The Official Introductions Thread

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Hi,

My name is Dan and I'm an internetolholic -- Oops, sorry wrong thread. I'm a 30 year old ex-bar DJ who caught the DJ bug early in life. I was sparked by a friend of mine's father who managed a bar and knew I owned a chit ton of CDs. He had a DJ not show up one night and the rest as they say is history.

I've always loved DJing but as I got older realized the economics of being a bar DJ didn't exactly work in my favor; Most of my pay went on new music to stay current. In my early-mid twenties I got tired of taking demands (ahem, requests) from drunk idiots that were younger than me.

Around that time to also dawned on me how sad it was that the same barflies would sit at the same bar stools and drink their lives away night after night. Lots of these guys had young families and were in the prime of their lives. I'm not one to judge but what the heck are you doing sitting on a bar stool 3-4 nights a week?

Those three factors made me leave the DJ scene. It's kind of funny, my two main bar gigs that I played at for a few years each tore out their DJ booths within a few years after I left. I don't know whether to think I was that crappy of a DJ for they just didn't feel the need for one on a nightly basis after all. :D In reality, they probably couldn't find someone young and dumb enough to work for bar DJ pay. It was still a great experience overall though. I had to learn a whole lot more about music and got to meet some pretty interesting characters along the way.

Nowadays, I run this place which is the coolest virtual-bar for DJs on the net if I don't say so myself. I run a couple of other websites though none as successful as ODJT. Hat tip to Jon on that. He really went all out to bring people people here. I do local & remote PC repair on the side and maintain the back-end/do tech support/sometimes host for several clients. Most months it keeps the lights on but the older I get the more I'm looking for something stable maybe even with a retirement plan -- Damn I'm getting old.

When I get my mitts on some extra cash I'd like to get a little DJ setup to play with at home. I've been thinking now that have a respectfully powerful home theater receiver; I could start out with a basic mixer that accepts two thumb drives and has an RCA out. It's not the same as an amp and big ol' DJ speakers but I'd probably have the cops at my door on a regular basis if I had a true 1,000 Gigawatt DJ setup. :sqlaugh:

Anyways that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
 
I'm Rick Ryan and I never even wanted to be a stinkin DJ to begin with. I moved to Nashville in 1985 (20 years old) and worked as a musician in clubs. Got married to a girl much prettier than I deserved in 1988 and kept working part-time as a musician at all kinds of goofy gigs. In 97 I landed my first Grand Ole Opry gig. Got to back a bunch of over-the-hill, has-been artists until that gig finally died (completely) in 2011. Beginning around 2007 I'd transitioned from Opry to the Broadway club scene, 3-4 nights per week and finally to a single act musician. On a 40th birthday gig in Atlanta I found out that they didn't want the crap I was spewing and wanted Sinatra instead. I started downloading cuts from Amazon and the clients loved it. After that I got to looking into this whole DJ-thing, which all my musician brothers hated with a passion, and found out I could make an extra $300 a night if I just put aside my ego and added "DJ" to my business card.

Realizing I was a fish out of water, I started sniffing for DJ gigs on craigslist and was advertising outside of the Nashville area. My first wedding was a 350-guest event in St. Louis at a military base in November, 2008 for which I was paid $600 (and yes I did it with a Bose L1 and yes I paid my own gas and hotel out of that):
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I kept looking for (and working) gigs outside of Nashville on purpose. I figured I didn't want to mess up my own market with any mistakes I made. It only took about a year. At the time, I was bottom-feeding and thought $400 was big money but I was able to get enough confidence to start taking local gigs in 2009. Over the next several years I started adding other services like uplighting, photobooth and now photography and expanded to a multi-rig operation. Made plenty of mistakes with a few crappy DJs but have gotten my company to averaging 80-100 events per year and I probably work 50-55 of those personally. I have discovered that there is a lot more satisfaction and responsibility in DJing over playing in a band but admit I do sometimes miss those days, especially the bigger artist gigs.

I often use a term "It's always about the money" a lot and realize that many here think I'm only a money-grubber. I'm not. I love nothing better than giving a bride the event of her dreams but I also realize that without making money at it, I can't stay at it long term and after all is said and done I bust my can 6-7 days per week so that I can provide better for my wife and 2 children. It's the least I can do for them. I realize that I quite often come off as brash, an arsehole, jerk, prick, dickhead, etc. but my spirit is to be helpful to anyone who wants it. I want to continue learning as well as sharing what little bit of knowledge I've gotten along the way.
 
I'm Tigger, from the Hundred Acre Wood. My sign is Tiger (Korean / Chinese Astrology). Part Time DJ, Full Time IT guy.

All kidding aside, I dabbled with music (record, 8 track and cassette) since I was a kid, but mostly goofing around at home or helping out at the local roller rink. During this time, I was also part of band through school. In the spring of 87, I met a DJ at a car show and I was hooked. I asked if I could work with him and he said that I just wanted to do it because I thought it was cool. I denied that .. I wanted to play music. According to him, I begged him until he agreed to let me come work with him. He finally agreed that summer. Here I am, 28 years later, still goin' at it.

:)

On another note, life has brought me to serving my country (Army) and some various jobs and locations thankful to skills with the computer as a techie. I've been a full time "IT Guy" since 93.
 
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I posted an intro thread when I joined this forum in February (it seems like it was ages ago), but I wanted to join the new Intros thread, so here goes…

I'm Bob. My sign is Virgo (the virgin)… (LOL). I’m a part time DJ and full time house servant (slave).

I started a Mobile DJ business just a month prior to my retirement in September 2014, after 34 years as an IT manager. I served in the USAF for 10 years, worked in manufacturing for 15 years, commercial software for 7 years, and finally I worked in State Government for 12 years.

I live in Oklahoma City, but I’m originally from Orlando, FL, and have lived in California, Ohio, Nebraska, and Texas (and one year in Thailand). I received my BS in MIS from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), but I originally studied to be a commercial artist at Ringling Art School in Sarasota, Florida.

I started collecting music in the 1960’s and have collected thousands of albums and CD's since then. Being an avid techie, I built a home server many years before it was easy to do, and ripped and stored all my music on it so I could play it from any computer in my house. Now I use my music collection in my new business. I primarily play Rock, Pop, R&B, Country, and Christian Rock, but I’ve been collecting EDM recently and also play Jazz and New Age when it fits the occasion.

My DJ name came from one of my IT customers. She called me “Bobcat”, which made me laugh, so I adopted it. I have a goofy sense of humor, and don’t take myself too seriously, which has sustained me well. Life is good!
 
OK .. if we have to be serious ... :)

I used to sell audio back in college (78-82) .. repped for a couple of wholesalers here in CT (Electrified Wholesalers and BrandsMart). My top sellers were Bose (301, 501, 601), Dual and Technics .. those college kids. This was pre-CDs, pre-Walkman, prehistoric.

Then I bit the audiophile bug for a bit in the early 80s .. New AR turntable base w/Sumiko arm, Dynavector cartridge ... Hafler pre-amp and 250 w/ch amp that I built from kits .. Sumo Charlie Tuner .. Nakamichi Cassette deck. Picked up a Denon CD player in '84 and stopped buying Albums for the most part. I had EV Interface-D speakers and transitioned to Mission Argonaut 780s.

Next music wave was the 90s, when my daughter started dancing and I was a back-stage dad .. worked the audio, then bought my first PA system. Next up was my son's time in HS wanting to form a band .. so I bought more gear .. he didn't go through with it .. but I started doing sound for some local bands and organizations. Ran sound a number of times for a Billboard Jazz musician (he even had a #1 on the BB Jazz charts). Didn't really start DJing until maybe 2005 when I was drafted to provide music for a Post Prom party at the High School and I had to go out to the store to buy a bunch of compilation CDs (loved those Now This is Music ones).

I'm low key with events, my day job doesn't allow me to plan too many things, so I shy away from Weddings. Mainly do school reunions, corp holiday parties, some birthday/event parties and karaoke.

I've been in the computer world since '82 .. working for a number of companies including the big 2-initial computer company and the big 3-initial one.

I am a gear whore .. I buy and sell audio gear constantly .. I like to play. I will again be looking for gear this spring/summer as I'm in the market for an all-in-one controller (prob MC6000mk2) and a kick-but, lightweight sub to replace the Yamaha (which is good, but not different enough from the EVOX) and a 8"/10" top to augment the JBLs.
 
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My name is Bryan, the first B in BNB. Not a whole lot to my story.

I started out in the closet. My first purchase was a Numark 1775 and two 1200MK-II's. Fortunately I lived outside of Washington, DC, so I bought a lot of vinyl at 12" Dance Records, which has since closed. :( I spent a lot of time mixing at home, mostly just practicing. I did to an occasional event.

I moved to Florida in 1993 and dabbled in DJ'ing weddings and what not, then landed a job as the marketing/entertainment director at a local entertainment venue which took me away from being a DJ to pretty much directing DJ's and entertainers. I've been working there for 20 years.

Recently I hooked up with a friend I haven't seen in 20+ years who was familiar with the local bar/band scene, so we decided to put our "B's" together and create a DJ/Karaoke company. Our primary focus is karaoke, but we also DJ events as well.

I've also dabbled in film and television and can be seen in my bio, and run several websites on my own server, so I am very tech-savvy.
 
I'm Jacob, your friendly board certified and licensed butcher :D :D :D. I started collecting music in the late 70's and early 80's. I never enjoyed dancing so I started doing the DJ thing and it has been a hobby for me and I still enjoy doing it. My other hobby as you may know is road and drag racing with my Mustangs. Expensive hobbies but they help when the butcher shop causes some drama ;) .
 
I'm Jacob, your friendly board certified and licensed butcher :D :D :D. I started collecting music in the late 70's and early 80's. I never enjoyed dancing so I started doing the DJ thing and it has been a hobby for me and I still enjoy doing it. My other hobby as you may know is road and drag racing with my Mustangs. Expensive hobbies but they help when the butcher shop causes some drama ;) .

They way you elegantly describe it, I want to be autopsied ASAP.
 
They way you elegantly describe it, I want to be autopsied ASAP.
That's the reason I've been so successful beyond anything I could imagine. While the "butcher" joke. I take a lot of care of the person that ends up in my office out of respect to them and their family. And that's what has made the difference.
 
Located in Western Kentucky and have been DJing since 1994. Full time father of 3 and work for city government in the city in which I live. I will admit that I'm a light nut. I can often be found going to concerts and watching the light shows and the board operator as much if not more than the performer. Been that way since I was like 13.
 
So here it goes.....I'm Derik..... I started in high school (late 80's) scratching and making tapes for my friends. One of my friends became an intern at a radio station, where I ended up hanging out alot with him and the other DJ's. Not long after that.....i ended up in the studio helping on air and joining the DJ with his weekend weddings. When i was 19 i started my first club.....and pretty much ran clubs unil 2011 when I wanted to work a little less and enjoy more of life. I miss the clubs and the concerts I've put on, but the occasional weekends off and my hockey season tickets :). Did i mention i play 2x a week !!! We do about 30 events a year currently on top of my full time job. STill love mixing as much as I did when I started on day 1.
 
I started in 1985, with a couple of friends, we bought the speakers out of the local movie theater when they remodeled, we did school dance, weddings, rented small town community centers and held teen dances. as we got older we expanded into bars and multiple shows per night, 30 years later we have two headquarters about 50 miles apart still doing bar shows and weddings, with 5- 8 show per week between 4 people. My favorite thing is trouble shooting, I absolutely love having to find a work around when a piece of gear or cable fails. must be an adrenalin thing.