DJ Jonny B helps clients
create lasting memories
By Kathy McCarty
DJ JONNY B, aka Jon McQuarrie, provided entertainment during this year’s Crown of Maine Balloon Fest in Presque Isle. Residing in Houlton, McQuarrie takes his DJ services on the road, performing throughout Aroostook County at a variety of events, from weddings to birthday parties and class reunions.
For over 20 years, DJ Jonny B, aka Jon McQuarrie, has been in the entertainment business, helping clients make lasting memories.
“I’ve been DJing for just over 20 years. I got my start working for a local adult contemporary radio station, spinning wax and reading the news, eventually landing my own nightly show Monday through Friday,” said McQuarrie.
While in New Jersey several years ago, he was offered a job as a mobile DJ.
“I was offered a job as a mobile DJ, thanks to my broadcast experience. I jumped at the chance and loved it and have been DJing ever since — everything from wedding receptions to house DJ for popular nightclubs up and down the Eastern Seaboard,” he said.
His love of music began in the mid-1970s.
“That was when my aunt and uncle bought me the KISS LP “Destroyer” for Christmas. While my parents weren’t thrilled with it, I certainly was,” said McQuarrie, noting the album cover and the “fantastic beings, awash in stage lighting and wielding the most incredible instruments” he’d ever seen.
Wearing headphones when he listened to the album, he was amazed at the sounds he heard.
“I never imagined such sounds were possible, having been exposed to only the songs of my parents’ generation — Beatles, Dylan, etc. Not only was I instantly hooked on rock and hungry for more, “Destroyer” is still my absolute favorite album to this day,” McQuarrie said.
An interest in entertaining others began for McQuarrie in junior high.
“There were a number of simply incredible songs being released and played on the radio throughout the mid-80s. I saved my potato harvest money and bought a fairly nice boom box and started amassing a cassette tape collection,” said McQuarrie, adding, “On long bus trips for sports or whatnot, I’d sit in the back seat, cranking out Steve Miler’s greatest hits or Van Halen. The bus driver would yell to turn it down, which I’d do, then slowly I’d turn it back up.”
The name ‘DJ Jonny B’ he said was a friend’s idea from many years ago.
“A million and a half years ago, I decided I needed a ‘stage name’ because my long, always misspelled and often mispronounced Scottish surname just seemed a bit much. The band I was in at the time (Aftershock, an ‘80s ‘hair metal’ cover band out of Raleigh, N.C.) already had a member with the stage surname ‘Rock,’ so I pulled from my own musical roots, which is blues. I’ve been using it ever since and have kept it as a tip of the hat to two of my heroes, Jake and Elwood,” said McQuarrie.
“When I began DJing again here in Aroostook County, Reverend Hutchinson at the Houlton UU started promoting the Mardi Gras event with ‘DJ Jonny Blues.’ I just shortened it to ‘Jonny B’ in attempt to be hip, so people wouldn’t assume I only played blues,” continued McQuarrie, with a laugh.
McQuarrie, who also fronts the blues band “Doubletap,” said he loves to entertain.
“I have a solo acoustic act that I do for Coffeehouse at the Houlton Unitarian Church. It’s not so much about being in the spotlight; anyone can get on a stage and have the spotlight on them. For me, it’s more about actually entertaining people — at church, a festival, wedding reception or here at home,” he said.
McQuarrie said his goal while on stage is to “help people forget about work and bills and the stress in their lives.”
“Even if it’s just for a couple of hours and it helps them to smile — perhaps for the first time that week,” he said.
McQuarrie said he’s not interested in being the center of attention but prefers the audience be in the limelight.
“I’ve seen a lot of DJs who will attempt to make the event about them. ‘Hey, look at me and all my gear. I have lights. Woohoo!’ I prefer to be the ‘man behind the curtain’ or, better yet, the ‘monkey with the microphone,’ which is the phrase I’ve adopted as my professional byline,” said McQuarrie.
As a DJ, McQuarrie said his job is to make others look good and to make their special occasion special by providing the soundtrack for something they will hopefully be able to look back on and cherish.
“It’s my hope that when a song I played at a wedding reception comes on the radio in five or 10 years, the client will have to pull over because they are crying from such happy memories. It’s not me they will remember, which is fine. It will be the music and the memories, which is how it should be,” McQuarrie said.
While weddings are usually the most popular events, since most people budget for entertainment, he said the second most popular thus far have been dances, such as the Crown of Maine Balloon Fest in Presque Isle and the Houlton Unitarian’s Mardi Gras dance celebration.
“I also love working with fund-raising events and benefits and sharply discount my prices for those,” he said.
McQuarrie said he’s willing to travel to provide entertainment for special events.
“I’m very comfortable with a commute to Presque Isle, Fort Fairfield or Caribou,” said McQuarrie.
Music of all kinds is available, noted McQuarrie, with material from the 1950s through today, including country, blues, rock, pop and dance, with some specialty music available upon request. He doesn’t have a set play list, preferring to take requests.
“I do have some fairly ‘industry standard’ songs that I start out with. I like to remain flexible and will follow the flow of energy from the crowd, then throw in a slow song ‘so the husbands will
McQuarrie said prices are negotiable and vary by event.
“When they hire me, my goal is to give them a fair price — fair to them and fair to me — and I show up with everything I have and do everything I can to add to their event, not nickel and dime it to death. If the energy is good and people are dancing, I’m not going to unplug at the agreed cut-off time, if the venue is cool with that. Likewise, I’m not going to send a surprise bill to the newlyweds demanding more money. What I choose to do with my time off (after the agreed-upon time a function ends) is my choice,” McQuarrie said.
For more information or to hire McQuarrie for your next celebration, e-mail info@djjonnyb.com or call 694-6639. Additional information can be found online at www.djJonnyB.com as well as on Facebook at www.facebook.com/djJonnyB.
“The website is informational, my Facebook is interactive. I would love to hear from the public and interact with them,” said McQuarrie. If you try my phone, please leave a message. My day job prevents me from being able to answer the phone at any given moment. If you’re ready to hire me, be sure to have the pertinent information ready, such as where the event location, the length of time you want me to perform and what type of event it is.”
