Mixed Up DJs was started in October of 2006 by high school seniors Shawn Duross and Ben Gilblair. Shawn had a large collection of digital music and plenty of DJ lights that he had collected over the years. Ben soon became interested and the two discussed the idea of teaming up as DJs. After much debate about the name, Mixed Up DJs was born. At the time they had no sound system, so for each event they would have to borrow the portable system from their high school.

Mixed Up DJs got their first event at the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year DJing the first ever school dance for the Thornton Academy Middle School in Saco Maine. Since then they have Djd all of TA Middle School's dances.

It was at that first event that Ryan DellaCioppa joined the team. He was a great help during setup and enjoyed working the lights during the dance. Since then he has been in and out of events, but whenever he is available we love to have him.

At the second event Tori Rossignol joined the team, and it was the best move yet. Tori's extreme knowledge of everything music was a great asset to the group.

Over time Shawn collected more lights and some real controls. And about a year after being formed, they finally bought their first sound system. It was a very small system consisting of two Gemsound TRF-152 600watt single 15" passive cabinets and a 1200 watt Gemsound amplifier. This was a great step for Mixed Up DJs because while the system was not as powerful as the one borrowed from the high school, they were no longer confined to having to borrow that system and stay near by.

In early 2008 Ben left Mixed Up DJs for personal reasons, but Shawn, Tori and Ryan kept Mixed Up DJs running.

In late 2008 Shawn purchased a new amplifier for the sound system in hopes of getting more volume and the ability to play at larger venues. But disaster struck when the high powered amplifier was too much for the old speakers and they quit for good. This put Mixed Up DJs in a bad place because they had many events already scheduled and did not have the funds to purchase new speakers. But with gracious support from Shawn's family they were able to purchase a new and very high end sound system consisting of two JBL JRX-125 dual 15" 1,000 watt passive cabinets.

In mid 2009 Tori left the main cast of Mixed Up DJs for personal reasons. But she still comes back from time to time when Shawn needs a helping hand.

Around the same time, Shawn's brother, Eric, started helping out. He quickly caught on to all that goes into Mixed Up DJs, and now joins Shawn full time (provided it doesn't cut into his school work or health). Both the brothers enjoy DJing, especially since they get to work together.

Now Mixed Up DJs owns close to $2,000 worth of lighting equipment and controls and around 2,000 songs. Shawn plays the songs on his Black Apple MacBook using a program called Disco XT. The songs are played entirely by request and as a special bonus, if the event is at a venue where internet access is available, songs will be downloaded on-the-fly if they are requested but not yet in Shawn's music library.

Since their conception the group has grown to a level that Shawn and Ben could have never expected. They specialize in school dances and include a light show that enhances all events, and all at very reasonable prices. Even so, they hope to keep growing and that their name will become widely known.

For a price quote or more information please click the contact button.


Special thanks to:

Thornton Academy for allowing us to use their equipment to get started.

Thornton Academy Middle School for being so faithful to us and passing our name around.

And endless special thanks and gratitude to
Shawn's father, Tom Duross, for loaning us the money to buy our new amazing sound system and being so supportive of our business endeavor.