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.

 We had a great time playing in North Hollywood the other day. It was a surprise 80th birthday party.  It was such a surprise even I did not even know.  It was a dark street and the address was semi hidden and I typically can tell who is having a party on a street. I unloaded my gear and my start time was at 7 and I was there around 610 and I was asked that grandpa is close and I have to be ready soon. So I got everything set up and was playing 15 minutes before I was supposed to start. Anything to make the party go smoothly. We were stationed in the backyard and when grandpa came in he was greeted with Las Mananitas then Vicente Fernandez. The first hour we were playing Mexican oldies then an hour in we just mostly did cumbias the rest of the night. It was a catered party with a lot of desserts. The cake had a picture of the man of the hour. It was a festive group that liked to dance. All the requests they wanted I was able to find them on my computer or I had to stream them via the internet.

  It was a cold night but the dance floor was hot. It was my kind of party. They offered me cake like three different times. They were the perfect hosts. We had the music at a good volume and we did not get any complaints.

  Recently I received a call to do a Latin event over in Granada Hills. The client sent me a list and I was digging the vibe. It was a lot of reggaeton and some cumbia. Artist like Bad Bunny, and  Karol G filled up the list.  A really popular artist was Los Socios Del RitmoOther artists like Ozuna, J Balvin, Rauw Alejandro There were a few English songs and even went as diverse as some country songs by Morgan Wallan. What I noticed about Latin parties that they really and I mean really love the cumbias. You can not go wrong with the classics and get the party going.

Originally we are going to play at a house then they got a studio over in North ridge.  It was small venue in a retail area.  They had a bar and a table to have dinner and a small dance floor. It was quite an intimate space. You can easily have around 25 folks to have dinner there and then they can let loose on the dance floor. Once I got there they had a musician who was jamming on a guitar and singing covers everyone knew. I set up next to the guitar player and I was ready to go. I was going to play 15 minutes ahead of schedule but I was prepared to start anytime they needed me. They started to eat then I started to play more music to get the party vibe then they cut the cake then it was time to get down. 

We did this Birthday party in Morgan Hill a few years back. I actually did it myself and it was tons of fun. They invited all these other food vendors so it was a yummy event. All the latin ladies were dancing while their husbands sat down and chatted with one another. They did call me the following year last minute and we were not able to book us since we were already booked and they went with another dj. Then they called us again last minute and I was planning to do a Bay Area wedding with my dj but had my dj do the Latin event in Morgan Hill. I wanted to make sure we took care of our repeat customer.

What better Saturday to celebrate your birthday than Beautiful summer night in the Bay Area! Spacious backyard, tacos, refreshment, and a dance floor! Lets not forget to toss the ipod out and get a great dj with all the hits you need! 80s fun and new wave, as well as some crossover latino hits kept the dance floor filled from beginning to end, with a small break to eat some delicious tacos! Hits that made people stick the the dance floor include Many hits from Timbiriche (si No es Ahora Accelerar, and Mexico) to just name a few, Hips Don’t Lie- Shakira, On the Floor-Pitbull and Jlo, Bamboleo by the Gypsy Kings, Dancing Queen by Abba, and  Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Cindy Lauper!

 We are living in a Barbie world at the moment. Seem like that movie is blowing up and they were having a Barbie theme at the Brea Mall. All the cosmetic section was sporting Barbie shirts. I have been at this mall a few times already and it was being a good time every time. Most djs could just come by and just start playing what they feel but for me I have to prep since I don’t want to play the same kind of music over and over. I want it to be different every time I play. I had the instruction to play fun positive music. Most folks who play at retail stores usually play a certain type of music and let it ride the whole time. That is not me and I want it to be as diverse as possible. There were at least 8 folks who came by to tell me they liked the diversity of the music. I talked to one worker who stated the dj before playing 90s  songs over a house beat. That could be fun but a little of the same. I try to find songs that everyone knows and play it in the original format as possible. We did play a lot of Spanish cumbias and did a lot of old school music. This time we did 90s alternative, freestyle, 90s house, 90s pop, cumbia, Spanish ranchera. I even threw in Barbie Girl since it was the theme. Most djs would be afraid to play that but I have no fear. It was a very fun vibe at the Brea mall.

I was fortunate enough to do a party in the Bay Area recently and it was a good celebration. They just wanted party music. I was told just get Cumbia music and some old school. So I did set up the music but realized so what do they are going to listen to when they are eating. I was scheduled to play for five hours. Usually the first hour or so they will be eating then it is the dancing. I was told the party will be going on before hand and they will be eating before I start. This is my kind of party! More time for some dancing.  They had a speaker connected to a phone and they were playing like slow songs for dinner. I can tell it was not music the party planner selected but it was something the venue put together. And I was right since the phone belonged to someone at the venue. They were going to have a performance at 430 so I was asked to be already set up by that time so I would not be a distraction. I said no problem. I got there around 4 and I was set up by 417. It was an easy set up. The performers asked if I can connect to their phone. It was 430 and I wasn’t supposed to start till 5 but I happily obliged and connected the phone and made the microphone available. They had a Hawaiian performance and they had dancers from all ages get down. They had a few drummers but it was very lively.

  From 5 to 10 we went straight cumbia. We probably did 80 percent cumbia for 5 hours and did some ranchera music. We did a little old school but it was Spanish that got everyone on the dance floor.

We had a call to do a big corporate event in Sunnyvale.  I asked them how many people will be present and they said their should be close to 1000 folks. We made sure we had plenty of sound that day. There was also a Band Playing. We were in charge of making announcements.  The big worry was to figure out where the stage was since it was a huge campus but it was easy to find and the staff made it easily accessible. They had not had a big event like this in years

Company hosted an amazing family day event for their employees and family, which was a pleasure for me to be part of. As much is 10 different food trucks, beautiful, car show, robotics presentations, and Chicago style stepping dance show that was hosted by one of their employees. Guest of all ages we’re all over enjoying good food and great music. I was happy to receive amount of compliments for providing music from the 70s and 80s dance and funk. Some hits enjoyed. Include the song requested by a guest “get up Offa that Thing by James Brown, September, by Earth, Wind and Fire, Billie, Jean, by Michael Jackson, Girls Just Wanna have Fun by Cyndi Lauper Dancing Queen by ABBA and tainted love by Soft Cell. The game plan was to have music from little kids to 70 year olds. We had to get really popular music ranging from 70s to current times.

Djing in retail stores does not just happen in Christmas time. It can happen anytime and I played in May at the Brea Mall last Saturday by the Make Up Area. Love playing at Nordstrom since they have a booth of their own so it just makes it easy to set up. The staff is very helpful and let me borrow a cart to load my gear on so I can do everything in one shot. Love the energy of the staff since a lot of them love the music and sway with the vibes. They even gave some cool requests to. Songs that seemed to be big hits were the funk and the Spanish songs. Why play the same tracks everyone else plays? Its best too go against the grain and not be the same cookie cutter dj who plays the same songs every time.

  The theme was flower that day so we made sure we played a couple of different edits of Miley Cyrus Flower song. Lots of people did stroll by but the goal was to get the heads bobbing. I did all pop and feel good songs and I threw in some Latin songs in the mix. I think we did play over 10 Latin songs in the 5-hour session. If you think about it, California is full of latin people so why not throw some Latin flavor in the mix. Why not throw some reggaeton and come cumbia songs? Speaking of 5 hours, it felt like 15 minutes since playing music for me is super fan and trying to be creative with the mixes and playing songs that go together.