Choosing the right DJ for your event can be very daunting. There is an abundance of different options, but which is the right one for you?
So recently, I've had the ability to actually listen to a few different DJs and over my time as one of Perth's most experienced DJs, have seen quite a lot of things and often helped fix issues...
People quite often say that have a friend of a friend that can DJ and is doing their special day, or that my mate's a club DJ and he's going to do our wedding. While this sounds great, the reality of this is that you are trusting one of the biggest and most important days / parties that you will have to the hands of a mate that hasn't got much of an idea about they styles of a wedding.
Let me help you out with some simple facts about things... Club DJs are usually specialised in one or two types of music. They don't really know how to read a crowd because the crowds go there to listen to that style of music and this may not match up to the type of music that you would like for your wedding or guests to listen to. Club DJs are usually pretty damn good at mixing tracks together but often wont play a whole song before they move into the next song (so you jump up and go yes a song to dance to and before you know it they have mixed into the next one half way into the song). They also don't have to be concerned about what the music sounds like out on the dance floor cause that is usually all preset for the venue. These DJs usually cater for clubbers (adults of the younger age).
Wedding DJs are usually DJs that have to have a huge variety of music at their disposal to cater for the diverse needs of the clients. Wedding DJs don't generally swap the songs half way through a song cause they want to ensure that people dance for the whole song. A good wedding DJ moves around the room and listens to what the music sounds like makes sure that during dinner people are able to have conversations and talk and then make sure it sounds good when the dancing starts later in the evening. Weddings usually look at age ranges from little children through to 70 / 80 year olds that want to hear good music to move to.
Couple of things that I have personally witnessed over time when it comes to being a guest at a variety of functions and seeing different styles of DJs is that during dinner, more often that not the music is not clear and that some DJs have the bass up too high (especially if they are using subwoofers in their setups). More often than not, a DJ will stand behind their set up and think that everything sounds fine, and more often than not, people complain they can't talk over the music cause its too loud. Even at a recent wedding expo, some people that were walking around complained about another DJ being too loud and bass was too much - AND THIS IS AT A WEDDING EXPO. Another time, a client had booked a club style DJ who was a friend of the groom (I was acting as MC for the evening). Firstly they couldn't get hold of him prior to the event and didn't know if he was turning up. Secondly he didn't have half of the songs that they required for the special moments in the format (lucky I had packed my gear as the bride had contact me with her concerns that afternoon and I had bought my gear for the evening). Thirdly, he practically played what the Groom wanted and the father of the Groom and did not cater for the rest of the guest who were wanting different stuff. The bride in the end wished they had hired me as their DJ for their wedding.
If you ever want to have a chat about your needs for your event or special day, I am more than happy to chat further and share my love and passion of music with you and your guests.
Gavin
Groovy Entertainment