North Providence, R.I. – For a young man who hasn’t yet hit 30, Alex Brown has already gained plenty of career and life experience. Always entrepreneurial, Brown, 26, has managed to mix his mobile-DJ business with a marquee-letter business, and the results have been impressive.
His IT’S LIT Weddings & Events does about 250 events per year and he’s even begun to impart his youthful wisdom at DJX. After presenting one well-received seminar this past year, he’ll be back for another in 2026. We recently caught up with the New England DJ.
DJ LIFE: Where did you grow up and what got you first interested in music?
Alex Brown: I grew up in Smithfield, R.I. I actually wanted to go into live audio after going to some concerts at a young age. I was also a musician, playing guitar, piano, and trumpet for many years.
DJ LIFE: How did you start DJing and what’s the origin story of your current DJ company?
Brown: I became a DJ by accident. I started with an iPod and speakers, and people started asking me to DJ their events. Over time, I got into “real” DJing, learning to do weddings, and high-level DJ skills from club gigs. IT’S LIT Weddings & Events is somewhat of a merge of my personal and pre-existing company brands – DJ Alex Brown Entertainment and DJAB Entertainment – and my purchase in 2021 of the marquee letter company, IT’S LIT R.I. Combining the services of both and creating a really robust company brand generated IT’S LIT Weddings & Events.
DJ LIFE: How many events do you do each year? What’s your percentage breakdown? How many DJs do you carry?
Brown: Individually, I do approximately 60; as a company, we do about 250. Personally I do almost exclusively weddings, say, 90-percent. As a company, we are about 50-percent weddings, 30-percent corporate, and 20-percent other private and public events. We have four DJs right now.
DJ LIFE: What makes your company unique within the market? What is its range of services? How many DJs do you carry?
Brown: By far our uniqueness comes from our marquee-letter offerings – we are still the only DJ company in Rhode Island that offers such a wide range of marquee letters. We are also known for having really high-level automations and technology in operating the company, which helps to deliver great experiences.
DJ LIFE: And what’s unique, interesting or particular about your market area?
Brown: Rhode Island has a ton of weddings, but Newport is our “Wedding Capital.” Newport is a destination-wedding location for many New Yorkers, and people across the United States. As we have many schools in the area – like Providence College, University of Rhode Island, Johnson & Wales, Rhode Island School of Design and Brown – many couples who went to college here will also return to the area for their weddings.
DJ LIFE: How does your company market itself? What works best?
Brown: We market very heavily first and foremost through word-of-mouth. We have operated this way for years, and interestingly, we don’t pay for WeddingWire or The Knot marketing.
DJ LIFE: How has the DJ business changed for you in the past few years? What have been its challenges?
Brown: I think the biggest change to my business has been the wider variation of weddings. To me, there seem to be two types of clients… the “typical wedding client,” who’s willing to spend heavily to create the experience they want, especially on the dancefloor, and the “budget-wedding client,” who wants to save where they can on the DJ, but also wants unique experiences. Often, we have to heavily customize these packages and it’s very difficult to do these kinds of events with staff because they are so highly customized.
DJ LIFE: What’s ILEA? What’s your position within it? How does it help you and other DJs?
Brown: ILEA is the International Live Events Association, the principle organization for creative event professionals. I am the president of the Rhode Island chapter of the organization. ILEA hosts networking and other social events for event professionals, and being a part of it has been a great way to grow my company and connect with high-end event professionals. I find there are a lot of DJs involved in ILEA across the country, and that it’s a great community to find DJs and vendors to collaborate with.
DJ LIFE: What DJ gear set-up do you usually use?
Brown: Serato DJ software and Pioneer DJ DDJ-1000SRT. I use 80-percent QSC Speakers, varying form K12s to KC12s to KS118s. I have Pioneer HDJ-X5 headphones. For microphones, it’s Shure all the way – we use the BLX range, which is great on affordability, and it allows great flexibility with the removable antenna. For lights, we now use Chinese lights, plus ADJ pars and ADJ WMX1 controller.
DJ LIFE: What events do you most enjoy and why?
Brown: Events that can really connect with my musical taste and allow me to have some fun with the music. I have a high level of skill, from clean mashups to wordplays, and I do a lot of it live. I also love remixes and EDM. Regardless of the type of event – club, wedding, whatever – it’s about what I get to express as a DJ.
DJ LIFE: What have been the three hottest songs for you so far in 2025?
Brown: Sorry, in advance to the DJs… but, the Even Steve remix of Chappel Roan’s “Pink Pony Club,” Diplo’s remix of The Outfield’s “Your Love,” and Proppa & Waka Flocka Flame’s “Grove St. Party.” These connect with anyone and everyone at a wedding.
DJ LIFE: You did a well-received seminar at DJX this past year – what were you trying to impart to DJX attendees?
Brown: My seminar was on burnout, specifically for DJs… how to avoid it, recover, etc. It’s something I struggled with for a while, and I think for a lot of people – DJ or not – they suffer through burnout in silence, with no way to describe what they are going through. And for DJs, a lot of the tools out there don’t understand the nature of our industry, and therefore I wanted to share things that were impactful for the community that haven’t been put out elsewhere.
DJ LIFE: You’ll be doing another one for DJX ’26 – “Tools, Systems & Procedures: How to Run a DJ Business While You Sleep.” What’s the best way for attendees to get the most out of a show like DJX?
Brown: Easily the best way is to attend as many seminars as possible. I like to look at the schedule prior to going to the show, then prepare and pick which ones I want to go to. There is so much great content at the seminars.
DJ LIFE: Where do you see yourself and your company in five years?
Brown: I hope to have more control over the gigs I take and grow my company to double or triple the size in that time.