604-816-7727 Hi, it’s Mark Bossert from Top Local Lead Generation. We’re here with DJ Gary Waight from DJ Boogie Shoes in Vancouver, BC. How’re you doing today Gary? Gary: Very good; looks like the rain has cleared away today, we’re going to have a little sunshine which is always nice. Mark: It’s amazing; I’ve still got flowers in my flower bed blooming in November, it’s crazy. So we’re going to talk a little bit about, I guess DJ etiquette or those kind of rules; so what’s your policy on alcohol or smoking during the wedding? Gary: Well, I don’t drink or smoke at any events nor do I allow any of my DJ’s that are working for me to do so or any of those subcontracted to do so. I just feel it’s totally unprofessional for me or my subcontractors not to give a hundred percent of their energies to the client at their events. The goal is to do a good job and to make it fun and wonderful for the guests and clients; it’s their party, we’re working and our job is to make it happy for them. I’ve actually heard of one horror story of a DJ who got so drunk that he actually threw up while he was peeing and the bridegroom actually had to take his car keys from him. So imagine that, a DJ so drunk that you have to take his car keys away from him. Pretty ridiculous situation and I think the client should be very wary of any DJ who drinks or does any kind of substance while on the job. After all, I don’t think anybody would go their day job incapacitated in any way, that is if they want to keep it. Mark: So, what do you want to wear, what do you wear at your events? Gary: Well, you always want to look professional at your events, so I always ask the client, what is the appropriate attire for their event. At most events I wear dress slacks, dress shoes, shined, dress shirt and tie and some venues require a suit jacket so of course I’ll wear that as well and I’m happy to do so. In the summer quite often I’m doing outdoor events such a barbecues, birthday parties, and even harbour cruise events where I’m up on the upper deck; in these instances I’m more casual attire more than normal so it could be a nice pair of shorts, with a nice golf shirt, but here again I always ask the client just to make sure that I don’t turn up overdressed or underdressed. I think this is one of the critical questions that clients should always ask their music service provider, you want to make sure your DJ’s don’t show up at your wedding dressed way too casually for your reception or not overly dressed. I actually did a pool reception where everyone was encouraged to dress casually in shirts and a Hawaiian shirt which was kind of the theme of their reception and it was a lot of fun but if I hadn’t asked the client about that I would probably have shown up in a tie and been really overdressed and awfully hot as well. Sometimes there’s even a theme event. When I did Tamara Taggart’s birthday party, there was an 80’s theme and she loves 80’s music. In this case everybody was expected to come dressed up as their favourite 80’s star and so I came up as an older, fatter Rick Astley and Rick rolled everybody, so how you dress is always important for the event and I always ask the client to make sure I get it right. Mark: So, how do you take requests? Gary: Well requests are always a great thing and I always ask the bridegroom if they want me to do that. I actually put out a dance song request sheet very early in the evening and I encourage the guests to write down their song requests. I like the request sheet because it’s a little icebreaker for myself and the guests who exchange a bit of conversation; they’ll come up and they’ll ask me oh this is a request sheet, what kind of songs do you have, we kind of find out where they’re from and get a little conversation going and it’s always kind of nice to have that warm rapport with each other before we actually get into the dancing, so I like that. Later on when the music gets turned up and the party starts the request sheet avoids having the client try to shout above the music and so things are written down and I get the proper name of the song, the proper artist, and it just makes things a lot easier and simpler and just adds to a little bit more of a rapport with people because I can talk to them.
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