BIO

ABOUT

Hometown: Boston

Education: Master’s Degree Counselling, Cambridge University

Language: English

What’s it like to work with Evan: Evan is friendly, personable, perceptive, and genuinely focused on his clients and their guests. He takes the time to understand their vision, then uses his ability to read the room and adapt in the moment to keep everyone engaged and dancing. He’s confident and professional without making the event about himself, and above all, he genuinely cares about creating a great experience for the people he works with.

INTERVIEW

Evan Dahlstedt’s passion is reading rooms. He thrives not only on mixing music, but using it to make a crowd come to life for a celebration they will never forget.

Evan grew up with family members in the music industry, so his passion for it has always been part of his life. At 15, he bought his first set of turntables, and says that ever since then, he became “obsessed with the art of being able to blend different styles of music together using [his] own tastes.” From there, it was talent shows and high school dances, then later, parties at UMass Amherst. All the while, he would go home for the summer and keep on DJing around Boston, particularly the hot spots near Lansdowne Street.

“I specialize in looking at a crowd of people, no matter who’s out there, and analyzing, and constantly looking to see what music is working and what music isn’t working, and if something’s not working, you know, I pivot to something else,” Evan says. “Whether it’s a crowd of 8 or 80-year-olds on the dance floor, I’m trying to find a way to get all of them dancing at the same time.” As such, he likes to mash different genres together; he got his start as a hip-hop DJ in the ‘90s, but over time has learned to play with a wide variety of music styles.

After earning his stripes in the domestic and international nightclub scene, Evan transitioned into the corporate wedding world over the past decade, in part because it was more agreeable to his work schedule as a full-time therapist. He says he still dabbles in clubs, but only about once a month; nevertheless, he finds it to be an endlessly educational setting for crowd-reading. 

“You have no choice but to keep the energy at its absolute peak when the crowd’s in front of you. It doesn’t matter what background of people; there’s no time to dull the energy,” Evan says, “So I’ve kind of taken that style and transferred it over into the wedding and corporate worlds, but also with a classic taste, and that’s why I get a lot of bookings. It’s because a lot of people want that club style DJ, not just the electric slide, Macarena, and teaching dance moves.”

Evan loves doing weddings and putting smiles on people’s faces. He started working with White Label Wedding DJs in 2012 after meeting Nate Oinonen on the Boston DJ scene. 

Outside of DJing, Evan has been working as a therapist for six years with a focus on jail diversion and substance recovery. He has a master’s degree in Education with a focus in Psychological Studies, along with an independent license, which has since allowed him to open his own private practice.

“As a therapist, do you think that that ability to read people transfers over into your DJ work?”

Definitely. I have pride in my ability on that front. I definitely try to come down to people on some type of a relatable level in any way I can. I didn’t anticipate being in those two worlds, but they do help each other in a sense.

“What would you say has been your coolest experience that you’ve had as a DJ?”

Oh, recently for sure. I’m the resident DJ in Times Square at the Hard Rock Cafe, and I DJ’d there on New Year’s Eve for Planet Fitness. I was in the right place at the right time, and the right people heard me playing and liked what I had going on; goes to show, you never know who’s listening. I got to go up to the ball at the top of the building, and then was right underneath the building when the fireworks went off. It was pretty surreal, and I look forward to doing it again next year.

“What is the coolest wedding you’ve ever DJed?”

I did a White Label wedding at the State Room in Boston that stands out in particular because the bride’s side was Latino and the groom’s side was Irish, and I love rising to the challenge of looking at a room and trying to keep everybody on the dance floor. In that energy at that wedding, I just got in the zone, and I had everybody out there the entire time. I’ve done over 250 weddings at this point, many of which were multicultural celebrations, but this one still stands out the most to me. There was so much fun energy in that room, and I still remember someone’s 90-year-old grandma out there going crazy on the dance floor.

“How would you describe your Emcee style?”

I’m very comfortable on the microphone, and more than happy to introduce anything: parent dances, toast, first dance, whatever it may be that requires being on the microphone and taking control. I provide energy, but not in an over the top way.

The event’s not about me; I’m not on the mic all night. None of that “ladies, put your hands up in the air” stuff. I talk more with the music. I’m not there to steal the show. I’m there to help navigate when it comes to the formalities, and then, it’s my time to shine during the actual party.

“How do you think your DJing has evolved since you started?”

My first wedding was for my friend’s company, and I was wicked nervous. You know, the actual DJing is the easiest part, hands down, but there’s a lot of pressure to introduce the members of the wedding party correctly and in order, plus you’re playing different songs for each of them, all while keeping track of the timeline yourself, because the coordinators aren’t always readily available. You don’t have a lot of speeches and formalities in the club. But you have to get your first-time nerves out of the way, and I have. For all my jitters, that first couple still gave me a five-star review. 

As I’ve continued in my career, I’ve learned that the party is truly the most important part. You could have bad food, but if you have an amazing DJ bringing great energy to the dance floor, everybody forgets about the catering. That, to me, is what’s most important, and what I’m always striving to improve on.

Now, I adapt to my clients a lot more than I did in the beginning, when I was young. In college, I stuck strictly to hip-hop and reggae, but have since discovered how to appreciate and incorporate a wide variety of different genres, and especially how to focus on what my clients like; after all, that’s who I’m working for. I listen to what they’re looking for in their musical choice while still knowing how to twist it to keep the energy high.

I’ve gone through a lot of technological evolution, as well. I grew up using turntables and records my whole life. Anytime in high school, if I got 100 bucks, I was taking the bus to New York to buy records at the store, Beat Street in Brooklyn. I was infatuated with vinyl, and that was how I learned to DJ. If you can DJ on vinyl in turntables, you can DJ on any type of equipment.

As the years passed, I had to adapt to the technology, so I started using a program called Serato, where basically you’re using turntables on your laptop. By using digital records, I’m not carrying crates and crates of records, which saves me breaking my back for every performance. I’ve still got thousands and thousands of records, and digging and collecting and searching through them has always been a passion. Still, new technology opens doors to be able to do a lot more creative things when you’re DJing.

“What kind of music do you yourself tend to gravitate towards?”

I listen to a lot of Motown music. I feel like it has a lot of soul and makes people happy, and it’s kind of a universal sound that works for all age brackets and all different types of people. I also listen to a lot of ’90s hip-hop and ’90s R&B. Those are my go-tos, but at the same time, I also listen to everything from house music to Top 40 to reggae. 

You know, I’ve always said to myself that good music is good music. If it sounds good, it sounds good. I’m not discriminating in any genre. I’m very open-minded when it comes to my own musical taste. My clients still introduce me to new music from time to time.

“How far out in advance do you try to plan your mixes?”

Usually, I get the planner back from the client three weeks to a month ahead of time. I’ll see what kind of music they’re into, and I put together the folders of songs. If they have specific songs that they definitely want to hear, I’ll put a ‘must play’ folder together. Then I’ll put together a folder of ‘maybe’ plays that they want to hear, and that’s it. It’s never a fully planned set; if I show up to a party or a corporate event or whatever it may be, it’s always a matter of reading the room.

“How do you communicate with your client(s)?”

For weddings, especially, I’m in constant communication with them from the start. I’m not the type of DJ that’s gonna disappear and pop up a day before your event. I’ll also talk to any coordinators and ask if they have any specific directions for me. It’s more comfortable for everybody when there’s proper communication and planning. I want them to know that I care about their big day, so I always tell my clients to reach out at any point over email, cellphone, Zoom, or if they’re in the area, even a cup of coffee, just to go over things. 

“Tell me a bit about your life outside of DJing.”

First off, I’m really passionate about music. After that, I’m really into herbalism; taking care of my mind and body means a lot to me, and I like being able to pass that knowledge onto my clients. Taking care of myself: exercise (I like basketball a lot), eating well, and sleep are all huge factors in maintaining a good quality of life.

I have a dog named Miso and a black cat named Luna, who I love. Nobody gets as excited to see me as my dog does when I get home. 

I enjoy being around my family and friends. My life kind of revolves around work, including therapy. I’m always interested in learning new things about therapeutic practices for my clients, and I have a passion for working with people and trying to help them in some capacity. The idea of not working in a field where I’m helping somebody doesn’t really make sense to me, and it’s just not possible for me to not do that in some type of way.