Ambient DJ Service: House Party DJ New Jersey

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Ambient DJ Weathers Hurricane Irene

The final week of August and first week of September have historically been bad weather weeks. Tropical storms and hurricanes form a virtual "Conga Line" deep in the Atlantic, working their way through the Caribbean and up the East Coast. We were chagrined to learn that Hurricane Irene was projected to make a direct hit on New Jersey late Saturday night. The timing couldn't be worse, as Saturday nights are a DJ company's busiest night.

I was actually scheduled to provide karaoke DJ services at the home of Buddy Valastro, aka the "Cake Boss," celebrating the 50th birthday of one of the bakers, Danny Dragone. As of Friday afternoon, the party was a green light, but mid-afternoon on Saturday, I received the call canceling the party. Hopefully it will be re-scheduled, as this was a party that I had very much been looking forward to.

DJ Spinz's services for a 30th birthday party at the Forge in Woodbridge were canceled, postponed until September 10, 2011 - a date that we are sold out for.

DJ Larry's surprise 50th party at Amalfi's in Lawrenceville proceeded as planned. Congratulations Masako! The party did however finish 45 minutes prematurely so that guests could get home safely. Larry dodged some fallen trees on the drive home, but got home safely at around 10 PM.

DJ Iron Mike performed a private event at Tavern on the Lake in downtown Hightstown. At about 11 PM, an employee of the Tavern frantically informed guests that a tornado had been reported in the Six Flags Great Adventure area. Mike grabbed his laptop and left, but got stalled out in the floods on his way back home to Plainsboro (fortunately, he made it home safely in the early morning hours). Later that night, the storm overwhelmed the lake, badly flooding downtown Hightstown.

Welcome to My Hood, Tavern on the Lake, Sunday Morning

I ended up accompanying DJ Austin to a high school graduation party in Marlboro, NJ. The family has a beautiful backyard and had hoped to celebrate outdoors, but they judiciously decided to move the party indoors and fast forward the party to a 5 PM start time. The event took on a cool house party vibe, as Garrett and his brother added additional lighting effects to the show, also introducing us to their fog machine (which was pushed to the brink by Nicholas!). Garrett and his buddy "Matty Swizzle" later performed a guest DJ set with upbeat fare by the likes of Steve Aoki, the Swedish House Mafia and Laidback Luke. Driving home to East Windsor, we encountered sloppy driving conditions, but beat the treacherous Hightstown flood by hours.

Nicholas, fog technician

(L to R) Matty Swizzle, Garrett B., DJ Austin

It was a tough week, but we are grateful that everybody is safe and that none of us incurred any property damage. Many in Irene's path were not so fortunate.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

The Evolution of a DJ

I will turn 40 years old this June. Unlike many, I didn't DJ a party until my late twenties. Despite being a late bloomer in the DJ world, I was disposed towards music from an early age. The few vinyl records and cassettes that I was able to secure during elementary school were played into the ground. These early albums spanned everything from Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, to Billy Idol, Queen, the Beach Boys and Run D.M.C. Having some disposable income during the teenage years, I turned my attention towards collecting jazz records, savoring trips to Tower Records in New York City where I would load up on vinyl.

As well as listening to music, I also studied piano, tuba and alto saxophone. I was a good player and considered a career in music. I also enjoyed the fast paced world of the stock market, so instead opted to study finance and investments. During my twenties, I had an amazing job at Merrill Lynch as an investment analyst covering the markets of the Far East. I traveled frequently to exotic locations such as Japan, China, Indonesia and Vietnam, further broadening my world experiences and musical tastes. Regrettably, these booming stock markets crashed hard in late 1997, and I was forced to take a more sedate finance job in Princeton. It was at this time that my interest in music re-emerged in full force.

A good friend of mine, Mike Z. and his architect friends had a passion for throwing house parties with elaborate party environments. I volunteered to DJ at one of these parties. The experience was utterly enjoyable, from planning the party around a theme, to preparing my "crates" to the amazing adrenaline high of seeing guests going wild for the music. That was how I caught the "DJ bug"! I will save the tale of my first forays into the world of weddings for a future blog installment, but suffice it to say, these early parties were magical experiences that I still treasure. Sure, my equipment and mixing methods may have been crude. Compensation? There was none, unless factoring in the free beer.

The first two photos below were taken at a house party in Connecticut, circa 1999. The last two photos were both taken during the past two years. While my looks and equipment have changed, the one constant is my passion for performing at parties where the vibe is intense.