. There are a new crop of people being introduced to our industry every month and sadly, they don't know what to expect, what things cost or even what questions to ask. Sadly, many people have resigned themselves to the thought that, those cheesy DJs... well, that's just the way DJs are, or, my friend works at a club, or, a guy at my office has an ipod and eclectic tastes in music and it will somehow be ok. The basis of my short seminar was just a few questions to ask a DJ to help new brides weed out the riff-raff. Every once in awhile, a hobbyist may hit a home run but I wouldn't want to gamble a big budget event on someone without a consistently good track record at weddings. Every time I hear a horror story about a DJ ruining an otherwise lovely event, I always find there had been an attempt to cut corners or save a few dollars by either doing it themselves with an ipod or having a "friend" or other beginner do it. Those kinds of things often ruin friendships if the event goes south. Additionally, wouldn't you want your friend to enjoy the festivities and not be burdened with working at your event?

A survey in 2008 found that a whopping 81% of brides wished, after the fact, that they had spent more time, effort, attention AND money on their entertainment choice.

All of the elements of an event come together to make a great event. They all represent the taste of the hosts, the religious or ethnic traditions, the budget etc. If a guest arrived and decided they didn't' care for the linen choice of the bride and groom, would they leave? Even if there were a disaster such as the cake sliding off its pedestals, would they leave? If the DJ stinks however, they will eat the meal and look for the first opportunity to call it a night.

Here are some of the questions: Are they insured? How do they answer the phone and respond to you as a professional business person? Professional equipment with redundancies or at least back up equipment on the event site? Will they take requests? How will they dress? Will they be yakking on the cell phone or flirting with the bridesmaids or outside smoking all night? Do they know proper etiquette for your event? Will they provide a written contract? Will they play offensive or overtly sexual music? Will they use profanity? Do they belong to a professional association or trade group and as part of that, have they committed to any code of ethics? When meeting with an entertainment agency, are you talking to a salesman or the DJ that will actually be playing your event? None of these provide any guarantee, but they will go a long long way toward getting someone that will provide the vision you have had for your event since you began dreaming of it when you were 9 years old.

I finished my seminar with a bit of education on budgeting. As a DJ, I know where I'm at in the food chain of this industry. I'm one of the last two or three professionals to be considered and hired. I'm not bothered by that. What does bother me is when I'm asked to cut my price for no other reason than, they didn't budget for it and they already spent their money on other things. Well, I guess you'll be left to the abilities of a hobbyist or beginner DJ that will work for less.

If the linen chair covers are the most important thing, that's fine- budget for the best. If the food is the most important, find the best caterer out there and spend the money on it. If the expensive venue with the view of the lake, mountain, city etc is the most important thing, put that first and everything else has to adjust around that. Believe it or not, I have had people in my career who actually moved their wedding date to accommodate me- when I was available, because I was the most important element of their wedding and everything else had to fit in after that.

Just prioritize the elements of your event and then work your way down and adjust your budget but don't get to the end and ask professionals to cut their price without offering some other consideration. I'll flex my price on off peak events, I'll take payments, I'll cut some of the extra equipment- the real value is in my personal expertise anyway. I can make the event happen with my DJ computer and a couple of speakers. I do love to provide all of the extra technology in sound, lighting, video projection, extra sound system for the ceremony itself with a mic for the officiant, live piano playing etc but those things cost money and take time to set up and if you can't afford them, let them go or throw us a bone.

Lastly, if you find a professional that you like, book them! To be booked more than a year in advance is not uncommon. If you wait, you may get who is left over and not who you want.

Here I am sitting in the front row making a point about something during the question and answer session after my part of the seminar. Thanks to Christine Valenzuela from Kiss the Camera for the pics that day. Some cheap fast food may be fine on a Friday night with the kids for a treat after a week of school and soccer and everything, but that won't work on the occasion of your wedding. How about some filet mignon from the best steak house in town?

WEN- Wedding and Event Network

This is a really cool video that one of the members of the networking group that I run took of one of our meetings back in April. The music is crummy but don't let that be a reflection on the video company- this is just what royalty free music sounds like. They were doing this for my group for free in exchange for the exposure. Thanks to 'The Views at Superstition' for hosting the meeting and Donnie and Bobbe Hayes from 'Media Created 4U' for the brilliant videography and editing of such a nice piece of work. If you are morbidly curious about my networking group, the FAQs on our website are informative and you can see other photos from meetings and blog postings from industry professionals. www.wenaz.com

ROAD TRIP!!

Ten things that happened last weekend in order from worst to coolest:

10. Forgot my razor. I'm used to a nice triple or quadruple blade razor with a nice lubricating strip so that I don't cut my face up. I had terrible acne as a teenager and still have a few acne scars and pock marks that can get cut with a cheap razor. The hotel I was staying at provides complimentary toiletries that you may have forgotten- the razor from the hotel was a disposable single blade thingy and I sliced my lip very badly, in addition to several other spots on my neck and everywhere else. I won't name the hotel because it was otherwise a very nice, reasonably priced, quiet and comfortable room and they weren't the ones that forgot to pack my nice razor.

9. That's a big ol' desert out there and it's been a lot of years driving back and forth for work. It has been a fairly wet winter and the desert is in bloom and the butterflies are busy pollinating and my windshield was/is a mess! I refilled my wiper fluid twice on the road. I'll have to get out a razor to scrape the bug juice off the next time I go to wash the van. I wonder if I kept that one from the hotel...

8. I got to work with Catalina from Coors and Erica from Heineken at the retail promotion that I was working at. Most of these girls are working through college or have various other reasons and satisfactions that they draw from such jobs... Erica has huge dreams for an agency that would hire men and women for such promotions or other public relations functions. I think she will go far. Erica is on my left. Catalina may be just as able, but I didn't get a chance to talk to her much. 7. I made some money.

6. I had 12 hours on the road to listen to music. Since I just got a new job playing piano in a dueling piano show, I was listening to familiar songs but with a new ear for what would work in that piano/stage format as opposed to DJ airings or even versions that I would play on the piano during cocktail hour or at a restaurant. My creative juices have really been flowing this last couple of weeks. I seem to be able to learn a new song in 3 or 4 minutes. I'm a bit slow on the lyrics though.

5. I got to work with the Laker Girls. 6 girls on Friday and 6 more on Saturday.

4. I got to watch them dance. They are specimens of feminine beauty and the dance routines are far more complex and athletic than anyone probably gives them credit for. They are very charming, disciplined and trained hostesses representing the Laker organization exceptionally well. Certainly, they drew a crowd to the promotion that I couldn't draw, but I can make people stay and spend money- not just get the free autograph and then split. 3. I got to work with Dynamite Dave. You can see from this picture that he got to work with the Laker Girls too. Dave and I have been doing retail promotions for many many years. He is a BRILLIANT entertainer and it's always a good day when Dave is around. I think Dave was channelling Johnny Depp last weekend. He had a Mad Hatter thing going on for Friday's costume and he was a Pirate on Saturday. He is really working on his health. He's lost probably 40- maybe 50 lbs since I saw him last Thanksgiving.2. I got to spend a bit of time with my good buddy Scott from Orange county. He came by the gig both days to say hello. Without asking, he just sensed that I was thirsty and got me a large lemonade. If I had the presence of mind, I would have asked for something and our host would have offered any drink I wanted as a courtesy, but I hate to ask my customer for those kinds of things when I'm being paid to work. Scott owns several condos that he rents out to students of Cal State Fullerton. If ever there is an empty room, he lets me stay there on my California DJ trips so I can save the hotel expense. My life is better because we're friends- Thanks Scott.

1. Some of you know that I used to teach Old Testament to High School sophomores in a Seminary program several years ago. One of my students has growed up and accepted a full-time ministry assignment in Chicago. Before coming home to AZ, I attended a church service where she delivered the sermon as her home congregation sent her off. Her mom and dad invited me to sit with them and I counted it the world's greatest honor. Her sermon was profound and I think she's going to be brilliant! I would have driven out just for that sermon, but it was cool that the DJ gig paid for the trip. God Speed, Sister Frandsen!

Dear Diary,

Haven't written in awhile so let me 'splain, no, is too much, let me sum up. Buttercup is marry Humperdinck in little less than half an hour...

I've had a few adventures since we last talked. I donated sound reinforcing and music to a small cancer walk that got rained out. The goal was $13k and they still raised $15k in spite of the weather. This woman is on the board of directors and she took the mic for a minute to thank the walkers and tell a bit about the work of the charity organization "Lungevity."

The city park where the event was held was under some major construction and right where I was loading in the equipment, the sidewalk had been dug up and I had to cross about 8 feet of mud. I had considered wearing white that day. I was also having a good hair day at the outset- so much for a good hair day... I was up to my knees in mud when I was done. The equipment road cases got some mud splatters which I still haven't washed out but it was a good cause eh? I took my boots to the car wash to get them hosed down.

A recent trend for aging rock stars who are attempting to please long-time fans AND newcomers to concerts is to play an entire album from back in the day in sequence and perhaps b-sides or other associated nuggets from the same time period. If you don't like the album of the night, don't come to the concert. I recently heard Billy Squire play "In the Dark" in sequence and it was crazy-awesome! A favorite artist of mine- Gary Numan has a substantial catalogue after more than 30 years, but most U.S. media reduces his entire career to "Cars." To please fans that want that song, he recently played The Pleasure Principle album in its entirety. Most of the time however, he plays only newer material.

I said jokingly on Facebook and to some industry mates that I was going to be playing the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang soundtrack in it's entirety at a piano gig for an industry function. There are some great songs in that movie. The suggestion took on a life of its own but I did play "POSH" and sang it in a British accent!

Went on a road trip to Tucson. I hadn't been there in about 18 years or so. Paid a visit to Mission San Xavier Del Bac. It's one of the oldest structures in the U.S. and a highly regarded place among Catholics, historians and architecture enthusiasts. The Mormon Battalion never engaged in warfare, but if they had, it probably would have happened here. Mexican soldiers were stationed here (or near here) and upon hearing the news that 500 U.S. soldiers, who were Mormons, were approaching, they fled and never engaged. The march from Iowa to San Diego- the longest march in U.S. military history ended without bloodshed- other than the suffering of the march itself.

I had a wedding up in Payson about 75 minutes north of here a couple of weeks ago. If you don't know Arizona geography, there are lots of high elevations and mountain country in the center of the state that gets snow in the winter. It was snowing when I arrived to load in the equipment and snowing again when I packed up. It ultimately wasn't a huge snowfall but it was more than I wanted to risk driving in. I couldn't see very well and didn't know the roads well enough. If I could have just got out of Payson 5 miles or so, you drop in elevation very quickly and it would have been just rain, but you climb back up to a higher elevation one more time before coming back in to Mesa and I didn't want to get stranded out in the mountains. Hwy 260 east to Heber and Hwy 87 north to Winslow were both closed unless you had snow chains and Walmart was sold out. There was a line of people to snag motel rooms in Payson that night. I got a room and came home the next day.

Rocked an elementary school dance, a couple of weddings, a Mary Kay rah-rah meeting- that was actually loads of fun- a valentines dance fund-raiser for St Timothy's Catholic Church here in Mesa. I was seated at the head table with the head priesthood leader of the church. I was honored. I told him a great Mormon joke and he laughed most heartily- flew back in his chair and roared.

Here's a pic from a wedding recently. We are trying to submit this wedding to one of the local bridal magazines to be featured. Here I am as Reverend Curtis calling the faithful masses to worship at the shrine of Rock and Roll.

OK, ok... here's me wearing make up...

This one right below is my pick. I see a magazine ad coming soon and some new business cards with this one.

Photoshoot for Haiti

I participated in a way cool fundraiser last weekend for disaster relief in Haiti. For a $50 donation straight to the Red Cross, people could get hair and make up done and get 15 minutes in front of the camera. Then you can use the photos on your Facebook, website, business cards or whatever.

This is event organizer and brilliant photographer, Kym Ventola (seated) with Robert Ballew adjusting her hair, he's the best wardrobe stylist in this city. Photographer, Katina Patriquin looking away.
When Kym said that she was organizing this, I wanted to participate not really knowing if what I had to offer would be of any value but it clearly made a nice day for everybody working and the music helped people loosen up in front of the cameras who aren't normally in front of cameras. In addition to each of us donating money, we all donated our professional services. The cool thing about it was that we could have all just donated money and not go to all the trouble of lugging our equipment our to Glendale and I'm not sure the event made any more money than had there just been a call to donate, but to come together like this made it special- created more of a sense of community.

I already got a glimpse of my photo shoot. I wore make up for the first time in my life and that was crazy awesome! Thanks Heather Wilson for that. Damian Gomes from Snapdragon did my hair. I'll get those pics up here shortly.

Kym Ventola, bless you for your spirit!