These are the most common questions people ask us on the phone:
1. I/We have been to some functions where the DJ only played the music and didn't talk at all. Will your DJ talk on the microphone throughout the night?
Answer: Yes - if the DJ doesn't talk at all it really can make your function a bit boring and monotonous, but ALL of our DJs, since they have ALL worked as resident pub/club DJs, have therefore had to constantly use the microphone to promote upcoming events, announce drink specials, run competitions, and so much more in the pubs/clubs they have worked in. Apart from saying a brief welcome & introducing himself, our DJs don't talk much during any of the background music that you may have requested for the first hour or so, that would be intrusive. But once any/all formalities are over and the partying starts then your DJ will "liven things up" by making some brief comment 4 or 5 times per hour - generally when doing things like changing the music style etc. Their frequent/consistent use of microphones at their pub/club gigs has resulted in all our DJs being very much at ease - confident and relaxed - when using a microphone. They are also very well-spoken, since over time all pub/club DJs tend to develop a sort of "radio voice" in much the same way as lots of people develop a "telephone voice".
2. So can your DJs compere events and generally help things run smoothly?
Answer: Naturally. Some people call this ability to compere on the microphone "MCing" (MC is short for Master of Ceremonies) and in this capacity EVERY ONE of our DJs knows how to assist our customers to run all sorts of events - from helping to organise the speeches and introductions at fairly informal functions - like birthday parties, engagements etc, thru to helping compere/run events at balls, charity auctions and sporting club presentation nights and so on, right thru to more formal functions like wedding receptions where our DJs all know what all of the various events are that need to take place - introductions, speeches, and what order they go in, who needs to say what etc etc. Then later in the evening they can organise the tossing of both the bouquet and the garter, & then run the farewell circle. This "MCing" by our DJs is provided at no extra charge, unlike most other disco companies who charge an EXTRA FEE if you want a DJ who can MC. What this tells you is that all the DJs they have who CAN'T MC must be very inexperienced.
3. Does the DJ provide a microphone for the speeches?
Answer: Actually our DJs all carry TWO microphones, the first one is of course for you the customer to make any speeches and/or presentations you wish to make during your function, while the second microphone is provided so that the DJ himself can still make introductions and generally run events during the formalities (speeches, presentations etc), without any awkward silences arising. Other disco companies only provide ONE microphone, which means that if the DJ is to make introductions etc, then the microphone has to be passed back and forth from DJ to first speaker then back again to the DJ, then back to the second speaker and so on. Even if the DJ is not actually introducing each speaker in turn, in which case the microphone is being passed directly from the first speaker to the next and so on, these awkward silences will still happen because most of your guests who are speaking will of course not be used to using a microphone at all, and if only one microphone is provided the DJ is then unable to cover these silences since he doesn't have the microphone within reach. This is very clumsy and unprofessional - which is exactly why we provide TWO microphones.
NOTE RE OUR OPTIONAL CORDLESS MICROPHONES
Remember, if your speeches or presentations need to be made more than 3 or 4 metres away from the DJ console, such as at wedding receptions (where it looks much "classier" to make your speeches right there at the bridal table) or at charity auctions, or sporting club presentations etc, then our microphone leads won't reach that far. For these situations you can hire a cordless microphone from us at an extra cost of only $20. (Other companies charge anything from $35 to $70 for cordless microphones).
5.When does the disco system get set up?
Answer: In 90 per cent of cases your DJ will also be the one bringing the equipment, so they normally arrive 45 mins to an hour before the starting time you have marked on the Booking Sheet you filled out, to make sure they have music playing when your first guests start arriving. If however your function turns out to be one of the 10 per cent or so where the equipment will be set up earlier in the day by someone other than the actual DJ, then we shall be in contact with you to organise delivery.
6. Do your DJs have some sort of dress standard?
Answer: Yes our DJs are expected to dress "smartly" at all times - but just how formally or informally that is will vary depending on the nature of the function. For example, if we are providing the entertainment at an "after match" night at a suburban football club, then you would naturally expect the DJ to be fairly casually dressed - just like the guests would be. It would be silly to send a DJ in a jacket, collar and tie to such a function - he would look totally out of place. The same applies for say 18th birthday parties or school socials, which are also generally fairly informal. Naturally school formals (as distinct from "socials") require a much more formal mode of dress, as do balls and wedding receptions - in all these situations the DJ WOULD be expected to wear a jacket, collar and tie. However, most functions actually fall somewhere in between the very informal and the fairly formal - to most of these our DJs would wear what we define as "smart casual" - everything must be neat and clean - no T-shirts with holes in them - we prefer good quality "polo" shirts and neat casual pants or "good" jeans (no faded, worn or ripped jeans), and "good" shoes (no running shoes - not even expensive ones). But please always take into account that the DJ is NOT there as a guest - he is a "worker" and therefore he will dress like a "worker" because obviously he must be as comfortable and relaxed as possible in order to do the best possible job for you. The DJ is NOT the star of the show - the music is the focus.
7. Can the DJ stay longer if I/we want him to?
Answer: Yes of course. Our DJs love getting "overtime" - it just makes the whole event even more worthwhile for them. But naturally this will depend on your venue and whether they can allow this - for example in some venues liquor licences or noise restrictions may stop you from extending. But assuming these factors are OK, then let your DJ know AT LEAST 10 minutes before he is due to finish that you want him to continue, otherwise he may start playing his usual "goodnight" songs, and generally winding things down.
8. Why don't you have your music list up on your web-site for us to print out?
Answer: Those companies who put up music lists on their web-sites are happy to do so because their music lists are really nothing special - SO THEY HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE by making them freely available to absolutely everyone & anyone - and of course this would include other disco companies. But NOT ONE other Melbourne disco company has a music list ANYWHERE NEAR as large, detailed and comprehensive as ours - and we want to keep it that way. Some companies pad their lists out by filling them up with all sorts of obscure album tracks, but our lists only contain songs that were released as singles. Our music list is absolutely the most detailed, most heavily researched, and BY FAR the biggest of ANY disco company in Melbourne, so naturally we don't want that list copied by other companies, which could easily happen if it was available on our web-site. We provide over 60 PAGES of music charts and lists for our customers to choose from in the standard music info set that we post out. This is THREE TIMES MORE PAGES of music info than even the next biggest list provided by ANY of the other Melbourne disco companies, and it is anything from FIVE TO TEN TIMES bigger than the lists provided by MOST of these other companies. We also have all the Melbourne charts right back to 1960 (including lists of the Top 120 or so hits of each year in order of popularity), plus all the Sydney charts back to 1956, and all the US charts back to 1955 - so in addition to our standard 60 plus pages of music info, we can also provide specific music lists for any/all types and styles of music from all different eras to suit functions aimed at any age groups of guests from 8 to 80.
9. How can your music list be so much bigger than any other disco company's list?
:The key determining factor in how big (and how comprehensive) ANY disco company's music list can be is this - EVERY SINGLE SONG a company puts onto their list, then obviously ALL their DJs have to be able to supply that song for you. It would be just plain stupid of them to put out lists containing lots of songs that their DJs did not have, because then they would get lots of complaints from their customers that the DJ didn't have the songs they picked. That is why a lot of companies request lists are fairly small - they don't want their DJs "caught out". HOWEVER, since our DJs have all done YEARS of work as proper venue DJs in bars/clubs, then naturally their music collections are HUGE - and we do mean FIFTEEN TO TWENTY times bigger than that of the average "apprentice" and/or "hobby" type mobile DJs that other companies employ. As the owner of this company, and as a pub/club DJ for almost 20 years, I can tell you that my personal music collection contains over 90,000 tracks of all different music types & styles, and from all eras - 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, & from Y2K to now - in fact even new songs that haven't charted yet, both new radio songs & new club tracks. So that is why we are able to provide so much more music info than any other company - because ALL our pub/club experienced DJs have music collections which are so extensive and so varied - unlike the small, very limited collections that "apprentice" & "hobby" DJs have.
10. Can we ask the DJ to play some of our own CD's?
Answer: Sure you can. You can bring anything you like in the way of your own music - not only can we play your CDs, but provided you ring our office to organise the right equipment, then we can even play your cassette tapes or old vinyl records for you. HOWEVER, please bear in mind that since our DJs all have YEARS of pub/club experience behind them, then naturally their collections are very large and very comprehensive. We would be very surprised if you had anything in the way of "popular" music since 1956 that at least one of our DJs does not already have. Even though we provide our customers with BY FAR the largest and most varied music list of any Melbourne disco company for them to choose from, between all of our DJs we still have far, far more music in our collections than even our almost 60 pages of music info can detail. So feel free to phone our office to ask about any other songs/artists you may need that you can't find on our charts/lists. Then if it should happen that you do want some slightly more obscure music which our office then tells you that none of our DJs has, then by all means bring your music along. Make a list of any CDs (or cassettes or records) that you do bring, and get the DJ to sign that list as he receives that music from you - this is just for your peace of mind. Also, please attach a "Post-It" note to each CD you bring, detailing the track(s) you want the DJ to play.
11. What about if we want some music from the country our family originally came from?
We have DJs of many different nationalities/ethnic origins who can provide:
Greek music (both modern Greek "bar music" and/or traditional music from all the various regions of Greece)
Italian music (again, both modern and traditional)
Macedonian music (both from the Greek side and the Slavic side)
Lebanese, Turkish & Egyptian Arabic music
Armenian music
Russian music
Israeli music
South American music
So feel free to give our office a call, tell us what you need, and then we can discuss whatever special music you would like our DJ to provide.