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Welcome to 1Wave DJs ™

Name: Walk to End Alzheimers
Start: 2026-10-10
End: 2026-10-10
Location: Open Space Park, Traverse City, MI, USA

One Team. Epic Beats & Timeless Photos.

AJ Smith – Your Personal DJ & MC Who Guarantees a Packed Dance Floor

High-Energy Weddings & Corporate Events with Seamless DJ Entertainment + Professional Photography

My career began at age 4 when my father David Collins (performing since the 80s, friends with tour manager Bud Becker and inspired by Alice Cooper) introduced me to guitar. My mother enrolled me in private percussion lessons at 10, influenced by my 6th-grade music teacher Mr. Freeborn. My stepdad Dorn exposed me to varied genres, while my grandmother Ina Mae played church piano and grandfather Brian played Mozart during my infancy.

This foundation led to my certificate in Audio Production Technologies from Mesa Community College after US Navy service. I gained stagehand experience with Rhino Staging for Lady Gaga, Bon Jovi, NBA All-Stars, and Elton John.I performed in 7 rock/metal bands as drummer, singer, bassist, and guitarist—starting at 16—produced music videos in Tempe with Prophet 7;13 and Kin of the Zen, produced Kronie in Michigan, performed with Kid Rock's guitarist Kenny Olson at Ground Zero, recorded an 11-song album with Dave Runyan, and tracked drums for Graves Crossing. I worked with Jethro Tull's monitoring engineer onstage at Interlochen Center for the Performing Arts (also Boz Scaggs, Michael McDonald, Eric Church, Diana Ross), handled lighting production for Jeff Loomis, Agent Orange, and Michael Schenker at Club Red in Tempe under Patrick.

With over 20 years of professional entertainment (weekly/nightly performances), I was a vocal performance major before switching to live sound and audio engineering.

I have 11 years of professional voice lessons (classical in German and Italian, rock from Thomas Collett Vocals in Chandler, AZ), recorded full-length rock albums, and performed from Japan to Arizona, Philippines karaoke/clubs to LA, plus major hubs: Austin, Miami, New York City, San Francisco, and Las Vegas.

As a fun, outgoing professional who gets down to business, my expert customer service, premium equipment, and firsthand audio engineering experience—combined with US Navy service as primary rescue swimmer on USS Tortuga (LSD 46) and high-ranking martial artist (Punong Guro) training Marines in close-quarter combatives—set 1Wave DJs apart as the top-rated DJ in Northern Michigan with VIP service. My job is to make the party happen—the show must go on!

Upcoming Events

High-Energy DJ Entertainment for Corporate Events, Birthday Parties & Nightclub Celebrations

Oct

Walk to End Alzheimers

Sat, Oct 3 2026, 9:00 am

Pennsylvania Park

Oct

Walk to End Alzheimers

Sat, Oct 10 2026, 9:00 am

Open Space Park, Traverse City, MI, USA

Testimonials

What our clients say about their experience.

I highly recommend 1Wave DJs AJ for any occassions. Not just his music is awesome and up to date, he is also very accomodating and making sure everyone was having fun at our birthday party held last weekend. AJ has all the set up, cool lights and sound system that makes the party going. You can request music and he has it playing for you. He made our party way cooler and memorable.

Birthday Party

AJ tailored the music to the archery/outdoor group of people we were entertaining and did a great job of getting them excited about the show. Will use again if we're in the area!

Warrior Rising Fundraiser Event 2024

Ashley C. , Married on 09/09/2023 5.0 The Best!! AJ was super easy to work with, gave us the exact vibe we were hoping for!! We had people on the dance floor the whole night!!! Highly highly recommend!!

AJ was a wedding hero! Due to some really bad wedding planning on our part, we didn't have ceremony music until 2 weeks before our wedding... We reached out to 1Wave with not a lot of time before the Wedding day, he quickly responded and got us going. He had so many helpful documents that made planning our wedding music easy. But really what made this a 6/5 star experience was on the day of the wedding he jumped in and helped us with our dinner music and MC'ing some items post wedding (this was not originally planned, but really a huge help). Helpful notes if booking 1Wave DJs: They're super professional and well organized, you won't have to sweat on your event day. Once booking with them, you will have a little homework to make sure your preferences are noted, then they will have a prep call with you following that bit of light work.

Wedding/Gaylord Michigan

We had the privilege of having AJ do our wedding and I must say he was top notch! He played everything I had for basically the whole wedding ceremony to the reception. He had the guests enjoying every part of the day/night. If youre looking for someone to book, I highly recommend AJ. We couldnt be happier with everything he did for us! Banger after Banger! My body is still sore from dancing all night! Thank you again!

Irons, Michigan

AJ at 1Wave DJs offered straightforward planning (no stress for us), with clear communication of expectations and cost. He supported our audio for the ceremony (outdoors) and the reception. The dance floor was packed all night. Would recommend