Beyond the DJ Booth

Send us a message Wedding planning shouldn’t take an hour of copy-pasting, second-guessing, and chasing missing details. We’re sharing two big updates for mobile DJs: a cleaner way to shop our gear and a new tool designed to give you your time back. First, we explain the business shakeup for Bunn Gear that moves all their 3D printed DJ parts to Parts4DJs.com, while keeping BunnGear.com focused on...

Send us a message The fastest way to learn what’s real in the DJ business is to stack three very different gigs back to back and tell the truth about how they went. We do exactly that, starting with a corporate event where the timing is off, the band is loud, and the “after-party” slot feels like a setup. It’s the kind of night that tests your professionalism, your room-reading, and your ability t...

Send us a message TikTok can delete two weeks of momentum with one vague notification, and that’s exactly where we start. One of us gets hit with a sudden account ban for “impersonation,” no real explanation, and basically no support loop, which turns into a bigger conversation about how DJs and creators should think about platforms, backups, and not building your entire business on rented land. F...

Send us a message DJ conferences aren’t “dying” because DJs stopped caring. They’re struggling because expectations keep rising while budgets stay stuck in the past, and we’re done pretending that isn’t the real problem. We talk candidly about a recent DJ show survey, the nonstop complaint that it’s “the same people on stage,” and why booking marquee speakers is impossible unless ticket prices mat...

Send us a message You can be an incredible DJ and still feel stuck if nobody knows you well enough to refer you. We get honest about networking for DJs, what actually moves the needle, and why “just posting more” is not a substitute for real relationships. We break down the industry groups that have consistently turned into bookings and vendor trust for us, including NACE, WIPA, and ILEA, plus the...

Send us a message Your next gig might be flawless or it might be a total stinker and either way you need a plan. We kick things off with a new “stinker button” idea (yes, a real button) and a no-filter rant about DJ trend overload, especially the endless wave of tech house edits that keep flooding record pools. The point is not to hate on a style, it is to protect your programming, your brand, and...

Send us a message A packed dance floor can come from the weirdest place and sometimes it’s a “Take On Me” to “Crazy Frog” transition that has a club screaming like it’s 2005. Brian B and Joe Bunn kick off season seven by unpacking what that kind of moment really teaches working DJs: stop assuming you know the crowd, take smart risks, and pay attention to what actually moves people, not what “shoul...

Send us a message Chances are you’ve played a Mike D edit without even realizing it. We open the episode by giving flowers to one of the most influential remixers in the DJ world. His unexpected passing hit the community hard, and we share some stories about meeting him, why his edits became staples in DJ crates everywhere, and what made his “clean but still club-ready” sound so unique. Then we ju...

Send us a message The song is fire, but the tag says 2026. We kick things off with a rant every DJ will relate to—bad metadata—and then follow the thread into the biggest shifts reshaping music discovery and live events. From Netflix flirting with the label game to Sony’s surge across streaming, publishing, live, and merch, we break down how the industry is acting less like record sellers and more...

Send us a message Two lists can make or break a wedding: the must-plays that define the couple’s voice, and the do-not-plays that guard against landmines. We pull back the curtain on how we handle both without tanking momentum, from planting a clear 25–50 song inspiration list to avoiding negative framing that leads couples down a rabbit hole of “don’ts.” We get candid about when to push back on r...

Send us a message A plane party at 35,000 feet. A mega yacht dance floor at sunset. A salt flats set that looks like a music video. We chase big-feel dream gigs, then get brutally honest about the nights that humble you: a Hilton Head corporate convention where the room never found its groove. You’ll hear how we navigated a massive stage with no direction, wrangled an on-the-fly auction to save th...

Send us a message Big stages magnify everything...the wins and the wipeouts. In this episode, we break down awards season through a DJ lens: the Golden Globes walk-on music debate, the Grammys stacked with performances (and a few brutal tech gremlins), and a Super Bowl halftime set that balanced spectacle with cultural impact. What makes a song “make sense” on a big stage? And how do you translate...

Send us a message It’s Love Week, which means no clichés and no pretending. Brian opens with a question he’s clearly been holding in: why are there so many 140+ BPM edits in music pools right now? Are DJs actually asking for this? Or are we all just pretending faster equals better? What follows is a very real, very honest plea to editors to stop ruining good songs. From there, we break down how R&...

Send us a message What would you do if your main gig disappeared tomorrow? We put that question on the table and followed it into some unexpected places : law, sports agency, music programming, even D1 basketball before circling back to the core skills that make great DJs irreplaceable: reading people, controlling momentum, and telling a story in real time. From there, the episode jumps into both...

Send us a message A packed dance floor can die in one flick of a switch. In this episode, we break down two real events where tiny, overlooked details nearly derailed the night -  including a New Year’s Eve celebration hijacked by a blinding rental chandelier and a holiday wedding where the bar shut down two hours early… yet the room somehow stayed alive. From 28-degree outdoor dinners to guests h...

Send us a message The comments were spicy, the questions were fair, and we decided to hit record and bring it all back. We kick off with a new segment called "Bring It Back" built to revisit hot takes and fix misses. We start with the update on Joe's office ease. From there, Joe is pressed on his non-use of TikTok. (spoiler: he's done with skits). Then we wade into the AI storm...

Send us a message Some sets feel effortless - not because the crowd is easy, but because your monitoring and setup give you control before the first blend. This episode breaks down the practical choices that make private events smoother, from the IEM workflow we rely on at every wedding to the booth setups that tighten timing, reduce stress, and keep your mixes honest. We start with the foundation...

Send us a message January doesn’t ease you in; it throws you straight into the deep end. In this episode, we talk packed calendars, unexpected inquiries (including a celebrity half-birthday lead sourced through ChatGPT), and the growing role AI plays in the private event DJ industry. We’re pro-tool but pro-craft first, drawing a clean line between using AI for inspiration, bumpers, and workflow vs...

Send us a message New Year’s Eve doesn’t give DJs room for autopilot, it demands intention. We kick things off with the tiny details that matter on the biggest night of the year: clean transitions, tight loadouts, smart routing, and why “Happy New Years” needs to finally retire. Then we break down a viral clip of a planner sliding down a staircase to save a dress train and use it to talk vendor aw...

Send us a message Season Six opens with a true DJ gauntlet: impossible song intros, broken grids, and venues that think bass is optional. We start by dissecting one of the hardest count-ins in rock history - The Rolling Stones’ Start Me Up - and break down how phrasing, hi-hat patterns, and cue-point choices determine whether your floor lifts off…or looks at you like you’re insane. If you’ve ever...

Send us a message Raising your rates isn’t about confidence — it’s about capability. In this episode, Brian B and Joe break down exactly what it takes for a DJ to step into a higher price tier and stay there. Using a real New Year’s Eve wedding that booked at $26,000 , we pull apart every ingredient behind a premium fee: travel costs, gear decisions, prep time, performance structure, and the expec...

Send us a message Sometimes the dance floor tells you a truth you don’t want to hear. In this episode, Brian B and Joe break down a tough wedding where everything - the room layout, the guest mix, the cultural split, and even the flow of the night - worked against a high-energy dance set. From navigating a Latin-heavy request list with older Russian Orthodox guests to watching the floor migrate to...

Send us a message The charts are loud but the dance floor tells the truth. In this episode, Brian B and Joe break down one of the biggest gaps working DJs face: what people stream vs what people actually move to at private events. Billboard, Spotify, TikTok, Apple Music, Shazam - they all paint a picture. But it’s not the picture that keeps a room dancing at 10:30pm. We dig into why certain chart...

Send us a message What is the greatest song ever? A chart-topping classic? A perfect lyric? A groove that flips a room from murmurs to full-on chorus? In this episode, Brian B and Joe sit down with one of the most respected voices in the private-event DJ industry, Mike Walter, to unpack a deceptively simple question that reveals everything about how DJs listen, select, and shape emotion on the dan...

Send us a message Ever had a planner ghost right when the dance floor opens? We’ve all been there. In this episode, Brian B and Joe Bunn unpack the night-and-day difference between vendors who simply “show up” and planners who actually partner with DJs to create seamless, unforgettable events. Brian shares three back-to-back gigs that illustrate how strong communication changes outcomes: A Disney-...