How to Create an Unforgettable Wedding Party | Dirtbag Entertainment

This week on Totally Absolutely Engaged, Paul and Isla are joined by Matt and Joey from Dirtbag Entertainment and The Hustle to discuss everything couples need to know about wedding entertainment.

From building one of the UK's most exciting alternative wedding entertainment companies to performing hundreds of weddings, Matt and Joey share their expert advice on choosing the right wedding band, creating an unforgettable wedding reception, and avoiding some of the biggest mistakes couples make when planning their big day.

The conversation covers live music, wedding venues, sound limiters, venue curfews, alternative weddings, wedding trends, father-daughter dances, crowd surfing, mosh pits, and why your wedding should reflect you rather than everyone else's expectations.

If you're currently planning your wedding and want to create an incredible atmosphere that your guests will talk about long after the day is over, this episode is packed with practical tips, honest opinions, and plenty of laughs.

Topics covered:
• Wedding bands vs DJs
• Alternative wedding entertainment
• Venue sound restrictions explained
• How to choose the perfect wedding band
• Wedding reception planning tips
• Creating an unforgettable guest experience
• Modern wedding trends
• Wedding music advice
• Live entertainment ideas
• Wedding planning mistakes to avoid

Totally Absolutely Engaged is the wedding planning podcast helping couples navigate the world of weddings with expert guests, honest conversations, and real-life advice from the industry's leading suppliers.

Available wherever you listen to podcasts.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of Totally Absolutely Engaged.

SPEAKER_06 0:10

Hello, and today we welcome Matt and Joey, founders of Dirtbag Entertainment. Hello. In Covid, they were working as a band called The Hustle, which became very popular, and uh they launched this venture, the latest one in was it late 2023? I think it's yeah, nearly three years ago now. Yeah, absolutely. You lean it goes quick, doesn't it? So Dirtbag, I mean, it leans heavily into the alternative wedding space, creating bands that break the mould with the emphasis on creativity, high intensity levels, energy. Yeah, I've witnessed it myself. And you've even been shortlisted for the best entertainment uh in the alternative wedding awards. Yeah, the alt the alt yeah, alt wedding couple recently. Yeah, you have a clear message, basically, don't you? To make weddings extraordinary through live music. Is that fair to say? That is very fair to say, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:01

That there's just uh an energy that encapsulates the whole thing that we're about with the band and dirtbag. Uh, and the kind of couples we play for are just the best people that love live music. Yeah. We basically they want their wedding to feel like a gig, and that's why we're here to provide that.

SPEAKER_06 1:17

Yeah, and you get that feeling. I mean, I mean, we've we met we oddly met, didn't we? About week ago. Yeah, so we're at a wedding, and there's there is just that energy of you even before you've even set up. I don't know what it is, but you sort of because you were in a band called The Hustle, which was just and there was that sort of same energy with that as well. People were excited when you sort of part up, whereas there's wedding bands that come it's something we always said, yeah, when we started the band, like there are there's so many bands out there that are musicians that play songs, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:48

And they play them really well, yeah, and people dance and it's great. But we always kind of said if you're gonna do a gig, make it a gig. Do it properly, you know, yeah, and we we said all of our bands are proper bands, they're not like deck musicians coming in together and you know, they are a band together.

SPEAKER_06 2:02

So the bands that you've got are actually all real bands, yeah, yeah. Because I I don't like yeah, I'm gonna say it. I don't like it when when people turn up to a wedding, it's like, oh hi, are you the oh you're the bassist? Uh oh you're the guitarist, and you think, where's your camera Adri? Yeah, you you can't play together, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:19

Surely it's it's got its place, you know, and we you know we'll never you know that there's a sort of a don't lie, we hate it.

SPEAKER_03 2:27

Look at me trying to be diplomatic then you know it's not that when we when we set up. I've learned not to be just get on with it. I've I've been on every hustle gig since the start. I would never dream of not being on one. Um it's just the way that it is, and when we turn up to to weddings, the couples know our names. Like, oh Joey, great to see you and stuff. That's what we want to see. That's like the vibe. And the band is sick, man. We have a killer time, and that's because we all know each other and we're on every gig. And it is a good band, it's much fun, man. And I I think it's not fair because there is some bands out there that will maybe shoot a video and it's like four dudes, whatever, someone's got a hat on him, he plays whatever, and then when they book the band, those four people aren't turning up, just some other people, and it's like that's not cool. No, because they're booking that based off those human beings there. And you could say, well, oh yeah, all four of them are ill, so we sent other people. It's like bullshit. You didn't, you were not cutting up to this wedding no matter what. So, yeah, we we're not a fan of that. And that with the bands we're kind of making, that's the the ethos that we have, really, is that they should be a real unit of proper mates that will go out and smash the hell out of your wedding.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

So let's scale it like right back then. So, what does dirtbag actually do? Like, what what is it?

SPEAKER_04 3:39

Okay, okay. We don't like using the term agency, okay, but we are a band agency. Okay. You know, um a few people said we should call it a label or a management company, but we it's like you know, we are a collective of bands. Okay, so the majority of people come find our site, they find us on socials, and as we mentioned there, people come to us and say, I want a gig at my wedding, or live music's really important for us. So we've got a collection of we've got about 40 now. Yeah, 40 pounds. Yeah, yeah, it's gonna grow.

SPEAKER_03 4:06

I mean, we've making it'll be 50 or 60 by the end of the year, I'm sure, as well. Um, yeah, we put blood, sweat, and tears into every single one, and with us being on the frontline gig and ourselves, we train them on how to be insane. Yeah, so we're not just getting some random people who play guitar and stuff, like we teach them how to put on a proper show from start to finish, how to speak to the clients, how to do these moments in the set, like literally everything that we help with the promotional material, social media. So, yeah, they get us, they get our backing, which is crazy.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

So you PCs brands together, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:39

Well, there's kind of there's a combination of both because some of them we get some bands that come to us and they are more of what you would say your normie band. Right. Okay. And they'll they'll be playing Valerie or play that funky music on their video, and we kind of say, Well, guys, that's a bit boring, and like, well, we don't enjoy doing it. It's like, but we have to do that to get gigs and play weddings. That's what you have to do at weddings. Like, no, no.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

No, you don't. No, you really, really don't.

SPEAKER_04 5:01

And so a lot of it is giving the band the confidence and the backing that, like, you can play slipknot at a wedding, and people will dig it, you know, and go for it. And and then most musicians doing the wedding stuff prefer rock, alt music, and that kind of thing. Yeah, that's it. Full bats of the pearl jams, the green bird, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 5:17

So they're actually going on playing stuff that don't even enjoy necessary.

SPEAKER_04 5:20

Yeah, that's it, but they feel they have to do that because and it's it's sort of a chicken and egg situation because they've got a video where it is I say Valerie or play the funky music, so they're getting booked for those kind of gigs. So obviously they can't get booked for that gig and then play Regans the Machine because it won't work. You know, they might have the occasion when they can get away with it, but we've sort of just given them the confidence to say, right, this is what we do, this is what we're about. And sort of, you know, we we've said to many band, like, you know, you can't go too far with it, you know, just push the boundaries and see what you can get away with it. Yeah, they're always like, Are you sure? Like, yeah, do it. You know, and that's what people want nowadays.

SPEAKER_06 5:53

So, how I mean, you without blowing smoke up, you know, please do. You you two are fabulous performers. Thanks so much, man. You are there's no denying, right? But how do you make sure the bands that you are selling off are performing to your level?

SPEAKER_04 6:10

It's uh there's a sixth sense, wouldn't you say? We can spot, you know, when you see the bands come to us, you can spot they've got something, and we get a lot of bands come to us, and a lot of them it's just you one look and like they're not gonna be right, no, they're not right for us, you know. So often it is just seeing something in them, a little spark that's there.

SPEAKER_03 6:27

Um that potential, I think. Um yeah, we'll we'll get a lot of people come through, they'll send videos of themselves or whatever, and they might want to be involved or know someone who knows somebody, and we'll just kind of know that they've got it in them, whether they're not like showing it themselves, and then that's where we come in and we show them what's possible and unleash them to the world because there's so much that they can give. And you know, there's something about weddings as well, where there's two sides of it. If you're in a band and you you haven't grown up thinking, Oh, I want to be in a wedding band my whole life, you might kind of phone it in, do it for the money, that kind of thing. We're on the total opposite end, like we treat it like a proper show, we full send it every single time, and that's what we want from the musicians as well.

SPEAKER_06 7:08

Because initially that was always the joke, wasn't it? Yeah, the joke was over your wedding band. Totally. And that has completely changed.

SPEAKER_04 7:13

I used to be embarrassed telling people what I did, you know. It's like, yeah, I'm in a band. Oh, what kind of kind of band are I always? But now, now with what we're doing, you know, it's like, look, this is our band, this is what we do. It's all you you you'd say it's a wedding band, but we're cool. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 7:29

I mean, weddings are a huge industry. I think it was it was completely untapped, really.

SPEAKER_03 7:33

The thing I I went to uh I went to music uni at uh uh BIM and it was a joke around then as well of like everyone wanted to be a rock star, basically. They just wanted to be the next big thing. Then there was a subset of people who are like, Oh, I'm gonna do some function work, and like, oh you nerd, why are you gonna do that? Like, well, I'm actually able to pay my bills, so okay, that makes sense. But yeah, you need to kind of come around to that and realize that like it's definitely there for you. And for a musician to get frequent work uh doing amazing shows and getting paid to do it, it's like that's pretty cool. Yeah, yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

So are all your bands the same then, like genre-wise or there's a split of genres.

SPEAKER_03 8:14

The thing that encapsulates them all is the the energy and the ethos that we have for the gigs. There is a leaning to alternative sites. We do have some like pot-punk bands, alternative bands, heavy bands. We've also got some like more normie bands, but with a sprinkling of our magic over those hard bands and like a super pop uh the sax bands are super popular at the moment. I think we've definitely helped with that because we're a big band with sax as well. So yeah, it's cool. There's a lot going on.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

Do you like interview not interview but question the couples and then match bands to the couples, or is it the the couples choose which band they want? How does that side of it work?

SPEAKER_03 8:49

A bit of column, a bit of column. The second one is more likely where they will have picked what they want, but that's because we've done so much ahead of time to show as much of the band as possible. So we're really hot on the bands, being really good on social media. I think if uh I was gonna book a band for a wedding and they didn't have anything on social media, no live videos, no Instagram, I'm just not gonna book them. No, to be honest. I need to know a bit more, and it's rare that I'm gonna be able to see them live because they're at weddings all the time. So yeah, there's so much out there for our bands. So you usually they're going through with a fine-tooth comb and picking the ones that that they like.

SPEAKER_06 9:23

So market in marketing terms then, because you can't really go to wedding shows, can you? Really? We we do you would literally just take over the wedding show.

SPEAKER_04 9:30

We've we've been a yeah, we have been asked a lot to perform at wedding fairs. The big ones are. Yeah, well, even the smaller ones, like can you guys perform? Well, A, we're not gonna do a dumbed-down acoustic set because that's not selling us. Um and B, you don't want us rocking out and running around and standing on tables and doing that, and it won't be right. So we do go to wedding fairs, but we have sort of a it's a bit like HMV. We have some headphones and the videos, you know, we'll sit them on, and we're like a lot of the time it's explaining people don't realise what's involved in booking a band. So a lot of the time it's explaining that to them and how it works and what's involved. What the the biggest thing that comes from wedding fairs though is, and I love this, is that people sort of see us and they'll they'll have tattoos and piercings and you know whatever, a band t-shirt on, and they'll say, Yeah, I'd love to have a band, but I can't because my nan's gonna be there and my auntie jean's gonna be there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that is the most common reason why it's weird because people who love live music won't book a band because they think there aren't bands, there aren't wedding bands that do what they do. So we sort of then just it's more about educating and explaining that look, our bands won't just play wall-to-wall alt, pop punk, and new metal all night, you know, they will mix it up. You know, our set's got five Backstreet Boys, you know, and and some of the classics, you know, obviously Mr. Bright Sides in there, and you sort of mix it up, but it's again, as we keep saying, it's the ethos and the performance that makes it more like a proper gig, not necessarily the songs themselves. So a lot of the fair thing is like just educating people, yeah. Yeah, and we enjoy it, we love them, don't we? It's really speaking to people, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:57

Like those couples face to face, and I think that's really important for us. It's something we wanted to do when we started, is that a lot of the wedding world online, people are just going from stuff online, looking at Instagram, they don't actually get to meet somebody or speak to them. So with us being the face of the band, face of the business as well, doing stuff like this, people get to know who we are, which is awesome. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

So on the day then, what time are you guys typically arriving?

SPEAKER_04 11:20

Five, six o'clock for an evening.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

So you're normally in the evening. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:23

We do do daytime as well, but the majority is is evening, so yeah, we get there five, six o'clock, it's the end of the wedding breakfast, isn't it? So when if that's on time, yeah, it rarely is that. And then yeah, they'll clear out the room, we transform things, get in, stage goes up, dance floor goes down, lighting PM.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

Oh, so you have all your own No. Oh, it's like it's dealing your job.

SPEAKER_04 11:48

It's a different thing. So Saturday when you saw us, you know, that was that was a big room, big stage, and all that. Sometimes we are in like a living room, you know, or or a small venue, and you just you know, as long as you know, toe-to-toe with people, it's coming anything, but yeah, we set up and transform the room with with lighting and and the sound system and um and that venues cooperative or can they be quite resistant? Yeah, um again, Joe. I I was gonna be like your thing's biting today, aren't you?

SPEAKER_03 12:14

Uh that some are, some absolutely aren't.

SPEAKER_06 12:17

Yeah, because we don't have to name them, but the the this I mean I know sound limiters is a real pain in the air.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

Yeah, it it's uh there's a lot that goes into it with with the venues and we're always um we we've been we've done so many weddings now that we're kind of this year and next year, there's a lot of weddings, venues that we've been to more than once, yeah, which is amazing. When you see that come up on the calendar, you're like, oh god, I know the people that I know who I'm gonna meet when I get there, I know the setup, I know it's gonna be fine, it just makes the night so much easier. I always get a bit anxious when it's a venue we haven't played before. You literally never know what you're gonna get. The couple will tell you one thing, the venue will tell you something else, reviews online will tell you something else, and you turn up and it'll still be something else from what you've heard.

SPEAKER_06 12:55

Um I mean I feel like that with the dance floor, so how you feel.

SPEAKER_03 12:59

Yeah, I mean, there was one um was it yesterday or today that we found out there's a 10 pm curfew on the venue, the couple weren't aware at all, and they booked us wanting a proper night. I mean, 10 pm is we haven't even started the second set normally at that point. That wedding won't be as good as they want it to be. And it's no one's fault. It sucks. It really sucks. Um they'd had no idea. They really didn't say anything, and it's just like that's pretty rough to be honest with you. So yeah, there's a lot that goes into it, and then when we turn up as well, things always happen. That is the part of the job you get paid for, really. If without any of that and I just got to play music, it will just be like, okay, this is unfair really that I get a living from this. But it's dealing with all that stuff is really where you you earn your kids.

SPEAKER_04 13:37

Yeah, it's something we've we've got very good at. I think early on you'd find that turning up as a band, understandably, there are a lot of amateur bands out there. And amateurs are the wrong word, but you know, they do it as a hobby at the weekend, and someone might see them in a pub and like, oh, come and play my wedding. Yeah, you know, and and you know, they put on a great show and they do things, but they're not doing it week in, week out at wedding venues. And I so I understand uh the anxiety and fear in some wedding venues, but we'd often turn up at wedding venues and you're almost like the bad guy straight away, you know, and they're almost like you know, it's not a case of them waiting for us to do something wrong. We've got to prove that we're doing it right, yeah. That's it.

SPEAKER_03 14:12

Are you banned? Don't be too loud tonight. Oh yeah, you as well. Oh my god. It's actually insane sometimes. So over the years we've kind of like earned the respect to learn how to deal with that, and then if somebody's like that, you you kill them with kindness on the day. It's like, yeah, yeah, sure. Well, it'll be great and all that kind of stuff, and then you just smash the show later on and don't think about them twice. But yeah, it happens more than you think, uh, to be honest with you.

SPEAKER_04 14:32

So But yeah, yeah, but the sound limit thing, obviously, you mentioned that's um a bone of contention, it's getting worse and worse. Um it's something that happens all the time, and there are a number of venues that we all we've said this before on other podcasts as well, and we talk about a lot, but we understand why venues might have to have a sound limit. We understand why venues might have to have a 10 pm curfew, we understand all those reasons. Yeah, what we don't understand is not telling the client before they book it. Yeah, that's what we that's it it's criminal, you know, because it might be buried in the small print or the client doesn't understand it or whatever.

SPEAKER_06 15:04

I just think so many couples just would not think about it. Yeah, they they would just assume oh, we've got it till twelve. Yeah, that's it. It's ours. Yeah, why wouldn't you? Yeah, and a lot of these venues are in the middle of fields and stuff.

SPEAKER_04 15:15

So you just think we we get that all the time, don't we? It's like, yeah, it might be a venue and they'll say, Oh, it's in the middle of nowhere, I'm sure there's no sound limit, and we're like, Yeah, there is. Yeah, there's because there's one awkward neighbour that can hear a bass drum. Yeah, yeah, and that's it. But um, yeah, we get a lot of couples saying, like, live music's really important, we really want a raucous evening, we want a party. What venue have you got? Oh, by the way, you can't have live music or it's restricted, or whatever it is. So gotten one. But it's always us that has to tell them. Still the bearer of bad news. It's horrible. Like, yeah, you see after they've paid as well. Well, it's it they've paid for the venue, yeah, and then they've spent ages looking on our website, they've chosen a couple of bands that they like, they're really getting excited about it. Yeah, they they look at our socials and they see videos like the one from Saturday, crowd surfing, and I think, yes, this is gonna be amazing. And then they speak to us, and I'm like, Yeah, sorry. And yeah, by then they're not gonna get the deposit back, or they're too far down the line to to start changing things, you know. It's um yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

Yeah. Do you play alongside a DJ normally?

SPEAKER_04 16:14

So we as standard we'll offer a DJ playlist, okay, which um I think sometimes people think is Spotify on random, which it's not. You know, yeah. We always ask the couple, and this is for any of our bands, we ask the couple to send over a Spotify playlist of stuff they want, stuff they like. We'll look at that, we'll look at their own profile and see what they're into and just judge what's going on. So you really get to know what they're about. And we'll use that intel to plan the live set and also plan before, between and afterwards. So it's in order. It it's we know we all know before the band plays background music. We know between the band sets it's generally when the food's been served, so it's a bit more party vibe, but it's just like we know the end of the night is cheesy bangers, you know. So you kind of you order it in a way that works. So that and that's just something we do, it's a laptop plugged in. People can opt for a little bit more if they want people to make requests on the night, and so they can have what we call a man DJ, so it's a member of the band, almost acting like a DJ and just taking the requests and doing things like that. Or we have DJs that we work with as well, so there's something for everyone.

SPEAKER_00 17:11

So it yeah, because I was thinking in between sets, does it fall flat?

SPEAKER_04 17:14

People always worry about that. Yeah, they always worry, or they look at the night and think, oh well, the evening starts at seven, it finishes at twelve. Is two hours of live music enough? It's definitely enough when it's all bouncing around.

SPEAKER_03 17:25

Everybody's scared of the lull. Can I just say, after like playing hundreds and hundreds of weddings, you need a lull sometimes somewhere, otherwise you're gonna be exhausted. Like you have to have a gap sometime for just something to drop it. It's natural. Yeah, and I see it sometimes with couples where I get it, you spend a lot of money on the day, they just want it all to happen, squeeze everything in on that one day, and it's too much, things slip. So, yeah, just sometimes just let things just come in.

SPEAKER_06 17:52

And it's the DJs that suffer anyway, isn't it? Yeah, you you do all the high energy stuff to wear people out, and then the DJ's just like, oh yeah, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_04 18:00

Although they usually say that they've got an easy job and they're getting paid the same, so they're just yeah, but I see them at the end of the night they're so demoralised, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

Yeah, well that's what the waiting said as well, isn't it?

SPEAKER_06 18:10

The energy's so high, and then the DJ comes in, it's like you feel like a counselor sometimes to these DJs.

SPEAKER_04 18:16

Yeah, I suppose you are, yeah. It's the it's the very end of the night you're coming and clearing up, and they're just like Yeah, they're so deflated on, so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:24

God bless them.

SPEAKER_00 18:25

What's your biggest piece of advice then to your couples?

SPEAKER_03 18:28

Oh okay. Well, talking to sound limiters, check before you book your venue if they have any sound restrictions. That is like so useful, and people are hopefully starting to click on and learn. And we're hearing more of it now when people are coming back that they are checking. So hopefully we're actually making a difference by letting people know. Uh, but that has got to be advice number one. Just like check before you book. Do they have restrictions? Check all the rules, check the restrictions.

SPEAKER_04 18:50

Putting all the sound limiter shaming to one side, and I think like you know, trust trust yourself in what you want for your day. So and again, what we're saying, so many people worry about pleasing their nans and anti-gene and stuff like that. If you like rock music, book a rock band. Yes, don't worry about because the reality is old people only dance for a few songs anyway, they're not dancing for two hours, whatever band you get.

SPEAKER_06 19:12

Yeah, you know, they only do scroll themselves away anyway.

SPEAKER_04 19:14

Exactly, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 19:15

And find a little snug screen.

SPEAKER_04 19:16

Well, we see it a lot as well. You see like the older people at the back of the room and they're sort of sat at table watching, and we might, you know, take the Mickey a little bit out of them as they're white, but you know, they are old at the end of the day, you know, they're sat down and you think, well, they're not really enjoying it, but they're always the ones at the end of the night saying, Oh, well done, it was brilliant, because they're seeing their relatives, their you know, nieces, whoever it might be, their grandkids dancing and partying having a good night.

SPEAKER_06 19:39

Well, they take pleasure in the younger generation enjoying the night, aren't they?

SPEAKER_04 19:42

So see them moss bit and all that.

SPEAKER_00 19:45

Yeah, when when Elfreak is much warmer, yeah, but it's like How do you plan your sets then? Do like couples give you requests for your sets or do you just go forward?

SPEAKER_03 19:56

It's a bit of both. We always do listen to the couples. We we say straight up that there's a lot of surprises and stuff in there, so there's things not to mess with. Uh, I mean, the last show we did was an example, so the groom was like a closet emo. They put some songs that they wanted to hear, so we kind of peppered them throughout, but like kept the bits in that we knew was gonna work as well. And using the Spotify playlist they send over, I'm kind of fine-tooth combing it and learning what they're really about. We'll go into their actual profiles as well, the stuff they didn't send us. I'll look at their like Jim 2025 playlist, like, oh my god, they're a massive MM fan. Okay, so yeah, they're surprising them on the night with that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_04 20:32

So I think because again, because people going back to like pleasing older people, they'll send the playlist and you know, you look at it and you're like, That's what you're trying to choose what is going to please everybody else, you know. So, yeah, we dig a little bit deeper and find out what they're really about, you know, what's going on.

SPEAKER_03 20:46

Yeah, man, it's cool though. I'm usually the one that puts the sets together, aren't I? So yeah, I'm thinking about a lot when I'm putting it together, and that's like a lot of the songs might just be written on there, but there's huge moments that happen in them, so I'm kind of peppering them throughout, whether it is a wall of death or the groom's gonna crowd surf at this moment, like it's planned in advance from us, like we know we're gonna make it happen. So, yeah, it's just I'm creating a show basically. And there's reading the room as well, is a big part to it.

SPEAKER_04 21:11

You know, we've done it before where you turn up and you know you've been sent a bunch of songs and you know the couple are really into certain things, but you you read the room, you can tell as soon as you walk in, you know, that maybe the set we've written isn't gonna be right for these, you know. So you can adapt to, yeah, or you're playing halfway through the gig, you might realise that something needs to change, something needs to switch. And this goes back to a saying about like real bands. We look at each other and we know just with a nod, like, yeah, we need to drop that next one, or we need to change that. Yeah, you can communicate, but a band that don't know each other have met each other that night, they'll have a solid set.

SPEAKER_03 21:43

And I rehearsed this the other week, so we have to play it regardless of how much fun they're having or not.

SPEAKER_00 21:47

Yeah, so you guys can literally just change it up completely on on the night.

SPEAKER_03 21:51

You learn from every show. I mean, the last one we did, because the the couple had asked for 17 going under, yeah. And I kind of knew before we played it, I didn't think it was gonna work, and maybe we should have just not. Played it. No, no one would have care. The bride loved it. She was happy. But you learn from it because next time, if that comes off, I'd be like, you know what? Let's just stick with Art of Monkeys or something. So there's like that's experience that comes in basically.

SPEAKER_06 22:13

And Hustle did hundreds. They've done hundreds of weddings, haven't they?

SPEAKER_03 22:17

We've done a lot.

SPEAKER_06 22:18

Yeah, we've done a lot. So there was a time when I thought, oh Jesus, you are you are everywhere.

SPEAKER_03 22:21

We did a hundred last year, I think, wasn't it? We're on eighty something. Bit mad, isn't it?

SPEAKER_06 22:27

No, I never related the two, you see. I knew Hustle, never really knew dirtbag and stuff like that. I'd heard of them, but I just didn't relate to them.

SPEAKER_04 22:34

Well, it dirtbag came from yeah, so the the sort of I guess the storyline is we we worked at an agency years ago together. Yeah. We uh and I know you said this at the start, sort of the brief history, but we we launched a band, we decided let's do it. I was my wife was having a child, and I was kind of like, I'd you know, if I work at weekends more and do less in the week, you know, that'll help you out of it, yeah. Um and then it definitely didn't. But I bet you were made to pay for it. But then we launched the band, COVID hit, it was two days into first lockdown, we launched the band. Um god, yeah, and so but then that meant straight after COVID we just did so many gigs because of all the reschedules. Yeah and then and we smashed them and we're gonna be. We became really good really fast. It was like a boot camp firm band. We we both you know we both gigged independently in different things for years, so we kind of yeah, we knew we were comfortable.

SPEAKER_03 23:26

I was already doing weddings as a solo acoustic artist before that and having worked at the agency, so we knew what to do, and we just hit the ground running. Like what we did in a year and a half with the hustle, other bands still haven't caught up to, we just absolutely slapped it out of the park. It's so sick.

SPEAKER_04 23:41

But but that kind of led on to with us being so busy, people were inquiring all the time, and we're like, Oh, we're booked up, we're booked up, we're booked up. And we would send them to other other bands and oh, these guys are quite good, go and speak to them. And and then you realise it's kind of going nowhere, you know, nothing happens with it. Um we talked of the idea of having a B band, you know, having a B and C band, different line-ups, but that didn't wash with us, that's not our styles. So we realize we were we were advising other suppliers on marketing and and things like that, because we we'd done it ourselves, and then we just kind of thought, yeah, we need to do this now, we're we're the people to do it. Um and yeah, launched the agency with a handful of bands, and then it's just snowballed.

SPEAKER_03 24:21

When we were onboarding bands when we first started, we were trying to reach out to connections of connections, and all we had to show for it was our band, uh, so there wasn't much there, but now the difference like three years on, the inbox every day is getting flooded with people who want to join Dirtbag and want to be part of the team, and it's like, okay, this is really cool now. People are seeing what we're about to do. And is it regional or I mean Yeah, we're all over the UK, yeah. So yeah, no. Because we started here with with the band, we do have a bit of like a a core Cheshire Northwest contingent of cool bands.

SPEAKER_06 24:53

Because are you based in Chester? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:56

Yes, but uh we have bands all over the UK. Yeah, we've kind of spread like COVID, haven't we? Okay, we roll back. That's three that's four times a C-word's been mentioned in the guys. You're gonna give all the supplies PTSD.

SPEAKER_04 25:10

But yeah, it's naturally sort of gone down. Yeah, so we're sort of going into Shropshire Way and then Wales, and then we came across a few bands down in the south east and the southwest. So yeah, we're pretty much all over there. London, so yeah. Yeah, well, we've got a couple of great bands around there, the Rock Show and uh the hysterics both sort of cover that area, they're amazing bands.

SPEAKER_03 25:27

Southern weddings are different than because we're we've we're kind of used to it with the other agency when we work there, but with the hustle, we're mostly used to dealing with couples and clients that are in West Midlands, Northwest, and that kind of thing. Southerners are just built different. Um what way?

SPEAKER_00 25:43

I'm intrigued.

SPEAKER_04 25:44

In what way, Joey?

SPEAKER_03 25:46

I'm gonna preface this I'm gonna preface this. I was born in Romford in London, so I think it's a hard spot. Um northern people, I think they are more trusting of what we do. Um, they are more ready to kind of let loose a little bit. I kind of feel like the the Southerners parties are maybe a bit more like bougie straight on, but they're more tightly wound in the things that we ask for from the bands and from us. And I say that with love to everybody.

SPEAKER_04 26:14

There's definitely more spreadsheets involved in Southern Wedding. Definitely, they're more they're more planny, I think.

SPEAKER_03 26:20

Yeah, it's interesting. It's like such a small country, but there's big differences with how people operate and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 26:27

Yeah. For multiple reasons.

SPEAKER_03 26:30

Driving up a wall of death is what is a wall of death. Oh, I'll just show you. You need to come to one of our shows.

SPEAKER_04 26:35

I'll have to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've done it for offspring. Yeah. That was well of death. So I mean you've not you've not been to many metal gigs then.

SPEAKER_03 26:42

No, so you're um you're my dream guest when I'm at the wedding. Because for those people who maybe haven't been to those type of gigs or maybe don't know what a wall of death is, then before they can blink, they're in the middle of one, surrounded by their mates covered in prosecco, is like amazing. And then that's the stories you tell when you go home. Because you know, we're talking about those uh there's other bands that are like they're okay, they do the job. You might go home and be like, oh, that band was good. Yeah. I want you going home and being like, oh my god. I was in a wall of death or whatever. Yeah, and like when you're at work the next day, it's like you won't believe what happened last night. That that is what what we do basically.

SPEAKER_00 27:20

You tend to get the you have people that like other genres like me, like my RB and my house and stuff, book you for what you guys provide.

SPEAKER_04 27:30

Like, we'cause because we do mix it up as well, like you know, certainly.

SPEAKER_03 27:35

Yeah, that there's everything to be honest. We'll tailor it to the case. If they're not pop punk or alternative, we've done lots of sets where there's no pop punk, you know, we'll bring like loads of indie bangers or old school stuff or whatever, just how how we play it.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

And are there still wall of deaths involved?

SPEAKER_03 27:48

I always try.

SPEAKER_04 27:49

I mean, without giving anything away, we tend to do the wall of death in a song that every wedding band plays. Oh, and every every guest wants us to play. So um, yeah, it's it would happen.

SPEAKER_00 27:59

I need to watch a video of this. I'm so intrigued.

SPEAKER_04 28:02

It's a YouTuber when you finish.

SPEAKER_00 28:03

I will, I will. What is your biggest ick then? Your absolute no, you don't like it when couples do it or guests.

SPEAKER_03 28:09

I've offended quite a lot of people during this pod, and we just You stand on the way, you were gonna take the So everybody in the South. Right. Um Yeah, okay. I really struggle being in the same room when the father and daughter dance is happening.

SPEAKER_00 28:28

Oh really?

SPEAKER_03 28:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:30

Because it's so weird why because uh multiple reasons.

SPEAKER_03 28:37

Number one, the the songs are usually awful. Like Well, there's there's one song in particular that comes up a lot, isn't it? Yes, uh what's it called is Heartland, I've got I Loved Her First. And it's a bit like music y. It's just like, I don't know, it's awkward and a bit creepy, and I have to be there and orchestrate it happening and smile whilst it's happening. Smile. And it's and sometimes we have to play it live, which is like, okay, this is yeah, this is bad. Um I get it why people want to do it. Uh I don't know the actual reason, the tradition behind it. I I it's and it's Americans do it quite a lot as well. But when we adopt it over here, there's like it feels really fractured sometimes when I'm orchestrating the night, because sometimes we just want to like first dance, go in, bang. Sometimes we're stood there for like 15 minutes before we do the set, and then this is happening and they're dancing for five minutes and we're trying not to laugh while we're there. It's hard because it is such a heartfelt moment for them sometimes. But I sometimes wish they would do a bit more research into like different tracks or how they would actually make it happen, or if they want that moment, do it in a different way that doesn't make everyone go, Oh god, like this. Well we discussed it on the way here.

SPEAKER_04 29:51

We have we have had I'd I'd say 90% of father-daughter dances are a bit icky, but there's some that are quite cool. We've had had it before where you know the whole switcheroo on a first dance sometimes happens and it might be a soppy song and then it breaks into something weird. We've had that a couple of times, and like the the the dad and daughter are just being silly and dancing, it's like that's funny. Or we've had it where it is a song that clearly means something as a like as a dad and a daughter, you know, it's like a nice cool song or whatever. But it's yeah, this one in particular that comes up a lot is clearly oh, we need to have a father-daughter dance, father-daughter dance into Google, and it comes up and it's it's hideous as a song, and it it's like it's really, really bad.

SPEAKER_03 30:33

Because obviously the whole idea is like you're giving her away type thing, but it leans into that so much to the point where it's like, okay, man, we get it that you're relaxed, like it's she's gonna be fine with this guy. Uh you're obviously okay. It's just yeah, uh it it it pains me a little bit. Uh it's fine.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

That's such a funny ick. I love that one. No, we've not had that ick. That's a brand new argument. You've said before though, haven't you, about scrapping them?

SPEAKER_05 30:58

Yeah, I've done it.

SPEAKER_04 30:59

You're not a fan at all. We we yeah, and to be honest, they don't come up that much. I'd probably say it's like, you know, one in ten maybe that do want it nowadays.

SPEAKER_06 31:08

It's so bizarre to say since COVID, bizarre. It has just died off. A lot of traditions have actually died off.

SPEAKER_04 31:13

Well, it certainly with what we do and the kind of you know, kind of couples that come to us, they are very much like, look, we're not having a traditional wedding, we're gonna be a bit different. And it's quite funny because most of our couples say that and we're like, yeah, well, what is traditional nowadays? You know, what is it? But yeah, it's it's one of those traditions that I think is is dying out a little bit.

SPEAKER_06 31:29

You were saying it the other day we were cake cutting and things like that. It's all sort of we didn't have a cake for for our wedding last year.

SPEAKER_03 31:35

No, but we do like the cake cut. We do enjoy the cake cut. Hype that up, man.

SPEAKER_04 31:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:39

Why what's good about the cake cut?

SPEAKER_04 31:40

Well, we we often have to announce well, we don't have to announce it, we like to announce it. You know, and so it's it's a really good just before the first dance, sort of you need everyone's on their feet, and it's it's our the first moment that we or Joey gets to speak to everyone and we sort of don't just go, could you all go to the cake? That's what you normally hear.

SPEAKER_00 31:56

I think that's why I don't like it, because it is just everyone around the cake.

SPEAKER_04 31:59

You need to come to a hustle show. I really do. Yeah, we we do love live music.

SPEAKER_06 32:04

I mean, this is an easy sell because we we've actually discussed on the pod many times live music should be at every wedding. Yes. So this was always gonna be easy. We say it every time, don't we? Yeah, you definitely need to. I'll see.

SPEAKER_00 32:16

Do you do not weddings?

SPEAKER_04 32:18

Not really. Um yeah, we are too busy. Yeah, we are too busy. We do um so as part of dirt bag, we do our showcase nights, which are brilliant. Um the next ones are in February, by the way, so you'll have to come along to that. I'm coming. One in Chester, one in Shrewsbury. We put three bands on because people always want to see our bands live, and you say, Well, you can't because they're not playing pubs or clubs. Um so we do our showcase nights, which are amazing fun. They're so so cool. Uh and we've done a couple of others that we've kind of organised ourselves just so family and friends can come along, but generally, yeah, it's just can we not start a festival like a dirt bag festival? It's been discussed. Oh my god, that was so good. We have a lot of ideas, and it is one. Years ago I organised a sort of small festival um with an old old band, and it's something we might maybe in the future, but um yeah, when we've got time. It needs to happen. Yeah, one day. Oh, well, I'm coming. You've got your first um guest visit, or what do you call it? Ticket sale.

SPEAKER_00 33:13

I will, don't worry. Right, shall we head into customer questions then? Yeah, yeah. Right, we'll start with Vicky. She says, We've only got £1,500 left in the budget. What's the smartest way to spend it on entertainment?

SPEAKER_03 33:25

Book a band. That's that's like prime how much a band. If someone said to you how much is like a good band for a wedding, we'd say around that that mark is what you're looking at, to be honest.

SPEAKER_00 33:35

That's all right then.

SPEAKER_06 33:35

Yeah, it's pretty good. But if that's the budget, where's the selfie mirror? Ah, sure.

SPEAKER_00 33:40

Well, the the yeah, I thought out some of the risk of treading on toes, you know.

SPEAKER_04 33:45

I I tend to advise couples with that comfortable with that quite a bit, you know, this is our budget, we're thinking about what we need. I kind of will explain to them that you need to work backwards on your day, you need to think about like the end of the night and what people are going home saying that was amazing. And if the end of your night is flat, that's what they're gonna remember. Yeah, you know, and so I think the band is the first thing you get with your entertainment budget. Um, as we've said, bands are better than DJs, yeah. You know, so you you could get a DJ and you would save money, you know, but a band creates so much more of a an atmosphere.

SPEAKER_03 34:16

Yeah, and you could spend that money and try and spread it out throughout the day. So, like, I would get a string quartet during the day, and then we'll have some person, we'll have a DJ, and it's like it could be good the whole time. Yeah, but if you want it to be exceptional, yeah and really slap it out of the park at the end of the night, that's would be my advice.

SPEAKER_00 34:31

Yeah, it's a must, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 34:33

I think and and as we said as well, the band will provide the DJ service as well. So you've got music from like from after the wedding breakfast till the end of the night. You know, your party is sorted, and then because you because we've got bands that are less than that as well, you know. So if you find the right bands for twelve hundred, yeah, you'll have got three hundred left to maybe get a self-elow. There you go. Those things on top of it, you know, but definitely work backwards on it, um, you know, rather than blow all your budget like you know, a string quartet in the daytime and then find you've got nothing left. Do you do any daytime work? We yeah, so we we do it as add-ons for for ourselves.

SPEAKER_06 35:04

Um so you do spend uh you can spend a day at a venue. Oh yeah, we spend many a full day at venue, yeah. So obviously not as high intense as well.

SPEAKER_00 35:11

I was gonna say to keep it more chilled in the daytime.

SPEAKER_03 35:13

We try well, we say that we're gonna, and then before you know it, like yeah, the daytime sets, we just can't help ourselves, man. Like if you're doing the daytime set and you see somebody that's having a good time, you'll we're unplugged and stuff, so we're out in Rome. Uh we're just wired differently. Shouldn't do it.

SPEAKER_04 35:28

We've done do you remember that one we did at the old palace? I was thinking of Newcastle. Okay, we found that. Yeah, but the one at Old Palace, because we didn't do the evening then. Oh, yeah, we were just like they're like, let's just go for it. Well, they said they said we want we want the wedding breakfast to be mental, we don't want it to be like just background music. So we did two sets, and the first set was more of a typical acoustic set in the corner, doing some tunes, a bit of interaction, but not much. The second set we had tables singing bright side opposite each other. We had a conga line going around and split. We were like standing on tables, and that's exactly what they wanted. I feel sorry for the band that walked in when like playing the evening. We actually stuck around. That must have been awful. Yeah, I remember that. Yeah, that's a blur, man. Oh my god. So yeah, we could we can bring the energy to any part of the day, you know. Very love.

SPEAKER_00 36:17

Oh, I love that. Right, we'll go on to the next one. In from Holly. She says, half our guests are in their 20s, the other half are over 60. What entertainment choices actually work for both?

SPEAKER_04 36:26

It goes back to what we said earlier. Yeah. I'm answering all these here, but it's yeah, it's like you know, people worry about the older, older crowd. But again, you know, having a decent band, having having someone that's gonna put on a show and they'll mix up what they're doing, they'll play some old stuff, they'll play some new stuff, and just get everyone involved. You know, do it that way, it works really, really well. So don't worry about the older people.

SPEAKER_00 36:45

Yeah, do it for the you're like yourself for the couple.

SPEAKER_04 36:48

Yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

Right, next one. Leah, uh you've touched on this as well. Our venue has informed us that they have sound limiters and a 10 30 pm curfew for amplified music. How do we make sure we still have a proper party?

SPEAKER_03 37:01

The first thing to do is find out what the sound limit is. Okay, it sucks that there's 10 30 pm limit, that's gonna affect it no matter what. You can't do that. But if it turns out the sound limit is like quite reasonable, you can just have the most insane time before that 10 30 thing comes in. If it's a double whammy where the sound limit is so low that a band isn't gonna work, then you're probably gonna have to be looking at a DJ or something like that because it's just not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_06 37:22

So is it done on a score base?

SPEAKER_04 37:27

So yeah, it's really hard to give a proper answer, isn't it? Because there are some venues that we know will say their sound limit is 90 decibels, but the acoustic of the room and the layout of things and where the microphone is.

SPEAKER_03 37:39

There's some that have a sound limiter and they don't turn it on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:42

They just don't. Yeah, and it's like we can see that's not plugged in. Yeah, yeah. It's like, but then it's just crazy. This is what I'm saying, you never know what you're gonna get. And somewhere they say they haven't, and you turn up and there's one there. It's like, yeah, what the hell is this? And they don't know what it's set to. Oh my god. I was gonna name drop a venue then, Jesus. Not in a good way, no. Still they don't know what the limit is. Yeah. And they have one installed, and it's like, find out what the limit is. It's like it's just insane. Like, this is your job to know what it is. It should just be labeled, shouldn't it? It should say.

SPEAKER_04 38:13

We've said before, are you gonna set us off on sound limiters again? But like we've said before that like that it should be a universal sort of set limit, set sort of criteria of how things are set up. Because again, the microphone could be above where the band are performing, it could be the opposite side of the room, it could be in another room.

SPEAKER_03 38:28

Yeah, yeah. I will not name drop another venue, okay, one that we thought was gonna be really bad. Yes, it has a sound limiter, and then it turns out it's the loudest we've ever been, and it wasn't even going into the screen. And it's just because of the way the band's face. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's like there's no point in having the sound limiter. In fact, it's probably doing more harm than dogs.

SPEAKER_06 38:46

Yeah, I know a venue that sort of um dog legs. Yeah, yeah. Depending where the band is, yes. Depends how the sound carries, yeah. If they're in the middle, that's it.

SPEAKER_03 38:56

I think I honestly think the readings should because the the sound restrictions are for people outside the venue, neighbours, that kind of thing. They should be taking readings a certain distance away from the room, because that's where it matters. So let's say 50 meters away from a radius, it's X decibels. Okay, this is reasonable. Because it doesn't matter how loud it is in the room, really, it's outside. That's it.

SPEAKER_04 39:17

If you if you if you're in a marquee with a 90 decibel sound limit, yeah, that is still gonna be loud outside the marquee, but you could be inside a stone wall with no limit and it's gonna be quieter around the street. You can't hear anything inside a stone building, you know, so there's loads of things. But to go back to your list of questions. I've forgotten the band. I I I think ultimately in that scenario, I would say that the biggest issue when you've got an early finish is the band starting earlier. Because if a band starts too early, let's say the first dance is at seven, let's say they did seven till eight and then nine till ten for the set, something like that. That first set's gonna fall flat. So I would even say speak to the band and see if they're happy to do two hours straight. Right, you know, and do the first dance at half eight.

SPEAKER_03 40:00

We've done it on a great video. At another venue, which I won't name. Uh when they were they were running late, yeah, like super late. We knew there was a curfew, and I wrote rewrote the set like ten times 41. I was like, right, we need to move this. It's like, you know what, we're just gonna have to go straight through. They want the set, order a medal, no break, yeah. Just go, go, go.

SPEAKER_04 40:19

And try and sort it out as well so that food doesn't come out during that set. So your natural thing would be oh food's coming out an hour at the first dance. But if the band have just got everyone warmed up and on the dance floor and it's going really well, and that and then there's a smell of pizza, you know, people will leave the dance floor. So maybe in that situation, arrange for food at half ten.

SPEAKER_01 40:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 40:36

You know, and do it that way. And so half eight till half ten is your prime party time, and then you've got the DJ going on from there.

SPEAKER_03 40:41

It also depends what time of year it is as well. Because if that's also a summer wedding and it's still light out at that time, that whoever you get is up against it already. You know, that people are gonna be outside, there's a curfew, they've got to start early, foods come out when they've started. It's like give them something, you know. So it really depends. Get your guests pissed. Yeah, actually, just get shot as well.

SPEAKER_04 41:01

Yeah, because that's half of the issue as well, is like you know, people want to do the first dance early when their evening guests arrive in it. And we've seen it before the other week. We're like there was a delay with their evening guests coming. There was a coach and it was delayed for the you know, no fault of anyone's in an accident, you know. But then they were pushing for us to do the first dance, and we could see people queuing at the bar. Like they've just got here and we're expecting them to dance. Yeah, we've got 30 sober people, haven't you? That's it, that's exactly it. So, yeah, free bar, cocktails out, you know, get get your guests drunk, you know, and do it that way.

SPEAKER_06 41:32

Did you do a lot of weddings on private land?

SPEAKER_04 41:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 41:35

Yeah, yeah. Do you get problems there though? What do you mean by problems? Well, with a venue, it's like it's the same neighbours that are complaining, isn't it? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:42

When you're in the middle of a field rich family, and then all of a sudden the I think generally what we find is they're they yeah, they're fields, their farmland, their farmers, you know, whatever it might be. All the neighbours are invited. Yeah, and also it's a one-off. In fact, I was at uh um my cousin's wedding recently, one of our bands played, absolutely smashed it. But it was in a garden in a village, and we said to them, Are your neighbours gonna be alright about it? It's like, oh no, we're we're well in with our neighbours, it's all fine. They all know about it. It's a one-off. Yeah. They were if uh funnily enough, they were there was a picture on they did some content, and uh did you see it? They were like, There were people looking over the fence, yeah, yeah, watching, enjoying it, you know.

SPEAKER_03 42:18

This one we did at um in Tarvin, was it? Oh yes. And yeah. I pulled up and I there was a neighbour that was like, Oh, do you mind if I leave my car? It was a proper tight like estate. Like, oh yeah, are you the band? Are you? It's like, oh, make sure you play loud. I want to hear some guns and roses later on.

SPEAKER_02 42:32

Sure, buddy. Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_03 42:33

I'll see you at like 1 a.m. or whatever. But yeah, like it's just keep playing, I guess. Yeah, it's cool, man. Though those weddings are just built different, aren't they? Um I mean, farmer weddings are just outrageous. They can be quite unhinged. Yeah, yeah. You have to do a lot more on the one day. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:51

Yeah. Right, we'll head into our last one then from Benji. He says, What is the best wedding you've worked on and why did it work so well?

SPEAKER_03 42:58

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_04 43:01

Okay. We regularly, regularly do like end of the year, what what was the best wedding, what was the best one individually, and we all have different sort of takes on it, and our bands all have different takes as well, you know, everyone's got different things, and there's different things for different people. And it's hard to have like recency biased as well. You know, Saturday was amazing, like so much fun.

SPEAKER_03 43:20

I've got a theory as to why the best weddings are the best wedding. We've never actually talked about those. Okay. Uh so you know the one we're probably thinking about the the bed gallop one. Yes, I was gonna mention that. What contingent of people were there? What country? Yes, that I was gonna mention. And then what about uh on Saturday? There was one of those there as well. Australians. Oh, yeah. The one at Barnett Bauley's Hall as well. I'm telling you, man, if you want to have a good time, forget all the advice we said, get make some friends with Australia. There's something about they just have the best time.

SPEAKER_00 43:50

Yeah, uh should set up a site like Hire an Aussie.

SPEAKER_03 43:53

But that's a wing we can do a dip against the table.

SPEAKER_06 43:56

But they're they're big on their alternative music as well, aren't they?

SPEAKER_04 43:59

I think as well, you know, I think that there's got to be something about the fact they've traveled across the world, yeah, you know, to come to a party, so they're they're gonna have a good time. Um, yeah, their uh their their attitude is is more sort of like just chilled. And what that one as well you mentioned uh at the barn and all that was hilarious because they they had I think about a dozen Aussies came over and they hadn't brought like wedding attire. So um they went to charity shops. There was a guy about seven foot tall and he got trousers down to his shins, you know. Like but they just partied really, really hard, and and they even were saying, like, I didn't know half of the songs, but they still danced and still partied. Brits don't do that. No, it's it's you know, it's uh yeah, there we go. That's how to have a good wedding.

SPEAKER_00 44:41

Oh, I love that. Well, how can people find you then?

SPEAKER_03 44:44

Two places, I guess. If you want to find the band, uh to be honest, forget all the website stuff. Instagram, we live on Instagram. I'm doom scrolling throughout my whole life, that's why I keep seeing you popping up on my page. So is it you that does Instagram? Yes, it is, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's good fun. Tram at best. Yeah, if you want to find the band at the hustle band UK, uh you'll be able to see all the Wall of Death videos and all the fun stuff. Yes, I'll get on the Instagram. And uh for the agency to see our other bands and what we get up to at Dirtbag Entertainment Agency to see all that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 45:12

Amazing. Have you got anything coming up that you want to plug?

SPEAKER_04 45:16

Busy wedding season. Yeah, busy wedding season. Well, we have we haven't officially announced it yet. Maybe this is the time to announce it. What are we announcing? The showcases in February by next year. But yeah, our two showcases will be on the 19th and 20th of February, I think. Yeah. Yeah. I was just thinking about what I'm doing today. Yeah. That's what we've got, but yeah, but we've got we've got new bands. We've just had the previews of two new band videos come. We've got two new bands that we're shooting very, very soon as well. So just yeah, get on the Instagram and like look what we're doing, and we're doing moving really fast. So yeah, keep up to date. That's good fun.

SPEAKER_00 45:51

Do people need to start booking you?

SPEAKER_04 45:53

Yesterday. Our first our first 2029 booking went on um for one of our bands, I think, last week. Um, so yeah, people often will say, Oh, it's not it's not for ages yet, what's your date? And it's like late next year, and like you know, our bands are getting booked up. So certainly the more popular ones, certainly because we are a bit niche. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:13

Once you're gone, you're gonna say and it goes back to the very start of what we said about like not uh cloning ourselves or having like five different versions of me coming in. Yeah. You said once once we are booked, that is that is it, yeah. Pretty much. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:27

Oh, amazing. Well, thank you so much for coming on, right? And we will see you all next week.

SPEAKER_03 46:32

Bye bye.