There are wedding DJs. And then there’s party rocker Stevie Cruz.
Many moons deep in the DJ game, Stevie’s ability to mix any mood, style or flavor to suit the occasion has earned him personal invitations to DJ for Paul Rudd, Tech N9ne, Tenacious D, Rob Van Damn and motherflippin’ RUSH (yes that Rush). Cruz has also enjoyed stints as the official DJ for the K.C. Roller Warriors and the host of the U.S. Air Guitar Championships. Nowadays he’s a resident DJ at the Replay Lounge in Lawrence and at Kansas City venues like The Ship, The Easy Inn, Hillsiders and Union Library.
We first met Stevie in his twenties, when he was the sweaty DJ behind the decks at the NEON dance party that owned Thursday nights in Lawrence for the better part of a decade. NEON imbued Stevie with superhuman powers to read a diverse dance floor. The residency provided a safe and inclusive place for local freaks to get loose while hosting amazing special guests like LCD Soundsystem and The Faint.
Stevie’s ability to fuse current and past top 40 hits with club bangers and fresh remixes has earned him a feather in his cap as the longest-running resident DJ at the Riot Room (RIP). Trained in the art of open-format and multi-genre mixing, his back patio sets were deliriously unpredictable.
Stevie is also a certified selector of chill, avant-garde and classic babymaking musics. His current First Friday residency in the West Bottoms at Voltaire presents a fine-dining ambient set that compliments avant-garde cinema. With Cinemaphonic - a collaboration with visual artist Cyan Meeks - Cruz performs live audio/visual mixing that runs the gamut of classic horror vibes and psychedelia.
Bottom line: Stevie aims to please and brings vastly diverse audiences together in the name of love and good times. What more could you ask from a wedding DJ?
"My wife and I searched far and wide for a DJ truly passionate about music and the art of DJing for our wedding in November 2017. We kept running into so-called “DJs” that just didn’t match our style or taste. Meeting DJ Stevie Cruz was a breath of fresh air. He is professional, extremely talented, and has the taste and edge we were desperately searching for. His background in club DJing gave our wedding reception the tasteful feel we were looking for. He was extremely receptive to all our wants, and his music selection and ability to mix in our long list of must-haves was remarkable. Upon our request, he even sent us the entire mix he made for our reception, as well as the name of all the songs he played for our dinner and cocktail hour so that we can enjoy and relive those special moments in all of our married years to come. We can’t thank him enough for all that he’s done. We feel like we’ve made a lifelong friend in Stevie. If you haven’t already—BOOK HIM! You won’t be disappointed." (Benton E, 11-25-17)
