Tracking and Directing Packages by Day and Good Music by Night
In the beginning, John Schmidt kept his two jobs separate. He worked at Einstein by day and spun records as a DJ by night.
“I always kept it quiet, I didn’t tell anybody I was a DJ… but then someone saw me at a party,” said John, who started at Einstein in its purchasing department 30 years ago, and currently works as a member of the receiving department.
Word got around campus and soon enough, he was asked to DJ events at Einstein. For the past 20 years he’s also been Einstein’s resident DJ, playing tunes at parties and staff appreciation picnics to the delight—and sometimes surprise—of his co-workers. At the same time, he had continued with his DJ gigs on nights and weekends, entertaining at weddings, Sweet 16s, and other parties around New York City.
Both jobs keep him busy. He’s part of a four-person team that tracks and delivers the 400 to 500 packages that arrive at Einstein daily. And as a DJ, he has worked 100 gigs a year.
Staying Attuned
Being a DJ isn’t just a fun side job for John; he takes spinning tunes seriously, reading the Billboard Top 100 weekly to be aware of new hit songs. He devotes hours to prepare appropriate music before gigs and afterward, jotting down notes about what worked and what didn’t.
“It’s similar to my job in receiving, actually,” he said. “Customer service is key. The College of Medicine depends on us to get everyone their packages the same day with no room for error. At a wedding, it’s the same. A DJ can make or break a wedding. I have to make sure I have the right songs for special dances and that I know the names of the wedding party.”
He still gets a kick out of playing an obscure song or a rarity to see the crowd’s reaction.
“I love when people come up and say ‘I haven’t heard this in years!’” he said. “One time, I played a 13-minute version of ‘Blue Sky’ by the Allman Brothers, and someone came up to me all excited and said, ‘This is great! I’ve never heard this version.'”
He added, “Over three decades of doing this, I’ve learned that quantity isn’t always a good thing. What separates me from a lot of other deejays is I don’t carry a lot of music with me. If you take a lot of music with you, you don’t know what to play.”
As much as music has changed through the decades, John has found that some songs always work to get a crowd moving. “Saturday Night Fever. KC and the Sunshine Band. Michael Jackson,” he ticked off. “There’s a 13-minute mix I made about 20 years ago, and it still works to this day. It never lets me down.”
And, while he may need to cater to the tastes of his clients, his approach is simple: “Put the people in a good mood and know how to read the crowd.”
For the Record Versus Music in a Flash
John also must keep up with ever-changing technology. The gear has evolved from vinyl records, eight-track tapes, and cassettes to compact disks, MP3s and 4s, and flash drives.
“It’s gotten lighter,” he observed. “When I did a union party at Einstein in the early 1990s, I was spinning records. Now, I access a hard drive with songs organized into folders like ‘Best of 80s Dance,’ ‘Hip Hop 2009 to 2013’ and my favorite, ‘Rock the House’.”
He added, “Don’t let anyone kid you, vinyl always sounds better but it’s a pain because you have to carry crates and crates of records.”
Turning Passion into Profit
John has a come a long way as a DJ. His first gig involved spinning tunes for a series of parties at a beach club in New Rochelle. In lieu of payment, he was given membership to the club and a cabana.
His then-girlfriend Nina encouraged him to keep at it and to save the money he ultimately made from his gigs. “That’s how I was able to afford a house,” he said.
As much as he loves his gigs, he noted, “I’ve started to cut back recently. I now only do 30 to 40 a year. It’s fun and I love to kick the hell out of a party, but it takes a lot of energy. Bottom line, I’m just happy to be there.”
Posted on: Thursday, December 20, 2018