Intermountain West Wedings with Richie T. of Best DJ In Utah – E92
Richie T. of Best DJ in Utah and Matt Campbell of My Wedding Songs sit down and chat about weddings and music. Listen to a fun-filled episode with topics including:
- Memorable Weddings
- Live Musicians & Magical Moments
- About Richie T. and Best DJ in Utah
- Current Hits Filling Dance Floors
- Song Requests
- Typical Wedding Moments including receiving line
- Picking Wedding Music Tips
- DJ = Film Director
- Line Dances
- Wedding Playlists
- Accepting Choices
Podcast Transcript
Welcome to the Wedding Songs Podcast. I am Matt Campbell. And today I’m very fortunate to have Richie T on the podcast. He is based in Utah and go ahead and say hello, Richie.
Well, hello everyone.
Today, I am going to just have a conversation with Richie to talk about music and, learn about him and about weddings in the Intermountain West area.
So, Richie, you know, just to get things started, I always want to start off with an icebreaker. So tell me a little bit about your most memorable wedding.
Memorable Weddings
Well I, I thought about this I’m going to tell you two and I’ll be brief with them. One is the most like, oh my gosh, I can’t believe this happened.
And then one was like, oh, this was pretty cool that this happened and I’ll tell you the disaster first. So this was the last wedding I did before COVID shut everything down. We’re getting to the toasts and the maid of honor had started drinking probably the day before. Easily, maybe days before, I mean, the fact that she was able to stand was pretty remarkable and she gets up and she’s doing her maid of honor toast.
And she says to everyone, well, we all know that they don’t really love each other. This is her toast. And you know how sometimes within a toast, you can hear like, someone will start out with that bombastic phrase. And then you’re like, okay, the punchline is coming here. They’re going to bring it around and we’re all going to laugh. It put us on our heels, but it, it, it ended up being okay.
That was not what she did. She’s like, we all know that they don’t really love each other. And, and the only reason that they’re getting married is because she’s pregnant, which she was. And very few people knew they had told me because they said we don’t think that you ever will say anything like this.
But I do feel like I’m starting to show a little bit and we don’t want any sort of jokes. And I was like, I would never, but I appreciate you letting me know. So she says, and the only reason they’re getting married is because, you know, she’s pregnant. And we’ll be doing this wedding thing again in a couple of years when she finds someone that she loves.
And, and it was just unreal. The response that was in the room to the point that people started booing her and then she just tripled down where she was like, come on. I know we’re all thinking about it. I know we’re all feeling it. What? I’m the only one that’s going to tell the truth. A couple of groomsmen, this was at one of our ski resorts, picked her up and took her to the lift.
Told the security people, do not to let her back up here for any reason. And then, you know, sent her down the mountain. And then what was, and this is the kind of person I am? I became a Facebook friend with this bride. Cause I was like, I got to see how this pans out. And then as it turns out, she did get divorced like six months later.
So now my question is, is that made of honor and that bride friends, because she was the only one that was being honest with her, or was it like, I can’t believe how tactless you were, or whatever? So, that’s my disaster. Most memorable moment that I’ve ever been a part of. One that this just recently happened, but that I was pretty proud of actually at a different ski resort.
We do a lot of that in Utah, a lot of people, especially in the, in the mid summertime, because it’s so hot down in the valley like it is in Vegas for you. People escape to the mountains. They want to be able to have cool mountain air, all this stuff for their receptions. We’re up there and we’re doing dinner and this guy comes and talks to the bartender, and then the bartender brings her, brings this guy to me and I’m like, this is not part of this wedding celebration.
Who is this guy? And this guy comes up to me and he says, Hey, how are you doing? And he presumes that I work for. This, you know, particular ski facility and is like, Hey, I want to give you my card. I want to play music at weddings. I’m a classically trained guitarist. I want to be able to do that.
And I’m like, that’s cool. I don’t run this place. I’m just here tonight, whatever. But I’ll take your card and maybe I can pass it along to people. And then as he’s sort of taken the steps up to walk away, I said, wait a minute. Do you have your guitar here with you? Right now and he’s like, yeah, it’s in the car and I was like, okay.
Well here goes in my mind I’m thinking this is quite the gamble what I’m about to do, but if this pays off it’s gonna be pretty rad So he goes and gets his guitar and comes back and then I come into the room where we’re doing dinner And I said ladies and gentlemen I have a very special surprise, a gift that I wanted to give the bride and groom for their wedding.
And they’re looking at me going, We don’t know what this is. You, you, we did not talk about this. What is this thing that you are doing? And I brought this guy in and we sort of roughly mic’d him and he played one of the greatest, I don’t know what song it was, I couldn’t tell you anything like that.
But he sat down and just, like, just every stereotype of, The classical guitar, you know, he’s moving with it and slowly emoting through the things. And it was this beautiful song to the point that it gets done and everyone is like, yeah, that was amazing. And everyone thought that it was a joke, a setup by me.
That you know, that they had obviously planned and hired this guy to come and play a song. And then, you know, it comes out later. They’re like, did you know he was coming to the bride and groom? And they’re like, no, we had no idea. And I was like, oh yeah, no, that guy was just passing through. And I decided to get him to come play a song.
So that was definitely a gamble, but one of the best moments I’ve had at a wedding in a while.
Live Musicians & Magical Moments
Well, I think that that’s part of being the DJ of living in that moment and accepting that moment and, and running with it. Wouldn’t you say, though, that, going off of that, the live musicians at receptions are becoming or are a hot thing right now?
I see a lot of saxophonists and guitarists for the dinner hour. Are you seeing more of that in your area?
Yeah, definitely. With some of the higher-end folks, I’m even seeing a fusion of it, right? , there’s a, a set that the DJ and saxophonist play together for some portion of the evening, or you know, the guitarist and a drummer and the DJ will do something.
There are all types of those things, and I’m here for it. Because, you know, I, I can still… And this is where I think some ego gets in the way as they go, you know, some DJs will be like, no, it has to be me. I am the, I am the show. No one else is on the show. It’s me. But I’m like, no, if I can get this and we can have this unique thing to the point that people are saying, this is an evening that was crafted, created by this DJ.
With a whole lot of other people, no one will ever have something similar. I mean, that’s the day and age we live in. Take a picture, and put it on Instagram. You won’t ever have this special thing that I had. That is the epitome of what we live in.
Yeah. I went to a wedding meetup the other day and they said, if it doesn’t exist on Instagram, it never happened.
So yeah, and there’s no more of a flattering thing. Then you’re doing something at a wedding, something on the dance floor, something during dinner or something. When people are grabbing their phones and going, I have to capture that, that’s when you know you have done a thing that is unique, that is special, that is hireable, that is important, that is significant, all of the things.
That’s fantastic. So I just want to talk a little bit about you. I did a little bit of research because you’re the owner of the Best DJ in Utah. And I saw that you had 377 five-star reviews on Google, which is fantastic. So tell me a little bit about you and about the best DJ
About Richie T. and Best DJ in Utah
in Utah. So I worked for another guy, well, let me tell you how I got into the business.
So I I grew up doing alternative rock radio. That’s how I got my start producing a morning show fairly well-known nationally, blah, blah, blah, all the things, right? They were great. And I was working one time on an on-air shift and somebody called into the radio station and said, Richie, we really want you to DJ our wedding.
And I said, listen I appreciate that, you know, that a wedding DJ and a radio DJ have the same title, but it is a completely different list of responsibilities. I don’t know if I’ll pass, right? And just sort of ended it there. And then they called up again, maybe the next day or a couple of days later, or they emailed, they got back in contact with me and were like, hey we still want you to DJ our wedding.
And, I went to college with Rob Ferre so he was my roommate way back in the day I’ve known him long enough since that he was Rob Ferry when I first knew him before he made the name change. That’s the thing I tease him about, but you know, legend as far as the DJ space, he teaches a lot of places.
I’m sure that most people listening will at least know of him. And I, I asked him, I said, what should I do about this? And he said, here’s what you do. Make up a number that no one will ever pay and then put it on them. Then they, you tell them the number, they say they can’t afford it. And then, you know, you don’t have to do it and all that stuff.
So I was like, okay. And I don’t remember the number I made up, but I said you pay me this. And they said, deal. And I was like, Oh, well, I guess I got to learn how to do this now. So I went back to Rob and I said, Hey, they said they’ll pay it. And now here we are. It was New Year’s Eve, 2009 to 2010. And I think up to that point I had been to like one.
Civil wedding here in Utah. We do some religious weddings. I’ve been to those but those aren’t like what you think of right? It’s not at all like a regular civil kind of ceremony So I didn’t have any idea what a processional was or what a recessional was and I said Rob I need your help. So he comes and he’s like, okay I’ll walk you through the ceremony and he helps and he’s you know And then we’re gonna do this and whatever and we get done and he’s playing the recessional music and then he’s like well I gotta go to another gig, here’s my backup computer, there’s a folder on there that says bangers or something like that, play anything from that list, you’ll be fine, call me tomorrow and let me know how it went.
And I was like, wait, you’re leaving me? Hadn’t told me that he was gonna leave me. And so I was like, I, how okay. Now I had the fortunate opportunity that this was New Year’s Eve. At a private location where the bar had been completely paid for and everyone had a bus ride down to their hotel room.
New Year’s Eve, by 9:15 I could have been playing Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma” and it wouldn’t have mattered. But it was super cool, like being able to craft the songs and I’m like, oh I know this song, and watching everyone just… Immediately reacting to it I was like, there’s something cool here.
So for a little less than a decade, I worked for him. And then in about 2000, 16, 17, I decided I’d start doing my own thing. And I thought, well, you know I had always teased. Rob about the name of his company, because he is Life of the Party, which is great, but he tried to get a domain and he had to buy it’s like life hyphen, you know, ampersand of, you know, emoji this.
And I’m just like, that’s awful to try and track down. So I was like, well, what, what do people search? When they’re trying to find a DJ in Utah, and I was like, like, good DJ? No, you know, best DJ. They want the best DJ in Utah. So I bought the domain and then and then immediately just started doing that, doing it by myself.
And then since then have You know, hired four or five guys that work for me and we’re, we’re out every weekend. And to the point of reviews, I’ll say this, there’s, as you can probably imagine some DJs in the state of Utah who will say, you’re not the best. What do you mean you’re the best? In that sweet, insecure way that you know, DJs all over, you know, we sort of posture towards everyone.
And I was like, okay, well, you’re right. I’m, I mean, I’m not the best. I bought a domain. For 11. 99, but what I decided, what I decided to do was, okay, I mean, I can’t, I don’t even know in which you adjudicate someone’s DJ skills or whatever the thing is. Right. But I was like, but I can make a point to make sure that I have the most and the highest amount of reviews.
So if anyone says what makes you the best, I can say scoreboard right there. You know? Look at that and so I, I, you know, leaned into that and have found a tremendous amount of success being able to get people to do that. That’s
Awesome. The sound effects. Yeah. I was going to ask you about SEO reasons, cause that’s my background and yeah, you could have the best Utah DJ near me.
Well, and there’s that there’s, it’s funny that you say that because just today it’s listening to the restaurant in New York that they have named the restaurant. Thai food near me, right? And now it’s all the buzz because for the very reason seo people search And that’s what you have to think about and I know without question That a portion, I don’t know what portion, but a portion of my business comes from the very simple best DJ in Utah, Google search.
Absolutely. A hundred percent. Well, just like me for My Wedding Songs. Of course, I have to get wedding songs in there because I want to rank for wedding songs. Yeah. Yeah. Same reason. Very cool. So get back to a little bit about the music that’s popular. Are there any hits that you’re finding that are filling the dance floor that, you know, people are having a good time too?
Current Hits Filling Dance Floors
I mean, in particular, I, I think I’d say just sort of a generalized statement about it. I think that it’s super important and when I, when I’m doing this, I think that I’m more energetic and I think my dance floors are, but really paying attention to like The movie soundtracks and the, and, you know, TikTok and social trends.
And I think that can kind of be a timeless piece of advice as opposed to like, the Barbie girl from Barbie movie has really been right. Like you, if you are just paying attention, eyes open, paying attention to what is showing up in those places and then making sure you have it. I think that, that almost becomes like a little bit of a challenge for me.
Like am I doing something or like when the kid comes up or someone comes up and says, hey, do you have this if I have no idea, two things happen within me, and I go, oh, crap, what are they talking about? Right. And. Oh, I got to write that down and find out exactly what they’re talking about so that this doesn’t happen again.
And I think that that’s a really great way to, you know, to keep it fresh and, and to be able to make sure that you’re on the cusp of stuff. But, but for, for me, what I have found particular pleasure in… Most recently, probably the last couple of years is like, I’ll try and be the guy who plays something that people haven’t heard from for, for a long time.
So that people are like, Oh yeah. And what it came from, I watched that Bee Gees documentary that came out a couple of years ago. I think it was on HBO and I was like, Oh yeah. The Bee Gees have so many great songs that you sort of forget about. Cause we get swept up in like, you know, staying alive and some of these other ones that I, that like occasionally I’ll drop in something like that.
And people will come up older generation, but even some of the younger folks who are like, I haven’t heard that or who is this? And, and that’s another thing for me where I’m like, yeah, don’t forget. We have lots of great new music, but there’s a lot of older music that we have just kind of forgotten along the wayside.
Song Requests
So speaking of that, are you taking requests when you’re DJing?
Weddings? Always. Okay, and the way I deal with it I don’t know if it’s unique But the way that I deal with it is right as I’m opening up the dance floor or when I’m doing like that Hey, I’m the DJ for the night.
You can pull me aside and make a request if you would like I say something like but but be warned if you request a song, I’ll probably play it unless the bride and groom have said don’t play any requests. If you make a request, I’ll probably play it. And if it sucks, I will tell everyone that you were the one that made that request.
And that, I mean, it’s pretty, I don’t think everyone can get away with it. My personality can get away with it, but it really has sort of tempered. Some of the, Oh, you know what? They’re going to love songs that you always get. It’s like, no, they’re not. They aren’t. And let’s, I’ll play it. And then I’m pointing to you and everyone will boo you.
So we have, I have some fun with that a little bit.
Typical Wedding Moments
I wanted to ask you about just traditional versus modern we’re talking about first dance songs. Of course, most couples are doing first dance songs still now, but are you seeing them anywhere in your area? Like the bouquet toss, the cake cutting?
Are they just Kind of phasing those out or what, what’s happening? Good, good question. So Utah, we are steeped in tradition and we do something that I don’t, I don’t even know that they do anywhere else. I’ve never done it when I’ve done a wedding in Idaho, or I was just in Wyoming this last weekend in Nevada this weekend, where they do a receiving line here.
And some people listening to this may not even know what that is. It is the most boring thing you could ever possibly do at a wedding reception. You have the ceremony and then you open it up and both sets of parents stand on the respective side of the bride or groom and you stand and say, Johnny, this is your mom’s best friend, Dave, from college.
Great. I don’t care. I’m glad we’re standing in this line instead of doing something else. And we do that for hours at some of our receptions here. Not all of them. But within the, within the Utah market, we have a thing called the dirty 30, which is when you have a three-hour reception, because people will get a lot of LDS people, they get married somewhere else in the temple and then they come and do a reception, right?
And the first hour and a half is the receiving line. And then they, yeah, as you lower your head, people can’t see you just going, what are we doing here? And then we do the formalities. And then what you have left is about 30 minutes of time to dance. And we call it the dirty 30. Cause you have to go into it so hard.
Because you have to have them feel like, man, what a crazy dance party that was because they’re leaving in 30 minutes. And so let’s go after it. So the receiving line is one that I wish would go away that I know that we do here. The last dance, that’s the thing that has come about, I feel like, really, since COVID.
You have everyone do their whole thing, and then you send everybody out to do the receiving line, and then they do a last dance, just the two of them. And some couples have opted not to do a first dance anymore, and just have the last dance, right? They, especially those shy couples that are like, listen, we don’t want the attention, if you can make my mother, and son, dance 20 seconds long, I’d love it.
And then they’ll have that last dance. And in a lot of ways, I sort of like it because it’s the culmination of the entire day. I step out of the room as well. And they have the moment to be like, Hey, babe, we made it. Isn’t this great? I love that we’re here. And now we’re going to step out of this place and begin our life.
It’s, I, in a lot of ways, like it more than the first dance.
Yes. I love couples that are doing that just because it gives them a chance to recap their day and say, okay, everything’s calmed down instead of, okay, rushing out. Oh, no, now what? Okay. We’re driving off. What just happened? Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And, and as far as the receiving line, I DJed in Montana. So yes, we were always behind the times and traditions. And I always told couples, please, if you’re having a receiving line, just have it at the ceremony. Have it at the end, don’t have it at the reception, but yeah, that’s, that’s a time kill for, for you for an hour and a half. That’s, that’s crazy.
Yeah, I say, listen, I don’t think you should do a line, I, I don’t… And, you know, ultimately I’ll do whatever people pay me to do. Right. There are some people that are like, I won’t do a line. It’s like, okay, will you not pay your mortgage? I’m betting you’ll pay, you know, you’ll do the line.
But I’ll say things like, listen, I’m cutting it off at eight o’clock or you will never get out of that or seven 30 or whatever the thing is. So let’s do it. And let’s do that line so hard. And then I’ll be the bad guy. Guys, they’re not standing there anymore. We’re moving to a different thing. Thank you.
We appreciate it. Good night. You know, let’s move to the next thing because otherwise it, it, it does. It just ends up being longer and longer. No one wants feelings to get hurt and we just go, go, go, go, go.
Picking Wedding Music Tips
Very good tips. I wanted to ask you about couples planning their music. Are there any tips that you can give to them particularly music that may not be quote-unquote, wedding appropriate?
You have the metal heads and you have the ultra-conservative at each end. Are there any tips that you could give to them to incorporate their music into the wedding?
Yeah, you know I’ll say two things about that. One of the things that I say, and this is the first thing, you know, in the consultation that I do beforehand, is I say, hey, I’m going to give you guys a lot of suggestions today.
And you don’t have to take any of them. There, there are no wrong answers as far as your wedding goes, unless you’re doing something you don’t want to do. And that’s how I begin the whole thing. So, you know, then, you know, that can look like I’m doing this because my mom wants me to do this. I’m doing this because tradition tells me I should do this or whatever.
And so I have that kind of branch into, the music portion of the evening as well. Listen, if you love metal, people know that you love metal. And so if you are, you know, a delicate a thousand years, you know, going in and you’re, you know, can’t help falling in love by Daniel Yang coming out, like people know that you’re, you’re doing something that isn’t true to who you are.
Now, should you, you know, metal thrash everyone? I, I, I don’t know. I don’t think so, but there is a way you can do it. And, typically where those things go, I feel like cake cutting is an amazing opportunity to be able to incorporate a song that maybe doesn’t air quotes fit with the rest of the evening.
I think a groom song to come down the aisle can kind of be fun. And especially now where we’ve gotten into like having flower boys or flower men bringing, coming down the aisle. And some of those things like a groom song to come down if he’s, you know, on board for the rest of the day, but I had a groom recently who he was like, listen, I love my wife so much.
I, we are paying this out of pocket. I have given her literally everything that she wants for what this is, but I will be walking down the aisle to System of a Down’s “Chop Suey” or we’re not doing this and him coming down like it was his opportunity to the equivalent. Of being a walk-up song if he played baseball or they come out on the field if he played football like that was his moment And I tell people to lean into that as as much as they possibly can.
And it’s fun Like I had another couple they were they were really funny He’s a touring stand-up comedian and his wife is equally as hilarious and for their recessional song They wanted to have kind of a joke and so they did. Kanye’s “Gold Digger” as they walked out of the from away from the ceremony and people went what and then they were like, yeah, of course, of course, this couple did that I had a cocktail hour of parody songs all weird al Asked parody songs that people just loved it and they you know, they’re like, what is this song?
I can’t what I don’t know the original and people were paying attention and you know So many times those things are just meh They’re not, they’re a disregarded thing, but that makes it an important thing. So I tell people to lean into who they are because people know it. I think that’s such an important tip because personalizing your wedding day.
It’s it’s not your parents. It’s not your grandparent’s day. It’s your day. It’s the wedding couple and to incorporate those personal moments. And I think another thing that you kind of hit it at to is you have the specific music that you like incorporated in. As a specific moment, don’t have an hour of it at the reception because that’s when people may leave, people may be offended, whatever, having those specific moments, like you’re saying the cake cutting, or just as a recessional, that’s 2 minutes or 3 minutes out of a 4 hour day people, people are going to love that. You’re incorporating that into the day.
Yeah, and I think it’s a DJ’s responsibility to speak from their experience about how those things may play with a larger crowd. You know, I can’t tell you how many times people will, when I’m working with them, I say, you know, give me a few songs that you think would be great to dance to.
And they’ll drop them in an Apple or Spotify playlist because it’s just so darn easy for them to be able to do. And I’ll get it and I’ll look at it and I’ll go, what great music for a road trip. Not for a dance floor. So then I’ll talk to him and I’ll say, Hey, I will play this if that is what you want.
But you need to know that these are not really danceable songs. You know, you’re, you’re watching the sunset with your friend and, you know, if, if this is what you want, I’m here for it, but you need to know that this is also what you’re choosing. So if you want the craziest dance party, like this is not happening with Jack Johnson’s “Angel”.
I appreciate that song. That’s not where that’s going to take us. So. It’s important to have that feedback, that dialogue, and that’s what they hired you for.
100%. It’s amazing how much the DJ is the guide for the day to keep things in order and just.
Help those couples because most couples haven’t been married before, even though they’ve been to a lot of weddings, they have a lot of suggestions, but yeah, they’ve never done it themselves. So it’s important to guide them through, through the day.
DJ = Film Director
Yeah. I always equate it to like, thinking about a director for a film, right?
How many movies have you seen? Hundreds, maybe thousands, but when you’re asked to be the director of the film, do you know what you’re doing? How do you establish the shots? What’s going to look good? How do we capture all this stuff? And so people are like, I know music. And I’m like, yes, you do. You do not know how people react to music and the timeline of things.
And so it really is the difference of like, I enjoy movies. I make movies. I enjoy music. I craft music for events.
Line Dances
Eloquently said. Love it. So just a final thing. I just wanted to ask you about line dances because it’s such a hot topic in the DJ community. I find that you know, it’s so funny that a wedding in California may not want line dances, but a wedding in Minnesota may want line dancing.
You know, my wife’s family’s from Wisconsin. So yeah, they’re, they’re doing the beer barrel polka. It’s still relevant today. So it really depends on your location. What are your thoughts on the hot topic of line dances?
Yeah, well. So Utah line dancing capital of the nation worth noting, and that is real I’m probably partial to it because one of the services that I offer that very few people in the state or even the Intermountain West offer is I teach line dancing.
So sometimes these gigs that I’ll get hired for are literally just me coming to a company or a family reunion or something, and I’m there to teach them. Line dancing and that’s like you know, that’s the team building thing that they did or that’s you know Fun activity that they did during their family reunion.
So it probably doesn’t need to be said, but I’m a fan of it I understand why people don’t want to do it. Some people feel like it’s pretty juvenile You know that it’s just one step away from like head shoulders knees and toes and I get it. We’re not babies but I think it is, I think it is the human phenomenon of line dancing that it levels the playing field so that people aren’t being self-conscious about what they’re doing.
And if you have a dance floor where people aren’t dancing, maybe it’s because, you know, people are self-conscious. The lights are too light. They aren’t drunk enough. They don’t, you know, know what moves or maybe they don’t know the music or it’s been too long since they’ve done it. You level the playing field and say, here is what we’re going to do.
Walk this way. Cool. I’m doing it. Just like everyone else. Put your hands here. Got it. All right, and so for me, I like to have it as a tool to help craft the knight but I 100 percent why people wouldn’t want to have it and I also understand how in some cases it becomes a crutch Where people are like, I have to do it.
I don’t know how I’ll get people to have a good time without it. And I don’t think that’s the place for it either. I think it’s, you know, it’s a delicate balance.
I definitely agree with the approach that you’re going with because when I was deejaying in Montana in the nineties, I did a lot of high school dances and they were out in the middle of nowhere and I taught the “Macarena” and it was just coming out.
They didn’t know how to do it, but when you’re out there teaching them how to do it, or you’re teaching them the latest. Dance craze, maybe you’re teaching them Walker Hayes’s song, you know, you’re teaching them how to do it. It’s a different approach. And I love that that you’re getting everybody involved with that.
It’s rather than like you’re saying, rely, relying on it being a crutch of, Oh, let me just play this. Cause nobody’s dancing. Yeah. Well, what, what, what’s going to happen when they continue not to dance cause you’re playing it? Right, right, right. And it’s interesting you bring up high school dances. I hate high school dances and won’t do them.
I leave them. There are people in my market that I mean, I just, I’ll do them if they’re small schools. I’ll do them if like it’s a favor or something like that. If it’s, there’s a, like a performing arts school. I feel like I have things in common with them. I’ll go and do that. But just a high school, like these kids that yell next and all they want to do is jump, you know, mosh to stuff.
But to the point, that’s just a line dance. That’s just, I want to be like everybody else, that’s a thing I know I can do and it’s a safe thing for me to be able to do in this large social setting. That’s why people like it. It’s not because they’re like, cool, I want to show them my greatest dance moves of this.
It’s, this is a low-bar entry to being like other people. I can jump. And, this is music you’re going to be playing at weddings and 10 years from now.
Yeah. That a great transition to you know, just tell me to close it out, just tell me a little bit about you and your company and how people can contact you.
Yeah, for sure. So on social media @BestDJinUtah, in all the places. The website, bestdjinutah.com. You can Google search Best DJ in Utah like a lot of our out-of-state folks do. And I’ll tell you what, that, that probably is where. That SEO slash name of the business comes most in play, you know, when you’re here local, they know someone else or they’ve been to a thing and they see something else.
But if I get on a call from someone from Florida talking to a guy from Boston, Mass yesterday, who’s like, I Google searched. We don’t know anyone. It’s a destination thing. You have this many reviews, take our money. It’s not, I’m not having to be like, well, you know, we use the evolved fifties and the, you know, it’s none of that.
It’s social proof. Take my money. See you next June with those kinds of things for out-of-state folks. So best union Utah. com. One of the things that we really focus on is. Is being more than just the person that plays the music to lean into a little bit, what you said, like one of the taglines, I guess I would say, as I’m visiting with people in the sales call is I’ll say, you know what, it’s our goal that all you have to worry about is being with your spouse.
And your family and friends that have come in for this thing and let us take the rest of the worry whether this is ready to go, that people are going to be paying attention to this. And I think a lot of DJs do that, but we really heavily lean into, I know that you’re going to need water during photos.
I’m going to take care of that for you. Is it my job? No. Does it come with a hit song that I play while I do that? No, it does not. But it makes a difference because then they didn’t have to be out of the moment. That picture didn’t have to take longer. We were able to dance. And so we really try and be like, almost like a day of coordinator that is in charge of the music.
And an unpopular opinion. This is just between me and you. I think that people are pretty forgiving if I play a song that sucks. If I’ve taken care of them. The entire day, right? Like, I think, oh man, they’re really gonna like this Bee Gees song that they haven’t heard for a while and I throw it out there and it’s like I throw a turd in a punch bowl and everyone goes, what is this?
I don’t think that they go, oh man, what a, what a jerk that guy was if I’ve taken care of them all throughout the day. I think they go, oh yeah, he’ll change it. He knows he threw that out, he’ll change it, he’ll get us something else, but man, he took care of us so well in all of the ways, that I think it’s just, to think of ourselves as one particular thing and only that thing, and I know that there are DJs that do that, I think it misses the point.
Pronouncing Names
I 100 percent agree. I mispronounced somebody’s name at a wedding, but I took care of it. They rock the party at night. And they were like, you’re awesome. Yeah. Totally forgot. You know, the mishap. So isn’t that the worst though? The names, I swear to you, like music used to make me so anxious and all of those things don’t anymore.
It is the names. Of people, you know, I had a Govel over the weekend and it spelled G O V E L and I was like Govel? And a thousand times the day of I’m like govel, it’s govel, it’s govel, it’s govel. Just freaking out to make sure that I get it right. All the rest of the stuff I’m like, made in the shade.
Names, that brief moment where you go, is it Govill or Govill, son of a, which is it? I’ve psyched myself up into this, the disaster.
That’s a bad way to close out the podcast. Yeah, right. You know, but I mean, I will say this and you didn’t ask me to but the service that you provide for folks, for DJs and for, you know, people that are planning a wedding, geez, talk about just – It’s such a stressful time because people feel like it has to be exactly right, and I understand that, and people have never done it before, and I absolutely understand that, and you’ve got help from people who did it 30 years ago, your parents, and I understand that as well, so I understand kind of all that, and it’s a large investment typically, monetarily speaking, so to have someone like yourself that comes in and goes, yeah, yeah, yeah, it still might be a little bit hard, but let me show you All of this, and just easily to understand, easy to access with the stuff that you do, it’s, you know, it’s it’s an incredible service that I don’t think you get enough credit for and, and I just think it’s and, yeah, it’s, it’s amazing, the ease, that’s what I appreciate.
Just the ease of being able to consume what it is that you do. Well, thank you very much. Actually a shameless plug within the next two weeks, I’m releasing a book called The Bride’s Guide to Wedding Music. It’s only 27 pages, but it’s, it’s everything you need to plan your wedding music. It’s the reception guide, the ceremony guide, and song suggestions for each, but the most important thing is, here are the popular songs and here are the unique songs because a lot of couples today don’t want the same songs played at every wedding for the last 30 years.
So that’s what’s coming out in the next couple of weeks. That’s awesome. Where, where do people get it? Amazon.com.
There it is. Okay. Yep. To that point, and I’ll, I’ll say this, cause this is kind of a funnier way to end this. What I absolutely love, and you probably saw this, cause I think it just reoccurs.
Wedding Playlists
The people who are like, we’ve got a really particular taste in music. You probably haven’t heard this before you know, so we’ll, we’re going to develop a playlist for you. And then we’ll get it over to you. And you know, in your mind, you’re like, geez, what kind of, what are, like, are we doing like a Persian fusion?
What are we, what is this playlist going to get? And then you get it and it’s like ushers. Yeah. And flow, right? As low and all these things that you play week in and week out. And you’re like, Oh okay. Yep. You guys are unique. You’re you’re wild, crazy sense of adventure and music. I think I can accommodate what you guys are after.
I talked to a bride a couple of weeks ago and she said, this is awesome. We have this great cake-cutting song “Cake by the Ocean”. I love the parody. You’re like, yeah, that’s been played for since it first came out. Yeah. But embracing, embracing the chain or the choices of people, I think is. It’s sort of fun.
Accepting Choices
I know you want to wrap this thing out. I can talk forever, but like being able to be just like So to go back to some of the traditions people still here do a lot of garters garter and and and I mean just a couple things I’ll say about that is like read where that tradition comes from and And then, you know, you have your 21st-century eyes looking at that and you go, okay, that’s what we’re doing.
And then just the uncomfortability of like, Hey, don’t mind me. I’m going to put my head underneath your daughter’s dress. Stay over there. Got this. But when people will tell me, yeah, we’re going to do the garter toss, you know, that the response is. What a great choice, man. That’s going to be such a fun night, the fun portion of the night.
Let’s make sure that that is the moment that you want. So embracing, you know, people don’t know any better. No.
And, incorporating better ways, like talking to other DJs that don’t invite just all the single people invite. All the married and single people attach the garter to a football. So that way they’ll want to catch it, you know, just incorporating that little, little personal touches or, you know, your knowledge and into the reception.
So that way it’s not like every other wedding.
Cool. Thank you very much, Richie. To everybody else, I hope you have a wonderful day, and thanks for listening. Make sure you stay tuned for the next episode coming up in a week.
