Hoosiers in the house.

Fulton's on the River was the place to be on October 22nd. Jennifer Bergquist and Josh Niedner celebrated their wedding in high style. Sara Alair was there doing an awesome job with photography. Fultons looked stunning.

I was extremely excited to assist Tim that evening. We were the perfect DJ's for the night because Jenny and Josh met at Indiana University and both Tim and I went to IU, so the hoosiers were definitely in the house. I couldn't wait to play John Mellancamp, a Bloomington favorite.

The night went along seemlessly. Tim and I rocked the music for cocktails, he really had an understanding of what kind of music the bride and groom wanted to hear. Even the groom, who was worried about us playing sucky music, complimented Tim on his musical tastes. The bride also loved it and kept getting excited when Tim would play songs she LOVED but didn't put on her must play list.

Then came the dancing and it was wild. Everyone and their mother was on the floor for the very first song and it only got hotter from there. The energy in the room was sky high. Every song was a huge hit and Tim even managed to keep the gentlemen on the dance floor. I loved watching the bride dancing with all her friends when we played the hoosier favorite. Tim kept the party going crazy until the last minute. We left on a high note playing Vouge by Madonna. The night flew by and we felt like we had barely gotten started.

It was a great party.

Emily Hard
Fig Media

Party Over Hear!

Jaci and Billy had their wedding reception at the Holiday Inn (insert Chingy song here). The party freaking kicked booty. Everyone was in good spirits as they arrived and it kept getting better as the night progressed. Jennifer assisted me and it was her first dj gig. It was a great gig for her to train on. Even though it was a great gig, it was really intense and I'm glad she was there to support me. We had a lot of guests asking for songs, and some of them were very persistant. They'd always come up while I was transitioning, too! AAARGGHHH!!! I was getting super annoyed with them. I don't play slides. Doesn't matter how many times you ask me. I'm not gonna play it. Maybe if five people ask for it. But not one person asking five times. Here's a sample conversation from the evening (I took a few artistic lisences with the conversation):

Guest - Do you have that Cha Cha Slide?

Jonathan - No, I don't. I'm sorry.

Guest - Are you sure you don't have it?

Jonathan - Yes, I'm sure I don't have it.

Guest - You know the one I'm talking about, right?

Jonathan - Yes, it's the song that goes, "How low can you go..." It's also called the Casper Slide. I typically don't play that song which is why I don't carry it with me unless the bride and groom specifically request it.

Guest - But it's a wedding.

Jonathan - You're right. It is a wedding.

Guest - How can you dj a wedding without the Cha Cha Slide?

Jonathan - That's what I'm doing right now. I seem to be doing a good job with it, too.

Guest - But it's a wedding.

Jonathan - I understand that. I usually don't play typical wedding music like slides.

Guest - You don't play ANY slides?

Jonathan - That's correct.

Guest - What about the electric slide?

Jonathan - Sorry. The bride and groom hired us because we don't play typical wedding music.

I could keep going with the conversation, but you get the idea. It didn't go quite like this, but I wanted to get out my frustration. I actually got out of this conversation after a few lines because I knew it was heading in this direction and I had a transition coming up. This is where I asked Jennifer to step in and talk with her. Sometimes, people just want to talk with someone. Their date is being a dork and not dancing, not having any fun. We're behind the decks having a blast, making the party happen. We're cool and attractive, so they come up to have a conversation. Sometimes I have time and patience. Most of the time I just want to play great music.

Cocktails were in a seperate room where we put an extra speaker and had some classic jazz playing. Once the dining room opened up, we switched to Frank Sinatra and other rat pack stuff. As dinner wound down, I noticed a shift in the energy in room. I couldn't quite put my finger on it in the moment, but I knew that it was time to start dancing. The bride and groom did their first dance before dinner and they didn't want a formal mother/son, father/daughter dance. I had thought this might make it harder to go into dancing, but it ended up being kind of easy. I think I noticed when the right time was to do it and went with it. As I'm breaking the moment down in my head, I remember seeing people getting up from their tables, walking around, the volume of the room got a little louder, people had stopped eating, some people were looking around. I was like, "Bam!" this is it. I threw on some more recognizable rat pack, announced the dance floor open, and BAM!, people start coming out. It did take some work to keep the floor going. Shortly into dancing, the guests organized a group photo outside taking a lot of the dancers away from the floor. When they came back, the floor was packed the rest of the night. I played a wide variety of stuff with a heavy concentration of hip-hop. I was having a blast seeing what combinations I could come up with. My sets mixed generations, going from Billie Jean to Funky Town to Disco Inferno or Don't Stop Til You Get Enough into Crazy by Gnarls Barkley. The guests had tons of fun. I had tons of fun.

--Jonathan Hood (Resident DJ)

Spruit/Strang @ MCA

It is my pleasure to begin this blog entry by honoring a special figure: The letter "I". Imagine this letter in your mind if you will: It is constructed of one horizontal bar at its top, the same-shaped bar at the bottom of its body, and a vertical bar in the middle. Why am I mentioning this simply-crafted and widely used character? This letter represents what the basic floor plan of the Museum of Contemporary Art resembles. My partner Chris and I recently deejayed the reception for Jennifer Spruit and Tim Strang at this space. This was my second visit to this massive, classy, art-laden venue, and there were many surprises and learns that were awaiting me when I traveled there last Saturday.

Granted, this was one of those gigs where I had to meet the couple, gather the music and details, and then perform all in the not-so luxurious timeframe of one week. In other words, "bada-bing, bada-bang, bada-deejay." Seriously. This happens often in this business, and it's no surprise when one of us receives a call and states that the wedding will be on the same week that you get the call. Jen and Tim were very cool and relaxed when we had our final meeting; their laid-back attitudes kept me mutually laid-back, which is always appreciated. Just like the construction of the aforesaid letter "I", their vision of the night was for there to be simplicity throughout the evening: wedding, cocktails, dinner, a speech, and lots of dancing. Their layout was certainly nothing that I had not experienced, yet with the time I had on my hands, I had to hustle like Speedy Gonzales after a can of Red Bull to get everything in order.

For anyone who has ever visited the MCA, one can only describe the main floor (a.k.a. floor 2) as any word synonymous to "big." Essentially, the space is one giant captial "I"—or capital "H", for those who have a sideways perspective towards things. With so much space to cover, Chris and I were going to need a strong setup to get the job done; two speakers was definitely not going to be enough. Our awesome music director Erik equipped us with two distinct outfits: For dancing and cocktails that were being held near the back entrance, we had our basic setup—two 15" speakers, two CD decks, a mixer, and a corded microphone. For dinner, which was being held in the center and near the front entrance of the floor, we used two 10" speakers and another mixer, in which a cordless microphone and my iPod were connected. We were both okay setting up the main rig, but for the dinner setup

1. No taping on the walls or on the art.

2. No sounds should be made during setup while a ceremony is going on (i.e. a soundcheck).

You can only imagine how silently we chortled when we attempted to pull gaffer tape during setting up for dinner. Rip! Rip! RIP! Giggle. It was a challenge, but we accomplished it well.

Musically, the rest of the night was a combination of relaxation and fun: the relaxation came from the instrumental and vocal jazz that we played during cocktails and dinner; the fun came from the blend of 70s and 80s favorites and current hits that we played during dancing. For this gig, I gave my partner Chris (who did an awesome job, by the way) a lot more time and space to play while I took requests and kept watch of the room. My partner is very talented in the deejay department, and I wanted him to get a better feel for the general deejay process. In other words, I was covertly training him to be a lead deejay. I love me. Moving right along, there were a lot of songs I haven't tried before on a dancefloor, such as "837-5309 (Jenny)" and "What I Like About You." I smiled when the Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'" kept people dancing. It's an awesome classic rock song that either works or doesn't, and I'm glad it did not lean towards the latter. There were a few current/past top forties sprinkled in the mix, such as "Crazy in Love" and "Hollaback Girl". We ended the night with the Fine Young Cannibals hit "Good Thing" and with Van Morrisson's "Have I Told You Lately", which were two great ends to a very well-mixed night of dancing.

The big embarrassment I faced in this evening was—and, it was my first time doing so—breaking a flower vase. Dun dun dunnn! When I was setting up the dinner rig, my blazer brushed against one of the long, long branches of the floral arrangement, messing with the balance of the vase, and thus, causing it to tip and fall with a unmistakable crisssssh. My hands went straight over my mouth when that happened. Yes, it wasn't the end of the world…or my deejay career, thankfully…but I did not want the bride or groom to throw a fit over the loss of something they paid for. Instead of getting scared, cowering behind one of the art pieces, or acting as if I did not do a darn thing, I went around to the caterers and the people at the MCA to make sure the area was cleaned and glass shard-free. I even spoke with Jennifer's best friends and offered my concern and attention to them. Surprisingly, it is not an expectation for the deejay to do anything in this situation, but I wanted to show the people around the museum that I was no flake—I took ownership of my accident and did my best to alleviate the situation. Ah, the taste of responsibility. Very scrumptious.

In a nutshell, this wedding went like a blur, but I was glad to be a part of it. And just like the good ol' letter "I", the event was simple, clean, and, well, let's just say the "I's" have it!

- Brent Rolland, resident deejay

Assistant: Chris Weiher
Wedding Coordinator: Paula Florell (You are awesome—thank you for everything!)
Catering: Wolfgang Puck (thank you for the great food, Nicole!)
Photography: David @ Edward Fox Photography (Great job!)

Special thanks to all the vendors and people at the MCA who made this gig a success.

THE MOD DEAL FILES: Cohen/Cherkasov @ Temple Shalom

As I type this entry, I have Haprvarim's "Hava Nagila" playing in my head. Could you fathom that this could considerably be an entry about a Jewish wedding? Well, my little detectives, it is!

Seven of Fig Media's finest team members of the deejay, photo and video realms recently provided the vibrant sights and sounds for the grand wedding of Danny Cohen and Bernard Cherkasov, held at the majestic (and pretty darn big!) Temple Shalom on Lake Shore Drive. Both of these fine gentlemen in question are from multiple backgrounds; the similarity being that they are both of part or whole-Israeli descent. Their special day was definitely not going to be a typical Hora-fest, but that of an international party that would honor their many American, British, and European guests. The festivities of the night included two—count them—two Hora sessions (one lasting over 25 minutes, believe it or not!), a plethora of delightful toasts, a number of Jewish/European traditions (such as Benigoru, an event in which everyone sits in a circle while henna is passed around and a special song is sung), and, last but not least, an incredible dance party complete with colored lights. "Typical" is definitely not the key term for this wedding.

The greatest high I got out of this was being the deejay for this event. Music was definitely the core of the evening, as it is with all deejay gigs. This gave me an opportunity to increase my knowledge of how a traditional (or "modified traditional") Jewish wedding is run, and to see how the celebration is not solely celebrated by those of related ethnicity or religion—it is all-inclusive. Here's the ultimately cool thing about this evening: There was dancing virtually all night—even during the food courses! That's tradition for you! Dinner was graced with the sounds of Azerbajani, Russian and Turkish music, coupled with the awesome sounds of Doug and Kalyan, who were the two talented drummers who played alongside me for the first three hours of the event. Although I was a little shaky at first with the coordination, we locked in very well and simply jammed. Giving the drummers space to solo was a very cool sight; I felt we were definitely heard individually and together. Later on in the evening, we pulled out the star-ball and had Danny and Bernard dance to Glenn Medeiros' "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You." (Come on—you remember that late 80's ballad! You know you do!) After that, I went into a number of great 80s dance songs (i.e. Erasure, classic Whitney Houston, the Buggles, Human League) and body-rockin' dance tunes. I blushed when Emma, one of the emcees of the evening, stated, "Let's give a 'woop-woop' to Brent, the deejay!" in her utterly, utterly charming British accent. "Woop-woop". Delicious.

My two favorite musical moments are the following:

1) Looping the end of Justin Timberlake's "Like I Love You" while I waited for the next event to happen—and watch people continue to dance to it! Lordy!

2) Hearing Danny sing the song he wrote and composed for his husband Bernard. (Yes, this wasn't a deejay-related thing, but it was downright elegant listening and watching Danny's song to Bernard. There was not one closed ear or eye in the huge

Having Tobey as my assistant was a joy. She was a powerhouse during the night, making sure that I was fed and that all lighting cues and such happened at the right times during the night. Her gift of being a people person was put to fantastic use, as she made sure to get to know the other vendors and people working at the Temple. We had a ton of fun dancing behind and in front of the deejay table, as well as on the dance floor with the guests! I even remember us doing "laps" around the table as well…but I am sure the message is well-received here. We both ended the night by getting on the microphone and honoring the couple, their guests, and the awesome toastmasters that were there as well. Not only that, we exited by playing Danny and Bernard's fave song, Elton John's "Are You Ready for Love?" And yes, they were ready.

I thoroughly appreciate all the gigs I go on and perform at; the ones that are truly enjoyable are those that deal with a multi-cultural crowd. The music, mood, and atmosphere is more broad and inspiring, as it draws energy from different backgrounds to make for one big collaborative party—kinda how the team and I of Fig were at this event. Being there was an honor beyond words, and there was not one moment where I did not feel like I was separated from the rest of the crowd. This gig was something to be super-conscious about, but I focused myself on being calm and having a great time. As stated before, this was not your ordinary or straightforwardly traditional wedding, and to tell you the truth, I like it that way.

- Brent Rolland, resident deejay

THE MOD DEAL PLAYERS:
Deejay: Brent Rolland and Tobey Geise
Photo: James Gustin, Lauren Pollock, and Brian Carey
Video: Carl Wiedemann and Melissa Martens

Drummers: Doug Brush and Kalyan Patek (from the Stitely Orchestra—thank you guys!)

Toastmasters: Ilona, Mark, Emma, and Paul (Fabulous job, all of you! Thank you!)

Special thanks goes out to all the vendors and everyone at Temple Shalom. Thank you for making this event shine!

Fig Screes Hermes Films

The house of Hermes and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) partnered to salute the art of short filmmaking through a festival titled Behind the Camera: The Shorts Circuit. The festival was celebrated in New York, LA, and here in Chicago. Lannon Communications was chosen to put on the Chicago screening and cocktail party, and asked Fig to produce the screening portion. I (Megan Taylor) worked directly with Julie Marcus (Lannon) to make this event happen. The screening took place at the Esquire Theatre which just recently shut down, so with help from George Fred (the famous Chicago projectionist) we brought in equitment to make the digital films happen. The night started with a cocktail party next door at the Hermes store on Oak Street, with horderves by Finesse. At 7:30 the guests were escourted to the Esquire Theatre, while the street was lined with male models (my favorite part of the evening.) Then when everyone arrived in the house, Peter Gilbert, director of "Hoop Dreams" spoke to the audience and introduced his and the 5 other films. The other directors included: Griffin Dunne, director of "Addicted to Love;" E. Elias Merhige, director of "Shadow of the Vampire;" Mario Van Peebles, director of "Baadassss!;" Mary Sweeney, producer and editor of "Mulholland Dr.;" and Floria Sigismondi, who makes music videos for the White Stripes, Bjork and David Bowie. You can view the films at http:www.hermes.com.

Fig Producer: Megan Taylor
Event Coordinator: Julie Marcus Lannon Communications
Client: Hermes
Caterer: Finesse Cuisine
Location: Esquire Theatre and Hermes

Jon's Fig-zine articles

October 25, 2006
Here are some pictures I took for Jon Hood's Fig-zine article. I like them! I think they show Jon playfulness and my genius with in the moment ideas: like the speaker bags. Jon has a way around a camera that makes the camera love him. I had fun. We shot for about 30mins.
PS: Jon does a mean George McFly! Click on George.mov at the bottom to see.
Equipment: Canon D5 with 24mm lens





George.mov

fig east painting studio

James and Michele Gustin have launched the fine art branch of fig media incorporated. This week marks the opening of fig east, our first gallery and artist studio space located right next door to fig media inc the other side of the tracks at 1118 W Granville. Michele has moved her current series of large scale work 60" square based on Tang Dynasty figures and other exciting works into the space and is delighted at having room to expand. Some of you may know that Michele has been painting and selling her pictures since she was five, she's still five, still painting and selling her pictures and now she has a big studio to play in. 1500 square feet of raw Uptown space complete with dramatic structural arches and gravel terrazzo floors. We stripped it clean, everything is out, even the toilet sits exposed in the space. And as there is no heating or cooling, we are planning for an elemental winter. Michele is delighted, she has plenty of room to expand and James is excited to see Michele blossom and to have people stopping by already asking if the work is for sale. That's what I'm talkin'bout.
We will have a grand opening party so look for regular updates from fig east and an invite!
James Gustin

Who Says You Can't Play Sexyback 6 Times in One Party?!

Saturday night.... 60 twelve year olds.... A Perfect Event, Food For Thought, Frost, and Fig Media own Stephen Fabro and myself Megan Taylor.... brought togehter to celebrate one special Halloween. And celebrate we did. I arrived and set up my decks along a bar in the basement which was created into a haunted dancefloor. The party started at 6pm sharp and by 6:07 I received my first request from Samantha who was throwin the party for her friends for Sexyback. I played many current hits and really had to go back in time to remember what I was like when I was twelve to make this crowd dance. I realized that playing one hit after another was not going to take away the akwardness of a junior high dance, so I decided to be part of the party and I hit the dance floow with the girls. Dancing w/ the girls got them and myself to loosen up and have more fun. I also invited Samantha to come and listen on my headphones and push play on one of the tracks. That got everyone excited and soon I had a crowd around my table. It was a huge success for me to be a part of the party with the kids and it really set the mood from there. Allowing them to play, allowed myself to play more, and I had a better relationship with my audience. I took all requests and played "Sexyback" a record 6 times in one evening with a close follow up of "Chain Hang Low" 5 times. During one part of the night I looked over at Stephen wearing one girls butterfly wings and I had become an 80's mummy w/ wings and knew the party was a success.

Lead DJ: Megan Taylor
Assistant DJ: Stephen Fabro
Planner: Erica and Jonathan from A Perfect Event
Caterer: Food For Thoguht
Lighting and Design: Frost

A Seasonal After-Party

Chris and I dj'd an afterparty at the Four Seasons Sunday morning. We worked through Arlen Music Consultants. Aaron and Brett were the Bride and Groom, the they really like to party. They hired Arlen to provide a band for the reception (they rocked, by the way) and a dj for the afterparty (us). Dinner started at 8pm Saturday, the band played until 1:30am, we came on and finished at 3am. The guests were dancing their behinds off the whole night! I was getting a little worried that when we started they would be all danced out. Thankfully, they weren't. Chris and I played Top 40, eighties, and nineties hits. Booty shakin' music. "Hot in Herrrrrrrrrre" "Crazy" "Billie Jean" and "Promiscuous" were some of the favorites. Chris was awesome at picking out songs and bouncing ideas off of. Huge props go out to you Chris if you're reading this.

The coolest part about the night was walking in at 10:30 at night like a rock star. We got there really early, but I wasn't sure what kind of party I was walking into, so I wanted some time to check out the crowd and get their vibe. It felt like I was the club dj stepping in to spin the peak hour set. Wait, that WAS what I was doing! Sweeeeeeeet. I like my job. :-)

--Jonathan

Behind the booth at Claire and Eric's Celebration!

I cared very much for this couple, as I was not only there Deejay but Producer as well. As a producer I met with the couple in the initial client meeting to discuss Fig services and i immidiately fell in love with their vision of the night. They wanted to really celebrate their couple with their friends and family who flew in from both coasts, London, and other parts of the world. They wanted and expected a lot from their event and DJ and I was honored to be a part of the event. The event was held at A New Leaf (Fig was working there the night before as well.) Their ceremony was held in the apartment on the third floor, as the officiant announced them bride and groom my assistant Jon played "Uptight Everything is Alright" into the room, and the party moved downstairs for a cocktail hour listening to non-stop motown. My motown collection was stretched as I played one 2 min song after another. Beautiful. I then played a very eclectic world music set for dinner as Blue Plate catered to the guests, including: Buena Vista Social Club, Gabin, Pink Martini, a collection of Bangra music... it was a delight to play to worldly guests. As a DJ I not only play music, but facilitate the evening, so I was on the microphone directing the flow, inviting, and announcing in speeches. At a New Leaf I stood high on the 2nd floor announcing to the guests below me, meaning it takes guts to be charming and cute and myself on the microphone. The speeches from the best man and maid of honor were a true positive reflection of Claire and Eric, as the party was to. The minute that I saw the crowd I got a great feeling inside of me and wanted to hug my assistant Jon upstairs because I knew the event was going to be a great party.
The dancing was awesome, the floor was packed the whole night, and I really pushed my limits of 80's favortie "Men down Under" and some cool hip hop "Ms. Jackson." We ended the party in a Disco set with all of the guests on the dancefloor. I mean all of them, a packed tight event, woo hoo. Jon my assistant is a great Deejay to bounce off of, I learn from hip everytime.
This party gave me confidence as a DJ, not only did I play my great music and facilitate a wedding event, but I was part of it as well. And please read the reflection from the bride and groom Claire and Eric:

How well did your DJ meet your expectations? 5
1 °© poor
2 °© below average
3 °© average
4 °© above average
5 °© excellent
Please describe your rating:
Megan was great. She had a great time, danced behind the mixing board, and
had everyone on the floor.

Did you meet with your DJ prior to your event? yes

Did you work with your DJ to make an agenda for your event? yes

Did the DJ follow this agenda? yes

Please describe your level of satisfaction communicating with your DJ
before the event. Did you feel tended to?
Great. We definitely felt we were in good hands.

Lead Deejay: Megan Taylor
Assistant Deejay: Jon Hood
Caterer: Blue Plate
Photographer: Hiroshima Photography
Venue: A New Leaf

I am the First Woman DJ at Chicago Club

As far as the Chicago Club staff and myself knows, I was the first woman DJ to play at the Chicago Club. So, as far as I was concerned I was going to make an excellent impression. Greg and Karen's party was one that stretched my skills around planning and sequencing time. The two floor plan included: fun and playful introductions and cake cutting into cocktails, one bridesmaid flew over the shoulder of a groomsman in a mount as she entered the room, upstairs for a 5 course dinner and speeches, and back downstairs for dancing. Not only did we have an extended agenda, there was also the prized Michigan St. vs. University of Michigan football game.... and the majority of the crowd was alumn of UofM, so I had a game to compete with, or so I thought. Instead of competing with the game, we brought the game into the dance floor, as the father of the groom made a speacial announcement and shout out, and I followed with the UofM anthem.
My biggest learn of the night was.... patience. Something I often forget.
I had a bigger challenge ahead of me, getting people to dance in a gigantic space... I am learning that this often proves to be a difficult task because the intimacy of the dancefloor is lost, so I have to create a different space. My usual reaction after dinner is... I want people dancing now... But this occasion I learned to be patient and people will come around. I started taking requests, everywhere from hip hop to frank sinatra.... but i realized that i needed take it one song at a time. I chose to be in the moment rather than worry about who was on the floor and what was next, and it soon worked. Brent my assistant set me up wonderfully my playing some older rock songs that led me straight into the 80's song "Mickey" and it worked well. I started breathing and enjoying myself and the night developed very lovely. I recieved mad props from the brides father, and he shared that he would be happy to offer any recommendations. The bride and groom had a magnificent time, and UofM killed Michigan State. All in all a great night for the first female DJ at the Chicago Club.
----Lead Deejay Megan Taylor
----Assistant Deejay Brent Rolland
----Lead Videographer Carl Weidemann
----Assistant Videographer Keren
----Producer Andrew Ettenhoeffer

Greg and Karen at the Chicago Club

Video Document: marriage of Karen Parsons and Greg Aicher on October 7, 2006

The documentation process began at the Chicago Club. The venue is a historic private club (established in 1869) on south Michigan Avenue which has dining spaces, a library, lodging, and athletic facilities.
When I arrived on the 6th floor at 10 am the female contingent of the bridal party was wrangling hair and applying make-up. Stealthily moving about the room I shot an array of candid shots of 3 generations of women preparing for their performance at the church.
A unique aspect of this shoot was that I rode in the limo from the downtown club to the church in suburban Mount Prospect. Typically, when there is any extra room in the limo the still photographer is given priority for the open seating.
Another quirk: the remote Catholic church had a very rigorous protocol for camera placement. It is one of only two venues that I have encountered that mandate that photographers only shoot from the side of the church that favors a clear line-of-site for the grooms face. However, unlike typical Catholic rituals, which are choreographed so that the the bride and grooms’ backs are to the audience for the majority of the proceedings, in this venue the couple sat in chairs facing the audience during the readings and the homily. With this staging and the strong light in the room I was able to record superlative reactions shots of the duo. The ceremony transpired over the course of an hour and included a ritual in which the participants consume the flesh of a deity that has been embodied in the form of a wafer via the ineffable process of transubstantiation. While this description makes the activity seem rather visceral it is no more dramatic a spectacle than a slow moving line at the DMV.

After the ceremony I piled into the limo with the entire bridal party and hunkered down between two insulation units containing alcoholic beverages.
The mood in the limo grew increasingly effervescent as bottles were un-corked and I acquired wonderful imagery of Karen and Greg huddled in the back of the limo. Through the window the landscape could be seen zipping past and the dappled illumination that entered the vehicle percolated over the newlyweds faces.
At the reception dinner Greg's father kicked things off with a humorous welcome speech in the 3rd floor dining room. Karen and Greg had graciously coordinated dining arrangements so that myself and my fellow vendors (DJs, photographer, and video assistant Karen) would receive our choice of a hot meal and be able to sit together at one of the guest tables. This provided us a welcome respite from the 12 hour shoot day.
Later in the evening the guests migrated back to the mezzanine level where Fig DJ and MC Megan Taylor initiated the dancing. Greg and Karen did their first dance. With the camera positioned close the floor I was able to feature the vast expanse to the library room looming above the newlyweds. The event segued into a more aggressive dance mode with some Abba and hip-hop . Some guests gathered in the adjacent smoking room to enjoy pungent cigars and watch a baseball game while others grazed the sweet table. At 10:30 pm I closed out the shooting with a shot of the full moon crossing the sky.

Carl Wiedemann: Lead Videographer

Equipment: Sony PD170 camera, Samson wireless mics, Canon XL-1

Video assistant: Karen, Fig intern

DJ: Megan Taylor, assisted by Brent Rolland

Photography: John with Edward Fox Photography

Everyone loves a good Horah.

My final gig for Fig was the wedding of Monica Holiday and Adam Sherman on October 14th at 108 W. Germania Place. They were a great couple and I really liked their style of music (Kruder and Dorfmeister, Thievery Corporation, Belle and Sebastion) but as much as I love that kind of stuff, it isn't anything a wedding crowd can really dance to. I figured I could play it during dinner. No dice, Chicago, they had a band for cocktails and dinner. Luckily, Monica and Adam were cool when I expained to them the d-low and we agreed I 'd play it during the band breaks. With the band covering music for half the night and their planner, Georgina Taggert, running the show, my only focus really that evening was emceeing the toasts and working the dancing portion. Dinner ran late and the band was done but the people were still eating, so that was my moment to play the Thievery Corporation stuff. After that, we couldn't wait any longer (dessert wasn't ready yet) and we went ahead with the first dance. Normally I don't like opening up the dancefloor before dessert is out. I just can't compete with cake and icing. I was also really worried because there were no other organized dances (mother/son, father/daughter) after the first dance to keep the peoples attention on the dancefloor... besides one. The Horah. I love the Horah. When I was at my meeting with them and found out there would be a huppah, I knew we had to do the Horah. I mean, what's a huppah without a Horah, right?! Even when I had couples that weren't the slightest bit Jewish I'd still see if they were down for a Horah, it's a blast! Even though Monica and Adam weren't completely Jewish, they were down for it. So as soon as the first dance was done I quickly announced the dessert table was open but then I asked everyone to come out on the dancefloor and join them for the Horah and it worked! That dancefloor was so packed people were tripping over the stage I was on and as soon as it was over, boom, I already had everyone there for open dancing. Yes, the dessert table took a few from the floor. Yes, people were consistantly leaving throughout the rest of the night. BUT I kept that dancefloor going the whole night and everyone partied like rockstars.

The only damper on the evening was that, once the night was over, in all the hubbub, I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Monica and Adam. Her dad, however, did come up to me. I was expecting a "Thank you, here's your tip" kind of thing but instead he just told me what an absolute delight I was and congratulated me on what a great energy and performance I brought to the party, then he hugged me. That. made. my. day. It was a bigger compliment than any tip I could have possibly been given. Don't get me wrong, I love a nice $300 chunk-o-change as much as the next DJ, but this really touched my soul. It reminded me again why I became a DJ. I love making people happy. I love making people dance. And I love sharing great music. If a person can figure out what they love to do and do it in this lifetime, they have one of the greatest gifts in the universe. And I am truly thankful for being so blessed.

Lucy "DJ Wak" Wieczorek

1D, 2D, 3D, 4 ... This Weekend Definitely Was No Bore

My second gig this weekend was one that some of you may have heard of. It was called the "One Decision." I was one of the cameramen for Friday and Sunday. Friday was quite eventful. Melissa and I left the office around 1230 and began pepping. This pep would prove to be invaluable when we would soon discover that, through gameplanning, we realized that we were not as prepared as we should be and had plenty of time to go back to Fig to pick up what we needed...apparantly for a cameraman to be successful during this weekend, we would have needed the cameras. Go figure. With cameras packed, we
were on our around the city...the Wright, Circuit City, and back to the Wright for lunch before evenutally ending up back at the athletics club. But becuase Melissa and I planned out our setup step by step, once we got there we had video up and running within 15 minutes. Giving me plenty of time to collect my thoughts and help out where needed before a very long shift on camera (very long = the whole night, since I was the only cameraman there on Friday). We had a few hiccups that night, one of which was the loss of video feed to the green room, but I, as well as Bob, was very impressed with the way
that it was handled so efficiently and quickly. Great job guys!

Sunday was a little different. I had the pleasure of working with a full crew that day and was also given the chance to sit in the director's chair under Melissa's instruction. A seat occoupied by Billy, Owen, and I as we rotated from cam 2 to cam 1 and then to assistant director. My first shift on cam 1 that day was very frustrating. Just like the last One Decision weekend, my first shift on camera was during the "most important part of the training and had to be perfect"... no pressure. Also, I had two different directions coming to me during the segment so it quickly became a very frustrating shift on the camera. But after pepping with Tobey (thanks Tobey!) and sitting down for a bit and talking it out with Melissa, I found the reason for the confusion and felt better going into my next shift.

Unlike the first One Decision I attended, I tried to pay more attention to the material that I was covering and even participated in some of the excercises, despite feeling a little skeptical at first and thought that I would have nothing to gain from it. But alas, I was wrong. the little material that I did get to absorb proved to be very helpful. Hearing what Judith and Bob had to say and performing some of these excercises with my great co-workers, I really began to understand some of the feedback that I've heard the last couple of weeks. I feel that I am developing a new outlook on my life and am on the verge of beginning to take back control. I can't put into words how much it means to me to be working with so many allies that care about me and only want the most for me. I've never been surrounded by so many people that believe in me as much as you guys do. I thank God for putting every one of you in my life. Thank you for such a rewarding and gratifying weekend. I will never forget it.

Stephen Fabro - Cameraman

Sweet Caroline!! Steve's a deejay!!

Lee/Larrance wedding, DJ assistant to Megan
Going into this wedding, I was feeling a little nervous. Something that I've been feeling more and more of with each gig that I work on. When I assisted on my first gig, I was hardly nervous at all, but the more and more that I work in the field, the more of an idea that i have about what goes into the production and how important every detail is. Megan explained this as me taking more responsibility and ownership when I'm on gigs...I hadn't thought about it this way, but when she said it, I really think that that is the reason. I do feel like that I've been taking more ownership and pride in my work, whether I'm snapping 600 photos a high school sports website, or gaffing XLR's.

Going into this wedding, it was obvious that Megan was feeling very nervous about that night...it was a difficult setup, we were responsible for audio during the ceremony, and I had never assisted Megan on a DJ gig, so I felt that it was my responsibility to make sure that she was feeling as relaxed and clear about that night's event as possible. I did this by taking a page out of Friday's book; when Melissa and I had been driving around the city picking up some last minute things before the One Decision that night, Melissa thought it would be a great idea if we went through the setup step by step, down to every little detail, and had me repeat it back to her, just to make sure that once we got there, we had a gameplan made. I thought that this would be a great idea to prepare Megan and I for our gig, and to help ease some of those butterflies that she had floating around in her stomach.

[BEEP BEEP!! BEEP BEEP!! ...oh, um, thirty more seconds Jon...thanks]

With our gameplan in place, Megan and I got our setup up and running and went through a couple tests where we ran into some feedback and bad XLRs, but Megan did a phenomenal job of staying cool and troubleshooting quickly. It was also a huge help to have Brian there doing photography for an extra hand and another set of ears for any kind of trouble that we may run into. Aside from this wedding being another opportunity for me to work with a different DJ for the first time, it was also the first time that I was on the decks on my own for an extended period of time. During cocktails, Megan sat down to have something to eat and i played a set of Jazz consisting of Coltrane, Davis, Ella, Norah, and Brubeck. I had a blast and felt like I was starting to get a hang of the whole DJ thing.

But the real fun started after dinner. Megan hopped on the decks and after the first dance, the floor was packed. And it stayed packed all night. Megan kicked butt and took some chances with a couple songs, but went with her gut and it paid off. Megan's confidence is a trait of hers that I find to be very admirable and for the first time, I got to see how that level of confidence serves her and the client in the most gratifying of ways. We got a lot of compliments on the music and it was the craziest wedding I've ever been a part of. At first we nervous that the crowd wouldnt be the dancing type, but that concern was quickly out the window the moment the floor opened up.


The climax of the night was (appropriately) in the second to last song when we played a highly requested "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond. The place went nuts after the first chord and - a sight that I thought I'd never see, and hopefully never will - everyone joined hands on the dance floor in a giant circle and sang along and danced. While it was very gratifying to see this reaction to the music we played, it was also somewhat unsettling...but maybe that was just the Neil Diamond.

Great job Megan, and thank you Erik for setting us up well

Stephen Fabro - Assistant DJ

"King Arthur and The Knights of The Bridal Party Table"

This was not a wedding at Medieval Times, if that's what your thinking. The reception of Kristina Lau and John Blaschek's wedding was held at the Hotel InterContinental on Michigan Avenue. The name of the room was King Arthur's court. Hence the catchy title. My assistant was Emily Hard, who had a few weeks earlier registered our newlyweds at Pottery Barn (Emily's day job). Mark Rottman, the InterContinental's catering manager, held a high standard of service towards Kristina, John, and all of their guests. It was great to see the InterContinental's great attention to detail in action!

I put together a jazzy, spazzy, Sinatraish mix together for cocktails. This carried over into dinner and dancing. Kristina and John's guests packed the floor throughout the night. The music seemed to go from Motown and Disco sets (Aretha Franklin, The Bee-Gee's, Earth Wind & Fire) in the first half, to Hip Hop and Pop sets (Outcast, Beyonce, Usher) in the second half. It was a fun night filled with family, friends, celebation, acknowledgement, and history. All surrounding the love between Kristina and John. We capped the night with a favorite of their's, Michael Buble's "Save The Last Dance For Me".

It was a great night. We received a HUGE tip! Much thanks to Kristina and John for their gratitude.

Richardson/Ackman @ The Metropolitan Club

This gig marks my very first time playing at the Sears Tower, where the Metropolitan Club is oh-so highly situated. The view of Chicago from the sixty-sixth floor is beyond any set of words a thesaurus could provide. My awesome assistant Lauren and I deejayed for the sweetest couple I have ever met—namely, Stacy Richardson and Dustin Ackman. Their vision of the night was to have an evening where the floor was packed with happy people dancing (or people dancing happily, take your pick). That is the common challenge for every gig, as it seems. Despite the nerve-racking happenstances of my headphones dying and one of the decks going down on us before the evening began (which were both resolved quickly, thankfully!), we were able to create a night full of fun music that satisfied the diverse tastes of the 125+ people that were there.

I have much more to say on this, but I'll let the photos do the talking for now. There is more to come!

– Brent Rolland, resident deejay








Deejays: Brent Rolland and Lauren Pollock
Photography (@ the event): Andre LaCour
Venue: The Metropolitan Club, Sears Tower
Date: September 14th, 2006

Blog Photos: Brent Rolland and Lauren Pollock (the "money shot" at the end is Lauren's!)

Parsons/Aicher @ The Chicago Club

Deejays: Megan Taylor and Brent Rolland
Video Team: Carl Wiedemann and Keren Aronoff
Venue: The Chicago Club (on Michigan & Van Buren)
Date: October 7th, 2006

Photos: Brent Rolland

Wilhelm/Groves @ The Park Hyatt

Erik and I performed a full ceremony and reception at the Park Hyatt back in late September. This was the one gig where I learned what a deejay's pet peeve is: Football. (Were you expecting drunk family members, power outages or box lunches?) The same time this gig was going on, the Notre Dame game was being broadcasted. The couple just happened to be ND'ers, and they had a special room set away with a widescreen television for their guests. Great for the fans; bad for the dance floor. Yes, the football game kept a lot of people out of the ballroom, but Erik and I stayed strong and played every single great song we could think of. We eventually won the crowd with "Shook Me All Night Long" and some other rock hits. When it comes to gigs with "unforeseen distractions," the best attitude to have is that of a football player—steadfast, charging ahead with the goal forever in our sight.

– Brent Rolland, resident deejay

Lemme hear your body talk, body talk.

Two weeks ago I had the absolute pleasure of disc jockeying the wedding of Katia Bennett and Tim Crowley at the West Grand Studios. Seriously, two of the coolest, laid back people I've ever gotten to work with. Not only that, they also wanted really great music ranging from The Pixies to the Chemical Brothers to 50 Cent. Katia told me she wanted the same kind of stuff for their cocktail music to be like the dance scene in Rushmore. I effing love it when people want different kinds of music for a wedding.

They wanted the reception to feel more like a regular party than a wedding reception. So, there were no introductions, no toasts, they did thank everyone for coming and there was a first dance but the dancefloor had already been opened up and people had been dancing for awhile beforehand, but there were no other organized dances. They got exactly what they wanted, a P.A.R.T.Y.

Their friends went totally nuts. It was probably one of the most kickass weddings I've ever gotten to DJ and they were flogging Tobey (my fabulous assistant) with requests. I got to play a little bit darker 80's (Falco, The Cure, New Order) rather than the normal pop stuff but I'd have to say the biggest hit was a request by this lady who had been dancing all night (Sidenote: During dancing I am very aware of who's been dancing a lot and a little. Those who I like to consider my "temporary fans" for the evening, if they approach me with a request, I'll usually play it as a thank you for dancing all night long). Well, she requested Journey. Normally, that's not my bag but she guaranteed it would be a hit. I played Don't Stop Believing and the crowd went freaking bonkers. Every person left (it was pretty late in the night) was out on the dancefloor. And as great as it was to play such a hit with the people, all I could think about was "What do I play after this that could possibly keep up this kind of turnout?" Those are the moments when a DJ needs the maid of honor or some friend that knows the history of the bride and groom and all their friends to stand by the DJ and fill them in on specific songs that mean a lot to the group. Had the dancing lady not told me about Journey, that turnout would never have happened but I was left high and dry as to what to follow up with after that. I'm sure you're thinking "So, what did you end up playing? Lucy, please tell us!" Well, my chitlins, I played Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond, which did pretty well, everyone kept dancing. They danced so much in fact that Tim came over and bought an extra hour of overtime, woohoo! So, Tobey and I rocked out the night until 1am. As we were packing up the people were so drunk they were singing in a chorus. I went home that night with Let's Get Physical by Olivia Newton-John stuck in my head. That's when you know it was a great party.

Lucy "DJ Wak" Wieczorek

Games, Glitz, Galore!

I disc jockeyed an event for Masterplan (love those girls!) at the Fairmont a little over a week ago. It was in the Imperial Ballroom which was a huuuuuuuge freaking space. I had to take with me 3 G2's (big ole' honking speakers) and a little 10 inch as a monitor and it seriously needed all of it for the size of that room. My instructions were "uptempo, but low volume (networking event), play some 80's but not the whole night." Masterplan is cool, they don't always do this for their events but this one, and the only other event I disc jockeyed for them, they had all these games in the space. Pool tables, foozball, basketball, darts, it was so cool!

Hafeez was my assistant and after setting up (and playing a couple of games) we kicked off the night with, what else? Some 80's! The entire space was carpeted and the hotel didn't set out a dancefloor (basically ensures no chance of dancing), which was cool, it's not really necessary for a networking event. As a DJ though, I thrive off a packed dancefloor. If I DJ an event and people don't dance for it, I leave feeling unfulfilled. My saving grace this time was Hafeez. The perk to having no dancefloor is that you don't have the pressure of maintaining it. You can play really great songs that aren't really dancy or uncommon songs that a lot of people don't recognize without fear of losing the people. So, I made Hafeez tagteam with me. Tagteaming is when one DJ has one turntable and the other DJ has the other, you both take turns picking songs and mixing them back and forth, sometimes you let the other know what you're playing, sometimes not, so it's a little like improv. Starting out with 80's pop, we did a loopty-loop backwards into disco, then funk, motown, classic rock, 70's rock, 80's metal, using "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith and Run DMC we segwayed into 80's hip hop, then onto 90's hip hop, finishing up with current pop and hip hop. It was a really great night, people were bopping their heads and we got no complaints, so I feel we did a great job. Hafeez says he learned a lot and that just makes the event for me, if one person out of the entire night tells me they got something out of my work, then I feel my job is done!

Lucy "DJ Wak" Wieczorek

Heather & Tina at Catalyst Ranch

Harris/Hensel at Pierre's

In Berwyn there is a place called Pierre’s Banquet Hall. This is where Alicia Harris and Keith Hensel had their wedding reception. Owen and I dj’d. We had a little trouble setting up. We ran into a problem with Pierre’s when tried to position a speaker on the other side of the room. We weren’t allowed to run a speaker cable where people would be walking. We tape down our cords to prevent anyone from tripping over it and I typically never run into this problem. (Now I know to talk with venues when I do my site visit to see if they have any concerns about where I’m running my cords) We came up with a compromise where we moved the switched the sweet table with the dj table. It worked out even better than our original location. We had great sound throughout the room and were in prime location for the dance floor.

Owen was great to work with. He handled all the requests and was really friendly with everyone there. I was battling a nasty cold that night and he took a lot of weight off my shoulders. There were several guests who had gotten pretty drunk and were difficult to talk to and work with. Owen stepped right in and handled it with ease. It’s cool to be able to just focus on the music and reading the crowd.

Alicia and Keith’s first dance was to Ben Harper’s “Sexual Healing.” They’re a really cute couple. A lot of fun to be around. As we’re approaching the end of the night, I’m trying to decide which song to play as the last. I decided to close with Ben Harper’s “Forever” and bring the party full circle. Turned out to be the best choice I could have made. As soon as the bride heard it, she grabbed Keith and headed out to the dance floor. Afterwards, Alicia came up to me and thanked me for playing that song. She hadn’t cried all day, and this was the song that made that happen.

--Jonathan Hood, resident dj

Sacred DJs

I teach a dj class at Sacred Heart, just down the street from our office. This is a new experience for me, and an old one. Before working for fig media, I worked full time as a para-professional (another way of saying teaching assistant). I worked with students with behavior problems and learning disabilities. Part of my job would be to teach the students different ways of behaving or learning. I could go into more details about this job and it would be a blog in itself. The point is that I’ve had teaching experience before, but the students and curriculum are different.

I love my class. We’ve only had three classes so far and the students are picking everything up at a remarkable rate. We cover what I plan to take two hours in only one. The other hour I spend improvising and building off of what we’ve talked about and what students are bring up. It’s really freaking cool to pass on my knowledge onto others. It’s even cooler to see them use it. Friday, my students dj’d in front of their peers during lunch. After only three classes, my students made lunch into a dance party that will surely leave the school talking about them for weeks to come. By the end of lunch, the students who went from eating their lunch to dancing and screaming were pleading for one more song. We did. Those students who were once dancing in front of us, were now up on stage where we were and danced along side us. I was really impressed with my students skills. They demonstrated everything we covered in class, from making smooth transitions, to building the energy in a room through the sequence of songs, to reading the crowd. We still have a lot to cover in the class, which means my students are going to be throwing some AWESOME parties when the class is done.

--Jonathan Hood, resident dj

This Is My Church

After the dj meeting last Wednesday, Tim and I started a weekly ritual that other djs at fig will continue. We mixed and recorded a three hour set. I kicked off the first hour and a half and Tim closed it up. Before I started, I lit some candles and meditated. Djing is a very spiritual experience for me. It’s one of the ways that I express myself. Something I’ve learned recently is when I express myself, I get closer to my inner spirit. I get closer to God. I believe that God flows through all things. When I am in touch with my feelings and emotions, I am in touch with that flow. God’s energy. Music is one way that I get in touch with this.

When I started out our new found ritual, there were still meetings going on and the volume needed to be low. I felt myself getting upset. I like music loud and I was looking at this ritual as a way to show off. It’s really hard to beat match with the volume low. Anger was welling up inside. How dare someone schedule a meeting during this sacred ritual. Pretty soon, I didn’t want to be around anybody. I wanted to be by myself. But was this really the point of the ritual? Why was I doing this anyway? We wanted to start this ritual to share it with others. Should I exclude others from my spiritual experience or invite them to watch or participate? Wanting to be alone was actually blocking me from expressing myself. It wasn’t true to what was happening. I wasn’t expressing to anyone else. I was keeping it within me. To express myself honestly in this situation meant to recognize those who were present and acknowledge the situation I was in. Once I told myself this, my mix shifted. It became more me. It became more real. More true.

The cool thing that I’ve noticed in my years of djing, is when I’m in touch with what’s going on inside me (ie. emotions), I am more in touch with the people around me and my surroundings. The music I pick seems to come naturally. I don’t even think about it. I get an urge to play something and I play it. If I get the urge to add effects or scratching, than I do that. It becomes very fluid, fun, exciting, dynamic. The music ebbs and flows with my emotions, and what I feel, others feel through the music. The crowd ebbs and flows with my emotions. It’s not all one-sided either. I pick up on other people’s energies too. As I said, when I’m in touch with myself, I’m in touch with others, too. The room becomes bound together with feelings flowing from one person to another.

--jonathan hood, resident dj

NEAL and STEPHANIE JOHNSON at the PARK HYATT

Last night Chris and myself hit up the Park Hyatt at Water Tower. I was excited to do the event because the bride and groom were two overflowing buckets of charm and I had had an excellent experience at the ol' P-Hyatt just last week.

The wedding wasn't weighed down with too many formalities and the night went very smoothly. Their first dance was "Green Eyes" by Coldplay. I enjoy when the B&G pick first dance songs that aren't terribly common. We invited people up half way through the first dance and they pretty much stayed there all night.

Chris followed "Jump Around" with "At Last" and both went over swimmingly with the crowd. We picked a lot of interesting songs during this event and jumped around to quite a wide variety of genres. Although Bob Marley was a total bust...go figure. All and all it was blast and we received a solid round of applause at the completion of the evening.

Fig DJs: Maura Murphy & Chris Weiher

Bludgen Duty at the Rialto Square Theatre

Video Document: marriage of Todd Duty and Jennifer Bludgen on September
23, 2006.

The ceremony took place at the Shepherd of the Hill church in Lockport,
25 miles west of Chicago. The personnel were shockingly gracious,
giving us carte blanche regarding camera positioning. I was able to
coordinate with the church’s audio technician to a get direct feed form
the church’s mixing board and acquire clean sound via wireless.
The day had started out dreary and gray but by the time guests started
arriving the sun was shining and puffy white clouds dotted the sky.
Todd and Jennifer arrived in a vintage Rolls Royce limo. I grabbed
shots of Jennifer and her father preparing for the ceremony while Billy
Rood recorded guests gathering in the lobby. It seemed as though
everyone in the bridal party had a small child in tow and toddlers were
meandering hither and yon. After the ceremony I worked with
Photographer David Wittig to get exterior shots of Jennifer and Todd
posing amongst the foliage of the Western suburbs.
We relocated to to the town of Joliet for the reception which was held
at the Rialto Square Theatre, a vintage 1920s movie theatre. Guests
went to the ticket booth to receive their seating cards. Each table
was named after a notable musical (ie, South Pacific, Pippin).
The ornate theatre provided a wonderful photographic background for
the various formal dances. The bridal party dance quickly mutated into
a bizarre melee as each of the bridal parties offspring joined the
adult couples. The highlight of the event was getting some shots
with Todd and Jennifer after the sun set. We went out in front of the
theatre and grabbed some very dramatic images in front of the giant
illuminated marquee. Todd and Jennifer were very playful and David
and I were able to round out the evening documenting ebullient faces
and idiosyncratic poses .


Carl Wiedemann: Lead Videographer

Equipment: Sony PD170 camera, Samson wireless mics, Canon XL-1

Video assistant: Billy Rood, Fig junior videographer, editor

DJ: Jim, Music Mania

Photography: David Wittig

Gar and William at The MCA

Video Document: marriage ceremony of Gar and William at the Museum of
Contemporary Art. I was the lead videographer for this ceremony and
reception at the MCA. Gar and William had flown in from New York a
few days before and we met at the W Hotel to plan the coverage. With
this meeting I finally, fully absorbed that Gar was indeed a woman’s
name and not short for Garfield or Garabaldi. William (and his
attending relatives) were natives of the U.K. and spoke with precise
British diction and it was difficult to not embarrass myself by
imitating their infectious dialect.
The initial plan was to have the ceremony on the back terrace of the
MCA. However, torrential rains forced a relocation to the 4th floor
balcony of the interior. The Fig DJ crew (Hafeez, James, and Emily)
set up audio support (music playback, microphone and speaker) for the
ceremony.
This was a very cramped space in which to document a wedding. Very
difficult to get clean lines of site. Fig intern Chris Weiher operated
a tripod mounted camera to get a “full frontal” shot while I operated
in hand-held, stealth mode to get to close-ups of the couple.
Working in tandem with photographer Belen Aquino (from Orange 2) we
were able to navigate into a small gap between the line of groomsman
and a floral display to get a clear vantage point of Gar delivering her
vows. The ceremony was roughly 10 minutes long. Probably the
shortest ceremony I’ve ever documented.
Prior to the ceremony, while waiting for the Justice of the Peace to
arrive (rain delay?) the bride tucked herself away in one of the
exhibit rooms. I was able to get some great shots of Gar, clad in
white, standing amongst room full of black, steel industrial barrels
full of water.
Later in the evening (after toasts and some dancing) the photo crew
(Belen, Chris, and myself) wandered over to Michigan avenue to get some
shots of Gar and William frolicking on Michigan avenue, and meandering
around the Water Tower, illuminated by street lights and passing
vehicles.
Returning to the MCA we found the party in full swing. The dance
floor was jumping until the place shut down at midnight. Bizarre Love
Triangle was enthusiastically selected by the crowd as the last song.
Got some great footage of Gar and William dancing and lip-syncing to
BLT: low angle shots, with the vast space of the MCA stretching out
above, as they locked eyes and shimmied.
At the end of the night William conveyed to me how impressed he was
with the enthusiasm and energy of the video crew, which was even better
than a gratuity. However, we later received a gratuity as well.
Great night. Then I went home to get myself in gear to do it all again
on Sunday: Video Document in Joliet.


Carl Wiedemann: Lead Videographer

Equipment:
PD170 camera, Samson wireless mics

Video assistant: Chris Weiher, Fig intern

Fig DJs: James Gustin, Hafeez Surami, Emily

Photography: Belen Aquino with Orange 2

Hierarchy over practicality, why?

Last weekend (September 30th to be exact) I disc jockeyed the wedding reception forthe couple. Absolute cuties, by the way. They had a schedule all printed out and had hired Fig for video, still photography and DJ. So, James and Michele Gustin, Lauren Pollack and I met them for our final meeting at a coffee shop and we all went over the details. Later that week I went down to the Ritz-Carlton for my site visit and met Marc Kaufman, the Director of Catering. He was very quick and to the point, showed me all the way from the room to the loading dock and went over the schedule with me. A man who obviously knows how to get the job done. There was one small hiccup in his itinerary that, although had nothing to do with the clients themselves directly, affected all vendors instead (which does in turn affect the work they do for the clients). He had us scheduled to be served after all the guests were served. This is standard for 80% of all caterers and hotels when providing for outside vendors and personally, I think it's crazy. I understand the status thing and that I am not there to be a guest but I am there to work, I get that. The problem, however, is that after all the guests have been served THAT is the time when all the vendors have to work because the first thing the clients will have on the schedule is an organized dance. In this particular situation we were running behind schedule (due to some party members wondering off) and the way Marc had it worked out we probably would have had time to sit and actually taste the incredible meals we were served. Unfortunately, the night didn't work out that way and the banquet captain came up to me saying all the guests had been served and that I had five minutes to eat before the cake cutting.

Here's my issue with this situation (and I'm not talking about these particular circumstances but more about this method of scheduling that a majority of caterers and hotels insist upon)- I am a DJ and I address my work as a performance artist. Disc jockeying can be a service but it is still a creative one and creativity is affected by human emotion. If a painter is depressed, the painting will reflect that. If a DJ is in a bad mood, it's reflected on the dancefloor. The whole point of the meal is sustenance. It raises the blood sugar and gives a break to the worker while on a six to eight hour gig. I'm not saying it's the caterers job to keep the vendors happy, that's the vendors own responsibility, but we do all have to work together to make the event the best we can. Now, if it's the caterers job to feed everyone, then shouldn't scheduling the workers meals be a factor so that the work they do is at its best? I'm not talking about feeding them the same thing the guests are eating here, what I'm talking about is feeding them at the same time as the guests during which no activity of photographic or musical importance is occurring (i.e. toasts, cake cutting, special dances). My question here is: In what way does maintaining this method make for a better event?

And please, don't get me wrong, I am so thankful to get a free meal on gigs. Even if it's a simple sandwich, I'm a happy camper, 'cause I truly love me some sammiches!

-Lucy Wieczorek, aka DJ Wak

Neither Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor Snow; the Blog Must Get Through

Yep, those were just about all the conditions that the PSO crew and I had to work with last weekend.
The first game that I worked at was the St. Rita vs. Brother Rice game where I was accompanied by Hafeez as the videographer. The biggest struggle for this game made itself very aware to us as we rolled up to the stadium...the rain. Luckily Fiz and I had our high-tech, state-of-the-art, modern marvel of rain protection for our equipment...trash bags. With these weather conditions, it became very difficult to get into the game and look at it with a photographer's eye. It was very easy that night to get caught up in the elements and just worry about trying to stay warm and dry, but after a little pep prayer with Fiz, our minds were back on the field and good to go.
As for Saturday night, it was just the same old story just a different day. This time, I was paired with Owen for the Mt. Carmel vs. Loyola game. Going into this game, I was unusually nervous due to the fact that it would be the first time since week 1 that I would be responsible for the article afterwards. I would also be taking notes on the voice recorder for the first time, so there were a couple of factors that were there to add to the already present stress of covering the game. But the night before, I Fiz gave me some great advice and helpful pointers on using the voice recorder and what kind of notes would work best for the article. After the first quarter, I was feeling a good rhythm with the recorder and photography, and the ever present difficult climate conditions were a lot less of a worry this game than the night before, despite the fact that Saturday's game gave way early to a half-hour rain/lightening delay. But these weather conditions also brought on a photographer's dream...fog. Although the fog only lasted for a couple of minutes, and in some very unpredictable and mysterious patches during the third quarter, it was a great challenge to have encountered for the first time. With the hurdle of garbage bags on cameras and camera lenses fogging up, I feel that these challenges only helped to sharpen some of my skills as a photographer. So while it may have seemed like a royal pain at first, I realized shortly into the games that ths weather was a great way to test myself as an artist and push myself to overcome the new and unpredictable hurdle that is...EXTREME PREP SPORTS ONLINE

I ate TWO gigantic sandwiches.

I disc jockeyed a wedding for Catherine Jonaitis and Brian Lutz on the 23rd of September at the North Shore Country Club. Her- cute, timid, art history major... I liked her. Him- friendly, funny, helicopter pilot... I liked him, too. They were a fun couple and had a lot of fun people at the wedding, the only blah part of it was that I felt the space was rather boring. But who cares? The components for making a great party are: people, music, booze, food and lighting. If all of those are great then the rest of it is small potatoes. Tobey (my fabulous assistant) and I rocked the night away. We had a crowd so itching to dance that they couldn't wait for the dancefloor to open. It was packed all night long. The only blemish in the night was this: one of my favorite tracks to play (Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough by Michael Jackson) just stopped after 15 seconds of playing. It did this twice. After restarting it (the second time) it played through, thankfully. My body was washed over in absolute panic for the rest of the song. I thought to myself, Oh God, what if it's the CD? What if it's my CD player? What am I going to do? If it was the CD, no problem, I just put on another song and move on with the night. But if it was my player, I was essentially screwed. My ipod is dead and I didn't have a discman with me. I would have to give Tobey my keys and 20 bucks, tell her to find a Walgreens (out in the burbs), buy a discman and get her ass back here a.s.a.p. all the while trying to make due changing out CD's with a single player. Luckily, everything went well the rest of the night but that moment left me feeling like I had walked out in front of a bus and it stopped just as the bumper touched my clothes.

I live by the motto "Learn something new every day" and I wish I could say I followed it, unfortunately this is a situation I've been in before (except my CD player did actually die and I sent my assistant at the time over to the Walgreens right across the street to by a discman) and earlier in the day on the 23rd I actually thought to myself 'I should go buy a CD player just in case one of mine dies on me while I'm out in the burbs.' Why didn't I take my own advice? Even though everything turned out ok, I could have bypassed my panic by stopping in for five minutes and buying a backup. So, I guess I did learn something-Always follow your instincts and never leave home without a discman, you never know when you might be out in the burbs not knowing where your closest Walgreens is located.

-Lucy Wieczorek aka DJ WAK

NATASHA & TONY CURESMA!

Carnivale SWAT!

It is a Thursday night at Fig Media. The Editors meeting is coming to a close at about 6:30pm. I am thinking that the days work is almost complete. Just then, the phone rings. I hear the words, "video, tonight, Carnivale."
It is Carnivale's first birthday party, and they need a video to document to document the event.
Within an hour and a half a Fig video team arrives to shoot the event.
Carnivale is located on 720 W. Fulton Market. Overlooking I-94 and the Chicago skyline from the north. I had never been to Carnivale and was excited to see what it was all about.
Upon entering the restaurant I was greeted by men and women in costumes, jugglers, men on stilts, women in masks and a mambo band playing in the background. The challenge of this shoot was to keep myself from going everywhere at once; there are so many things to look at and be entertained by that my eyes constantly moved about the room.
The restaurant serves Latin food, amazing Latin food. The smells of the kitchen waft out the doorways and onto the street.
We met with Carmen, she gave us our mission and my assistant Owen and I quickly put together a shooting strategy and began.
The first thing we shot was a dance performance, Latin salsa dancers dressed to mimic the Lucy show entered the crowd and dazzled the customers with their Latin sway. Then the conga line began. Dancers pulled guests out of their chairs, gave them beads and danced around the restaurant doing the conga.
The next performance that we filmed was another salsa dance with a pink panther theme. Followed by another conga, and then the mambo band began to play again.
My assistant and I darted around the restaurant, covering the details, the colors, the characters, the dancers, and a birthday song for the restaurant. After three hours was up we arranged a large table of fresh food from the kitchen to shoot. The smell of the food made my mouth water as I was shooting.
After we were finished our gracious hosts offered us a meal, and I must say Owen and I both agree that the steak was the best entree to be had.
Thus with our bellys full, some good footage, and feeling very accomplished at pulling off a last minute gig; my assistant and I returned to Fig.

Challenges: Working fast on on my toes. Learning to assess a location quickly for the best angles, lighting, and coverage. Quickly adjusting where I was to get the best shots in a tight environment. A restaurant always has people moving, and moving into the shot, navigating around the guests and servers in a graceful way to get the best shots kept me on my toes.

Videographer: Melissa Martens
Assistant: Owen Weber
Equipment: Sony Vx2100, Cannon XL1, Manfroto tripod and Monopod. Camera mounted lights.

Written by: Melissa Martens

Bien/Suster @ The Conrad Hotel

"The best is yet to come."

This positive phrase, and also a popular vocal classic, has been a philosophy of mine and what I base a lot of the situations of my life on. This is how I apply this statement to my deejay career: About two months ago, I wrote about a certain wedding I deejayed for Japanese clients—namely, Lisa and Satoru. Because of the fact that I played J-pop music, was acknowledged for my proper use of the language, and was able to put my talents and knowledge to splendid use, I noted that this one event was the most enjoyable gig I have ever partaken in. Little did I know that it was going to be topped by my most recent gig on the last day of September. The clients were Melissa Bien (pronounced "be-in") and Joe Suster (rhymes with "duster"), two Chicago-based lawyers originally from Ohio.

I went into Saturday—the day of the wedding reception—wondering who my assistant was going to be. My original assistant, the lovely Lola Olateju, had to cancel for she was going on out of town during the weekend of the gig. So, like a good self-declared Christian boy, I got on my knees and said to Jesus, "I know you'll send me the best person." I continued to get ready for the rest of my day as if I had no problems on my mind; I felt very prepared as I had all my music, announcement cards, and other elements ready for this reception. As I was riding the train, I gave Erik (our grand music director) a call to let him know that I was on my way to the office. The next thing he said was the one sentence that obliterated all my deepest concerns:

"…well, Emily's on her way, so we'll see you both soon."

After putting one and one together, I got…Emily! (That's not a number, but a correct answer nonetheless.) Perfect. I was doubly grateful for her camaraderie before we even began the event, due to the fact that she was a great person work with, as well as she was originally Erik's partner on his artist's gig. So with that, we hit the road, anticipating a fun-filled night.

Even with detailed directions on hand, Emily and I got a bit lost on the way to the Conrad Hotel, but we didn't stress each other out about it. In fact, we made it very enjoyable by screaming "RUSH!" the two times we passed Rush street to get to the hotel (which was located on the aforementioned street). It took us nearly twenty minutes to find the loading dock that was concealed under the so-called "Michigan and Grand" area, but we arrived and setup in the quaint Ile de France room with time to spare. I felt very confident knowing that Emily had my back and was able to learn about the decks and such without me stepping on her toes and doing things for her. Before the night even started, I had this feeling that dancing was in the blood of the guests: two adults and the two flower children were in the ballroom bouncing to the Police's "Don't Stand So Close to Me" that I put on for background music. Joe and Melissa's wedding reception was rather simple: introductions, toasts, dinner, welcome from the bride and groom, and dancing…in copious doses. All the events prior to the latter went successfully, with a little bit of slowness during the dinner portion. I kept the ever-anxious-to-get-up-and-boogie crowd satisfied by playing some Steely Dan, Michael McDonald, Al Green, and Gladys Knight and the Pips as dessert was being served. I was holding a tiny bit of anxiousness, but I remained calm nonetheless. Soon enough, dancing (finally!) began, and this is where all heck broke loose—in a positive manner, of course.

My set list ranged from classic soul to hip-hop and 60's standards, with "wedding classics" like "Sweet Caroline" and "Hey Ya!" sprinkled in the mix. I had a happy accident when I tried to listen to "Billie Jean" that unintentionally played over the speakers during "Get Down Tonight." This one African-American guy looked at me with a closed-lip smile and said, "Come on, man! 'Billie Jean!' 'Billie Jean!'" Hee-hee. The biggest challenge of the night was trying to fit in the deejay's love-or-hate song, "The Electric Slide." I found that it worked extremely well following the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There," which the groom totally gave his thumbs up to. As for Melissa, I couldn't leave the night without playing Britney Spears' "…Baby One More Time," which was one heck of a crowd-pleaser. I love when I can spin songs that I have never heard of or have never played before, including Lil' Troy's "Wanna Be a Baller." Yes…I played a song with the word "baller" in it. Blame the groom, not the deejay. The only thing I could be blamed for is making the crowd go wild with excitement. I felt a great connection with the guests, and my mind was clearer than ever—nearly every song I chose was a hit. Emily was an awesome support, as she helped me make great decisions during the night (especially "Pour Some Sugar on Me"). Believe you me, I have had my experiences with empty dance floors, but that of the Ile de France ballroom was packed for virtually the entire night. Ah, so rewarding. What was most amusing was the rather, uh, dirty dancing the bride and groom were doing on some of the hip-hop songs. It had me thinking, "I can't believe these two are lawyers!" Definitely a "go figure" moment. We ended on two slow songs: "Let's Get it On" and Peter Cetera's "Glory of Love"—yes, from the Karate Kid I soundtrack! I was surprised people knew the complete lyrics that one. All in all, this was the most energetic and gratifying crowd I have ever played to.

One of the notable "mini-events" we had during the evening was that I was given scores of the Ohio State/Iowa State football match to report to the crowd. Joe and various members of his party went to Ohio State, and we agreed that it would be fun to announce scores during the night. In my experience as a deejay, I find that university alumni always appreciate hearing their fight song or theme song during a special night as such. "Hang on Sloopy" was their theme. Amid all the other 70s songs, this one was not in my collection. Neither the bride or groom was disappointed by it, as I really did not know about that song, but having it would have made the night exceedingly more special. That resulted in a very good learn for me: always ask your couple if they have a fight song or a theme song that they would like to have played at their reception, especially if they mention the words "college" and/or "football" in the final meeting.

I chalk up the success of this night to many things: a fabulous assistant, an energetic crowd, my preparedness and professionalism, and a great support system back at Fig. Most of all, I had strong faith in myself and that this was going to be an awesome event, even if I had to cab it to the hotel and back without an assistant if there was no one else available. Everything worked out for the best, and the best was definitely delivered. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe I should not consider this to be my best or favorite gig. Why, exactly? It's obvious: the best is yet to come.

- Brent Rolland, resident deejay

Schnoor / McCrory at the "Dub"

I love working at the Hotel W, Lake Shore Drive. Great views from the room, great food, great people. The staff is incredibly friendly and helpful. Kevin McCrory and Colleen Schnoor had their wedding reception in the Altitude room. It was me and Mike on this gig. I went into this gig with a lot of fear. I used Mike well this night by talking through whatever I was feeling. The fear was that I might sacrifice my happiness on the gig to please others. It seemed like the challenge for me on this gig was not only to play music that Kevin and Colleen like, but also what I like. I hit it right on the nose. Cocktails were downtempo electronic with electronic jazz. Dinner was jazz, classical, spanish guitar, and instrumental beatles songs. For dancing, we started with classic rock, threw in some motown, and then hit some rat pack and swing music. Once the crowd mostly younger, we played mostly Top40. One of my favorite sets went from "Crazy in Love" to Usher's "Yeah!" to "Baby I Got Your Money" to "Hollaback Girl" then "Hot in Herrrrrre." I also threw on "Faster Kill Pussycat" by Paul Oakenfold ft. Britney Murphy per the groom's request. I love that song but never play it.

Another cool thing that I noticed about this gig was that by talking through the decisions I'm making throughout the night, it opens my mind up to other possibilities. I'll be thinking in my head about what to play next and if I'm not talking about it, there's a chance that I'll stump myself on the next song. As I'm talking about why I'm choosing a certain song, my mind starts thinking about other choices and where I can take the music. It unlocks my creative potential. So cool! Mike was great in listening as I'm spouting out what's going on in my head. I was also bouncing ideas off him and getting his feedback. I love having assistants on gigs for these reasons.

--Jonathan Hood - Lead DJ
Mike Johnson - Assistant

The Professor Strikes Again!

I went from helping Megan and Brent setting up at A New Leaf to assisting Maura at the Park Hyatt. Intense and exciting. When I got to the Park Hyatt, Maura briefed me on the couple and the party. It was a small crowd, maybe 50-60 people. They were older and I think mostly family of the bride and groom. Several people during the night were wondering if the crowd was going to dance or not. It seemed like we were just going to play background music while everyone caught up, ate, drank, talked. We didn't even make an announcement going from dinner into "dancing." It seemed like the party was going to end at 11:00, possibly sooner. As guests started going to the dessert table, I noticed a shift in the guests' energy. Maura had just stepped out and I got the urge to play. I threw on Bobby Darin's "More" and people started gravitating to the dance floor. It was the strangest thing. We were playing some jazz tunes, like Frank Sinatra, but it was lesser known songs. What's cool about it was that it felt like I performed a mini miracle. Nobody expected it. Not even me. I just got the urge to play and went with it. It was dancing from then on. The party that was going no later than eleven, was suddenly going until midnight.

--Jonathan "The Professor" Hood - Assistant DJ

Maura Murphy - Lead DJ

Aude/Cooke @ A New Leaf

All right, kiddoes! The word of the day is: "eccentric." Keep that in mind as you read this entry.



September 29th marked my third visit to A New Leaf—my second time as an assistant. It has acutally been over a month since I have set my well-worn Famous Footwear shoes in this leafy space. This night's celebration was for Adriana Aude and Johnny Cook, a rather eclectic couple. This pair was into all types of music, from Etta James to electronica. Not only that, their food spread included sushi and, surprisingly, the oh-so square burgers from White Castle. Konnichi wa, grease. Megan Taylor was the emcee and goddess of the decks for this go-round, and it was up to us to make sure that this couple was well-taken care of.



When there is a gap between the last time and the current time one plays at a venue, there are noticeable differences in the surrounding atmosphere; this visit is a very good example of such. For the first two times that I have worked here, my deck setup was near the balcony that faced towards the stairs that led to the dance floor, with speakers that were transported from the floor (behind the table) to pre-set poles on the dance floor. This centered orientation works well for monitoring the downstairs area and the stairs that lead to the dance floor, but it makes overseeing the crowd and the sound on the dance floor a near-impossible feat. Megan's setup was rather ubiquitous (as in our equipment was all over the place!), but made lots of sense: The table was set up on the dance floor near the back wall with a speaker on each side near the table. Two other speakers that were strictly used for speeches were placed on the left stairway that connected the first and second floors. One can imagine how much footage of cable was used to make this happen, but Fig's very own Jonathan Hood came to our gig and used his audio/technical expertise to construct an aesthetic and balanced sound arrangement. No gardenias were harmed in the making of this setup.



With the speakers and such in place, Megan was more than prepared to play. This was her first deejay gig as a lead, and she definitely put on a fantastic show for the couple. In addition to having an impressive knowledge of new music, she is skilled at following her instincts and choosing songs that compliment the night and make the crowd go crazy. It took a while for people to get on the floor, but thanks to Adriana (a.k.a. the bride), who got on the mike and ordered everyone to dance, we totally went off like a rocket to the moon (or like a guest who had one too many White Castles). For me, It was fun watching Megan do her thing, and I added some of my ever-developing beatmatching skills to the night. I didn't think that I could transition from "Hypnotized" to "Mr. Brightside," but I dood it, by golly. (The secret is in having the CD deck's "wide" and "master tempo" controls turned on and adjusting the tempo slider, just in case you're wondering.) The most rewarding part of the night occurred when Megan slipped in a song from the Cure (whose title I cannot think of) that just happened to be Adriana and Johnny's "song," prompting them to approach the dance floor to enjoy a special moment together. The kicker of it all: the floor was all theirs, and Megan kept the slow dancing going until our contract was up. Simply enchanting.



As I look back at this gig, there were a few (I say again, just a few!) glitches and occurrences that happened during the night. There were some points where I felt musically disoriented in the beginning of the night (as in I felt the music I chose was more "pick-and-play" and less of a well-chosen set of music). That feeling faded away as soon as dancing began. We also received some feedback from the cordless microphone twice during the gig—once during the end of Adriana and Johnny's dance, unfortunately. It's a common happenstance and sometimes unavoidable, as it seems. Other than that, this exhilarating and exhausting gig showed the talents of Fig's finest, as well as brought us all to a new level of consciousness and confidence. Both qualities are definitely needed to tackle the unique space known as A New Leaf, and the team and I did that proficiently.

In parting, here's another word of the day: "end!"

- Brent Rolland, resident deejay

Lead Deejay: Megan Taylor
Assistant Deejay: Brent Rolland
Audio/Setup: Jonathan Hood (thank you so much, bro!)
Catering: The Hearty Boys