Meet Dan Quinn

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dan Quinn and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dan, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Ever since I was a teenager, I dreamed of working professionally in music, but I was always told that wasn’t a real career path, The stigma around being a career musician was that you were either a rockstar or a starving artist, with very few options in between. Granted, this was in the 90’s in rural upstate NY. The wedding and events industry was nothing like it is now, especially in a rural area as compared to a major metropolitan area like DFW.

So music was always my hobby. In college where I studied engineering (a “real” career path haha), I would get asked to come perform at parties. Then people started paying me. Then I started playing publicly at restaurants, coffee shops, and bars, and I had a nice little hobby that was more than paying for itself. It continued after college and was always my fun thing to do on the weekends.

As my engineering and management career grew, so did my music career. I was being asked to play more anr more events, several of which required advanced prep- everything from client meetings to site visits, to music preparation, and organizing and maintaining my growing mountain of gear in the garage.

But at one point, I wasn’t even able to perform anymore. My corporate job had taken me oversaes and I had to decline most of the event inquiries I was receiving.

Meanwhile, I was bruning out at work. I was living on airplanes. I missed playing music for people. So I had some hard conversations with myself and others in my life and decided to take the jump into music and events full time in 2014.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My creative process has become the core of what I do as a wedding and event DJ. I’ve drawn inspiration from several sources that I have adapted and combined to create my own systems that have shown to work very well for me.

It’s easy for DJs to get distracted with lots of shiny things- the hottest new tracks (that may be forgotten in 2 weeks), the sickest scratch and cut techniques, the latest gear that just dropped, the followers and likes on social media…but those things by themselves don’t matter without the proper application.

Despite the fact that I play other people’s music for a living, I very much consider myself an artist and a creative. I take all of my couples through a 3 month creative process that starts with absolutely none of what I mentioned above. We start with who they are as people. Their story. Their families. Their culture. Their expectations and past experiences. What are some of the most amazing experiences they’ve had in life? And how can I tell that story?

With that in mind, we can then start to understand how to soundtrack their event. Even my mixing pace and style can vary from event to event. The lighting is different. The level of crowd engagement is different. The team I’m working with is different. My MC tone and energy are different. Now we’re creating an experience and telling a story, and that’s the kind of stuff that sets me on fire in the best way.

I then get to add my personal touches to the event. Seeing a space lets me visualize what is possible, and my efficient, self contained production elements allow me to create some really awesome experiences.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I think it would really depend on who is visiting and what time of year. In the summer I tend to stay pretty close to my backyard swimming pool or maybe rent a boat for a day from Silver Lake Marina on Lake Grapevine!

In cooler weather, it’s hard to beat a stroll through the Fort Worth Stockyards one day, or enjoy a serene visit to the Dallas Arboretum on another.

For my wilder friends who want a night out, I’m a huge fan of It’ll Do Club in Deep Ellum. While I don’t get out on the late night scene as much as I used to, this place has done an amazing job of preserving itself as a proper house music venue in Dallas. They bring in world class artists in a simple, minimal space with an insanely awesome sound system. People are there for the music, not to take photos or be seen, and I love that it has stayed that way. It doesn’t even need a headliner. Just going to see resident DJ Red Eye (Scottie Canfield) is an experience in itself.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I definitely want to dedicate this shoutout to my wife Danielle. She believed in me when I wanted to leave my corporate job to pursue this career in music and events. She continued to believe in me when things got really hard along the way, and thankfully, there’s been a lot to celebrate too.

Other credit certainly goes to the musicians and DJs who have come before me and showed me that yes, you can make a living doing this.

Two musicians that really stand out to me are Brad Thompson and Joshua Ingram.

DJs Andy Austin, Rod Baker, Jaime Chavez, and Kaivan Bazleh (DJ KB) have been tremendously inspirational, each in their own ways. Several DJs from other markets have been very inspiring as well. My MC Coach Mark Ferrell was a huge game changer for me.

And to all of the couples and event planners who have taken chances on me and trusted me with thier biggest events.

Website: https://djdanquinn.com

Instagram: @djdanquinn

Linkedin: danquinn

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dqbentertainment

Image Credits
Caitlin Rose
Georgia Sheridan
Grant Daniels
Kathy Tran
Perez Photo
Hubert Huy Photography
Vi Vo Photography