EBE Talent Spotlight: Matt Ostroff, DJ and MC

We sat down with Matt Ostroff this week, one of EBE’s most popular DJs/emcees, to begin our fun new “spotlight” series that will highlight some of the incredible people who work for EBE.

Recent recollections

“I did a wedding this past weekend that was very small.The bride and groom are incredibly shy, and they told me that no one would dance.We came up with all kinds of alternative ideas: I had a pianist perform for the ceremony and cocktail hour and then interspersed with me [DJing] during dinner, and we were going to use him for sing-alongs. We were going to do a trivia game about the bride and groom, and so on.

“Instead, I arrived early and observed the crowd. I could see the different personalities and used that information to create a dance party.These people never sat down. We never wound up doing any sing-alongs or trivia, but instead kept the dance floor packed with activity.  On a scale of 1-10 it was an 11, and you could feel the love and excitement.”

Raving reviews (from WeddingWire.com)

“We had seen Matt at another wedding, so once we were engaged it was just a matter of a phone call. Hiring him was the best decision that we made (and now my sister has booked him too). His suggestions were great and the dance floor was constantly packed. All night long people kept asking me where I found him. Would highly recommend [him] to anyone who wants to have an amazing reception.” — buju1012, wedding date: July 5, 2009.

Best day on the job. Ever.

President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy

A few years ago, Matt got a call from the events coordinator at the Philadelphia Ritz-Carlton, who asked him to personally emcee a very hush-hush party. As it turned out, the guests of honor were to be the U.S. Senate’s Democrats, in Philadelphia for a day of top-secret meetings and desperately needing a chance to unwind afterward.

Matt’s brother, Ben, stepped in as his DJ, and the pair arrived at the hotel to be background checked and scrutinized for any red flags or weapons. A national-level staff member debriefed them on what to expect, what sort of behavior would be cool, and what would not. “And then,” Matt says, “she uttered the words that I couldn’t have wanted to hear more: ‘If you have a few minutes, Senator Kennedy would like to speak to you.’” A self-professed “Kennedy fan,” Matt even has the famous photograph at right hanging above his office desk. He could not have been more thrilled to meet Ted Kennedy.

Sure enough, a few moments later, Senator Edward Kennedy approached Matt and Ben while they began to set up. It seems that the senator’s 75^th birthday party was coming up, and he had been planning what songs his DJ should play by listening to the radio and jotting notes of song titles. “But you guys already know all these songs, don’t you?” the senator blustered, laughing at himself, before posing with them for a few pictures. “As the party got started,” Matt recalls, “you could see Kennedy just turn on and really enjoy himself and being with his friends.”

Matthew Ostroff and Senator Ted Kennedy.

The party was attended by most of the Senate’s Democrats (although John Kerry and Hillary Clinton went off to bed early) and their spouses, as well as some children, and it soon became apparent that the senators’ tastes ran toward the traditional. “The things that they were asking us to play were the kinds of things we normally avoid, like the ‘Macarena.’ I was out on the floor doing the electric slide with half of the U.S. senate,” Matt says. Senator Chuck Schumer asked if they could play a Horah, and soon Matt was helping to lift both Senator Schumer and Senator Kennedy in chairs over the heads of the other guests.

Ben Ostroff and Senator Ted Kennedy.

“That night was definitely the high point of my career,” Matt says, “My grandparents immigrated to the U.S. some sixty years ago, and there I was at this secret party. I don’t think they could have ever fathomed the possibility of something like that happening.”