The way disc jockey Italo Talarico looks at it, he’s in the happiness business.
A resident of New Hyde Park, the 22-year-old Talarico has operated his own business as a DJ for the past two years, averaging at least one party or event each weekend. He said his principal objective is to make sure that the people he’s entertaining have happy feet.
“The best satisfaction you can get is to see people happy and dancing to the music. If you’re making everyone happy, you’re happy,” Talarico said.
Talarico first got involved in the business at age 16, when he was still attending New Hyde Park Memorial High School. He was the liveliest dancer at a party he was attending, and the DJ providing the music that night asked him to come and work for him.
He started as a roadie – carrying equipment – and a party motivator, the stepping stones to being a DJ. After acting as DJ for the company at a couple of parties, he realized that he didn’t need to be working for someone else.
“When I realized I could do this on my own, I started my own company,” Talarico said
His company, ITs Party Entertainment, draws business primarily by word-of-mouth, although Talarico recently launched a Web site, djitsparty.com to draw attention in cyberspace.
He first started putting together cassette tapes of songs for family parties at age 10, and eventually bought a sound system to use for those special family occasions.
Talarico said he had a good grounding in Italian music and an aunt who worked for a record company supplied him with free CDs of the latest releases.
Talarico grew up in Flushing before moving to New Hyde Park with his family when he was 15 years old. His friends in Queens were tuned into contemporary music and the friends he made in New Hyde Park were into the club scene. One thing led to another after his initial exposure to the business.
Most of his work comes from Sweet 16 parties, and he also does a lot of block parties in New Hyde Park, Franklin Square, Mineola, Valley Stream and in towns throughout Suffolk County as well.
“At Sweet 16s you can play a lot of newer, hip music,” Talarico said. “There’s not party too big or too small.”
Talarico said his prices are “fair” compared to what other DJs charge and with a hard drive of 40,000 songs using a computer program called Serato, he can prepare music for any occasion – and be ready to make adjustments on the fly.
“I’ve very versatile. If you can’t improvise, you’re not going to be a good DJ. You have to make the customer happy,” Talarico said.
In addition to doing local parties, Talarico also does corporate events, recently programming the music for an event Macy’s held in Manhattan.
He also works in bars and clubs, including the Greenhouse in Manhattan, a prestigious venue for DJs, according to Talarico, who was preparing last week for a pool party at the Grace Hotel in New York City.
He’s made a fast transition from doing the music for fun for his family to turning into a full-time business for himself.
And beyond the goal he’s realized of bringing the right mix into city nightspots, there’s another plateau he wants to reach in what he hopes will be a long run in the DJ business.
“If you run it the right way, you don’t have to DJ anymore,” he said. “You can send other people out to DJ for you.”
