DJs - Matthew Kurowski
- Business: Stumptown DJs
- Location: Portland, Oregon OR
- Experience: 13 Years
- Profile: Stumptown DJs
- Website: stumptowndjs.com
1. Introduction: What's your story?
Hi I'm Matt the owner of Stumptown DJs. I started DJing in 2008 during the housing crisis. When the economy took a turn for the worse and I needed to find a new job just to make ends meet. While searching, I found that there were a lot of gigs being offered for a DJ on Craigslist. I had DJ'd parties in the past but nothing ever formal. I had a lot of music that I owned, bought some DJ gear, and went for it. As for weddings, I was trained at a local venue here in town by a few other seasoned wedding DJs. They showed me what I needed learn and I worked on my craft until it was polished. Then I went off on my own and officially started Stumptown DJs.
Stumptown DJs is a local DJ business here in Portland. We specialize in weddings, parties, mitzvah's, school dances, you name it. If it needs music, we can do it. With weddings, we focus on the music, keeping things organized, and it all running smoothly. Every one of our DJs mix music, MC, and coordinate portions of the event that directly involve us. We have 13 different DJs on staff. Check us out and you'd find why we are one of Portland's favorite DJs companies.
2. What's your experience as a wedding DJ? How many weddings have you done?
I, myself have probably DJ'd over 200 weddings but I honestly have never counted. As a company we've done close to 2000 since our humble beginnings in 2008. Most of our crew come from the night club industry, a few started in their bedroom, but all wanted to learn more about Djing weddings and that's where I came in. Each one of our DJs has been formally trained with my Stumptown DJs processes and are well versed in professional wedding DJ acumen.
3. How far in advance do couples need to book your services?
Generally it's wise to book at least 6 months prior to your wedding in order to get your choice of DJ. We like all our customers to choose the right DJ for them. As we get closer to the summer, we do get some days where we are fully booked up or times where you don't really have much options other than the one we assign you. Hence the earlier you book, the better. :-)
4. What's your rate? What does that include?
We have a 3 tiered system. Our rates vary from $975 to $1,400 for 4 hours. Each additional hour is billed separately at a flat rate depending on the tier you choose. Setup and teardown are included in our pricing. A better description of our pricing breakdown can be found on our website. We believe in full price transparency so you never have to worry about hidden costs with us.
5. Are you available to travel if needed?
We are always up for travel and we love to fly but more often, customers ask us to drive only a few hours. We do like to compensate our DJs for their gas and travel time so we charge $.90 per mile round trip from our office if the venue is more than 10 miles outside of Portland. And if the venue is more than 250 miles from our home office, we also require that the client pays for a hotel room for the DJ that evening of the event.
6. How would you describe your style?
I'd rather rephrase that and ask, "What's your style?" That's because we play music the way you want it played and what you actually like to hear, not what we like. It's your event not ours so whether you want us to do mashups, have crazy awesome transitions, or you want to hear the song all the way through, we DJ the way you want it. :-)
7. What's your backup plan if there's an equipment malfunction? Do you bring backup equipment?
We always bring back up equipment. We bring 2 sound systems with us, 2 laptops, and more than 1 microphone for any event we are working. Not to mention, we have oodles of back up wires that every DJ brings with them so we are never without backup.
8. What's your sick day policy?
We always have a back up DJ on any day of any event we have. Usually that person is the owner, and who wouldn't trust their event with the owner of the Stumptown DJs? On the days that the owner is DJing an event, we keep another Tier 3 DJ on call for these types of situations. And with the planning documents we have on file for each customer, it's easy for any of our DJs to take over for another when it's needed.
9. How do you motivate a shy crowd to dance? What do you do to motivate the crowd if nobody is dancing?
This is rarely an issue with us because we always focus on crowd reading to get the right songs on at the right moments and keep people dancing. However, on the off chance that this does happen, we first off suggest one member of the married couple gets their booty shaking on the dance floor. And no one would ever want to leave a bride or groom on the dance floor by themselves. Once that happens and many others gravitate towards the action. And nothing is ever needed to be said on the mic. Don't get me wrong, if the crowd does require a little hype on the mic, we aren't too shy to do it, we just prefer to make that our last resort because the event is never about us, it's about the couple.
10. What is your cancellation and/or refund policy?
Our cancellation/refund policy is pretty straight forward but difficult to write it all down here. However, we always review it verbally with every client prior to them booking with us. And due to Covid, we've had to be really flexible with rescheduling and refunds so don't worry, we are all in this together and we understand when and if you have to cancel.
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