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.

 I was talking with a mom about doing her daughters quince.  We talked about the timeline of events and then she sent me edited songs for each event.  She mentioned to play 2000s chill music.  It was very broad.  The main focus was to play the specific songs at certain points of the night. They were going to show a presentation so I lent my other computer so they can show it and it was a nice show.

  It was a nice venue. Once you walked in it was a whole new world. It looked like a palace. It was very fancy with two levels. It looked like a scene from a movie. It looked very classy. 

We went over the details for the night. We started the music on time but we didn’t kick in with the events and we were behind schedule but we were able to get all the events done and even added new ones on the fly. The court did their waltz which was very classy to the song Take Me to Church. Later we did the changing of the shoes and the doll event and then we had the crowning and they had a dance routine that went with it. With the surprise dance they had different songs blended into one and they did a good job with it. There were a few songs they requested the day of event but I was able to download them and play them. It was a great party and what was cool was it was on a Sunday night. Not every party needs to be on a Saturday.

I was part of a very intimidate wedding at a residence.  It had a small bridal party.  They came in to Frank   Sinatra’s Love and Marriage (Made more famous with the Married with Children theme song)

Right after that, they wedded they took pictures in front of the house while the guests had cocktail hour. The pre-ceremony music and the cocktail music had the same kind of music which was classic r&b such as Earth Wind and Fire and the Temptations for example.

It was djs choice for wedding party entrance and the newly married couple came in to a country song.

  We did have a timeline that was pretty on cue till the reception. We made sure everything was done but it was done a bit earlier. This only can be done with communication. We had a planner who sent us the schedule but she would let the couple know what was happening next then she would tell me and I would like the photographer know what was happening next. We had the special parent dances and the garter and bouquet toss. Later we had the married couple dance and the couple shared their advice for a long lasting marriage. What the guy said something comical but probably was not appropriate as he told me but I just improvised and said something more positive.

   I stayed two hours longer and played more Spanish music for the party. Once when most of the guests left a few wanted to do Karaoke and I was able to make it happen. They asked if   it cost more and I   said I am already here all I need to do is add a cable and we   are golden. It was a fun event.

Real Life Events: Customer Appreciation Halloween Party at a Apartment Complex (Bay Area Dj serving San Jose, Campbell, Morgan Hill, and Gilroy)

  I really enjoy working with this Apartment complex located in Campbell. This is the second event we have done this year with them. They tell me what they need and give me a good list to work from. A lot of the songs were r&b songs with some being new and some older. A few country songs were sprinkled in the mix too. They did a fantastic job decorating the area. Above where I was stationed there was 6-foot black spider. The swimming pool area was decorated with spider webs and in the pool were balloons from the movie It. In the casino room the windows were blacked out and there was blood all over the place. This had to be one of the best decorated spots I ever played it.

 The taco people were there handing out tacos to the folks and they had bartenders making spooky drinks. I can tell that this Apartment complex take care of their folks. I never hear of places doing nice things like this. They had a summer party and now a Halloween party.

So they had me put a speaker in the spooky room where they had tables and another speaker toward the swimming pool. So everyone could hear the music and hear the announcements. We did have a costume contest in which we voted for the scariest, most creative and most realistic. At the end we had some dancing with 80s music. It was a fun event and loved the fact that the apartment threw it for its people.

  We did back to back homecoming dances in San Jose. We do like doing high school dances. We do like them since we have an advantage compared to most other Djs. We compile the hottest songs that we get from all the high school dances that we do and mix it with the songs that the school requested. There are a lot of good songs out there to keep students dancing but the secret sauce is to play songs to build up energy and then mix into the next one quickly. It is crazy what the power of the quick mix can do with the energy of the crowd.

   We got to do Overfelt’s Home coming a few weeks ago and we had it indoors.  They gave us a good playlist and it was a good time. The following week we did James Licks homecoming dance.  The music was outside and the party was inside and outside. Loved the energy of the students. They were loving the edam music and loved the Latin music. There was a lot of Latin music played and danced to. As a dj, you have to be able to play and mix different genres.

  Both Overfelt and James Lick are awesome. They were very easy to work with.  Both sent over a dynamite Spotify list. Then the schools sent over maps of their school so we knew where to set up. It was just a really nice process and efficient.  Love it when schools are on top of it!

We had a party on the 17th floor in downtown San Jose. The Capitol Club is a scenic venue that can created bigger spaces if needed to hold functions. Love it that they validated my parking so I was able to save 12 dollars!

  We had it up and ready with 45 minutes to spare. We were starting at 6 but it was like 630 when people started showing up. We had some few Spanish songs and 60s and 70s songs for the cocktail hour. They had open bar for the party.

 At 730 they had a trio playing Mexican music. They sounded really good and their system was top notch. At the end of their set, they sang the Mananitas then sang Happy Birthday then went into La Bamba. Then it was my time to take over at 9:20. My goal was to keep everyone on the floor till 11. We were going with the Spanish songs from the list then I threw in some other cumbias. But what was the crowd favorite being the funk and disco. That is what got them. We finished the night with two sing alongs. Loved the fact that we were about to bounce around and jump into hip hop at the end then ended it when I love it that way by backstreet boys and Vicente Fernandez finished it off with volver volver.

  Staff were awesome at Capitol club. They were very accommodating. They set me up with power and gave me a cart which is a life saver since we have to use elevators.

 Party was at 6 and I was set up with plenty time to spare. Decided to do the spooky songs when it got darker. I was mostly playing pop songs since it was an elementary school.  As the night progressed there were more announcements. They were going to have a dance mob to the song Thriller so I made sure I did not play that at all. 

  The folks leading the dance brought their own speaker but it is always better to connect with the main system since there are two raised speakers as opposed to one speaker on the floor. I made sure I had the connection for the laptop   already set up on the mixer. There were about 30 folks doing the Thriller dance. Then later they were giving lessons on how to do the dance for anyone who wanted to learn and gave them the chance to perform it.

  I did a function for the school a month ago so I didn’t want to do the same line dances plus the same games. It is good to switch it up.  We did the musical chairs which is always a hit and we made sure we had the younger folks with the younger folks then moved up with the older folks.  We ended up doing three rounds.

  We did have a big crowd right before we were supposing to close so we went 30 minutes longer. I was going strictly by their playlist then at the end I took some fun pop requests.

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.