Job Lot: The mobile DJ

Dennis Niu (35), is a self-employed mobile DJ extraordinaire. Black or White is his business name. He hails from Avondale, with wife Tracey and their five girls, aged 5 to 12. Annual earnings range between $35,000 and $45,000.


Being a DJ is really cool - is that why you do it?

No, it fits in with my family life. If you went back 10 years, there was only about one deejay company. There's been quite an increase since, but what I've found is that a lot of DJs started up because of the image. You watch on TV, the scratching, that's putting the record back and forth over the needle. The image that brings is cool.

Tell me about your most challenging job.

The challenging ones are the best ones because you get to a stage in your job where you're always looking for something that's really challenging. Otherwise it becomes just another job.

One I liked was at the Izard Irwin factory, a 24-hour operation, in Wellsford. Their radio had broken down for about a week. Management hired us to come up there and do a 24-hour music show for the factory workers as thanks for putting up with it. Two of us went up there, set everything up, the speakers, how many amps we were going to use. We had requests, quizzes and prizes. They fed us doughnuts, food, breakfast. We stayed in an office there so we had everything we wanted. And when we finished, we went home and slept on the side of the road because we were that tired.

The following day, when they totalled up their productivity, they found it was one of the highest levels they had ever achieved. It goes to show that music doesn't distract but it can entertain and make you work a little bit faster and get your mind off things so you can produce more.

What songs do most people ask for?

Old songs like December 63, Rock The Boat, Let's Hear It For The Boys by Denise Williams and the top 10 songs out there at the moment. I usually take about 1000 CDs, maybe more.

It must be an expensive outlay buying equipment.

It is when you first start and you don't know anyone. You get big speakers, big this, big that, then later on you find out that you don't really need that. You have a network out there, and once you hop onto it, know people, they just tell you where you can get things cheaper. My equipment is mobile, small, yet powerful at the same time.

What was your most unusual job?

A memorable one was a wedding on a chartered boat outside the Loaded Hog where the ferries come and go. The bridal car pulled up and the groom was waiting on the boat. We played a Michael Jackson song as the groom walked her up. You could really feel what the words were saying. We played music as the boat cruised around the gulf.

o what else does a DJ extraordinaire do?

I do functions like 21sts, weddings, children's birthday parties. This week I'm playing at a redundancy party. I also help promote road safety with Burger King All Stars, visiting schools around the country. It's a full-on entertainment show. I also work with the police, doing the Blue Light Discos in the Waitakere, Wellsford, Warkworth, and North Shore area. And I play at Grillers Restaurant, in Kelston.

How long have you worked as a deejay?

Full-time for five years. Before that, I was off and on for 17 years or more. I started when I was about 20. I learned it all on the job by myself. It just came naturally and I saved up the money.

Are there any jobs you refuse?

16-year-olds' parties because of the alcohol thing and gatecrashing, mud-wrestling, strip tease, inappropriate ones. With the 16-year-olds, you always get police, so I avoid that.