Passion for DJ-ing leads to creation of company

In early February, seniors Fred Feyzi, Pablo Riesgo and Stephen Ruff started the community’s first mixer company: FPS Ragers. Each month they plan to host a mixer, a dance for people of all different high schools, and with the profits, the group will donate to charity and split the rest evenly.

“It started off at my Super Bowl party, when Fred said the senior class needed a DJ for the mixer,” Ruff said. “I’ve never tried it before, but I said OK, and then I asked Pablo if he wanted to do it.”

At the first mixer on Feb. 16, entitled Beauty and the Beat, the group used Ruff’s laptop and speakers and Feyzi’s turntable to play a variety of house music at the Rancho Rinconada recreation center in Cupertino.

“Initially, I was supposed to DJ alone since I had a board, but due to the Cal Speech and Debate tournament, I had Stephen and Pablo take my place,” Feyzi said.

DJ-ing their first mixer sparked the interest in all three of them to continue with the hobby.

“We had so much fun that we wanted to do it again,” Ruff said. 

Eventually, they realized they could make some money from DJ-ing, so they officially created the company.

“‘F’ is for Fred, ‘P’ is for Pablo and ‘S’ is for Stephen. We all DJ; although Fred is the best, Pablo does a lot of the marketing, and I do logos and run the Facebook page,” Ruff said.

In terms of marketing, the company has started small, but if possible, has ambitions of growing larger and being more well known in the community. 

“Right now we are making small events in small venues so that people get to know the area around,” Riesgo said. “The money [from the mixers] is being invested in new materials and bigger venues so more people can come and see us.”

After making enough money the group plans to reinvest and donate some of their profits. 

The mixers and events that the company holds will bring in profits that will be reinvested in better equipment, but also extra will be made that the three will split.

“We will take the profit and split it three ways, but the last thing we want is for money to become an issue between our friendship,” Ruff said. 

FPS hosted its second mixer, Drinks on Me, on March 9 at the Rancho Rinconada in Cupertino.

“After that mixer, we are going to stop calling our events ‘mixers’ and move on to coining the term ‘ragers,’ which are large-scaled mixers,” Feyzi said.

In the future, the company hopes to see the decrease of the ticket price from $15 to $10, and the relocation to larger venues. Additionally, the three want to keep the company running through summer; although potential problems can arise.

“We look forward to continue through the summer, but the fate of FPS looks unclear as we all go to our prospective colleges,” Feyzi said.

Riesgo sees the fate of FPS similarly.

“Before summer, FPS will have to split because of college, but it is always fun to DJ and see people enjoy a good time.”

Nonetheless, each had a fulfilling experience with the company and DJ-ing.

“Overall, given that we are second semester seniors and a solid group of friends, it’s an awesome way to have fun,” Feyzi said.