Sioux Falls DJ Blog | BPM DJ Productions

I just finished unloading the truck and trailer from the first gig of the year.  Yesterday, I headed down once again to Cherokee, IA to DJ a 60th birthday party.  The family was absolutely wonderful and I am glad I was given the opportunity to entertain them.  The event was at the Cherokee Country Club and besides a little ice in the parking lot, everything went just fine.

The crowd was very diverse, and spanned four generations, so I played a variety of music all night.  For the main part it was mostly 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, but there were some newer tracks thrown in there as well.  The trip itself was the most demanding part.   It took about 2.5 hours each way.  Luckily, the weather was pretty fair, so it wasn’t too bad.  You never know what you are going to run into in South Dakota and Northern Iowa in January!

The drive back gave me some time to think about my goals for 2008.  I’m going to strive to provide the same quality care and service to all of my clients throughout the year.  I also try to improve my business every year, whether it be a new piece of equipment or a new skill.  I’m also going to try to update my website, www.bpmdjproductions.com, and keep it current wih new photos and videos.  I’ll do my best to update this Blog as often as possible, because a few people besides my mom actually read it (that’s how I got this past Cherokee gig.)  I have a number in mind for the number of bookings I would like to have in 2008, and thanks to a productive 2007, I am already over half-way there.  January is starting off with a bang, and I’ve had a lot of information requests come over this month from my website.

Things are looking pretty good for BPM DJ Productions in the new year.  Thank you to everyone who has helped me reach this level of success and enjoyment!

Again, thanks to the wonders of wireless internet, I am writing this live from a wedding reception in Sioux City Iowa.  The reception is at the Marina Inn on the banks of the Missouri River.  The groom is Mexican and the bride is American, so there is a wonderfully diverse crowd here tonight!  Right now, a Mariachi band is playing some dinner music and later a band will be taking the stage.  Then, on top of that, I will be DJ’ing as well!  Talk about a full night!  It should be a lot of fun.  I did not have much room to setup, but I used my imagination and came up with a spacesaving solution.  I might have to use this setup again in the future when space is limited.

I will be in Sioux Falls next weekend for another reception, and traveling to Yankton the next weekend for another one.  Then, I have a little break as the wedding season starts to come to an end.  I did recently make a nightclub contact in Luverne, MN at Hardtailz Rock Cafe.  I will be DJ’ing there on October 20th, and I’m excited to display my skills in front of a new audience.

That’s the future, but now is now.  I’m excited to show this diverse crowd a fantastic time tonight!

Thanks to the wonders of wireless internet, I am writing this live at the Starlight Room in Sioux Falls, SD.  I’m all set up and ready to go for a wedding reception that kicks off at 7:30PM.  So far, the crowd is pretty lively (some lady just took my picture - maybe it’s for the newspaper, but most likely it will end up in a wedding album) and I was just told that the crowd really likes Guns and Roses. 

This will also be my first gig since my nose surgery last Friday and besides a slightly black eye, I’m in pretty good shape.  This, like all my other gigs will be a 100% Serato affair.  I’ve already got the playlists generated and have the turntables calibrated.  Perhaps I’ll even record some of the night’s audio on my laptop with Audacity.  It would be nice to have a wedding mix mp3 on this blog or my website so that clients and visitors could download, listen, and enjoy.  Well, I hear the clinking of glasses, so I think the speeches are coming up soon.  I better stop blogging and start monitoring the sound!

Sadly, Summer is almost over, and up here in South Dakota, that means a very short Fall is next.  Followed by an extremely long Winter.  The end of Summer also represents the end of the Wedding season.  It’s been a very busy and rewarding summer for me.  I’ve had the opportunity to travel throughout SD, Iowa, and Minnesota.  I still have a couple of weddings in September and a couple more in October, and then will be approaching the school dance season.  I don’t know, but it seems like schools do not have dances as often as they used to.  With all the talk about budget cuts, it comes as no surprise.

Anyway, I just wanted to share some photos from one of my last gigs in Tea, SD.  The reception was on Aug 26th, the same night that Tone Loc was in Tea for a concert!  So naturally I had to play Funky Cold Medina in honor of his presence!

What can I say about the disco ball?  It’s classic, it’s effective, it’s versatile, and it’s probably the only lighting effect that everyone is familiar with.  I’ve always used one or two 12″ disco balls in my lighting rig, but when it was time to buy a new one to replace one of my 12″ balls, I went bigger. 

Instead of another 12″ model, I went with a 16″ ball.  This bad boy is huge.  I use a high-powered color changer to bring the disco ball to life.  Last Saturday, I unveiled the new disco ball at a wedding reception.  The room was rather large, and the disco ball lit up the entire room.  I’m definately glad that I updgraded.

Over the past three weeks, I DJ’ed two wedding receptions and had a much needed weekend off.  Both of the receptions that I DJ’ed (one in Mitchell, SD and one in Sioux Falls, SD) stick out in my mind, but for different reasons.

First, allow me to take you back to July 28th.  I had a reception scheduled at the Moose Lodge in Mitchell, SD.  With approximately 300 guests scheduled to arrive, it was going to be a fairly large reception.  I arrived about two hours before my scheduled start time, but there were already guests there.  The stage was located at the front of the room, and I was able to park fairly close to a rear door, making setup a breeze.

The night itself went really well.  There were a few moments where I looked out on the dancefloor and realized I had the crowd right where I wanted them - lost in the seamless music mix of classic rock, oldies, and country.  As the night grew later, around 11:00, I fielded numerous requests for something a little newer, like Hip-Hop.  I knew the bride and groom were ok with that, so I put on a few tracks from Justin Timberlake, Ying Yang Twinz, and Usher.  The dancefloor went crazy with 20-somethings moving to the music.

The mother of the groom then came up to me and said, “No more of this!”  The first thing out of my mouth was, “Are you sure?” pointing to the dancefloor, probably not the best thing to say.  I then told her that I was merely playing requests, and if she would not like that kind of music played, I will cease playing it.  So, after the last song, I announced that I would not be playing any more of that kind of music.  The dancers sighed in frustration and left the dancefloor.  Some even left the reception.

I finished the night with a mix of classic wedding songs and still managed to keep the dancefloor fairly full.  At the end of the night, as I was crossing the dancefloor to speak to someone about payment, an older gentleman stopped me.  He was probably in his late 70’s and was wearing suspenders.  Courteous as usual, I said hello.  The gentleman said, “You know…………….your music selection wasn’t the best tonight.”  Thinking that he was referring to the 10 minutes out of the entire night that I played hip-hop, I informed him that as a DJ, I take requests.  Since the crowd was split up half older and half younger, I played a variety of music.  But, this wasn’t what he was referring to.  He said, “You played too much rock n roll in a row” undoubtedly referring to my method of beatmixing songs together to create a seamless stream of music.  I asked him what he would have rather heard, and he didn’t really have an answer.  He just said, “You need to play two fast songs, then a slow one, then two more fast songs, then another slow one.”  Not wanting to be rude, I thanked him for his input and told him to have a good night.  I didn’t get into the fact that with over 10 years of DJ’ing experience, I have a pretty good idea of what works at a reception.  But, to become a better DJ, you always take your criticism to heart. Believe me, even though the gentleman my not have been the musical expert that he thought he was, his words stuck with me long after my trip back home.   

One of the reasons that I enjoy DJ’ing so much is the fact that it allows me to travel to new places throughout the Midwest.  This last weekend, I ventured deep into Northeastern, IA for a wedding reception at Cherokee Country Club in, you guessed it, Cherokee, IA. 

Due to an equipment trade-off scheduled in Storm Lake, IA (about 20 minutes away from Cherokee,) I left pretty early on Saturday.  I believe it was around 12:30PM.  I made a quick stop in Sioux Falls to drop off my daughter with my in-laws, and off I went on my journey.

I followed the directions I received from Mapquest, and I was taken on a curvy tour of Northwestern Iowa.  It was a beautiful day for a drive.  The sun was out, there was a slight breeze, and there was plenty of beautiful scenery to keep my attention.  I made a couple pit-stops along the way for gas and goodies.  Soon, I arrived in Storm Lake to pick up the latest addition to my DJ arsenal, the infamous Rane TTM-56 DJ mixer.  I originally had planned to sell my Pioneer mixer on eBay, and then use the profit from the sale along with some money out of my pocket to upgrade to the Rane mixer.  Well, I was contacted by a guy in Storm Lake that had a Rane mixer and was looking for a Pioneer mixer like mine!  I pulled my mixer off of eBay and agreed on a trade.  It just so happened that he lived 20 minutes from where my gig was!  So, I made the trade and continued on to the reception.

I arrived at the country club fairly early and was able to slip the new mixer into my Odyssey case and everything worked just fine (I brought a backup mixer with me just in case it didn’t.)  I was very impressed with the sound quality of the Rane mixer, and it performed exceptionally well.  I was set up in no time and had everything tidied up before the guests arrived.

After dinner, we got the party started with the usual wedding dances, and kicked it into high gear with some great dance music.  The guests were very lively, and we kept giong strong until the dance ended at midnight.  The big hit song of the night was “Sweet Home Chicago” - guess where one of the families was from!  The rest of the music was a nice mix of classic rock, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and a little Country.  There was no Hip-Hop at this reception, which was perfectly fine - even though I really enjoy it when I have a chance to play Hip-Hop at a gig. 

After the reception, I was loaded up and ready to go in about an hour.  As pretty as the trip down was, I knew there had to be quite a few deer roaming around the fields an hills, so I chose to take the highway home.  I pulled into my drive around 3:15AM and hit the sack.  Another successful gig in the bag.

Since the Cherokee reception, I have already been contacted by one of the guests about DJ’ing another reception for them in 2008, so hopefully I’ll be able to help them out.  This coming weekend, (tomorrow) I have a reception in Mitchell, SD, which will be the third one I’ve DJ’ed there this year.  It should be a fun time!

This coming weekend is the last weekend in June, and the end of the busiest month of the DJ calendar.  I was on the road every weekend, traveling to Madison, SD, Rock Valley, IA, and Mitchell, SD.  I was fortunate enough to have one in my own backyard (not literally) in Brandon, SD.  This week I will be travelling to Hartford, SD for the last wedding reception of the month.

The most challenging and rewarding event that I did this month was the wedding in Brandon.  I not only DJ’ed the reception, but I provided music and sound for the ceremony as well.  The wedding was an outdoor ceremony at a beautiful house located near the Brandon Golf Course.  I had everything set up and ready to go, when it started to rain - and when I say rain, I mean RAIN!  I barely had any time at all to save my equipment from complete saturation.  Luckily, I had some help, so I quickly handed off my laptop, then my CD player/mixer station, threw my speaker into the gazeebo, sealed up the amp case, and carried it to dry ground.  At the end of all of this, I was soaked!

It rained heavily for about 20 minutes, and then it started to hail.  After about another 10 minutes, the sun was out, and we were ready to try again.  I set everything back up, and the ceremony went off without a hitch.  After the ceremony ended, I loaded my equipment back up, and headed to the reception hall.  Luckily, since we were in Brandon, I was able to swing by home to change into some dry clothes.  I jumped back in my truck and headed to the reception hall.  The weather put us behind schedule, and I was a little fatigued from all of the setting up and tearing down, but I was still able to get everything set up on time and got the party going.  The night went off without a hitch, and after a quick drive back home (which is a rare occurance,) I slept like a baby that night!

This Friday, I will be receiving a new addition to my DJ gear family.  I ordered an Odyssey case to house all of my major DJ components - my turntables, mixer, Serato DJ software interface, and my laptop.  Just having this case will decrease my setup and teardown time by 15-20 minutes each time.  This will help make my business even more efficient, which is never a bad thing.

I’ve also been toying around with the idea of expanding my business by hiring some extra help……………..maybe I’ll realize that dream by this time next year.

This last weekend, over the Memorial Day Holiday, I traveled to Mitchell, South Dakota for a wedding reception at the Holiday Inn.  Since my wife was working that weekend, I had to have Grandma and Grandpa watch our 15 month old daughter, Lillian.  The trick was, they were camping in Chamberlain, SD - about 75 miles West of Mitchell, and I was coming from Brandon, SD - which is about 75 miles East of Mitchell.  So, in order to drop Lily off, I had to drive past Mitchell and meet them at a half-way point.  Then I had to double-back on myself to go to the venue.

The wedding reception started at 5PM, and I was scheduled to start at 6PM.  I got there about 4PM and began to unload.  There was also a four piece Jazz Quartet there to play dinner music - they did a fantastic job, by the way!  Setting up took me no time at all.  I was using my condensed wedding lighting rig, which consists of one t-bar light stand with the lights premounted to the top.  For lights I was using 3 Par-56 cans, 3 Novascan scanners (2 on the bar and 1 on the floor for the disco ball,) a 12″ disco ball, and a new Chauvet Vue III.  I was most impressed with my new Vue, I shined it up on the ceiling and turned it off and on with a switch.  WOW, I was blown away!  It looked awesome above the dancers.  I’ll have to bring my video camera to the next gig to capture some footage.  I was really impressed with the rest of the lighting rig as well, it did a good job of washing the dancefloor with light, and had plenty of movement from the Novascans.  The third Novascan did a good job of spotlighting the disco ball, but I have a brighter Elation Pro Color color changer on order that should do an even better job. 

The bride and groom did a great job of selecting music, and the crowd was pretty lively.  I exclusively used Serato Scratch Live for the wedding, and as usual, it didn’t let me down.  One of the nicest things about that program is the fact that you can prepare all of the music in a “crate” beforehand.  So, I had all of the reception music in one place.  The dancefloor was pretty big, not so much wide, but very long.  It was a nice venue, I wouldn’t mind going back there.

After the reception ended at 12, I loaded up and headed over to Chamberlain to spend the night camping with my daughter.  We were up kind of early the next morning, so we headed back to Brandon, SD and arrived there around 10:30 AM.

The upcoming month of June should be very busy.  I’ve got a gig every Saturday.  First I’ll be heading to Madison, SD, then Yankton, SD, followed by Brandon, SD (yeah, no travel,) Rock Valley, IA, and finally Hartford, SD.

This has probably been one of my busiest Aprils ever.  I performed at 5 Proms and 1 wedding reception, and have traveled to Parker, SD, Parkston, SD, Canistota, SD, Hurley, SD, Sioux Center, IA, and Sioux Falls, SD.  There were a lot of late nights, and a couple double-booked weekends, but it was well worth it.

I would have to say that the best Prom was Sioux Center’s.  I have never DJ’ed for that school before, and the students seemed to enjoy my performance.  I think this is due in part to the fact that I am not like any other DJ in the area, I bring a lot of nightclub experience with me, and beat-mix almost every song into the next.  The students were great, very courteous and full of energy.

The next night (4/28), I had an upscale wedding reception at the Downtown Holiday Inn.  I took extra care when setting everything up to make sure it was nice and clean - no exposed wires.  The end result was great, and the extra effort was well worth it.  I had a nice new tuxedo vest and tie for myself to complete the upscale look.  It was kind of a long night, I got there to setup at 3PM and did not leave until about 2AM, but I had a great time.  The bride was very nice, and everyone in attendence was great as well.  As the night grew later, the music started to have a little more “bump” and the hotel had complaints from 3 floors below us.  I’m sure it had a lot to do with where I was setup - right next to a main wall that undoubtedly carried the vibrations well.  We didn’t start receiving complaints until 11:30 or so, and I turned the volume down for the last half hour.

The worst part of the night were the elevator rides.  It was very time consuming to load up my cart with equipment, roll to the elevator, wait for the elevator, and go up 10 floors to the ballroom, then unload and do it all over again.  Well, at least I didn’t have to use the stairs!

I have a little break before my next reception in May (May 19th to be exact.)  I’ll take advantage of that time to upgrade a couple of things with my current system.  I’m planning on purchasing a new case for my turntables, mixer, and Serato interface.  I might also rearrange some of my lights to improve my wedding reception light show.  I’ve got a pretty busy Summer ahead of me, and my overall goal is to make my operation as efficient as possible.