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DJ Kanoya Productions | San Diego Wedding DJ | Yoga DJ | Fitness DJ | Corporate Event DJ

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DJ Justin Kanoya

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Back to All Events

Allison and Blake

Saturday, June 6, 2015
1:00 PM 7:00 PM 13:00 19:00

Levyland Carlsbad (map)

Google Calendar ICS

Live DJ and emcee for their wedding ceremony and reception.

Earlier Event: May 30

lululemon athletica - Fashion Valley

Later Event: June 14

Flag Day Concert at the Del

DJ Kanoya Productions, San Diego, United States760-809-6951justin@djkanoya.com

Copyright DJ Kanoya Productions

Falling into another month. It's the homestretch of 2018! But first, here's a look back at October.

Two questions I am routinely asked at my wedding gigs: ❓❓
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🔹What's on the playlist for tonight?
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🔹Are you allowed to deviate from the playlist?
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Guess what folks, there is no playlist. Never. Ever.
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I get it, most people are pre-disposed to the idea of preparing ahead of time. And when it comes to music, that's what they often do.
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Go on a roadtrip; make a playlist. Hosting dinner guests at your home; make a playlist. Throwing down a Friday night house party; make a playlist.
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But when you hire a DJ you should be hiring someone with the a skill that every great DJ has: reading the crowd.
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As a DJ, that's what keeps me going back on those stages. I never know what songs I'm going to play or when I'm going to play them. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. But the fun in engaging a crowd with music is never ending.
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💃🎶

Cue. Loop. Sample. Slice.
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Whatever it takes to get the job done. Just get that crowd dancing.

"I'm DJ Justin Kanoya, good night everyone."
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At the end of every gig I do, and definitely every wedding, I close out with those six words. It's in a similar manner a performer ends their own stage show (and probably where I picked it up watching so many concerts).
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There's a misconception out there about what a "wedding DJ" does. Most people assume all DJs are the same (wedding, club, radio, festival, etc.); and they all do the same thing ... play one song after another.
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While that is true, at the heart of it all, we are performers.
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I am a performer. .
I engage crowds with excitement. I do this, with music, but also with many other tools; my voice, control of volume level, lighting and much more.
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Your DJ should not just "play music." Anyone can do that. Find yourself a performer.
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"I'm DJ Justin Kanoya." 📷 @dylanmayer

"Put the needle on the record when the drum beats go like this."
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Growing up I played the violin for, maybe, three school years. I also played taiko for about 10 years (Japanese drumming).
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While I never truly mastered those instruments, I think I've got this tonearm and needle on vinyl thing figured out. Not completley figured out, it's always a work in progress.
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The basics of DJing is essentially playing one song to another. But there's so many other ways to use music and the equipment to hype a crowd. And that is the never ending learning process. I continue to be inspired by own colleagues and the great scratch routine DJs all around the world.
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A turntable was long just thought of a way to playback music. But these days, it is an instrument and I'm hoping to fully master it one of these days.

Some DJs have random dance routines breakout in front of them. Me? I get random acro yoga routines.
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Never a dull moment.

This is where the magic happens.
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When it comes down to it, mixing music for an audience comes down to these three fader. Channel 1, channel 2 and the crossfader.
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On a DJ's mixer, nothing else gets manipulated and touched as much as these three faders. Dance floors have exploded and died based off their slightest movements.
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Turn it up. Mix it up.

I recently saw a video with @djjazzyjeff. He was checking out the latest piece of DJ tech, @phase_dj, which allows DJs to scratch records without the use of that pesky tonearm.
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DJing with vinyl is a fragile process, especially on bouncy stages. One small bump, one tiny vibration or a gust of wind ... and the music skips.
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Jeff was speaking the truth when he said, "any DJ that uses turntables has a list of problems that they have to look at. Especially if you're playing indoor or outdoor. You have to worry about sun, wind, vibration is the worst ... I gingerly walk when I DJ, because I have to."
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This was never more true than on this stage in San Francisco. For those familiar with the gear, there are two CDJs (CD players) and one turntable. That's because the wind was blowing my needles all over the place. Luckily the venue has the CDJs to swap out otherwise that would have been a real tough gig.
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This was a great reminder to not only be ready to adapt, but have a general understanding of as much gear as possible. You'll never know when you need to use something you've never used before (and up until this point, I had never gigged with a pair of Pioneer CDJs.).

DJ gear is expensive. When I say gear, I mean both the actual gear; the mixers, speakers, controllers AND the road cases.
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I'll never understand why people spend $1000s on quality gear, but then never invest in the cases to keep that stuff in good shape. Road cases keep your stuff scratch free, but also help with travel and set-up productivity because it makes it much easier stack cases in your van and cart.
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If you're a DJ, you'll never regret spending money on a case, you will definitely regret not spending that money.
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Also, as in this case, you can take a pretty cool selfie in a ball corner.
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My inventory includes well over a dozen roadcases (as a solo operating DJ). How many cases are you rolling with? Let me know in the comments!

Smiling here for the sole reason there was a camera in my face.
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Smiling at the moment because it's Friday, which for most means a couple of days off. But for me, it's time to go to work. I'm looking forward to celebrating a 25th anniversary with a couple who have ties to my hometown of St. Louis.
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And then on Sunday experiencing my first "best day in tri" as I provide the party music (and some yoga music) for the Challenged Athletes Foundation San Diego Triathlon Challenge.
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I'm also smiling because someone finally got a picture of me smiling while DJing. I usually looks so serious.

September welcomed a few new things for me, like DJing at F45 for the first time and DJing a 60th high school reunion.
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But it also included a few things familiar to me, like walking/running/eating through the streets of Vancouver.
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Looking forward to Fall and closing out 2018.

Three years ago this month, the three of us kicked off Fitbit Local in San Diego. (Perhaps @mikesherbakov should be holding up three fingers).
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Many more cities followed and San Diego is still going strong. Let's celebrate this third anniversary by getting back together again for more sweating, stretching and of course, dancing.
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Sweat and Shop (oh yeah, Lululemon is involved this time too) pops off October 28 at Westfield UTC.
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Register at the link in the bio. See you there!

I recently saw the Broadway musical, Beautiful. It tells the story of the great songwriter, Carole King. She, along with her partner Gerry Goffin, were a hit making machine.
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And while I typically credit the singer/band in these posts, it only seemed appropriate to credit this amazing writing duo.
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"Up on the Roof" was made popular by the Drifters in 1962. It has been covered many times, most notably by James Taylor and even King herself.
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It has such a great, summer in New York city feel. I love the wordsmithing about how a rooftop in a city can be a beautiful respite to the chaos on the below.
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Give it a listen if you haven't in a while.

Throwing it back to a year ago yesterday when I DJ'd a wellness conference for Fitbit in Chicago. I've had so many great times DJing events for them, in cities all around the country. I'll be DJing another event, locally in San Diego, in October. Details forthcoming.
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I'm also digging this sleek, no obstruction set-up I had; it's nice when you don't have to deal with microphones, wireless receives, lighting controllers and just about anything else that can clutter up a DJ table.

Looking back at August 2018, I didn't do much ... well other than DJing. I had 12 ... yes TWELVE event. And they were all over in terms of styles.
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For this month's recap, I decided to just breakdown what/where I DJ'd. .
But I had to toss in one non DJ fact, and I suppose running the furthest I have ever run in my life is worth mentioning.
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See you in September!

DJing Lululemon store openings/events and getting all those 🍋 lemons 🍋and their ambassadors to dance is my moment of zen. 💃🕺

I've been working on a DJ routine to incorporate songs that include the word "love." There wasn't any particular inspiration, other than wanting to use the Broadway classic, "Seasons of Love."
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But with today being my 13th wedding anniversary, two engagements of friends in the past few days, and recently finding out that two friends are pregnant with twins, I suppose the inspiration was atmospheric.
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Here's a classic love song.

Based on the feedback immediately after and in the following days, I'd say @lauren.padula and I nailed this event ... Sunset Yoga Under The Sails.
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Every so often I have a full circle moment and this was one of them.
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The free yoga event took place inside the San Diego Convention Center. Having worked at the Port of San Diego for 13 years, I’ve spent many hours on that waterfront working events and being in the background.
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Additionally, it was four years ago I met Lauren. She was leading @novemberprojectsd workouts that travel all around San Diego. The Convention Center was one of those locations.
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Back then we were living that “9-5” life, dreaming of doing something else and pondering how to connect and influence others.
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And there we were that night, in the forefront, on the waterfront, inside the Convention Center, leading and influencing. Me with music, Lauren with movement.
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Full. Circle.

The other day I had YouTube opened and 90s music videos were on autoplay. On the sidebar, showing related video content, there was a link to a live performance of "Fade Into You."
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I noticed it, but didn't click.
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The next day, a friend shared that exact video on Facebook.
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I couldn't ignore it anymore. This song is one of the best, and continues to stand the test of time.
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It's also one that I feel a lot of people have never heard. Do yourself a favor and listen to it today.

In October 2014, in the early morning, just as the sun began to rise, I drove into Kate Sessions Park in San Diego, rolled out my most portable DJ system, pulled the starter rope on a generator and at 6:29 a.m., started playing music for a November Project San Diego workout. It was a "special day" as it was the one year anniversary of a group of yahoos that were meeting in the park to workout every Wednesday.
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One of the people leading those yahoos was @lauren.padula. She gave out the instructions, I played the music.
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It was the first time I had DJ'd a workout of any kind. Four years later, I've DJ'd a few more fitness events. And Lauren and I have partnered a few times too.
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Yoga on a beach. A workout in Vancouver. Yoga in a brewery.
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And we're still doing it today, this time, Yoga Under The Sails ... more specifically, inside the @sdconventionctr Sails Pavilion.
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It's all going down in the evening on August 29. And it's free. Tap the link in the bio!
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Bring your friends. Bring your yoga mat. Bring your best dance moves.
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Let's have some fun.