Gobo Studios · a DBA of Monterey Skates LLC · Monterey, CA · (831) 264-8797 · gobostudios.com

Private parties · Monterey & the Central Coast

The night runs itself when somebody is actually running it

Birthdays, anniversaries, graduation parties, karaoke nights. You pick the songs that matter. I bring the sound and the lights, and I handle the part where your uncle wants the microphone.

Check your date See the work

What we do

Four kinds of night

Birthdays

Fifteenth, thirtieth, fiftieth, eightieth. A mixed-age room is the hard part and the good part, and the trick is a floor that never completely clears, which takes reading the room rather than running a playlist. Kids’ parties too: lower volume, shorter set, games, and a working microphone for the candles.

Anniversaries

Twenty-fifth, fortieth, fiftieth. Slower start, a toast that everyone can hear, a dance together again if you want one, and a set that goes back further than the streaming charts do. If you have a slideshow, send it a week ahead and it will play with sound that actually works.

Graduation parties

Backyard, garage, park, rented hall. Starts in daylight with family and ends after dark with friends, which is really two parties an hour apart. Volume that keeps the neighbours out of it.

Karaoke parties

A party where the singing is the point rather than a bolt-on. Milestone birthdays, office nights, and a living room full of people who all claim they do not sing. It has its own page, because it runs differently from a DJ night.

How a karaoke party runs

The practical part

What I need, and what shows up

What I need from you

The date, the address, and the hard stop your venue or your neighbours give you.
A rough headcount.
Power. Two circuits if the house has them, and in a backyard, a heads-up about which outlets share a breaker.
A spot for the booth that is out of the walking path and under cover if there is any chance of rain.
About twenty songs you love and five you never want to hear. That is genuinely enough to build a night on.

What shows up

PA sized to your room or your yard, not to the biggest room I own.
A wireless microphone for toasts, and a second one when the toasts get competitive.
Lighting: a dance floor wash and uplighting in your colours. Bigger rig available if the room deserves it.
Karaoke if you want it, running on our own software.
Backup gear in the van, always.
One person who stays sober, keeps an eye on the cables, and does not need managing.

Budget and dates

What changes the price, and when to book

Packages are on the pricing page. Here is what moves a quote up or down, so nothing on the invoice is a surprise.

How many hours the party runs. Show hours only — set-up and teardown are never on your clock.
Headcount and the size of the space, because that sets the speakers.
Indoors or outdoors. A yard needs more PA than a room with the same number of people in it.
Lighting, or sound only.
Karaoke as an add-on.
Two spaces instead of one, like a dinner area and a separate dance floor.
Distance outside Monterey County.
A late finish, which is priced on the contract rather than argued about at midnight.

When to book

Graduation parties all land in the same two weeks of May and June, so that is the tightest window of the year. Summer Saturdays go early, and a milestone birthday or anniversary with a hall booked behind it is usually planned months out. A weeknight birthday or a small backyard party is normally fine at four to six weeks. If your date is gone you will hear it in the first reply.

Get the packages

Questions we actually get

The ones people ask first

“Can I give you a playlist?”: Please do, and a do-not-play list with it. Both get followed exactly. The do-not-play list is usually the more important of the two.
“Will you take requests from guests?”: Yes, filtered against your do-not-play list. If you would rather I didn’t, say so and the answer at the booth becomes “the family picked the music tonight”, which lands better coming from me than from you.
“Can you MC?”: Yes. Introductions, toasts, the cake, the speeches, the raffle. Write down what you want said and how names are pronounced and that is what gets said. If you would rather the music just plays and nobody hears from the DJ, that works too.
“How much space do you need?”: A table and room for two speaker stands, plus a bit more if you want the full lighting rig. Tell me the room or send a photo of the yard and I will tell you exactly what fits.
“What about power?”: Two circuits is ideal. One will usually do for a small party. In a backyard, tell me which outlets are on the same breaker, because that is the thing that trips a party at 9 p.m.
“Can we run past ten?”: Your venue and the local noise rules decide that, not me. Tell me the hard stop and the last hour gets built around it, so the night ends on the song you wanted rather than mid-track.
“Is there anything you won’t play?”: Almost nothing. If a track is going to be a problem for the room, with kids present or grandparents right at the front, you will hear about it in the week before rather than get an argument at the booth.
“Are you insured?”: Not yet, and I would rather say so. Coverage is being placed through the ADJA and is not bound. If your venue requires a certificate from vendors, ask at enquiry and you will get the honest status.

Next step

Check your date

Send the date, the address, roughly how many people, and what the party is for. You get availability and a written quote back the same way every time. If you want karaoke on it, say so and it will be on the quote as its own line.

Check your date Call (831) 264-8797