Every weekend, the bars of State College resonate with prerecorded music.
Though students might know the artist and lyrics of every song, few know the people bringing them the sound.
It's the DJs, tucked into the corners of these bars and clubs, that keep the music coming.
There's no set path for this career; teenagers, college students and adults all try their hands at keeping the party moving.
This story delves into the lives of two DJs in State College -- two men with two different stories to tell.
The Genesis
Eric Stoner first fell in love with the craft when he saw a cousin DJ at a family reunion. After the 15-year-old high school sophomore borrowed $2,000 from his grandma to purchase equipment, Stoner began his ongoing relationship with musical entertainment.
Jeremy Sanchez also started young, honing his skills in an unlikely place: the classroom.
"One teacher even let me bring turntables to class," he said, reminiscing about life as a 13-year-old. "She would give me 15 minutes at the end of every Friday to DJ as long as the songs didn't have bad words."
DJing was constantly on his mind. He used to go to a neighbor's house at 5:30 in the morning to practice. He DJed at school dances and talent shows and his passion quickly expanded into his teenage years. Then, Sanchez would DJ for bands, singers, anytime he had the chance. He remembers how he used to practice the DJ scratches and different noises on his school notebooks in class.
"Plastic notebooks are crucial for that," he said.
The DJ Name
As a senior in high school, Stoner, a Camp Hill native, landed an internship at a local radio station, WINK 104 in Harrisburg. It was there that he was given his DJ name, a name he still uses today -- DJ Boner.
Despite the phallic implications, Stoner stuck with the name, mostly because he thought it would help appeal to a female demographic.
"The key to being to a good DJ is to attract the females, because then the guys aren't too far behind them," Stoner said. "The name has changed a couple times. Obviously the name DJ Boner might not work well for booking weddings and stuff, but people remember DJ Boner at the bars and come back to hear us. Alumni remember DJ Boner when they went here and come back to hear him."
Sanchez's name reflects his self-described personality. Onstage, he's known as DJ Rictor, a moniker that comes from the Richter magnitude scale, a measurement scale used to calculate the magnitude of earthquakes.
"I'm always ... full of hype and energy," said Sanchez, who said he is also known as the "Campus King." "If DJ Rictor is in the building, you know I'm there because I create an atmosphere."
The Humble Beginnings
Newly christened with his DJ name, Stoner headed to Penn State in 1995. Originally, the freshman telecommunications major hadn't planned to keep his DJ business going, but changed his mind after a few days.
"Being at Penn State, I knew there was a great opportunity to DJ here," he said. "I called my mom and she brought all of my equipment to my dorm room."
From there, he passed out flyers to greek organizations and other organizations on campus to get business. Sophomore year, he worked every weekend.
Before he graduated from college, Stoner bought out the contract from the previous DJ working at the Gingerbread Man, 130 Heister St., and became the establishment's regular DJ. With that gig and some others, like weddings and corporate functions, Stoner was able to expand his DJ presence in State College. His work would eventually evolve into his current business, Nittany Entertainment.
The younger of the two, by comparison the State College-born Sanchez is new to the life of a downtown DJ.
He used to make homemade mixtapes and sell them at school. The first 50 were free, Sanchez said, and then he would sell the others for $2 or $3 a tape.
In high school, he began to travel for DJ jobs, learning as he went. At stops in Pittsburgh, South Carolina and Florida, he would not only perform, but also try to soak up knowledge from other DJs.
"I would always ask questions to see if I could make it into my own thing," Sanchez said. "I would rather learn from someone who has experience."
After being heard on some local radio stations in State College, Sanchez said he became involved in a UPAC-sponsored concert for AIDS Awareness at Penn State. In April 2005, he said he performed a full hip-hop set in Alumni Hall.
Sanchez said he used the concert as his senior project in high school. He titled it "Diary in the life of a DJ."
"It was a big moment, a big stepping stone in my life," he said. "You have to have a certain persona [as a DJ] for them to take you seriously. The concert changed my life. It showed me that if you put a lot of work into something, everything will prosper and you will be successful. I was happy for myself and happy for everyone worked with me. It meant a lot to me."
Sanchez called the concert, and the publicity that came with it, a "turning point" in his life. After graduating high school, however, he didn't capitalize on all the newfound activity right away, instead taking a "a six-month hiatus to grow up as a man."
"I understand why certain famous people have to take time off," he said. "No one is that physically and mentally prepared for something."
The Business
When Stoner hires DJs, he likes to work with a blank slate.
"Usually we try to find people who haven't DJed before so we can train them in our style," said Stoner of his company, which is comprised of about 10 members, all of whom are Penn State undergraduates or alumni. "We try to find people with outgoing personalities with a passion for music who are available to work on weekends."
Penn State functions with Nittany Entertainment DJs, like formals, are all DJed by Penn State students, Stoner said. They go out and do the booking for the functions on their own, while weddings and corporate gigs are handled by Penn State alumni.
"Our big thing is weddings," Stoner said. "No matter how the economy is, there are still going to be people getting married. Penn State is a huge wedding destination place."
Stoner said the group has two divisions: the bar and fraternity party section, and the wedding and corporate section. As the company's owner, Stoner serves as the intermediary between the two.
"It's fun and it's keeping me busy," Stoner said. "If you can find something you love to do, it feels like you don't have a job."
Outside The Box
One of Stoner's permanent gigs is music video DJing at the Gingerbread Man every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.
"Any song we play comes with a music video," he said. "We have videos from the late 1970s up to 2008."
Justin Kramm, manager of the Gingerbread Man, said the videos are what make Stoner unique.
"He was the first guy to bring the music video system to State College," Kramm said. "Other people play the same songs, but they don't have the videos to go along with it. It is something different."
Because MTV and VH1 don't primarily play music videos anymore, having the original music video playing with the song gives the crowd a new element, Stoner said. He is able to use these videos through a DJ service called "Promo Only."
"It's cool for people to see videos that were made before they were even born," he said. Sometimes, though, there aren't any videos to go with the songs. For that, Stoner has a solution -- custom-made videos, which he'll use in lieu of uncreated videos or sometimes just for fun.
He has customized videos for "Shout," using images from Wedding Crashers, Biggie Smalls' "Mo Money, Mo Problems" using images from a South Park episode and Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" with images from Family Guy.
Customizing a two- to three-minute video can take anywhere from 18 to 24 hours, Stoner said. After figuring out which images work best with a particular song, Stoner makes a storyboard, isolates video clips and coordinates the images with the beat of the music.
Sanchez has his own quirks and habits that set him apart.
For example, while Stoner said he's not influenced by any particular DJs, Sanchez quickly named his turntable idol, New York-based, early-'90s star Kid Capri.
"If you see him DJ, he's all energy, loud and having fun with the crowd -- [he's] the person I resemble most," he said.
Sanchez said he would like to start a mentoring and scholarship program for underprivileged kids.
"I mentored myself and learned from other people's mistakes," Sanchez said. "This would have changed my life and I wish it would have been around for me."
His style and his would-be program set him apart, Sanchez said, but he expects that.
It's only natural.
"I think outside the box," Sanchez said. "What more could I do to be different? You have to have a certain aura about yourself. When you see DJ Rictor, it's a party, its an event, I'm going to have a good time. You have to make an event out of 10 or 10,000 people."
Away From the Turntables
Despite their commitment to DJing, both men have other priorities in their lives.
About two years ago, Sanchez reached a crossroads. His then-girlfriend was pregnant, and Sanchez had decisions to make.
"I knew I had to prioritize," he said. "I had to be a dad first, but DJing was also up there as a priority."
Sanchez then made a five-year plan and, he says, "It's going perfect." His 2-year-old daughter, Amesha, splits time between Sanchez and his ex-girlfriend, and Sanchez is eager to grow the State College DJ scene.
"Life is what you make of it," he said. "If you're depressed, you're not making a lot of life."
As of earlier this year, Stoner also has a baby in his life -- his newborn daughter Elizabeth.
With his established company, he's able to work as a DJ at nights and as a stay-at-home dad during the day.
Though it's a sacrifice to work on weekends, Stoner and his wife of three years go out other nights, when Stoner is free and businesses aren't as crowded.
"The best part about working at night is that I can spend the day with my daughter," he said.
Artists or Entertainers?
Ultimately, both men feel passionate about their occupations and, though their jobs straddle the line between art and utility, both think DJing requires a technique and artistic touch not everyone can handle.
"Anyone with an iPod could be a DJ if they're playing music," Stoner said. "The styling of DJing we do at the [Gingerbread Man] is more of an art because you're blending video and music together and also mixing songs to keep people moving and keep the energy up. [Doing] turntables is definitely more of an art because you're actually blending songs together and mixing them in a way that creates energy for the crowd."
Sanchez agreed that it's turntable skill, not picking tunes, that makes someone a true DJ.
"Just because you have songs to play doesn't make you a DJ," he said. "Its how you transition between the songs and make an atmosphere."
It takes effort, Sanchez said, but for the dedicated DJ there are no boundaries.
"You have to be the whole package and then some if you want to be labeled 'the supreme DJ,' " Sanchez said. "My motto is if you work hard, you can achieve anything and the sky's the limit -- for you, but not for me, because I have no limit. I go above and beyond."
