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Elmwood Park employee Frank DeRosa says DJing brings energy to school events
Summary
Frank DeRosa, an Elmwood Park CUSD 401 employee and 1988 Elmwood Park High School graduate, told a district meeting that his DJ work — playing largely 1980s and 1990s music — helps create high-energy school and neighborhood events and has grown from a hobby into a business.
Frank DeRosa, an Elmwood Park CUSD 401 employee and a 1988 Elmwood Park High School graduate, told the meeting he has worked for the district since February 2006 and has been DJing for 15 years.
“How we keep events alive is the neighborhood's personality, music,” DeRosa said. “A DJ is, basically the life of the party.”
DeRosa said he and his brother play largely 1980s and early 1990s music to match attendees' tastes and that his role is mainly to engage the crowd while his brother mixes the tracks. He described the duo as high-energy, saying they invite colleagues to join, dance and help create a lively atmosphere at gatherings.
DeRosa provided several specific details about his experience and equipment: he said he has DJed for about 15 years, the pair started by buying two turntables, a mixer and a strobe light, and that the hobby “blew up into a business.” He said they tailor selections to the crowd and aim to “play what they think they want to hear,” adding, “90% of the time, we nail it.”
He characterized the music choice as driven by nostalgia and community identity and said the duo’s preferred genres are older school eighties music moving into the nineties. DeRosa emphasized the entertainment role: “I do more of the entertainment part. My brother does the music,” he said.
The remarks were offered as descriptive comments about local event entertainment; the transcript does not record any formal district action, requests for funding, or requests for policy change tied to DeRosa’s remarks.
