When the Dance Floor Disappears: Hard Lessons for Working DJs

Sometimes the dance floor tells you a truth you don’t want to hear.

In this episode, Brian B and Joe break down a tough wedding where everything - the room layout, the guest mix, the cultural split, and even the flow of the night - worked against a high-energy dance set. From navigating a Latin-heavy request list with older Russian Orthodox guests to watching the floor migrate toward the photo booth, we unpack what really happens when even your best instincts aren’t enough.

But the story doesn’t end there. A planner on-site remembered seeing Brian at a free showcase two years earlier and vouched for him at full rate: proof that long-tail reputation still converts when you least expect it. Joe shares a parallel moment at an elite country club where no video was allowed, yet a quiet observer in the back led to a brand-new booking. Even when you’re not collecting “content,” you’re always being evaluated.

We also bring practical tools:

• Gear Corner: the ultra-simple desk cushion lap desk that saves your neck during marathon prep days
• Crate Finds: refined cocktail-hour and early-set picks, including Coleman Hawkins’ Body and Soul, Glen Campbell’s Southern Nights, a dreamy Dreams → Frank Ocean blend as well as a tasteful God’s Plan cover and a Temperature × Le Freak blend that keeps older guests engaged
• Business Talk: Should you join an exclusive venue package? We break down rate erosion, payment risk, and how to test the waters without sacrificing brand or team quality

This episode is part honesty, part strategy, part toolbox built for working DJs who know that the rough gigs often teach more than the flawless ones.

Tap follow, share this with a DJ friend, and drop a review with your go-to track for bridging a culture gap on the dance floor.

Chapters

• 0:00 Warmup Banter And Patreon Shoutouts
• 3:22 First Guest Recap And Mike Walter’s Book
• 4:33 Storytime: The “Stinker” Wedding Setup
• 8:20 Navigating Heavy Latin Requests And Gaps
• 12:40 Split Room, Vanishing Dance Floor, And Vibes
• 16:45 Culture Clash: Latin Meets Russian Requests
• 19:40 Postmortem, Pride Check, And Client Feedback
• 23:05 Recent Wins And Country Club Referrals
• 27:34 Gear Corner: The Desk Cushion Fix
• 31:45 Crate Finds: Elegant Dinner And Southern Nights

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

I think you just up everybody, our booth heads. Thanks for joining us on another episode of Beyond the DJ Booth with Brian B. That's me. And this is Mr. Joe Bunn. Hello. Welcome. I feel like we've been on a Airmaster. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 0:35

Or that too. Yeah. Just going. We're on the grind. Batch day. By the end of today, will we be through Christmas? We're going to be short. Okay. Gotta get together before Christmas. Yeah. It's just fine. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01: 0:47

Christmas special. Yeah. Live show. Yeah, we can do that. You want to dress us Santa? One of his elves? I do have a Santa suit.

SPEAKER_02: 0:54

You could be an elf. I got a full-blunt Santa suit. We might have to do that. Oh my God. I don't hate it. I don't hate it.

SPEAKER_01: 1:00

Well, we wanted to thank out some of our Patreon backroom members who are part of our exclusive community.

SPEAKER_02: 1:06

Oh, yeah. DJ Squirrel, David Floyd, thank you.

SPEAKER_01: 1:09

North Carolina's finest.

SPEAKER_02: 1:10

Yeah. No, he's Virginia. Oh, is he Virginia? Yeah. Marty Nightingale's from North Carolina. That's what I was talking about. That's what I was doing. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 1:16

Go to the next one.

SPEAKER_02: 1:17

I'm trying to get him to come work for me. He's not hearing it. He makes too much money on his own.

SPEAKER_01: 1:22

And we got Logan Edwards and our last one, Sean Sines. Some of our latest members who've joined it. If you're not on the back room, you need to be. We're putting out tons of stuff every week.

SPEAKER_02: 1:32

Patreon.com slash beyond the DJ Booth Podcast. Super proud of what we push there every week. If you are into the music and want to know what edits we're playing and what edits you probably should be playing, and get off the stale stuff that you've probably been playing over and over and over again, then you found it.

SPEAKER_01: 1:49

And there's some bonus content. I'll just leave it at that. Bonus content you will be usable.

SPEAKER_02: 1:57

Just join your session. Just join. You'll see. The gold is within.

SPEAKER_01: 2:01

Two weeks ago, we had our first interview. What do you think?

SPEAKER_02: 2:03

We had our first guest, dude. And it was the legend Mike Walter. I know he he had mentioned to me, hey man, you know, do y'all ever have guests? I want to talk about the book. I told Mike, I'm like, listen, man, regardless, the moment that we were going to have a first guest, it would have always been you. I don't care if he had anything to promote or not. Right. I mean, I think it would have been sacrilege to bring on somebody not Mike Walter. As the very first guest. I agree. Inaugural guest, if you will. So anyway, shout out to Mike. Make sure you get his book. It's out now, DJMikeWalter.com. What did he say the price was? I didn't hear him. Didn't hear him? Doesn't matter. I mean, I'm assuming it's gonna be 20, if I had to guess 25, 30 bucks. This would be a good gift for like your DJs.

SPEAKER_01: 2:41

Yeah. Right?

SPEAKER_02: 2:41

Oh, hell yeah. I got my D. I'm not saying because they listen to this.

SPEAKER_01: 2:45

Well, yeah, just throwing it out. We'll circle back. Is this like a uh a bathroom reading material type book? Is this coffee table material? No, this I feel like Mike's.

SPEAKER_02: 2:52

Is it gonna join this? Mike's book. Oh, it's definitely gonna join this. I I'm gonna buy a copy regardless if he sends me one. Yeah. It'll go right here with On the State of Music by Mike Walter as well. And then Ultimate Star Guitars and Rock Covers. So good. Those are just you know decoration.

SPEAKER_01: 3:09

Mike's actually good. Well, let's move into our next segment. Storytime. I had a gig this weekend. Uh we're recording this, batch recording this. So this happened, what, first week of November. Okay. Tough one, man. I don't get too many of those tough ones, but I've had a couple of a run, I've had a few this year. Fewer. What do we call them? Saquon.

SPEAKER_02: 3:32

Stinker.

SPEAKER_06: 3:33

Stinker. Stinker.

SPEAKER_02: 3:35

Stinker. Big stinker. We've gotten in the van before, and Saquon goes, We got a stinker.

SPEAKER_01: 3:41

So this is a this is a groom who saw me uh perform in Arizona at a wedding. Okay. And I kind of wanted to share the story on the good side. The flip side of it was that I actually did a WhipA after party two years ago. Okay. And you know, I brought in lighting, did the whole thing, and I didn't think I got anything from it. I mean, I played for all these planners, played for all these venues, nothing. So come to find out, this groom calls me, says, Hey, I'm having a wedding. I saw you in Arizona. Are you available? And so I give him a price. And I remember when we were negotiating all that stuff, he was like on the top end of his budget, you know. So I thought, I'm probably not gonna get it. And for whatever reason, like maybe a week or two later, we followed up. He sent in his contract, we signed everything for normal Brian B. pricing, which I was like, this is great. The one thing I was a little worried about, and I'm curious about how you handle these. Okay. I mean, his wife to be was from the Dominican Republic. Okay. She wanted some Latin music. Sure. And dude, I am at the point in my career where I'm not trying to be somebody I'm not. So I will tell these people listen, I'm gonna give you my take on Latin music. I am not a Latin DJ. I would never claim that. I would never want to do that. Same. Am I open to playing Latin music? And do I play it in some of my sets? Absolutely. Even if it's not even requested, I'll throw some in there every now and there. Pepis all the time. I throw in Donza half the time, you know, just depends. But I made sure that point was clearly communicated. Yeah, yeah. Right. It's not my specialty, right? Same thing I would have said. I get the list 30 days out, 90% of it Latin music, of which I don't even know some of these artists. These aren't like, these are like from my 1990s and 80s, like not, you know, Elvis Crispo or Dominican. It's like it's Was it Dominican? Yeah. And there was some of that in there too. Okay, right. So I do my due diligence. I tell them, listen, I'm gonna learn this as best as I can. But like I told you all in the beginning, like this is not my forte. So the more you can give me ahead of time, the better, because at least I'll be loaded up. And uh in case someone asks for anything. So I said, please, please, please think about your guests. Think about what they could potentially come up and request that you're okay with. So I'm not getting online trying to download tracks while I'm there. Because I don't A, don't even know about the internet. I don't even like to get online in general. Me neither. But if I have to, if it's mom of the bride asking for something, I'll get online. But it's really rare. Right. Wouldn't you know it? I get there and the first four songs that the parents and one of the cousins came up. I didn't have. They didn't have on the list.

SPEAKER_02: 6:06

And you don't speak Spanish that well. So now what are you doing? Like looking at the title on their phone or trying to write a screenshot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 6:12

Then I go look it up, I download it. And then I'm like, man, I haven't had a chance to really listen to yet.

SPEAKER_02: 6:17

You don't know the VPM, the the prep.

SPEAKER_01: 6:19

I'm like, is this even gonna go over? I'm praying that they're right. Right. And three of the four were okay. Winners, you know, not real winners, but they were okay.

SPEAKER_03: 6:28

But the one piece to mix into time signatures. Like, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 6:34

Yeah, yeah. And so it was some bachata I didn't know about. So that was another one. I was like, come on, guys, like you don't have any of this on there. So there were times throughout the night, there's 68 people, so already I'm at a little bit of can be at a disadvantage. Sure. You know, I don't have time to lose people, and the room was split, so they had like a curtain in the middle, one side photo booth bar in the same room, but still split by this curtain.

SPEAKER_06: 6:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 6:56

And then on the other side was a dance floor and dinner, basically.

SPEAKER_06: 6:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 6:59

So the groom and his bride, who I didn't think I had to make this statement because they'd been to one of my shows, or at least he had been to one of my shows before, was like, you know, be on the dance floor. And they took off, and everyone's hanging out with them at the photo booth. And there were a few times where I looked at, I was like, I have a goose egg. Yeah. Like, not just one. Like, we got a stinker. That's a stinker, bro. But then it would come back for like 20 minutes.

SPEAKER_02: 7:24

That kind of happened on that Thursday wedding that I was telling you about.

SPEAKER_01: 7:27

And that would be great. And then, like, I don't know what would trigger it because it wasn't, I don't feel like a bad song necessarily. They just would walk off like they were done. And they'd go do this thing for another little bit, or they'd say goodbye to people. The Thursday thing. Yeah. It was a Thursday. Come back. Before I started the gig, I was there loading in, and the planner goes, Hey, just so you know, I saw you at that after party that you did for that Whippa thing.

SPEAKER_07: 7:51

Damn.

SPEAKER_01: 7:51

And they hired me as a planner after they were already talking with you. And they said, Hey, we have this guy. I've seen him. What do you think about? Did we bring this guy on? I've seen him do what he does. And I co-signed doing that. So it did come back around. It did come back around. Two years later. At Brian B. Price, right? So, like, this was totally all I'm saying is opportunities to showcase yourself. Don't look at it as like sometimes it took two years for it to be realized. Literally two years. But it more than paid for itself. Yeah, absolutely. It did. But as I'm doing it, this girl, I'm like, she just saw a stinker. Yeah. Not great first impression, you know? Yeah, no. But then I realized too, I think sometimes our standards, and I'm just saying this is more here, this is my therapy moment for you. Um, you know, lay your problems on me, brother. You know, you can get on yourself. Like, this sucks. And, you know, I'm smiling the whole way through it, but like my pride's hit for sure. And I she said something, she's like, you know what? The crowd at times they just wanted a vibe, and you did that. And I did. I mean, I I'm not gonna play them, you know, bang them dance tracks if there's nobody out there. It doesn't make any sense after a certain point. Sure, you know, sure. So I kind of pivoted and went in a different direction for a hot minute just to let people kind of breathe and enjoy it. And then when it would come back, it would come back. And sometimes you have to look at it that way. That not all parties are gonna be that. Oh, and this is the kicker. What I didn't know, and I don't know how this didn't come up in conversation. His side of the family, Russian Orthodox Jews. Okay, that in Latin, oil and water, baby. They do not go together. And that crowd was a lot older, meaning, I mean, they only had 68 people. A lot of it was family on his side. The mother of the groom comes up and goes, Hey, do you have any Russian music? And I mean, I have some, not a lot. Well, it's all in Russian because people have given it to me over the years. I don't even read it. I'm like, take a look. I mean, if you and she didn't read it either, apparently. So then I just went with Rasputin, Bony M. That crushed. Crush. But that was it. Is that even Russian? Well, it has Russian language in it, but it's actually an old disco record from the 80s or whatever. No, I know the record. And they were all track and that was it. But then I didn't have anything else to follow it up with. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 9:58

And I'm just like sweating up there. Yeah. So I don't know. Gear stinker. I always think about like how bad would this event have been with no music or with a bad DJ, right? And on those things, and it makes me feel better.

SPEAKER_01: 10:10

How do you feel when you end the night? She's like, we can call it. This is not me. This is the planner saying this. Like, we were at time. It wasn't like we ended early. Yeah, yeah. But then, like, the groom and the bride are there. I definitely don't feel any like love. And I don't want to go up to him. I'm embarrassed. Yeah. I literally was embarrassed. Like, I didn't deliver. Right. And I hate that feeling. Me too. So I kind of just like didn't say anything. I'm just packing up tables. The groom comes up to me. And this is this is exactly his line. He said, Man, you know, I didn't know there was such a difference between attending a party and hosting a party. And he's like, You did a great job. His bride never came up to me. Right. So I still feel like I kind of like let her down a bit. But like he he gave me some gratuity, like it was all good and all that. But I just like, I just was like, man, I didn't know how to like answer him.

SPEAKER_02: 10:57

You can't. I mean, like, you just kind of like you said, you you you pack up and roll out and slink out. Like, but but two things. Number one, what was the wedding like that he saw you at? Was that a bad thing? Oh, Rager. Oh.

SPEAKER_01: 11:09

And that's the thing.

SPEAKER_02: 11:10

He was from. That's tough.

SPEAKER_01: 11:12

He did have a few, like, he wanted it to have a little bit of a jersey feel to it, like club banger. But like he's deferring to his bride, which I totally get. I would do the same thing if it were my wedding a bit to her. Sure. Like, it's her, you know, it's her day. Let her shine. Let whatever songs. But their the music styles were so different. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. That it was really hard. I felt like I was fighting upstream the entire night.

SPEAKER_02: 11:35

Final question on this, and then we're gonna move on from it. Uh, do you stop the auto drip uh review link going out? I thought about it, but it was already past the time. Nah, you never do that, bro. Give give it like a two-day before it goes out. Yeah. Because like I text Randy if we have a stinker and I go, no review. And he knows exactly what that means. And he just goes in DJ Event Planner, shout out DJ Eventplanner.com and turns it off. Yeah. I'm like, and he go, and he goes, What's wrong? What happened? And I go, nothing. It just it was a stinker.

unknown: 12:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 12:08

Yeah. Well, the thing was, it doesn't go to any of my sites to do reviews. It's like an internal, like, give us a rating of one to five. Oh, never. But still, I don't want to hear it if it's a negative, you know. Just turn it off. Yeah. Turn it off. Uh anyway. You know, it was my only gig of the weekend. Yeah. And that's where it also hurts. But it also makes me feel good that I have another one coming up. And I'm like, okay, hey, this one's behind me.

SPEAKER_02: 12:32

Let's move on. Right. It's like Men in Black when they have that little tool that erased your brain, you know, the mind eraser. Move on, bro. Move on. Uh, on to the next one. So, yeah, man, we've been on a streak. We did a sports theme gala last weekend for cancer. I think the weekend before that, we were at the Carolina Country Club, which is maybe not even a quarter mile from here. The most elite Southern country club in probably North Carolina.

SPEAKER_01: 12:56

There's another one that's like big here.

SPEAKER_02: 12:57

Called Pinehurst, Pinehurst where they play the U.S. Open. So, would you say it rivals that? Oh, it kills that. The membership fee was 80, 80,000. There's like a 10-year waiting list. Just the membership fee, just to walk in. I have no idea of like. I mean, we walked in, and and this is one of those instances where I I bet there were 50K and flowers, and I looked at Saquon and man, fuck, we messed up the this was Brian B money. Like it was this was prime Brian B money. Like I was disgusted with the quote I gave. But to your point, number one, smoke. He's been with me for five years and never been in there because it is cover band central. It is almost like, uh, DJ. Yeah, that was the one who couldn't shoot, but it went crazy. Oh, we went crazy. Yeah, and she didn't want to shoot it at all. We couldn't shoot none of it. No shooting. We missed content. Oh. No content. We have no content. Went off yesterday, had a bride called. Sure enough, she goes, My mom is a member of the club and knew I was getting married and was watching from the back, not invited. And said your gear looked impeccable and that you killed it. She was just on the balcony? No, just kind of roaming around, just you know, just checking out the scene from the background. Wow. I mean, she didn't like sit down and have dinner or like she went on the dance floor drinking Tito's and soda.

SPEAKER_03: 14:09

There was a couple people that kind of crashed that party, though. Remember at the end?

SPEAKER_02: 14:12

Yeah, like some people walking up.

SPEAKER_03: 14:14

She was just kind of lurking. Wow.

SPEAKER_02: 14:16

And she was like, my mom said, You crushed that wedding, and I want to get you at that same club. Wow. So did you change your price?

unknown: 14:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 14:23

I tripled my price. No, I did not, man. I couldn't do it. I couldn't get Brian B status. No, that's not.

SPEAKER_01: 14:30

What else? What's going on in this? Well, we can do a little gear corner. Yeah, I love the gear corner. All right. Hold on. I gotta grab it.

SPEAKER_02: 14:37

The gear's here.

SPEAKER_01: 14:40

The gear. The gear is here. Do you think people like the gear corner? I do. People are buying the foot massager.

SPEAKER_02: 14:48

Multiple people, by the way, if you're a listener, if you're a booth head, you have seen the foot massager, which I will say, probably top three items that Brian B's ever brought out. Multiple people have sent him pictures of them post-gig with their feet in the massager.

SPEAKER_01: 15:03

Have you checked your Amazon lately? You're a film. But I will say I got a text from Trego the other day. And um he worked at triple recently. Yeah. And he's ordering this. He asked me for the link like mid-gig. And um so he he sends me this, and it was supposed to come in like, I don't know, overnight. Yeah. And he said, I'm going back to bed because it was they changed it. It was delayed. It was delayed. So then it gets delayed. Oh and then it arrives. What does he say? That's not just he said it changed his life. Wow. Changed his life. Shout out to the boot massager. What do you got today? So one of the things I noticed with myself is when I'm working on the computer at a chair like this, yeah, and you're looking at it, and like the posture situation. Oh, yeah, dude. I'm just yeah. I just hate it. Yeah. So I was like, I gotta get something to elevate this. Enter in the desk cushion. All right. So I don't think it's gonna work for this because that wouldn't be something I would use for this chair. It's like uh like a cat. So it's got a little spacers, it's got little spacers, right? What do you mean spacers? Well, like in the middle. So it's all except for your knees. For your knees, so you're not bumping it, right?

SPEAKER_02: 16:20

So I don't know for the those of you listening, which most people that I listen, I guess it's 50-50, but it basically looks like a chair cushion over his knees, and he's got his laptop on top of it.

SPEAKER_01: 16:32

But look at the posture, right? It's premium.

SPEAKER_02: 16:34

So for Zoom meetings, so like it's Sunday, the game's on, you're trying to review some emails.

SPEAKER_01: 16:39

It comes with an accessory piece for for drink holder. Yep. Joe Bunn special right there, right? And uh this thing, I take it, I mean, in bed when I'm working on sometimes. I'll I'll have the I will say it's not a travel item, though. No, definitely not a travel item. It's it's definitely just uh uh an accessory. What do they call it? Do you know? They call it uh uh a desk cushion. Okay, what the name of it is. Uh you want me to get surprised? Yeah, go ahead. What do you think you got? Any idea?$49.99. Really close, a little less.$39.99. Okay, okay. I've been using it, man, all the time. Neck feel better. Neck feels great. I'm not like because sometimes I'll get up from like working and my neck is like all kinked out. Yeah, no, mine, mine's hurting right now from trying to like stay on the microphone. So, anyway, pick one. I like it. Okay. Holiday gift for your DJ friends. Yeah, you know, I dig it if you need it. All right, well, where do you store that? Just out of curious. Uh, next to my nightstand, I have this little corner crevice. There you go. That's a great word. That's a great word. And that's where I put it. And I just leave it there. But man, this thing's awesome. And I mean, it's great to eat meals with sometimes. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 17:45

A little TV dinner. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 17:50

It's all very state. That's all very bees. Yeah. Something like that. It's like, those are the worst. Oh, never do the Thanksgiving moments.

SPEAKER_02: 18:01

Uh I'm sure mom parents like at some point these situations.

SPEAKER_01: 18:04

Well, I was single and I moved. My parents moved away. It's by myself. I would I remember one Thanksgiving I ordered the Thanksgiving version of a TV dinner. No. Because I was like, I'm by myself. What am I gonna do? Go to a restaurant, buy myself table of one for Thanksgiving. I was like, nah, man, I'm just gonna order a TV dinner, call it a day. I've honored the holiday. You know what I mean? Was it Salisbury steak?

SPEAKER_02: 18:24

No, I know what it was. Then you get the canned cranberry sauce, and you have to shake it out like dog food. So good. Oh Jesus. Good shit.

SPEAKER_01: 18:40

Oh, move into some music. Okay, let's do it. So this is a new segment. It's an offshoot of Annie's playlist. So this one I'm calling crate finds. Okay.

SPEAKER_05: 18:51

Finds crate. Finds dig in deep for the good times. Crate, finds, crate, finds, hidden gems in the rewind.

SPEAKER_01: 19:03

The setup is this is like you're looking for songs and you're prepping for your shows. Do you ever do this with your prep? Do you ever go and just like make a folder of like maybes that you would play at a show?

SPEAKER_02: 19:12

Yeah. I call it um Lost Gems or something like that.

SPEAKER_01: 19:16

So I'm playing you some lost gems. Okay. These are ones I've played over the last couple gigs. I was like, oh man, I forgot about this song. It's a good one to kind of have in there. So one of the weddings I had recently, they really wanted an elegant, like almost like Rat Pack style feel to it. But they didn't want like the classic Frank Sinatra stuff that you would hear, like at every wedding. They've been to m multiple weddings, but they want that feel. Okay. Dude, this song came out 1939. It's the song called Body and Soul by Coleman Hawkins and his orchestra. Everybody had that was their band names back then, and his orchestra or whatever.

SPEAKER_06: 19:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 19:49

But the problem with those songs, a lot of times is, well, especially when it got to the 50s, I feel like they all trimmed them down to like two minutes. Like every song was like super short. But back in the 30s, apparently they were doing four-minute versions. So this is a great one to have in the chamber for that kind of style. Little tickle the ivories. But for a dinner that's elevated, elegant.

SPEAKER_02: 20:17

Yeah, elegant style.

SPEAKER_01: 20:20

Randy loves this kind of shit. See, I'm not really, I don't listen to it on my off time. I can see Randy sitting around his house playing this on vinyl. 100%. Yeah. Anyway, I just think it's a great song to have in the chamber for those moments where you need that. Alright, second song. I texted you about this literally as I was playing it at the gig. It was a beautiful night in Florida. And remember, I'm not in Miami. I'm like in the panhandle when I go out that way usually. So I was like, this is a perfect Southern night. And I don't know what jumped into my head, but I'm like, is there a song about Southern Nights? So I put it in the search bar, and I had this song by Glenn Campbell called Southern Nights. I wasn't familiar with it. I know it. My parents used to listen to this record. It is a great track. And in fact, I was like, this needs to go in normal rotation for these kinds of things. For somebody who wants that they wanted a little bit of country and they had some 70s songs in the mix. And this checks both those boxes. I also like the fact that it's 98 beats per minute, so it's it's got a steady beat. You can kind of move into other things. If you're not familiar with this record, let's hit it. My parents love this song. And I love how it starts with the chorus, which is super rare for a track. This is like album version. And it was like I got the head nod.

SPEAKER_02: 21:43

Like some old guy in the course.

SPEAKER_03: 21:49

Not to mention the trees, whistling tunes and totally mixed out of this.

SPEAKER_01: 21:54

Oh, it was great. Yeah.

unknown: 21:57

Southern nights.

SPEAKER_01: 21:58

Good shit, man. And I went from that into that Steve Winwood DJ Grant version. Oh, higher love.

SPEAKER_02: 22:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 22:04

So it like it worked great, kind of moving into something a little bit more modern. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02: 22:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 22:09

Anyway, another one that was in that cocktail set was the song Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, which we saw on the TikTok, right? It's blown up. But this is with Frankie Ocean. Frank Ocean. Frank. I call him Frankie.

SPEAKER_02: 22:20

I'm like Frankie.

SPEAKER_01: 22:23

So thinking about you, that track. Yeah. What I like about this, and I don't even know who made this. So sorry for whoever made this. You did a great job. It goes into the original of starts with the original of Dreams, which I'm going to play you a segment of. And then it just segues perfectly into this Frank Ocean track. And I feel like it's like a natural feel. Like it's one of those head turners which is which I got, which is like, oh, did he just do that? Like that just sounds like it works. And this is going to be a different kind of night. Okay. OG version. So you really don't even hear it coming. Subtle.

SPEAKER_07: 23:11

A tornado flew around my room. Damn. It's kind of sick.

SPEAKER_01: 23:21

You didn't make this? No. Somebody else did. I don't know who it was. I don't know why it didn't have the editor's name on it. You fought with that? Take one? Right? Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 23:29

Everybody loves Frank.

SPEAKER_01: 23:30

I know.

SPEAKER_03: 23:31

Remember we went there when in the server she turned, she's like, Frank Ocean. You're playing Frank Ocean. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 23:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 23:38

I was like, well.

SPEAKER_01: 23:39

We got brownie points from her. Totally. This had it from both angles. Everybody loves dreams, even if you're young or you're old. And then the Frank Williams. Frank Ocean. Ocean, sorry. I'm really bad with names right now. It went over well. So you gotta have that one in the chamber. And then I have two more here. Actually, three more. This is um one that's been going well for me in dancing. I didn't see this one coming. It just worked really well. I mean, I've always loved the song, but it's had a big resurgence in my gigs recently. Um, When Love Takes Over, Kelly Rowland, Dave Geta. I haven't played this forever. But the song, it's blended with Heroes, Alessi. You love that one. Which I love that track. This is my one of my favorite editors, Adam B. Shout out, Adam B. Again, I like songs that have two pops that I can get out of it and get two reactions from it. So here we go.

SPEAKER_04: 24:27

It's complicated, it always is. That's just the way it goes. Feels like I waited so long for this. I wonder if it shows.

SPEAKER_01: 25:02

With your Rihanna.

SPEAKER_02: 25:13

Yeah. Hell yeah. Great. Surprisingly, wild though, how those like those glory days of EDM songs are all like sequence the same. Yes. You know what I mean? Like where the build was spared. Yeah. It was the formula, and like Calvin or Orgetta figured it, like, and then everybody was like, Man, those guys are making fucking bangers. Like it goes boom to boom to boom. And so as long as the vocalist is in key and sort of around the same tempo, right? She can go over any of them.

SPEAKER_01: 25:43

Levels is like that. Yeah. Right. I've heard it with everything. That Kelly Roland track. Like it is a sing-along. Like it is with surprisingly. I thought it was kind of more understandable.

SPEAKER_02: 25:51

I'll give you one that I that I'm gonna break back out um this weekend or whatever is um, you know, I forgot about it. That uh Nicki Minaj A Moment for Life. Oh yeah, great one. But I haven't busted that in a while. I haven't done it in something, something uh uh uh uh you know it just seems like anthemic, if you will.

SPEAKER_01: 26:09

Right. Anyway, so I've been doing a lot of after parties, yes, and it's always a tricky the transition. It's almost like that part from when they leave the reception and they go to another room is critical. Like that, whatever song you play, and I feel like it's just like I I don't know. I have to have like four or five in the chamber because I don't know like what I'm gonna play.

SPEAKER_02: 26:28

Oh, that makes a lot of sense.

SPEAKER_01: 26:29

Because you don't want to start off just raging necessarily, you kind of need to have a little bit of like build up. But like what do you drop? So this song, shout out Drew Pierce for showing me where this one was. This is the album version. I think I sent this to you too. This it's God's plan, it's a cover by a guy named George Moore. I think it's how you say it. M-O-I-R Moore. This is the Drake track, and it's such a good cover because it doesn't stick true to the original. His voice is different. Okay, and I love also how it shifts in the middle of the song once it goes to the second verse. This is just walking in. People walking into this after party. I'm waiting for everybody to get in. I need something to be bouncing. Yeah, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_05: 27:13

I've been moving comes from trouble in me.

SPEAKER_02: 27:16

It could work for Doors Up. Holy, that's what I was using it for. Yeah, yeah. I mean doors open to the same card for me. He got a great voice.

SPEAKER_05: 27:27

I like you. I don't wanna die for them to miss me. Yes, I see the thing.

SPEAKER_01: 27:33

Wait till the second verse gets us with the whole gear, he changes it.

SPEAKER_05: 27:39

They're gonna tell the story pistol for me. Cosplay. I hope back sometimes.

SPEAKER_01: 27:51

I love how it shifts like that. You know what I mean? Like it doesn't feel like the same thing the whole way. I fuck with that. Great track. Yeah. You can get it on Pierce found that. Yeah, actually, one of his couples sent it to him on Spotify. Shout out Drew Pierce. Shout out his couples. Last one. This is another one that I've used. This would be like going from something like that. I'm not saying that track, but again, right before you rage them into the after party. I need something that kind of shifts it a bit. Diller. Yeah. So this is Temperature Sean Paul with LaFreque Chic. Whoa. This is uh J Mac blend and it works well. I'm warming it up still.

SPEAKER_00: 28:36

I love the tempo too.

SPEAKER_01: 28:59

So the reason why I like that too is because a lot of times when we're starting off at an after party, the older folks are kind of.

SPEAKER_02: 29:05

I was about to say the oldies still want to kind of like feel like they're cool.

SPEAKER_01: 29:09

Mm-hmm. And this is an early burn. Damn. And it gets them in and out. Damn, son.

SPEAKER_02: 29:14

Good shit.

SPEAKER_01: 29:15

But it's enough of a twist where it's like they're gonna stick around. Funny enough, the last after party I did, which they wanted to rage right away, like three or four songs in, uh, an older lady's like, Hey, can you play some Fleawood Mac? And I'm like, I go, honey. We that ship is sailed.

SPEAKER_02: 29:31

That's what I usually say.

SPEAKER_01: 29:32

I go, that was about two hours ago. You missed it.

SPEAKER_02: 29:35

How about that? And you missed it.

SPEAKER_03: 29:40

That's funny. But a lot of old older people do that. They'll walk me. They'll be like, they'll they'll ask me to play like some slow country song. Like, dude, we're in the mid medium. Like absolutely. We'll see what we can.

SPEAKER_01: 29:54

Yeah, right. Well, let's hit the question. Question of the day.

SPEAKER_07: 29:57

Question of the day.

SPEAKER_02: 30:03

You want to read this one? Yeah. Would you sign on to be the exclusive DJ at a venue? I have a multi-op, so plenty of staff available. It's part of an all-exclusive package. Oh boy. The venue is offering clients, DJ, Flores, Cater, etc. I feel like it's an honor to be asked, but also a big commitment. This is my boy Jeff Brown. Love Jeff. Shout out to Jeff and Cindy Brown in Savannah, Georgia. Great city. Um, by the way. Great city.

SPEAKER_01: 30:27

You want to talk about this, Brian? I mean, I've been in this situation many times. I mean, there's two parts to it. I think the positive tip is absolutely it gives your guys work. So if you've got enough staff to pull it off, great. The negative is usually they're looking for a discount. Yes, that was my problem. And every time that we've done it, I've done it multiple times with different places. They always want to keep going further down as the years go on. Interesting. So it's like, oh, we were here. Well, we want to give them a better break. Let's bring it down. And I'm like, bro, like I have nothing left. Like, there's nothing. Yeah, there's no meat on the bone anymore. And it really did hurt me in Florida when I was really growing my multi-op because we had a venue. It was uh Hilton property. And they would do no joke, six or seven shows at the hotel at the same time in various ballrooms. They had outdoor spaces, they had indoor spaces, and we would have four of the six weddings going on with our crew. And it was great for a couple of years. The problem is when they started kind of bringing it down, now I'm committed six months later at this. Now, luckily it's at the same rate, but like that was a huge part of my revenue source, right? So when the relationship went south, because I was like, guys, like you've literally got me down to the lowest point. I can't go any further. All of a sudden, I had to pull it and I had nothing to replace it with. So I had to rebuild it because I had put all my eggs almost in that basket. I thought I was doing a good thing because I was filling the pipeline, but I was so reliant on that account, it snuck up on me. I didn't realize that was one of the biggest lessons I ever learned was like, don't be so reliant on a property like that that does that.

SPEAKER_02: 31:53

I'll speak on that from a personal standpoint, but somebody I knew that that is a part of my family, they had uh a different kind of business. I think it was promo, you know, pins, polos, whatever business cards. And they had a huge account with a pharmaceutical giant. And Brian, I think it might have been 90% of their revenue. Wow. And one day this company knocked on their door and said, you know what, we're gonna go with somebody else next year for that. Dude the next day, they locked the door on the building and and sent everybody home. Because that was how much of their revenue they relied on this one client for us. And this was 10, 15 years ago. My takeaway from that was never, ever, ever put all your eggs in one basket.

SPEAKER_01: 32:34

With my situation, you know, we pay our guys the Monday after, right? So that's a corporate. I was carrying the risk for 15 to 30 days out before you would see it. Before I see the balance. And I was like, guys, like I'd have to call them. And they don't think it's a big deal, you know, that they're late or whatever. So again, you know, your risk is so much out there when you're beholden to these big companies. And I did want to make one other point with this, too, is that my experience has been that when they do this all-inclusive package, not just about the discount, it's also about the quality. The quality seems to be people who don't mind taking a little bit less off the bone. So your reputation goes with all the other vendors that they have on that list of people that are in that package. Right. There's something to be said for camaraderie because you're working with the same people all the time. My recommendation, Jeff, if you're gonna do this, is definitely use it with a beginner person that you don't mind, you know, throwing out there. I would never put any of my top-tier people at something like that.

SPEAKER_02: 33:26

Jeff, I the only thing I'll say is we've been asked a few times and it never came to light because of the money. They just they wanted it at too big of a discount. There was no money, you know, for me to make as a company owner. There was a little bit of money for the DJ, but again, you know, they wanted to book six, nine, twelve months in advance.

SPEAKER_06: 33:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 33:43

None of my guys probably would have wanted to take them until the last second. And then that kind of goes against my whole model of you know who your DJ is going to be from day one. Right. It just it never worked out for me. If you do it, make sure you don't sign like an you know, a super long-term contract. Maybe try it for a year, especially if you can get a good rate and you know, maybe run it a little bit different than the multi-op. Maybe you don't assign a DJ until 30 days out or something like that. You know, and that way your top-tier talents does stay available for prime rates and prime dates. Yeah. Good stuff, Jeff Brown. Let's uh sign off. Let's do it. Thank you guys so much for listening to the show. Uh, as always, please leave us a review if you can on Apple or Spotify. And also we want to thank our sponsor, DJ Event Planner. If you are looking for a CRM to help run your business, they are the move for myself and Brian and hundreds and thousands of DJs, probably all over the world. So, DJEventplanner.com is where you're gonna want to go. Thank you guys. We will see you back next Wednesday. Peace later.