Recently, I had the chance to DJ a truly unique kids' party in Burbank at Fun Ton Studio— a Back to the Future themed celebration!

The event took place at an actual movie studio, setting the perfect stage for a cinematic experience. From the moment I arrived, the décor was incredible: giant Back to the Future billboards personalized with the birthday boy’s name, colorful balloon displays, and even a miniature replica of the band set from the famous "Enchantment Under the Sea" scene. But the real star of the show? A full-size DeLorean Time Machine complete a driver who stayed the entire four hours.

When it came to the music, the theme guided the soundtrack. I started by curating a playlist inspired by the original Back to the Future soundtrack, which includes about 14 iconic tracks. I also added hits from popular 80s movies to keep the vibe authentic and fun. A few days before the event, the client sent over their playlist — and it was excellent! It had the kind of energy and track selection I would personally spin at my  own party.

What really made the night special was the feedback. The DeLorean driver came up to me and said the night flew by thanks to the music, and that the transitions were some of the best he’d ever heard. It’s moments like those that remind me why I love DJing events in Burbank and the greater Los Angeles area.

Looking for a DJ in Burbank, Hollywood, or Glendale? Let’s make your themed party a great one with Black  and White Affair.   

We were outside for the celebration. I was prepared with many layers of clothing but the guests did have warming posts. I was surprised since some guests had short sleeve shirts. It was a disco themed party so many wanted to show their cute disco outfits. We had a very open format playlist.  A big portion of it was all dance music. We had some disco and a lot of 90s music on the list. There were a few country songs on the list so I made sure I got that on while the folks were eating. We did play some sing a longs during the dinner portion of the night. The caterers provided Mexican food. First time I saw the caterer dance and led with line dances. Anytime any 90s music came on he would jump on the dance floor and sing along with the words. It was a fun vibe through out the night. The goal was to play  as many  line dances as possible. Sometimes I only do like one to two line dances but we went through like 7 or 8 line dances. 

It was a very intimate party. The neighbors did ask to turn down the bass and we did and repositioned the speakers so it was not too loud for the neighbors.

For most locations, it is about keeping the music at a good volume till 10 then you have  to either turn it way down or take the party indoors. But the best best to have neighbors not complain is to invite the neighbors to the party or have a good relationship with them and notify them that there will be music going on.

This is the second time playing at Hot Shot Muffler in Los Angeles. This was once at muffler repair shop but now it’s a venue to have parties. The room can be separated. One part of the venue has some games folks that can play games and the other part is where they have tables so people can eat and where people can get down to the music.

  I got there plenty early since at times it can be hard to park since its close the the busy Highland Park area which has a happening night life. They have an area to unload but they had a few cars too that were unloading too. I did leave my speaker poles there over night and they were quick to respond to my messages so I was able to pick them up on a Sunday.

My guests gave me a stellar playlist of 2000s music.  They shared some songs that I truly forgot about and I have on vinyl. What was cool was there was they had some bay area music for this LA crowd. I only thought bay folks only like that kind of music but folks who truly appreciate hip hop know the beauty of bay music.

For the first hour and half I went 2000s then they wanted 80s and 90s too.

It was a good vibe with the 2000s music but throwing in the other music built up the energy   of the crowd. It was great to have that freedom to move through different time periods.

Sometimes a school wants to celebrate Halloween so they throw at Trunk or Treat event. What is a Trunk or Treat event you may ask? Parents get to the event early who are participating and give out candy outside their trunk to trick and treaters. It is a safe way to go trick or treating in a secure parking lot and kids don’t have to worry about moving cars.

  So there has to be other events going on than parents giving out candy. They have to be games and maybe some dancing for kids and their parents. So to prep I look for classic Halloween songs that everyone knows. Then I look for sound effects that can add some spookiness to the   event. Sound effects like a witch cackling or a werewolf howling at the moon. We are planning to add some line dancing so students and parents can get into it.  Some games we are thinking of running are musical chairs, and follow the leader. We all know musical chairs but follow the leader is when one student leads the group with a dance and the group follows. We will have different students lead the dances and folks will get a kick out of it.

  Also it is good to have songs that are appropriate for family function events and add some Halloween classics in the mix then you cannot go wrong.  Also good to have a good mic presence to get the attention for each event.  Also it would good to cone off the dJ area and the game area since crowd tend to crowd the dj area.

 There are many ways to do a Latin Party. You can have one at your house which is a lot of work.  You will have to prep your house with decorations and order chairs and have the food ready.  Or you can have one at a venue which can provide a space for you and have a food at the location already.  Why not have a Latin party at a Mexican restaurant. We had our party at the Green Onion in San Pedro.  They had a regular restaurant with a banquet room.

  I got there and the mariachi was playing. When they had a break then I started to set up the gear. It’s a beautiful thing when vendors work together to make it happen. Some folks can be difficult but this Mariachi was very accommodating. They had their instruments in the area I wanted to set up and told me it was ok.

  People were dancing with the mariachi so I wanted to keep the party going. I had the choice of old school music or Spanish music and of course I went Spanish. We went Spanish for a little bit then they wanted 70s party music. Bee Gees here we come! It is fabulous to go from Spanish to English party music. There is so much too choose from. You can do like 3 to 5 songs of one genre then jump around to get more engagement. Overall it was a fun night in San Pedro. People were about to talk on the mic and gave kind words to the birthday girl.

 One of the most fun I have as a dj is playing at a retail store. The instruction is to play fun feel good music. This is as open format I can get. Open format is just a bit of everything. Typical djs stick with one genre. Open format djs cover a wide array of music to satisfy the diverse crowds. With Sherman Oaks I wanted to go with an old school disco 80s theme so I went that route. I feel Donna Summers was the biggest hits of that day. I was there for three hours and it was a good time.

  For Brea I went with a Latin theme and old school plus some feel good classics. It was for five hours. Typically, when I play I give out a card or two but today I gave out like 10 cards and two folks talked to me about doing their wedding in 2025. What made it different this time around? I just bounced all over the place with some Latin gems then going to some 90s dance hits then hitting the disco hits. I added some dance hits the past 10 years. I think I solved the puzzle for a cool retail store is to play songs people know and play the original song. Nothing really needs to be housed up. People want to hear songs they know the words to. Also its good to smile at the patrons when they pass by and not be too focused on what you are going to play next but enjoy the moment and it makes the dj more approachable.

 When you do a public event for a school you have to earn their trust. They want to make sure all the songs you play are appropriate and want to make sure your gear is top notch.  The dj before did play music but did not say much so that was in the back of my mind. I was able to get a playlist that was approved by the school and the instructions was to get a lot of engagement.

 It started with some folks speaking in the beginning then I was playing all the songs from their list and I included some songs that were also kid friendly but adults also liked. Then the folks hosted a pie eating contest then I would change the song after each contest. Once that was done then I was in charge of the mic. We started off with the hula hoop contest where we had the participant’s hula hoop this the hoop hit the floor. We really had some good hula hoopers. At one point two lasted the whole song so I got them both a prize. It was mostly girls who wanted to do the game but I also invited the boys to come try. One boy actually won one round. If you do this contest you have to do a few rounds since its popular.

 Musical chairs were also a big hit. I did a round of girls then a round of boys. We could have kept on doing that but we needed to finish with some line dancing to get the whole crowd going. Mission to get the crowd engaged and mission was accomplished.

  I love playing at Brea mall. Typically, I show up and play fun music but this mission has specific instructions. This time I was on the 3rd floor not the first one. Using an elevator is not an issue, it just at times takes a little bit longer to setup. I had to make sure it was not too loud since there were vendors there and keep it fun and lively and do some mic work. Mic work was easy. Every 30 minutes we were saying names of people who won baby gear prizes. People were just hanging out shopping and waiting for their name to be called.

Usually on the bottom floor I play a bit more Spanish by the make up area but today I wasn’t really feeling the Spanish vibe so we went old school. I went with a 90s vibe for most of the event but I would bounce around with disco and some 2000s music. Folks were really digging the 90s R&B so I would feed it to them. Big artists were like TLC and Montel Jordan.  When I was really feeling it I went like 45 seconds of a classic song then mixed in another song less than a minute later. We didn’t really play any hip hop today. The only tracks we played were Ice Ice Baby, Treat em right and a little Salt and Pepa.

 Overall it was a good time and people liked the variety of music. Of course I came with my planned playlist but once you start playing you may have to change direction based on the feedback of the room.