From a very early age I’ve been interested in music. Sure, sports were all well and good, but being neither the fastest nor most skilled athlete kind of kept me from truly embracing them. But then, as if my calling simply appeared out of the blue, I discovered music. My first real experience with music was joining the Keystone State Boys Choir. Some people might ask “Hey, what does this have to do with being a DJ?”, but be patient… I’m getting there. Through the choir, I was able to discover nuances and other subtle things most people would never even think were there. With age, I began developing myself as a musician, both technically and musically.

As I stumbled into my twelfth awkward year, it came time for me to have my bar mitzvah. With the wise advice of the Johnson family (whose son Ben is now aspiring to be as good as I am, and doing a darn good job of it), we decided to go with Cutting Edge Entertainment for the DJ. I had had no previous experience with Cutting Edge and knew nothing of its “colorful” staff, but after my first meeting with Pedro and Craig I was convinced, this place was awesome. Being that I was not the only Jewish thirteen year old in town at the time, and also being amongst the younger ones in my grade, I went to a lot of bar and bat mitzvahs before my own. Although everyone had a good time and the music got played, I was never really wowed by anything the other companies did, be that with their music or with their MCs.

As I left the synagogue and headed over to Moonstruck for my party, I had an idea of what would happen at the party, and that it would be just another event. Wow, was I wrong. Upon arriving, I was promptly walked into the room by my two wonderful dancers to my favorite “it’s all about me” song, TNT. Then, something happened that would change my future forever: as everyone began to dance to the first song, I heard another song begin to creep in and eventually flow seamlessly onto the dance floor. I experienced beat mixing! At the time, I thought this was reserved for the radio and clubs, so it was quite a surprise. Song after song wound seamlessly together and I loved every minute of it.

Following my party, when Craig approached me to ask if I would want to work for him, the only logical response I could think of was yes. Since then, I would like to think that I’ve grown up a good deal and learned a whole lot, and can honestly say that this was the perfect job choice for me, and that still holds true to this day, almost four years later. To me, being a DJ has always been about the music. Sure, I’ve learned a great deal of other technical, social, and miscellaneous skills on the job, but when I put the headphones on and look up to see a packed dance floor, it’s the hook for me.

As of now, I am fascinated with music, singing and Djing alike. I would probably say that I’m the heaviest into singing, but being a DJ is a perfect complement to that. As a junior in high school, I have plenty of friends who work boring after school jobs and despise going in to work. To me, work is a new opportunity to try something new and – not to have too much “youthful cockiness” (that’s what the older guys call it) – to show off what I would like to call some pretty good DJ skills.

In all, working as a DJ for Cutting Edge Entertainment has played a huge part in expanding my passion for music while at the same time keeping me up to date with the latest trends, music, and technology, be that through the job itself or the people I work with.

A lifelong lover of music,

Justin Leis
a.k.a. DJ Back of the Bus

Photo courtesy of David Difuntorum Photography – www.daviddifuntorum.com

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

Over the past two years at Cutting Edge Entertainment, my outlook towards life has drastically changed. I attribute a lot of that change to DJ practices with Craig, Richie and the rest of the guys. Cutting Edge has been slowly influencing me since the day I walked in the door for the first time. Thanks to everyone at Cutting Edge Entertainment for that, especially and most importantly my Mom. My Mother was fairly persistent in getting me to agree to go to one of the DJ practices, and it’s a good thing she didn’t allow my “tunnel vision” to prevent me from getting in the way of what is perhaps the most influential thrill ride of my life so far.

The biggest change I have noticed in myself is that I’m more open minded. When I came to Cutting Edge I had the mindset that the music I liked was the “best” and all other genres of music were a waste of my time. Starting with Big Band like Frank Sinatra and Louis Prima. I used to despise “old boring music” but now I have a new-found respect and understanding of it, and now I really enjoy listening to Big Band and Jazz music. My other big revelation was dance music! Everything from Motown to Disco to today’s Pop. There is a lot of music that I was too closed minded to listen to, but Cutting Edge has changed that. Not only do I listen to broader types of music but I have noticed I am more open to new foods or different books.  Some people might say I am just growing up but I attribute a lot of my newer outlook to my lessons at Cutting Edge.

Perhaps the most important thing I have picked up from my time at Cutting Edge is problem solving. When Richie and Adam taught me to troubleshoot the systems they stressed that you must remain calm and take the logical approach. You start from the beginning and take your time so you don’t miss something important in your haste. Also I have learned that shortcuts rarely ever pay and more commonly bite you in the butt later. It may be easier to carelessly toss wires under the table but at the end of the night all you end up with is a giant mess.

Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. – Confucius

Cutting Edge is a dream job for me and this quote has only proven to be true. The only thing I can be sure that hasn’t changed since I came to Cutting Edge Entertainment is that I love music, and since Cutting Edge maybe I love it a little bit more.

Sincerely,

Jack Duggan
The Quiet One
a.k.a. DJ Summer School

Photo courtesy of David Difuntorum Photography – www.daviddifuntorum.com

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

Cutting Edge Entertainment is talent personified. It is from within our hallowed studio that many of Philadelphia’s greatest entertainers continue to emerge. We brag because we can… we’re just that good. It isn’t really bragging though, it’s pride, coupled with a commitment to excellence that has no rival in the City of Philadelphia.

Someone once asked if I had moments of regret for choosing the name “Cutting Edge” for our company. If somehow we could have chosen another word that hadn’t such a connotation of what was new and avant-garde. I wondered if some other name would have lessened pressure of achievement and innovation, somehow making it alright to settle for mediocrity. Perhaps. But as it stands, the name is Cutting Edge, and so we are.

Lights and camera are concluded by action, almost as if to be the punctuation of the words which came before it. Action is what the entertainer brings to the table in any equation, and our approach to interactive entertainment is on both the micro and macro level. Practice makes perfect, and working often as well as a regular rehearsal schedule are a part of Cutting Edge Entertainment’s rigorous approach to event entertainment. The key word is “interactive”. Lights and cameras are important and integral parts of any production, but the performers are the catalyst that create the excitement.

If you were to ask our entertainment staff about the hard work they put in to training and rehearsal, it’s quite likely that they would have no idea what you were talking about. As Mary Poppins said, “In any job that must be done there is an element of fun… Find the fun and SNAP, the job’s a game”. The cast at Cutting Edge Entertainment is like one big spoonful of sugar, and they inject fun into everything they do.

Many thanks to Photographer Kevin York and NJ Blast Energy drinks for sponsoring or April 2010 rehearsal.

-Craig

Kevin York Photography – www.kevinyorkphotography.com

N.J. Blast Energy Drinks – www.njblast.com

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

My name is Andrew, and I used to be a Cutting Edge DJ.

Reading Seth’s recent post regarding his life as a Cutting Edge DJ brought back some nostalgia, and also reminded me that I’d told Craig that I would write a similar kind of post.  So before you people steal all of my ideas, here goes…

I’m sure that all of us can list experiences that we can’t imagine our lives without.  For me, life at Cutting Edge Entertainment goes at the top of that list.

About fifteen years ago, Craig gave me a job opportunity, the value of which I have come to appreciate more and more over time.  It was an opportunity to grow up with a company.  It was an opportunity to learn a skill.  Indeed, it was an opportunity to learn about life, from a perspective few people see, and fewer can appreciate.

It was 1993, and I was a very small thirteen-year-old.  Cutting Edge was small too, with just five DJs at the time (Craig, Joe, Lou, Rob and Boris) besides me, and around the same number of dancers (see the picture I know Craig will attach—yes those are Adidas socks I’m wearing).  Josh Kohn and my best friend Jake Dreyfuss soon followed.  I still have my first Cutting Edge shirt: a black long-sleeve t-shirt, with the phone number for Craig’s old house (the Cutting Edge office soon followed).

My first DJ job was Temple Beth Torah’s annual party, which became something of an annual tradition for Cutting Edge, though I hear the place no longer exists.  All of Cutting Edge was there, yet it took us over two hours to set up, and another two hours to break down after the party.  That’s because each light was in its own little cardboard box, with weird wallpaper on the outside.  I wasn’t much help either, being that most of the equipment seemed impossibly heavy to me.  I came home from that night with a cool $25.00 cash.  And no, that wasn’t a lot of money in those days either.

But the money never really had much to do with it.  What I liked was that I was learning how to do something truly cool from people who clearly knew what they were doing.

Even so, I didn’t pick things up right away.  It wasn’t for lack of effort or desire.  I wanted desperately to be a good DJ.  At my first DJ practice, the song I learned to cue music with was “New Age Girl” by “Deadeye Dick.”  As soon as I learned what mixing was (my second job, at William Tennant High School), I wanted to do that too,  but it took me a long time–years–to really get it down.

The feedback at Cutting Edge, for better or worse, was honest.  When I did something right, I heard about it, and when I did something wrong, I really heard about it.  At the time, I didn’t like this very much, since most of what I was hearing was that I was making mistakes, which of course I was.

Eventually, though, there were far fewer mistakes.  By the time I left Cutting Edge, my skills were fundamentally solid.  And through college, through after-college, even through law school, I had something that I could do better than almost anybody else.

I came to appreciate how good my training had been when I saw some of the alternative.  It was only once I left Cutting Edge that I saw just how little quality control there was—and is—in the DJ business.

Walk into many clubs or bars in DC—places where you’d expect to hear people who’ve mastered the craft—and you’ll instead find awful mixing, horrific song choices, and DJs who should be kept at least 50′ from the nearest microphone.  Weddings and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, forget about it.  Some of what I’ve seen is too painful to repeat.

What do bad DJs have in common?  They think they’re good DJs.  Why?  Because when they were “learning,” there was no one to tell them when they sucked and to show them the right way to do things.

I’ve found that there are certain things that a Disc Jockey who “gets it” really gets.

- A DJ who gets it knows that there’s no such thing as a “throwaway song.”  He knows that the party rests on whatever song he plays next, and takes every possible opportunity to make the perfect choice.

- A DJ who gets it knows music, not just the songs he personally likes, but the songs that the party needs at a given time.

- A DJ who gets it knows how to mix.  He knows what a bad mix sounds like, and pays attention to how his own mixes sound.

- A DJ who gets it pays attention to volumes and knows how to control them.

- A DJ who gets it can read a room, and knows his place in that room.

- A DJ who gets it knows that mixing, scratching, sampling, talking on a mic, and so forth, are just means to an end, that end being energy.  He knows that ultimately, what a DJ does is create, harness, and manage the energy in a room.

Above all, a DJ who gets it takes what he does seriously.

I said that DJing is learning about life and I absolutely meant it.  Learning to read a room, learning your place in it, learning to relate to people—these are essential life skills.  And knowing that you can walk into a room where everyone might well be different from you, and win those people over with the strength of your skills, is something few jobs can teach.

These are things I learned at Cutting Edge.  And I’ve seen their value time and again since I left the company back in 1999.  In college, what started out as a novelty—DJing clubs and bars in DC—became a much more serious pursuit, as my friend Will Fulmer (and later Jake Dreyfuss, again) and I began DJing all over DC, often for three or four nights every week.

One of those nights was at a club called Platinum. My cousin Annie brought her best friend Stephanie, whom I met for the first time that night, and whom I married seven years later.

Another of those nights was supposed to be September 11, 2001, at a club called Daedalus, which was being opened by two UVA Law School grads, named Dave and Kijun.  That obviously didn’t happen, but I ended up DJing at Daedalus for nearly every week before I went to law school.  This included a weekly “Asian Night” (see above re walking into a room where everyone is different from you).  And when I was applying to UVA Law, Dave and Kijun wrote my recommendations.

My “retirement” party before heading off to UVA was the opening of Dave and Kijun’s super-cool new bar, K Street Lounge.  But I didn’t end up in retirement for long.  It turned out that both the law school and the town of Charlottesville, VA, was seriously hurting for good DJs, and I quickly found myself very busy once again.

My “second retirement” party, before leaving law school for big-firm-lawyer life, was at a “Latin Night” at a place called X-Lounge, in Charlottesville, where I had a regular gig  (see above, again, re walking into a room where everyone is different from you).  And when a car accident shortly after this destroyed my speakers, I figured this retirement would probably last.

But I couldn’t let go of DJing completely.  When Dave and Kijun decided to open a new bar in Georgetown, appropriately called “George,” I came out of retirement once again to DJ its grand opening.  I DJ’d there a few more times, but had to stop when my day job became too hectic.

Still, today, I haven’t stopped DJing completely.  And I’m starting to wonder if I ever will.  Now it’s mainly just friends’ weddings, and occasional club nights.  Real life makes DJing difficult these days.  But real life and DJing are impossible for me to separate completely.  Because nearly everything that I’m doing in real life today—my marriage, my job, much of my social life—can be traced to my DJ work in one way or another.  How differently it all might have turned out, had I not had the chance to grow up with Cutting Edge Entertainment.

Andrew George
Attorney at Law… and DJ

Photo by Hy Paul Studios – www.hypaul.com

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

“Who would you rather be stranded with on a desert island, Christina Aguilera or Britney Spears?”

If you were asked that question on a job interview, what would you think? Some might get out of the place as soon as they possibly could, while others might think that they would have a great time working at this place. I fall into the latter category. My time at Cutting Edge has been, for lack of a better word, awesome. I’ve been working at Cutting Edge since my freshman year and I am now a junior. I don’t get the opportunity to work much because of my other activities. When I do work, however, I have the time of my life. Every job that I’ve worked at, I’ve had a great time. Whether I was standing around filing CDs for the DJ, or if I was acting as the Disc Jockey for the majority of the party, I always find a way to have fun. That’s why I love it.

Cutting Edge is like a completely different part of my life. I have my school friends, I have my camp friends, and I have my Cutting Edge friends. There are a few people that are in two of those groups, but we have a completely different relationship at work than we do at school or camp. Like my friends at Cutting Edge, the skills I learn are brought into my everyday life as well. The main reason that I don’t get the opportunity to work as much as I would like is because of my involvement in theater at school. The skills I’ve learned working as a DJ and doing lights at Cutting Edge Entertainment have really helped me with lights and sound at school. I was recently called to do a lighting job at school. I’d never done lights before in my life but no one else could do the job so it was all me. I went up to the lighting board and because of my previous lighting training from Cutting Edge, I picked it up in no time.

I also have a not-so-secret obsession with Disney musicals. The Lion King is my personal favorite movie with Aladdin a close second. I had a Cutting Edge job during Christmas time with Richie at the Knowlton Mansion (http://www.cuttingedgedjs.com/blog/2010/02/20/wedding-testimonial-al-heather/). When we got to the wedding and all the centerpieces were Disney characters, I was in awe. I didn’t think anyone that I would run into had the same obsession as me with Disney and I was pleasantly proven wrong. But wait… it gets better. I looked at the “Play These Songs” List and saw that the majority of them were Disney songs. They wanted about 1/3 of their cocktail hour music to be Disney songs. Would you ever think that a Disney obsessed person would be your DJ at your Disney themed wedding? I sure didn’t.

My time at Cutting Edge has been incredible. I’ve made a lot of new friends and I’ve learned things that have helped me in my personal life at Cutting Edge. You learn life lessons at DJ practice. But what’s most important is that you always have a lot of fun.

Seth Epstein

Photo by David Difuntorum  – www.daviddifuntorum.com

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

When DJ Foltzy asked me why the younger DJ staff weren’t represented on the Cutting Edge blog or website I didn’t have an answer, so I just decided to correct the oversight. Meet the next generation of Cutting Edge Entertainment.

When the decision was made to do a new photo shoot, I thought it might be a great time to bring in a new photographer… enter David Difuntorum. I was introduced to David’s work by a mutual colleague, and became acquainted with his photography through facebook and twitter. I thought his style was edgy and youthful, and perfect for our younger generation of Disc Jockeys.

The secret to our recipe for molding a DJ isn’t really that secret… We start em young. Most of the senior DJ and MC staff here at Cutting Edge started here when they were young, and in many cases this is their first job. In doing this, by the time they graduate college, they’ve got nearly ten years of experience. Still in touch with the pulse of youth, but with the experience of hundreds of parties and events under their belt. They are our little brothers, and they are the future of our family.  They start out as assistants -or “grunts” as we call them – and learn quickly, moving on to small parties and Sweet Sixteens after two or three years of training with our senior staff.

Steve has been with us the longest, and we are happy he’s chosen to attend Temple University… so he’ll be sticking around.  Steve (a.k.a. DJ Foltzy) is one of our most requested Sweet 16 DJs, and has a broad knowledge of music – from oldies to current stuff.  He’s typically out on his own Sweet 16 party, or assisting as the DJ on a wedding or bar mitzvah party with one of our MCs.  I’ve known Steven since he’s been about five years old, first meeting him as the MC at his sister’s bat mitzvah.

Justin came to us when he was fourteen years old.  He learned fast, and his self assuredness and competitive nature are what make him such a skilled DJ.  Watching Justin grow up and come into his own has been very gratifying to me.  What started out as youthful cockiness has evolved into the deserved confidence of a young man.  Justin makes me very proud, and of all the next-gen guys I’ve got, he’s probably the one I butt heads with most… likely because he reminds me so much of myself at that age.

Jack… the cool, calm and collected one.  Jack might seem quiet at first, but that’s because he’s taking it all in, while maintaining control.  Jack came to us by way of, well, his mom, Maura who does sales and PR for Cutting Edge.  When Maura told me she was taking some time off, she must have seen the worry in my eyes, and quickly added “I’m not going too far, you’ve still got Jack”.  Jack, like the others, is a hard worker and a team player, and his passion and interest for music are part of what give him the D.N.A. of what a Cutting Edge DJ is made of.

Why is Zach wearing a crown?  Because he’s DJ BK (Burger King).  He’s always hungry for a whopper and fries, probably because he’s working all the time.  The crown isn’t the only hat Zach wears at Cutting Edge, as he is a DJ, lighting tech and sound man.  When not at a party with the Cutting Edge staff, Zach can be found saving lives as a junior fire fighter, running his own small landscaping business (quite the entrepreneur), or at the local Burger King grabbing a bite to eat.  No matter what Zach does, he has it his way.



I’m grateful for David’s time and David’s beautiful photographs.  A photographer’s art is an amazing and glorious gift and I am in awe of their craft.  Yet, what touched me even more were the kind words that David posted to facebook shortly after our photo shoot, which I took the liberty to post an excerpt of below.

I watched Craig and his crew interact and here’s where my interest really piqued.  I see Craig sitting on a chair.  He’s was holding court on four teenagers and it was instantly apparent that five things were going on: They were all intelligent. Craig was the boss. They were giving each other LOTS of (HYSTERICAL) crap. Craig was not spared. Everybody liked and respected each other.

The longer I was there the more I recognized that these young guys were well-lead by Craig and they worked as a seamless team.

It was excellent and a joy to behold. It reminded me of the best times I had in the military where we were all young people giving each other crap, respected each other and got a difficult and challenging job done as a selfless team. My God, the laughter was infectious.

I was so happy to be around these guys. They were so good at their work and at giving each other crap I could tell that working for Craig would be one of the highlights of their lives.

Thank you David, for everything.

-Craig

David Difuntorum Photography – www.daviddifuntorum.com

David on twitter – http://twitter.com/TheDif

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