Not Just Your Average Beach Party

On July 11th, fig DJ's Megan Taylor and Keren Aranoff deejayed at Castaways on North Ave Beach. The party was anything but a normal beach party... The party was for PAW's annual 5th Beach Party presented by Salvatore Ferragamo. The party's tagline "All Paws on Deck" literally drew over 100 dogs and owners to the Hawaiian themed luau. The party included dancing on the deck, cool cocktails, and a beachy dinner buffet. The party also had an exclusive "Pup Deck" for dogs to relax. The party was a blast and fig was excited to be able to donate their services for the cause. The hit of the night was themed song "Hounddog" by Elvis which got the dancing party started and lasted late into the night.

Written By: Megan Taylor
Lead DJ: Megan Taylor
Assistant DJ: Keren Arenoff

Live at the Notebaert!

Sarah and Brad were married on Sunday at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. We dj’d along with a band… and a singer... and a band… and a singer… and a singer… and a guitar player… and another singer… The crazy thing about this night is that we went in without much of a game plan. We had a brief outline for the beginning of dinner. Intros into the cake cutting into a blessing of the food and wine into salads into speeches. Outside of that, we were winging it. Improv baby, one thing I'm great at. I was kinda freakin' out while we were setting up because we didn't have much of an agenda, but at some point I realized that as long as I'm checking in with everyone and seeing where their at, everything would work out. And it did. Beautifully! The bride's family hired a band to play during the ceremony, dinner, and part of dancing. We were hired to do some emcee'ing and dj when the band wasn't playing. During our initial meetings, the bride's family were talking about different people that wanted to perform something during the night. We weren't sure what the best placement of everything was and decided to play it by ear. My main concerns were the band they hired, and the bride's brother's band. Things were running a little late, but that worked out to our advantage. I came up with a basic plan for the after dinner music, and then changed it after talking with the different people involved. I checked out where they were at, if they were ready, as well as their thoughts on what should happen. Once I collected all the data, I formed a better plan. After seeing the dynamics of this new plan, I would check in with people again and then readjust. I would keep readjusting as the night went along. We started off dancing with the bride and groom's first dance, invited everyone else to join for a few while the band grabbed some dinner. When the band came back, they went into some Jewish music. After the band played, the bride's brother's band started setting up while another guest played a guitar and sang. After he played, another person sang a song, then two more people sang a song, then the band came on. It was the perfect build up which crescendo'd into a fantastic performance that I could not (and did not) top. After the band played, I went into some music, but it was difficult to get people dancing again. I played some funky stuff and then went into some motown which brought people out. Twist and Shout into Shout! packed the dancefloor again. It was an awesome night! Improv, baby. I love it.

--Jonathan

Tony and Christine’s Wedding

Another wedding goes down in the history books. The Chicago Historical Museum was the site of Tony and Christine’s wedding where fig media did both video and dj. I, Jonathan Hood, with the help of one of our new interns, Beth, provided the audio for the day. The ceremony was outside in the rear of the museum and was set up in a in-the-round theatre style. We provided a mic for the ceremony, while musicians performed the music. The officiant was using a handheld, but was holding it down by his waist. I told him a couple times, before and during, to hold it closer to his mouth. Not sure why he didn’t, but the audio wasn’t that great. We turned up the mic as loud as we could, but it was pretty hot, and we were bordering on feedback.

Dancing was a little difficult in getting things started. We were playing a variety of stuff, starting off with some Rat Pack stuff, hitting some Motown and classic rock, through in some pop and then brought it home with Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough which brought everyone out. It was cool watching this process because guests were bobbing their heads at their tables and looked like they were on the verge of coming out, they just needed the right song. Michael Jackson did the trick. Once the guests were out, they stayed out the whole night. Current pop was the flavor of the evening, based mostly off of the bride and groom’s play list.


--Jonathan

Code Name: The Rod

Have you seen this viper! He is very dangerous. Beware of his lighting quick editing skills, they can strike at anytime. You can tell if he is near, by feeling a tap on the shoulder and nobody is there. Another common way of picking out this wolf in sheep's clothing is finding massive amounts of tidiness in a 3x3 ft area. If seen please proceed with caution and call 555.555.5555.
Thanks,
Hugs and Love Bunny's,
Management

Centrella/O'Neil @ The Hard Rock Hotel

She was Madonna and he was Van Halen. The Hard Rock matched Tiffany and Jerry's personalities perfectly. Tiffany Centrella and Jerry O'Neil's wedding day was spent at the Hard Rock. The ceremony, cocktails, and reception werre all held on the 2nd floor of the hotel. Billy Rood, my assistant, and I got tere early to set up lighting for the group shots. We went up to Jerry's room first, only to find him and the 2 groomsmen hanging/getting ready in a messy, thoroughly used room. Billy stayed with the guys as I went up to Tiffany's room. She was getting ready, and touching up her make up. We went into shots of Tiffany, her mom, and her bridesmaids. A few minutes later we went down to meet up with Billy and the guys for group shots. We did the group portraits, and then headed back upstairs for a chaimpagne toast. There wer lots of great candid moments captured during this time.

The ceremony was in the Gibson room of the Hard Rock (known for it's Gibson guitars). Erik Friedly deejayed the ceremony and reception. He fit their style of Rock. The ceremony was short and to the point. The cocktail hour followed, as we finished/continued the group portraits.

The reception started with Tiffany and Jerry being introduced into the room, a few short speeches, food, and dancing. There were lots of great dancing moments. Including the Maid of Honor on her hand and knees. Great energy and fun!

Brian Carey
photograper, deejay
fig media incorporated

Trota/Lex wedding @ the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

Karaoke, karaoke, and more karaoke. This was the theme for Michi Trota and Jessie Lex's wedding at the Notebaert Nature Museum. They ceremony was outside in the courtyard. After the ceremony guest proceeded to the atrium on the first floor museum for cocktails. Then the fire alarm went off! All the guests went outside to the front of the building. The fire department showed up. Everything was fine, and events happened as the were to happen. Dinner was out on the second floor greeting terrence. Craig Sherman, Michi's friend and karaoke hero, emceed the night. Craig handled the intros, toasts, and karaoke announcements. Thanks Craig! This was my first karaoke/dj gig, so having Melissa Martens as an assistant was awesome. She has the best system for coordinating songs and singers, andd it works great. I was playing the breaks between karaoke songs (every song). They jammed the night away. The last song was done by Craig Sherman. He sang "Come On Eileen". It was a great ender to the night.


Brian Carey
deejay, photography

And the rest, as they say, is history

Rachel and Charlie are a very sweet and cute couple. They were married at the Chicago History Museum last Saturday and it was a beautiful ceremony and reception. I felt honored to be there and to provide the audio and music. I'm getting to know the History Museum and Amy who works there. Side note for a moment: I made a little bit of a mess the last time I was there. I played a couple songs after the cut off time and upset Amy because of it. I have a load of reasons why I played over. I was cocky, was caught up in the moment and the crowd, they were loving the music and having a great time, I wanted to keep going. One thing I wasn't thinking of was fig's relationship with the History Museum. It's a great venue and a huge learn for me for that night was to respect that relationship and ask what their rules are about playing over. Some places have "hard" stops, meaning the music can't go past a certain time regardless of what's happening. I didn't ask about that. I really wanted to do my own thing, and sometimes gets me into trouble. I'm also learning that making mistakes like this isn't the end of the world. It's not good, it's painful and I'd rather not upset anyone. But when it happens, it can be cleaned up and relationships can be restored. This is kind of new for me because I tend to stay on the good sides of people. I don't quite know how to clean up where I make mistakes in relationships, but I'm getting a great opportunity to learn here because I've got 4 or 5 gigs at CHM this year. Getting back to the story at hand (we're a dj company, what am I doing talking about relationships? Oh yeah, we're good at that, too. Or, in my case, good at learning to be good in it.) Well, actually, this gig was all about relationships. I had great rapport with the bride and groom, their family, the guests, the vendors. I was all about serving on this gig and caring about everything and everyone. Not that I'm not about serving on my gigs, but I was taking it to a whole new level with this one. A few weeks ago, I was on a retreat for a week that opened my heart way more than it normally is and I've found that I care a lot more about everything. It really showed in this gig. From recording the audio from the ceremony, burning it straight to a cd, and having it ready when the reception started, to talking with the bride and groom and checking in with them throughout the night, to communicating with the vendors and making sure we're on the same page, to talking with the guests. This is normally what I do on my gigs, so what makes this one different? It was how I was talking with people. It was going out of my way to help, even when it's not my job. It was seeing the space, noticing something that didn't look right, and doing something about it. It was acting as though this was MY party and wanting it to be the best party EVER! The only downside for me was that not very many people danced. When I checked in with the Rachel and Charlie afterwards, it made total sense. They wanted to talk and catch up. Everyone spent their time connecting. THAT'S how I want all my gigs to be. Guests really connecting with one another. The pastor said something in the blessing that really hit home for me. I guess there's a line in the bible about parties and how they're a preview of what heaven is going to be like. Everytime I throw a party, it's a preview of what's to come. It's a taste of God's love.

--Jonathan

Nichols/Breen@ Michigan Shores

7.7.07. I was at the Michigan Shores Club, co-leading with Tobey Geise the wedding reception of Lisa and John. It was challenging experience to say the least, being assigned the lead at the last minute, but Tobey and I rose to the occasion. I learned a lot more music in time for Saturday, enlisting the aid of my fellow fig DJs to ensure that I had a complete list of the songs ready to go. During the final meeting, Lisa came to fig with her father Ken, who I must say, is an awesome guy. Perhaps the fact that he called me a "likable guy" had something to do with that...but I felt the need to make sure he was well tended to in addition to the couple. He mentioned a 70s Jazz man, Keith Jarrett, that he really liked, one live performance in particular. So I made sure that I had that ready to play during dinner.

Onto the gig...setup was straightforward, except for one monster tangle that occurred in a very long XLR cable. Tobey handled the announcements with poise, letting the crowd know how the night is going to play out. Dancing started slow, as we competed with the opened bar and dessert table, but it gradually built up. The crowd was finicky though, up for one song, down for another in some cases. But I knew once I had guys on the floor doing the worm, everything is going to be alright. People always remember the worm. The groom, in addition to a 6-yr old present, break danced, and they would have impromptu battles, much to the delight of everyone present. The big genres of music played during the night were rock and disco, with a top 40 set thrown in for good measure. Tobey provided lots of good music suggestions - next time she will be on the decks more.
The end of the night came, and to get everyone to rock out I cut on Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer, which made for a good ending.
It was perfect says Lisa
Hellofajob says Ken
Everyone danced says Lisa's mom

Summing up the night musically:

• Paul Simon, Late in the Evening
• Van Morrison, Moondance
• Young MC, Bust a Move
• Prince, Lets Go Crazy
• The Police, So Lonely

Solid.

written by Alvin Black III, co-lead deejay

Anderson/Huffman @ the Swissotel

Shelley Anderson and Tyler Huffman were married on the 43rd floor of the Swissotel on June 23, 2007. My assistant, Tobey Geise, and myself deejayed the event. We were hired to play the ceremony/cocktails/dinner music for the night. During the precessional, the bridal party walked out to "Here, There, and Everywhere" by The Beatles. Shelley, escourted by her father (who designed and made the wedding cake), walked out to "First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes. Cool songs for a cool couple.

CHALLENGE: The space was divided by a removable wall. The ceremony was held on one side of the and the cocktail hour was held on the other side. As the cocktail hour was happening, the ceremony space would be turned over into the "buffet style" dinning area. The next thing I know, guest were heading towards the food, as dinner was started. I still needed to formally introduce the wedding party into the room. So, I suggested to Tyler (the Groom) that we skip the intros, since guests were into their plates. He gve a look, and I knew that I must make this moment happen. I did, it was fun and energetic as I introduced Shelley and Tyler into the room to "This Is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan. It worked out beautifully!

THE MAGIC MOMENT: The most anticipated moment of the night was their first dance. Tyler wrote and recorded their first dance song. Tyler had contacted me earlier that week, and let me know what he was up to. We even had a dummy song in place, just in case she asked about the first dance song. She may or may not have been surprised by the song, but I know their family and friends were.

Brian Carey
deejay, photographer

Merrie and Charlie @ The River East Art Center

Andrew Ettenhofer and myself recently partnered up to be the power team to provide an enjoyable, energetic musical background for Charlie and Merrie, a delightful couple who recently had their full ceremony and reception at the River East Art Center. Speaking of a power team, Andrew and I worked with a horde of skilled individuals, including Mina from Taste of America (catering); Benny, our electrical genius from REAC, and photographer Andy Collins (with his lovely partners Charlene and Liza). We also worked with a sextet from Symphony Sounds, who provided over three hours of expertly-played classical music. It was great to work with such cool people on such a humid day.

This event was a bit odd, in the sense that Andrew and I did not begin playing until the first dance. Plus, the typical Rat Pack fare heard at almost every other wedding reception we perform at was not requested to be played by Merrie and Charlie. When I heard that from Andrew before the gig, I initially thought, "What the heck are we playing, then?" Seriously, this is quite a refreshing thing, to say the least. Surprisingly, it was not difficult to get people out of their seats after the first dance and family dances. I started off with the Temptations' "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," and continued on with more Motown tunes before ending my set with Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough." Andrew and I then split the decks and took turns playing small sets for the rest of the night. We went in every single musical direction we could think of. I have no idea how we ended with Bob Marley's "Jammin'," but we did. We had a very responsive and fun crowd to play with, and I felt that Andrew and I were totally on the same page musically.

If you are wondering what that crowd looked like, take a look below! I need to cool off from all this writing. Enjoy, all.

– Brent Rolland, resident deejay

Wang/Kronstadt @ The Phoenix Restaurant

I have been fortunate to be surrounded by numerous cultures in the notable deejay gigs I have performed at. A new one for my record has been added this past Saturday, as I partook in an event that mixed both Chinese and Jewish culture. Go ahead—do not be intimidated to shake your head in wonderment. Chinese…and Jewish culture? Believe it or not, the diverse, yet rich backgrounds (and a few others) of our clients, Amie Wang and Gabe Kronstadt, fused together in the same space to form a unique celebratory evening. That is what Andrew Ettanhofer and myself experienced, as we were the deejays for Amie and Gabe's wedding reception.

The Phoenix restaurant in Chicago's very own Chinatown was the backdrop of a promising evening of music, honor, dancing, and all the delectable Chinese food you could eat in one sitting. Trust me, if you were at this reception, you would need a whole lot o' sittings to clear the plates that were placed in front of the guests on this evening. Get this: everyone shared dishes of a ten-course Chinese meal. In my eyes, I see that as one word: HEAVENLY. Everything from barbecued pork to noodles to various seafood and poultry dishes were served to perfection by the fine folks of the Phoenix. Not only that, but there were two dessert courses at the end as well. Woo-wee. Although we could not participate in this Asian smorgasbord, Andrew and myself were given the chance to enjoy some of the restaurant's best dishes. We ate with Bella photographers Dave and Emily, and our very own Figsters, Tobey and Emily (who were the on-site coordinators for Gabe and Amie's wedding, as well as for the beginning of the reception). It was great to put my chopsticks to work alongside some very cool people.

Muscially, Andrew and I were on top of our game like hot chicken on a bed of rice. Okay…weak analogy, but you get the point that we did well. The evening opened with the bride and groom walking into their first dance: a salsa number entitled "La Murga de Panama." This song was special for Amie and Gabe, as they were slated to have their honeymoon in Panama, and they took numerous lessons just to make this dance happen. I wish I knew the Hebrew or Chinese word for "electrifying" or "magical," for that is what the couple was in that moment. What was even more exciting was that we followed that song up with Sinatra's "The Way You Look Tonight," which packed the dance floor incredibly well. Nice. During dinner, we served a delicious mix of artists including Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto, Van Morrison, Death Cab for Cutie, and even a few Chinese artists like Faye Wong, CoCo Lee and Andy Lau. Later in the evening, we had a hora a la Harry Belafonte which was followed up by a great suggestion of Andrew's: The Gipsy Kings' "Bamboleo." What a great transition! From there, Andrew and I split up the decks and took the crowd on a somewhat international train ride of music. Kenny Loggins, Shakira, The Black Eyed Peas, and even Bonnie Raitt were along for the 2-hour-plus trip. We were sad to see a few people "depart" during a few songs, but we were able to pick them back up later in the evening. It was a joy to have Amie come behind our table and dance alongside Andrew and myself during some of the 80s songs we were playing. Despite some questionable laughs and looks from the crowd, I felt affirmed that our clients was enjoying themselves, as we were as well.

To summarize, this was one heck of a night, and a very memorable one for Andrew and myself. It did not feel as if there was a clash of cultures during the evening, but more of a respectful and fun celebration of the honored couple and their guests. Here's one rather important detail that I did not mention: Andrew was gone on the week of the event and returned on the day of the event. With a cold and very few hours of sleep under his belt, it appeared as if Andrew was not his best for the gig. How he handled driving, setup, announcements and music throughout the night is a mystery to me. Wowza. Bearing the fact that Andrew was just coming back for a gig, I made darn well sure to prepare myself with all proper notes, music, and necessary information just in case I had to lead the event. I kept in touch with both Amie and Gabe on the week of the wedding and tended to their needs. Plus, I also met both Gabe and Amie at their final meeting. Every small detail assisted in setting Andrew up well for the gig upon his return. There seriously is nothing more palatable than a job well done. Well…maybe except for Mongolian chicken!

– Brent Rolland, resident deejay







Pictures by Brent Rolland and Emily Hard

The Pride Parade 2007

This was my first time attending the parade, and I was deejaying on the Whole Foods float. It was Jon Hood, Tanya Cascoe, and myself representing fig media and the music that almost a half million people were hearing. The parade started at Belmont and Halsted. Jon was well into "I'm Coming Out" when our float started to move up Halsted. I played the next song "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer. We played a little more disco at this point, and transitioned into club anthems like "Call On Me". We hit eighties, nineties, and current stuff along the route. The parade turned were Halsted crosses Broadway, and headed south. At that point, to their surprise, I pointe out some of my friends in the crowd. Later on they gave me mad props for suporting them. Tanya had been taking pictures this wwhole time, and gave me her camera to shoot. I ended up shooting most of the Broadway portion of the parade. It helped to interact with spectators. They would wave, point, and smile at the camera as I got their picture. The parade ended at Diversy and Cannon. I had a lot of fun and would do it again.

My learns on the gig were to bring less music. I would put togeter about 6-8 mixes and play from those songs. Also, have the car, for pick up of our equipment, parked inside the blocks of Belmont to Sheridan to Diversey. Bring sun block, sun glasses, and water.

Brian Carey
deejay, photographer