For Rob Sax, there's no time to relax. A full-time office machine doctor and Plains Township Zoning Board official, the mobile DJ and family man crashes 25 weddings a year with his flashy shirts and chicken hats. And if you're on the other side of the speakers, well, you may become part of the show. When Rob's at Grotto Pizza on a Thursday night it's game show night, and even the most casual of barflies hits the podium to play name that tune for prizes. He's a big-time music fan who rarely listens to music ... he's DJ Rob Sax ....
What's your day job? I'm the copy guy - Golden Business Machines. I go around and service copiers at places like this.
Any strange encounters? I had one with a mouse nest in it one time. That was strange. It was because it's warm in there you know?
Sure. We saw you at Pocono Downs a few weeks back. Well I'm on the Plains Township Zoning Board. It's a positive thing for this area. There's been nothing like it, ever and I just want to be a part of it. Before anybody knocks this down, don't think negative. This can't hurt. I mean, there's no reason to leave this area now. There's nothing we don't have.
What kind of music library does it take to do up a NEPA wedding? In this area, everything. Oldies to Top 40. You can't get away without playing a polka. Or The Chicken Dance. I'm kind of known for The Chicken Dance around here. Nothing's really changed. I've been doing this for 18 years. Except for a few new tunes here and there and audience participation dances, I basically DJ with what I started with. Fun stuff everybody knows.
Will there always be work for DJs? Yeah. It'll never end. I don't think my jukebox will be rolling into Genetti's to do a wedding. Just doesn't work. Jukeboxes are fun for backyard parties and such, you can have it there all day and it'll just rock. You pick your own music. It's like having a DJ that doesn't give 110 percent. Here you go.
Do you ever get bored? That's why I have all the hats and signs (laughs). I try to act it out with different props. I have lighted guitars and saxophones. I just try to get people going. I interact a lot with what I have to work with. I don't rely on the music anymore, I just don't. The music alone just doesn't cut it. You used to be able to just go out and play the music, but not anymore. People want to be entertained for their money. I don't have a problem with it. I really don't. I put myself in their shoes.
Did you see Wedding Crashers? No, not yet. But I've seen Wedding Singer!
Hit close to home? Oh yeah. I think about that a lot. That's why I came up with a lot of the props, just to keep people active. That's a classic movie. Classic.
How do you make time for the family? It's in the contract (laughs). I always said someday when I hit the big 4-0 I'm going to reevaluate everything, the whole scene ... the jukeboxes and the rentals and see where I'm going and what I've done. That's a year and a half away. I don't intend to stop, but I'd like to get on course.
What do you listen to? I'm a big Sting fan. I like Sting and I like a lot of contemporary jazz music. I like listening to ESPN radio on the way home from a gig. I don't listen to music on the way home from a gig. Or going to a gig. Sting is an all-time favorite though. And Bruce Hornsby. I like today's music too, but not a lot. There's not much you can really dance to today. You have Will Smith's "Switch" and "Hollaback Girl," maybe. Most of the stuff, you just sit there and listen to.
Do you have a main gig? My big thing is the game show during the week. I'm surprised a lot of places don't go with the game show instead of karaoke. I'm not a big karaoke fan anymore. I went with the game show two years ago and now the home is Grotto Pizza in Harveys Lake. There's just so much you can do with it. You can play trivia or name that tune, anything. It's a different night out for people. It's an easy night to have fun and win some prizes. It's great for class reunions and parties, but with nightclubs, it's like the hidden secret of this area or something.
What do you do in the offseason? I think of ideas. I added jukeboxes the one year. I just started concession equipment. You know, cotton candy and sno-cones. Trying to make it into the big Bar Mitzvah atmosphere. But who knows what's coming next year. I added the partytoremember.com Web site last year.
And you have cool games on it. Yup. I have a bunch of '80s games. Pac-Man, Space Invaders, for guys like us that are stuck in the '80s.
Any other passions? Dirty secrets? I collect Bobbleheads. A lot of old baseball Bobbleheads. That's my own little escape. I have a little toy room in my basement and I just go down there and chill out. I collect a lot of concert DVDs and I have a nice system downstairs so I go down there and rock it out and the Bobbleheads just keep going.
Any special DVDs? Journey 2001 is one of my all-time favorites. Not with Steve Perry, but it's one of the best ones I've ever heard. And of course Sting, AC/DC, Stones. Sting is my hero. The last concert up here wasn't too good. I'm more into the Sting solo career. He didn't have any horns or background singers, or moods on the stage or anything. I didn't enjoy it. Another good DVD, too, is Godsmack from that arena tour. Classic. You know, with what they're putting out, there's no need to get bootlegs anymore. I'd rather spend $20 on a DVD then spend $150 to see the concert.
What's something about you that nobody else knows? Sax actually is my last name. A lot of people ask me if I just use it for my work but somewhere down the family tree a long time ago, it was shortened from something like Saxapopolis! Imagine that! Oh, and I haven't missed a gig in 18 years. There's one. I'm doing a wedding for the mother of a bride I did 16 years ago. And I also did her sister's wedding. I've also done weddings where three months down the road they're not together anymore. I've yet to get the call for doing somebody's second wedding. I'm sure it'll come someday, the way the world is. You just really have to give it everything you have for these people. You have to make sure everyone is entertained. They don't go to work the next day and say, "Hey, the piggies were great."
