…Remember the affair you went to, before Covid, when everyone got up to dance and the whole production seemed so perfect, and how the music was just right, with a sweet mix of all kinds of your favorites…that’s when you partied with Dan. …And you’ve checked the pictures and you still don’t recognize him!?…
He got started as a kid growing-up in Island Park, Long Island. Dan recalls, “When I was only 12, a friend of mine who had a pair Technics turntables in his house turned me on to the idea of mixing. I remember going there for hours after school every day and learning how to mix and blend all kinds of music. We’d pretend we were hosting and throwing parties in his parent’s basement. Eventually, we managed to convince a dad in the neighborhood to have us DJ his daughter’s sweet-sixteen. It wasn’t anything big, but it was a paid gig and the referrals we got from it launched our first business. I was really into music, I really liked the feeling of making a party move, and having a pretty entrepreneurial way to make some cash was pretty cool. We started to get a lot of work, and actually built one of the biggest party businesses on Long Island. When I started at Adelphi and wanted to focus on school, we sold the business to an even bigger company – for enough to cover my own partying for a while! And I still DJed for that acquirer, and did some work in local bars and restaurants, while I was in college.”
Dan Pearson at Caramoor – ready to party!
The good news, now, for Pearson and Lakeside Productions, is that people are beginning to party again. It will be dependent on what happens with the virus, and restricted by new and evolving rules for social distancing, but Pearson notes that the Covid drought appears to be coming to an end. “We’re finally starting to get events on the calendar. We’ve got a bunch of parties planned for this Summer for people who want to make sure they can have their celebration while it’s OK – even with a limit of 50 or a 100. And then people who’ve accepted that a smaller event is now the new normal, and who are ready to get their event planned now for next year – when there’ll be huge pent-up demand for every place you can hold an event. Whatever happens, we’re ready. We’re the best in the business and we’re reasonably priced. We can work with social distancing and still put on great events. And we’ve spent a lot of time during Covid picking some great new locations, inside and outdoors, and thinking about how to do the best post-Covid parties in all kinds of interesting places, and in all the new configurations people will be partying. Caramoor is a great example. I’d love to produce an event under the tent or in their fabulous gardens.”
Dan lives in Katonah, with his wife, Candace, and their three young kids, and admits, “I’ve been very fortunate that the management and promotion side of our business continued to do well during Covid, but I’ve missed being directly around and involved with playing music for people. I’ve assumed the role of Family DJ, and I’ve been blasting my favorite tunes around the house just about 24/7 – or at least whenever the kids aren’t sleeping. They usually want to hear their favorite show theme songs and anything that plays on Kidz Bop, but I sneak a few of my party favorites into the mix. When I’m feeling the ‘80s – I play Whitney Houston, I Wanna Dance With Somebody; ‘90s – Montell Jordan, This Is How We Do It; When I’m looking for a sing along – Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey; Something for the girls, I go with – Beyonce, Single Ladies, and; If I want to get my wife’s attention, I play – Ed Sheehan, Perfect. Oh, and then for something that will get the whole family moving, I pull out all the stops – Signed Sealed Delivered, Stevie Wonder – works every time!”
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