New York DJ

Many of the couples that hire us to DJ their weddings in the New York City area choose us because we see eye-to-eye with them in their insistence on lowering the cookie-cutter factor and a boosting the uniqueness of their celebration. Therefore, we know that a couple’s first dance does not always have to be a schmaltzy, obnoxiously positive, or familiar song. Many couples we’ve worked with over the years have chosen subtle and obscure songs that manage to capture the joy of the moment of a first dance, but in a more unexpected way.

A song subtle in its hopeful lyrics and melody but straightforwardly beautiful all the way is Nick Drake’s “Northern Sky” from his 1970 album Bryter Layter. Now, because Drake has an image as an artist whose songs are usually melancholy acoustic tunes with wispy vocals, some might think any song of his would be silly for a first dance, even if a couple is trying to choose a tune that’s a bit more offbeat. At least the song needs to be somewhat optimistic, right?

Well, “Northern Sky” is a definite exception to the moodiness that pervades many of Drake’s songs. While the song still has a haunting quality, it’s actually not hard at all to hear its positive feel. No, it’s not going to hit you over the head with life-affirmingness like a Celine Dion hit, and no, it’s not as cuddly and coffee-house ready as a song by a contemporary acoustic artist like Jack Johnson. That said, “Northern Sky” is a strikingly pretty-sounding acoustic guitar-and-piano tune, with insightful lyrics about a person becoming open to the small wonders of life (“I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea / I never held emotion in the palm of my hand”) after meeting someone whose presence brings warmth to his bleak environment (“Now you’re here / bright in my northern sky”). While most wedding planning websites with first dance songs ideas rarely feature one offbeat song like “Northern Sky,” we’ve found, at least in the New York City area, there’s plenty of couples who crave a song like this – one that has more of a complex meaning to its happiness – for a first dance.

A memorable cover version of “Northern Sky” was released in 1991 by a little-known English band called Faith Over Reason, whose sound echoed that of female-fronted jangle-pop groups like The Sundays or Sixpence None the Richer. While still subtle, Faith Over Reason’s version of the song, from their collection Eyes Wide Smile, sounds a bit more more hopeful than Drake’s original, due to a touch of electric and slide guitars, but mostly to the innocent exuberance of singer Moira Lambert’s vocals. It almost sounds that by the end of the song she’s breaking into a smile.

Though Drake was likely referring to his cold northern skies of England in his lyrics, as a first dance this song gets an added dose of meaning for couples getting married in the New York City area (especially those those getting married in the fall and winter) because of the cold northern skies here. This might sound like a too-small detail, but we’ve found if a couple is having trouble deciding between first dance choices, sometimes it’s little sentimental things like this in a song that help them make up their minds.

Nick Drake – Northern Sky

Faith Over Reason – Northern Sky

Trying to determine if your DJ likes music may sound silly – if they’re DJs, a passion for music, or at least for a few styles of music, is a given, right? Well, unfortunately, it’s not. Over the years of being in the mobile DJ business in the New York City metropolitan area, we’ve seen first hand – and heard from many clients – that often DJs and DJ companies don’t seem to put a lot of attention to diversifying their playlists or taking the time to create an original mix of songs that is both accessible and fresh.

You probably know the kind of DJs I’m talking about – the cheeseball who cracks lame one-liners and wears a “cur-razy” silver sequined suit to incite you to getting up to dance to tired disco hits; or the cooler-than-thou hipster behind the turntables that yes, really knows his one genre of music, but, unfortunately, that’s all he knows, and so he plays it to death all night; or the DJ company that comes with a bunch of “party motivators” dressed in sexy or silly costumes and practically rips you out of your chairs after dinner, bullying you into dancing to a generic mix of recent Top 40 singles.

Yes, these are all things we’ve either witnessed or have had clients witness. Perhaps you have as well. And seeing this kind of thing calls into question that very basic assumption that a DJ actually likes music. If more of them did, maybe they’d be able to switch between genres more impressively, or need less gimmicks to cover up the limp quality of their song selections.

You’d think that even if a DJ or DJ company wasn’t that into the songs and instead more into the entertainment or MCing part of an event, at least they’d put a little time in to freshen up their playlist a bit for the events at which they spin. But this takes a bit more effort – to do it, you often need to meet more than once with a client to learn more about their specific musical preferences, or you need to spend time discovering what songs are popular in a newer or vintage genre that you might not be that familiar with. It’s much easier for these DJs or DJ companies to simply stay in their limited musical comfort zone, or to “help out” lame songs by doing something like having party motivators put on plastic dog masks and bark at guests as the DJ spins “Who Let the Dogs Out.” (Unfortunately, that’s a real anecdote about a DJ company that we recently heard from a client.)

So, to help you find someone who’s actually excited about crafting a playlist for your event instead of relying on a tired, limited, or a one-size-fits-all mix of songs, here’s a few questions you can ask when you interview DJs or DJ companies for your event. We welcome these questions from clients, and the good thing about asking these questions is that after you do, you should know from the DJ’s answers rather quickly whether they’re enthusiastic about music or certain genres of it rather quickly – luckily, passion tends to be hard to fake.

1) Ask The DJ What They Like to Listen to On Their Own – You can quickly find out a little information about a DJs personal preferences if you ask them this question. While they may tell you about songs or artists that you haven’t heard of, or ones couldn’t play at your event (the DJ may even be aware of this and mention it to you, just so you don’t get worried), getting an indication of their private tastes can be a window into seeing how unusually deep they are into a few types of music, or be the start of a slightly too detailed but endearing story about their large vintage record collection that’s threatening to take over their apartment. These answers are both good indicators that there’s a real enthusiasm for music going on there. Or, on the other hand, this question could result in an answer from the DJ about how they really dig the newest popular dance songs, like that new one “Tonight’s the Night” by The Black Guy Peas, and you’ll try to not crack your smile or a laugh since they don’t even realize they got the name of the song and the band wrong. You get the idea – either way, whether the answer’s good or bad, after asking this question you’ll probably have a better idea of what the DJ is more familiar with musically, and what they’re not.

2) Ask Them How They Got Started – This is a great way to see where their experience and motivation is coming from. In the answer, you might get a pleasant story about how the DJ was inspired by how his father would sit down by the record player and share his soul 45s with him when he was a kid. Or, again, on the other hand, you might find out that the DJ mostly runs a computer printer replacement cartridge business but DJs because his brother recently left him with the equipment and song library after moving to Arizona, so hey, why not? Now, this kind of answer doesn’t automatically mean a DJ like that doesn’t enjoy music a lot, but it probably also means that his motivation lies more in seeing entrepreneurship opportunities than it does in crafting an original mix of songs for several hours.

3) Ask Them What They Like Best About DJing – By asking this question, you can often see where a DJ’s specific passions are. Some may tell you they love the preparation of listening to the requests of the client and thinking about how they will likely fit these in with the songs that the DJ already feels will work for that client. Others may tell you they really enjoy that they’ve learned to move around organically between genres of music that one might not think would go together automatically, and in doing this, feel they make guests appreciate songs a little more that they might not have before. Or, some might give you a vague and slightly hesitant answer about how they love “just…playin’ the music…for the crowd…and, you know…just playin’…all kinds of great tunes.” In this case, it’s a safe bet that their passion is simply collecting your check at the end of the event.