Beyond the DJ Booth

Ep. 8: Mashups and Bathroom Maps: DJ Lessons for Introverts

• Joe Bunn and Brian B • Season 1 • Episode 8

Share episode

Send us a text

Who knew concert restroom strategies could be so entertaining? Picture this: Joe Bunn navigating the chaos of a crowded restroom with the same tactics he uses to get to the front row. Our latest "Beyond the DJoth Podcast" episode kicks off with laughter as Joe shares his unfiltered tales of strategic maneuvering in unexpected places. We also dive into the brilliant art of song selection, dishing on how hits like Charlie XCX's "Apple" and Flo Rida's "Club Can't Handle Me Tonight" are transforming party vibes. It's a hilarious yet insightful peek into our world, where humor meets tales from seasoned DJs.

But that's not all—Brian B. and Joe aren't just about the music; they're about building a DJ empire too. We're talking the importance of content creation and how authentic storytelling can supercharge your brand. From crafting those killer music mixes to mastering social media presence, we share anecdotes and tips for standing out in a crowded market. Plus, Brian opens up about overcoming his introversion, revealing how stepping out of his comfort zone at wedding shows helped him forge invaluable connections. Whether you're a budding DJ or just love a good laugh, this episode is packed with strategies, stories, and a splash of personality guaranteed to keep you entertained and informed.

RESOURCES & LINKS

Our website. Please leave a review! - https://www.beyondthedjbooth.com/
To book Joe Bunn: https://bunndjcompany.com/
To book Brian B: https://djbrianbofficial.com/
Joe’s Gear Finds on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/shop/djjoebunn
Brian’s Gear Finds on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/shop/djbrianbofficial
DJ Event Planner free demo: https://www.djeventplanner.com/signup.php
Brian B's Coaching Options: Https://www.thdjscreativeedge.com

Brian B:

welcome back to beyond the djoth Podcast. I'm Brian B.

Joe Bunn:

Yes, indeed, I'm Joe Bunn Good to see you, buddy. It's good to be seen my friend.

Brian B:

How are things?

Joe Bunn:

We made it through another weekend in October. I guess we're pre-recording this.

Brian B:

We should say that we should.

Joe Bunn:

Okay. Well, we made it through another weekend in October, even though this comes out in probably November, probably in October, even though this comes out in probably November, probably. That's okay. Look for people that are watching and listening. We got to batch create. Sometimes, man, brian and I are busy people, y'all are busy people. We're just trying to keep this thing coming out. Yeah, every Wednesday. So anyway, if we prerecord, it's essential, I think, don't you?

Brian B:

I agree, yeah, anyway, go on One of my goals of this podcast is I want them to know the real Joe Bunn, Just like unfiltered, like off the cuff. This is who he is. This isn't the guy who's got it all buttoned up, giving you the best stuff, but one of your superpowers and this is true genuineness here. I think you're a good strategist. I think strategy for you is one of your superpowers. So I have a scenario for you.

Joe Bunn:

Okay, go on.

Brian B:

So you're a big concert guy. I am the scenario? Is this going to a Laney concert? Yes, I love Laney Right.

Joe Bunn:

If you know, joe, yes, you're a big pre-gamer. Yes, right, you got the poo-poo platter.

Brian B:

Yes, I love the charcuterie board. And then you do the pre-game topos.

Joe Bunn:

Yeah, topo Chico. Shout out, Topo Chico.

Brian B:

And you're a couple in by the time I usually arrive to these kind of concerts.

Joe Bunn:

Yes, yes, yes.

Brian B:

There's a couple more Topos Sure, then we get into the venue.

Joe Bunn:

Yes, go on.

Brian B:

Before you start watching the show, you've got to use the restroom. Get things taken care of Sure sure. This is the scenario.

Brian B:

with strategy, you walk in to the restroom, right, seven urinals. Okay, we're going to put it on the screen here. What is your move? This is seven urinals. Just for those that are listening and not looking, the number two urinal and number five urinal are taken. Okay, what is the correct move on the chessboard here? Where do you go Far right? Oh, absolutely. That is absolutely the correct move on the chessboard here. Where do you go Far right? Oh, absolutely, absolutely the correct answer. There's no question. There's no universe.

Joe Bunn:

No, you don't want some dude watching me pee. Nah, right, nah, you don't want the streams to cross. It's like Ghostbusters. This is easy. This was number one was easy.

Brian B:

Let's go to number two, so we move over one dead center. Dude, I just I don't think I could do that, because I feel like I'm going to be sandwiched in. You know what.

Joe Bunn:

I mean, yeah, but you've got an actual piece of porcelain between you and the urinators.

Brian B:

But if someone else comes in, got to get in and get out I go far corner. I go seven, far right again, or far left left, actually more seven, because I don't want anybody walking around me.

Joe Bunn:

I'm not going middle yeah, I'm dead center on this one.

Brian B:

I'm okay with that. Yeah, all right.

Joe Bunn:

Last scenario that's tough now. I've got to be besides somebody. I'm probably going to be number three. I'm probably number three. What's the rationale? I just got one guy to my left and I think my I think my shit hooks right, if I'm not mistaken. Oh my gosh, that's so good.

Brian B:

Yeah, everybody hooks one way.

Joe Bunn:

Don't act like you got a straight Johnson, Like that is not true.

Brian B:

Where are you on this? I think I wait.

Joe Bunn:

Are you waiting for a stall? I'm waiting for that corner to open up. I'm waiting for a corner. Nah, so I let I wait.

Brian B:

Are you waiting for a stall? I'm waiting for that corner to open up. I'm waiting for a corner. Nah, so I let someone pass. No, Because I'm like at this point.

Joe Bunn:

I feel like the opener's already gone off right and the headlining acts come on. I got to get back down to the pit. To be completely fair, the scenario usually wouldn't exist because I've used the restroom before, because once I've sanctioned, or once I've solidified my position in the pit or wherever I want to be.

Brian B:

I try not to go yeah.

Joe Bunn:

That's when I stop drinking and everything, yeah, even water. I'm just going to power through you All right.

Brian B:

Well, you passed the test. Wow, this is crazy.

Joe Bunn:

What an opener.

Brian B:

A little something about Joe Bunn. Now you know a little strategy. Well, let's move on to the right let's talk music. Okay, got another one for you. Okay, I wanted to share ones that are like tools yeah where it's not just a standard remix or something segue, on the segue, yeah so have you been playing apple charlie some?

Joe Bunn:

and what's the reaction been good, I feel like it's taken off more in the last like month I definitely play, probably like sabrina carpenter, more than apple. I think the only time I played it in the past few months was at that valare party. Okay, I think it was because ashley's daughter requested it. Who's an actual child, right? I have not seen it on my wedding lists sabrina, I have taste and espresso definitely.

Brian B:

Well, there was this blend that came out with Apple, starting off the original version.

Joe Bunn:

It's Charlie XCX, right, yep.

Brian B:

And then goes into that over Club Can't Handle Me Tonight.

Joe Bunn:

Flo Raya. I love that track.

Brian B:

Then even Steve put up this blend with. Club Can't Handle Me Tonight, and this is what I came for. I think is what it's called the Rihanna track.

Joe Bunn:

This is what you came for. Yeah, this is what you came for Rihanna. I love her.

Brian B:

So I'm playing this Apple because I get requested for it Go into this blend of this with that, and then I'm like you know what I got? This other blend by Eve and Steve.

Joe Bunn:

I'm going to go into this other one.

Brian B:

So it worked so well that I decided to make my own track of it already in there, so I don't have to go between three different tracks necessarily.

Joe Bunn:

Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.

Brian B:

And so I want to play you this and see if you think it's something you can play.

Joe Bunn:

This is your edit, this is my edit of two edits that already exist.

Brian B:

Gotcha, gotcha, if that makes sense.

Joe Bunn:

Sure, let's hear it, let's hit it. Thank you, I love you, I love you too, I love you, I love you too, I love you too, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.

Brian B:

I just put it all together. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got you. You got a three song banger that can go in one or after the other, and it just feels like how long did it?

Joe Bunn:

did it actually run a minute or? No, probably three with all three of those, because it's three songs. Right, I got you, but it just feels like a move yeah, yeah, yeah, they tie in, so well right so you got two. Basically let's call that older songs or like early edm pop, and then into a new, truly a new song from the summer, basically and I think, like this is what you came for, I'm not really playing that much anymore.

Joe Bunn:

No, you're not burning a good track, like we were talking about one time. Yeah, like that we Found Love and I Want to Dance with Somebody. Edit, I never play it because I feel like you're burning two good songs in one.

Brian B:

Right, Okay cool.

Joe Bunn:

I dig that.

Brian B:

Give it to me, I'll send you Little Dropbox. Situation, exactly, let's get into the meat of this podcast, which is questions, right?

Joe Bunn:

Yes, questions are always going to be the value Right. People love to hear us just sit here and bullshit, but at the end of the day it's like come on, man, give me something I can take away. Help my DJ company, help my DJ business. I think.

Brian B:

I don't know.

Joe Bunn:

We're still new to the game, but I think that's a big part of it, and when we post the reels, I feel like those are the ones that kind of do the best, or if you tell a really good story.

Brian B:

This is from Mike Romero out of Fayetteville, Arkansas. How did you handle putting yourself out there more to grow your business? I cannot bring myself to be in front of the camera comfortably, which in turn hinders my growth as a company. Were you ever like an?

Joe Bunn:

introvert. I still feel like I am, honestly, like I physically can turn it on like an introvert, extrovert, right, I can turn it on when I need it and when it has to be like a superpower or for a networking thing or in front of a camera, but normally I mean I'm by myself. Probably, dude, I might be by myself, you know 80 of my life now, because I'm here usually all day.

Joe Bunn:

I'm by myself, uh, at night there's a of my life now, cause I'm here usually all day I'm by myself. At night there's a bunch of people and kids and whatnot around but like. I'm usually pretty self-contained.

Brian B:

So when you were growing your business to start and you didn't know everybody in the area, was this a pain point for you as well, like trying to get out there and be the extroverted Joe Bunn, or did you just turn it on?

Joe Bunn:

I just turned it on and early on it was not all this right. It wasn't podcasting social media and dressing up like a girl in a Crate Hackers commercial. It was truly being at these wedding shows, which is still going on. We just stopped doing the big, big wedding shows, and I'm talking about there'd be 20 DJs there, 20 wedding planners, 20 cake makers, 20 dress makers, and that was where, like, we really shined, because we would build the most over the top display.

Joe Bunn:

Every show we did was different and that was quarterly. They did that show once a quarter and we would build something completely over the top. I have a attic full of best in show trophies from that. So imagine, I mean, how many vendors were there. We would win best in show almost every time, but I would leave that booth and just go booth to booth. Hey, I'm Joe Bunn, you know even DJs. Hey, man, you know what's up, I'm new blah, blah, blah. And so I definitely had to basically come out of my shell or to be like this kind of over the top version of myself.

Brian B:

And do you think like through time that's gotten easier or still is the same, kind of not hurdle?

Joe Bunn:

but I think it's gotten easier, but it's still that same feeling of where you've got to be in the right mindset. You know, I've definitely canceled shoots or content creation days where I had people lined up to come shoot, where I was just like I'm not feeling this man, I don't want to be the court jester today. I'm not going to dress up like a fireman, like I just you know what I mean Like some days you just have these reality checks like Jesus bro, no-transcript.

Joe Bunn:

But this question's tough. You know what I mean, because all this, the social, the podcasting, the videos, everything is just part of the business ownership. Now, even with Saquon, right, I mean, he's a hip-hop producer, got got hip hop groups but like all his guys are kind of on his roster. If you look at their accounts, they're constantly creating content because they know that's how somebody is probably going to hear their song or see them. Some reel is going to pop off as somebody that's not comfortable in front of the camera. It's almost like I don't want to say you, you have to get comfortable, but unless you had somebody that was on your team, that was that guy that could kind of be the Geico lizard or the mayhem of your company and be the face person or the flow from progressive or whatever I was going to say, the dude from Subway. But I think he's locked up.

Brian B:

Let's, don't bring him up.

Joe Bunn:

But I'm saying, like, unless there was that character, who is the main character? Like you have to be that guy. I don't know what are your thoughts on this man. I mean cause I know you're not, you don't create nearly as much content as I do, but you know how important it is.

Brian B:

It's twofold. One I don't think you have to grow your business just through the camera aspect. I mean you definitely have to get out there and meet people.

Joe Bunn:

There's no doubt that that has to happen.

Brian B:

I mean, sometimes it's a matter of just working around those challenges with, you know, having other people, even if you don't have like a full on roster of team. Maybe it's your wife, maybe it's your neighbor who's the extrovert, and sometimes that can actually even help you sell your company because there's somebody who's boasting about you.

Joe Bunn:

It's not you trying to do it yourself and manufacture this stuff?

Brian B:

But I think there's also a balance of being your authentic self, like if you turn on the DJ voice and all of a sudden you're trying to be, mr, like extrovert, it's not going to be true to who you are and when someone sees the real you, they're going to be like, well, who's this person? Because this is who I met. This is what I thought. So I think in those situations you try to work around it. For me, I can just speak on the camera, great at it either. So the way I've worked around it on a couple of different things one, I try to make the crowd, if I'm doing it for DJing stuff, make them the star.

Joe Bunn:

Yeah.

Brian B:

So you don't have to see me behind the DJ booth necessarily If you see everybody partying, having a great time and you know that I'm the one orchestrating that somehow. That is one way you can still kind of keep that introverted self of yours. The other thing too and we've done it for videos and things all the time is using a teleprompter right. Where, like it keeps you kind of on track.

Joe Bunn:

Promptor is key.

Brian B:

There is a little bit of a learning curve to it, so you don't sound so robotic. You've got to figure out your rhythm and those different things to it. But that's another way that can kind of help you, because you're not so conscious of being extroverted. You're just looking at a script and reading through.

Joe Bunn:

I couldn't agree with you more. That teleprompter stuff has saved me countless times and I've gotten so good at it. People are questioning if I'm using one. You know what I mean. They don't really see my eyes moving. I kind of still ad-lib in parts, especially if I've got it at the right speed where I can make it sound like truly like my voice. I write the scripts, so they are in my voice. They're not like AI generated Right, so I've. I've had a lot of people be like bro, how do you remember these vault videos? I'm like no man, I'm. I'm on a prompter you know what I mean Just like a newscaster or the weatherman or whatever you know, and there's so many different varieties and variations that you can get for not a lot of money. That's a great tip that I didn't really think about on this.

Brian B:

Well, the other one I was thinking along those lines was just bringing somebody with you.

Joe Bunn:

Yeah.

Brian B:

Like that is that extrovert. You can kind of add your value adds to the conversation when you feel comfortable, but like having somebody else there where it's not just like a one-on-one situation if you feel too super awkward, Right.

Joe Bunn:

And I feel, like all of us as DJs, every year and every season, right that we have this one wedding that really just stands out man make that bride, that person whether it's a wedding show or you know, you want her to make a video or something like there's that one.

Joe Bunn:

I mean I can look back at my right now and literally go that wedding was killer. And that girl came up to me at the end of the night and was over the moon like hugging me best night ever. They'll be a champion of yours, a fan of yours forever and they would probably do anything. If you bought them a gift certificate to Sullivan's or some nice steakhouse or something, they'd probably make a video for you. Or come stand out at the fairgrounds with you for two hours at a wedding show. You know what I mean. Those people are just super fans for life because of the memories you created and we've all got one or two a year that are just stand a little bit above everything else. Anyway, good stuff. That's a good question. Appreciate it. Mike Romero, fayetteville, arkansas. Have you been there? I have not. You ever been to Fayetteville, north Carolina? I've heard about it, yeah.

Brian B:

I heard it's not a place you want to be hanging out, or at least Back in the day.

Joe Bunn:

It's not great, it's not great, I mean shout out to my service members. What's their sake one Air Force Base or something? Fort Bragg, fort Bragg.

Brian B:

Oh, is that where that's at? Yeah, okay, shout out Fort Bragg.

Joe Bunn:

All right, anyway, let's wrap it, let's do it. Thanks everybody for watching. I hope you enjoyed. Another episode of these are going to drop on all of the streaming platforms for your podcasting and the full link video will be on YouTube on my channel, so go check that out if you want to see how handsome we are. Thanks y'all. Later you.