The method
How I work
Your preferences provide the direction. My experience determines the flow. Here is what that means in practice.
Before: I collect everything you know about your night
It starts with a conversation, not a quote. If I am available on your date I will suggest a call: we get to know each other, I explain how I work and answer your questions. If we click, we move to the contract. The call is free and comes with no obligation to book — it is how we both find out whether we are the right fit.
Nobody knows your guests better than you. So the work starts with a detailed, written music brief — not a form to fill in, but a conversation.
- The genres and artists you love, and the ones you never want to hear
- The essential tracks: first dance, entrances, cake cutting, moments dedicated to family or friends
- The do-not-play list: for me, the most important part of the brief
- Who your guests are: ages, nationalities, how many actually dance
- The programme moments and their timings
Then: I check the venue before I play it
A site visit or a technical call with the property. I need the acoustics of the spaces, decibel limits, the outdoor music curfew, power points, and the booth position relative to the tables, the dance floor and the photographer's angles. I have already worked at most Tuscan venues: I know where the problems are before I arrive.
During: I don't follow the playlist, I steer the room
This is the difference. A rigid playlist is the easiest way to empty a dance floor: one track out of time and it takes forty minutes to recover. I arrive with a very clear direction and a very deep library, then I make one decision, a hundred times: which track now.
I make it by watching who is dancing and who is sitting down, how the group moves, when to lift and when to let it breathe. It is the only part of the job that cannot be prepared in advance — and it is the part I get hired for.
Always: no ego behind the decks
I use the microphone only for agreed announcements. I do not host, I do not stage myself and I do not impose my musical signature on an evening that is not mine. At the end, your guests should remember how the night felt, not who was behind the decks.
A rigid playlist is the easiest way to empty a dance floor.
Matthew DJ
Guarantees
What happens if something goes wrong
Technical failure
I travel with spare equipment for the more delicate parts of the audio chain. A hitch is resolved in moments, without stopping the evening.
Personal emergency
The contract includes a guaranteed replacement with colleagues at an equivalent level, to whom I transfer your event's complete music brief.
Venue constraints
I verify noise limits and curfews in advance and design the evening around them, so the finale lands where it works best.
Professional guarantees
What I put in writing before I play
Insurance and certifications
Full public liability cover for damage to people and property during the service, plus the certifications required to operate inside venues and at corporate events. Documents attached to the quote, unasked.
VAT number, contract and invoice
A registered professional. Every engagement is covered by a written contract and an invoice, in a format that passes procurement and venue administration without friction.
One contact for sound, lighting and artists
I am a founding partner of a company that selects DJs, musicians and artists and operates as a professional sound and lighting service. The whole musical and technical side can sit under one signature.
All-inclusive quote
Travel, accommodation, technical equipment and additional hours are explicit lines in the quote. Nothing new appears after signature and there is nothing to settle once the event is over.
Let's start with the brief
Write to me: the first conversation is about understanding the night you have in mind.