Party DJ Essen · Events since 2004
Your party DJ for celebrations between Rüttenscheid and the Ruhr valley.
I'm Michael Zimmermann, and your birthday in Essen gets a soundtrack from me that grows with your guests. Over 1450 events in more than 25 years have taught me to sense early when the floor is ready. You celebrate, I stay in the background. beats per micha: Michael Zimmermann, party DJ, bookable in Essen and the surrounding area.
“We couldn't have wished for a better DJ.”
– Ben Kampen · Google reviewThe locations. The moments. My music.
You get exactly one shot. I had 1,450 to practise.
Kept the dance floor going until the very end - a great evening.
Stefanie Grübl
Party · Google review
Celebrating in Essen
Beach bar by the lake, hall in a World Heritage site or kitchen in Rüttenscheid: every setting changes the sound, and that is exactly what I base my proposal on. Your birthday in Essen can take place by the water, in a concert hall or on the World Heritage grounds. Here you will find five addresses and what they offer for celebrations.
In Essen you celebrate by the water, in an industrial hall or in a hall with stucco, and depending on the surroundings I set speakers and levels differently. Please tell me the location of your celebration before I begin my actual planning.
In a flat or on a terrace, a small set is enough, and it also runs on battery. Where there is space at your place and which socket is nearby, we sort out together; about 40 minutes before the first guests, everything is ready.
The grounds at Baldeneysee cover 65,000 square metres and list barbecues and family celebrations among their occasions. There are also beach bars, a clubhouse, beach volleyball and barbecue areas. Outdoors, a lot depends on power and weather, and we talk that through beforehand.
In the casino's restaurant, celebrations for 15 to 150 guests take place, and next door Halle9 holds up to 400. For a milestone birthday in the World Heritage site, I choose the sound system and setup according to your number of guests.
The bistro is one of the event locations of the Stiftung Zollverein and advertises a modern mining atmosphere. How many guests fit in, you learn from the venue, and afterwards I decide where my set should stand.
Besides the large halls, the Saalbau has smaller rooms: three Bunte Säle with 22 to 40 seats and two event rooms of 100 square metres each. For a small gathering this calls for quiet music, and the size of the room decides which set I bring.
The moated castle in Kettwig lists celebrations in the castle and its grounds, and the bistro in the Remise is also on the estate. The venue can tell you which rooms you can book for a birthday; we then agree on my set afterwards.
I took the details on rooms and capacities from the operators' websites and Wikipedia (as of October 2026). Whether your date is free and how many guests fit in, only the venue itself can tell you.
Who I am
Your party in Essen should sound like you, not like a standard playlist. I started out in the nightclub, and by now it has become more than 1450 events, private and corporate. I build my own edits from classics and current tracks so that friends from the Südstadt and relatives from far away can dance together without anyone feeling out of place.
You tell me your wishes and no-gos beforehand, then you celebrate along on the night itself. If you like, I will explain beforehand how I build the evening in phases.
How it works
Tell me the date and place, and you will hear from me the same day or the next at the latest. A video call, coordination with the venue and your evening follow.
Request a dateAfter your enquiry you hear from me within a day. In a short video call you tell me about your birthday, then your offer is ready.
With the booking you receive my mobile number, because a lot can be sorted out fastest via WhatsApp. About a week beforehand we go through requested songs, no-gos and schedule.
I am in the room before your guests, set up the equipment in about 40 minutes and do the sound check. We clear up open points with you or the venue so that everything runs unobtrusively later.
On arrival, subtle lounge music plays so that your guests get into conversation. For you as the birthday guest and for special moments I choose the fitting track.
The programme gets its own music: it stays quiet during the meal, there is the microphone for speeches, and for games, surprises and cake I find suitable tracks.
As soon as people dance, I take over completely, read the mood and change the set according to the guests until the last song has faded.
My services
I mix your birthday in Essen entirely live, whether for a handful of friends or for the whole family including the neighbourhood.
01
Your set is created on the night itself and responds to every group in the room. Tracks from several decades also bring the hesitant ones onto the floor. Whether living room, garden house or hall: I carry my setup in myself and set it up to suit the room. If a slideshow is running or you give a speech, I fade the music out immediately.
Request a date →
02Safeguard If I fall ill, a colleague from my network steps in on the agreed terms.
More occasionsWedding in Essen →Corporate event in Essen →
Voices from real events
60 Google reviews. 100% recommendation. Here is a small selection.
5.0
Your service package
Disco classics and current hits may share the same set at your party. From your first message I accompany the planning to the last track.
I stay in the background, orient the music to the mood and only pick up the microphone for speeches and programme items.
Add-on
LED uplights colour the room in your chosen colour and can be synced to the beat.
Enquire →
Add-on
The photo station runs without an attendant: props are laid out ready, every picture lands in an online gallery, and if you like it prints copies for your guests on the spot.
Enquire →
Recommendation
Your guests' phone photos can be collected in one place via Feierblick; you book that service yourself.
View Feierblick →
The equipment includes lighting, two wireless microphones, a Pioneer or Denon controller and speakers from RCF or Electro-Voice.
Add-on
On the retro telephone your guests record greetings, which I put together into an audio file for you.
Enquire →You will hear from me the same day or the next day at the latest, and until the celebration you can reach me personally.
We go through your music requests in advance, and I take care of whatever needs agreeing with the venue.
Open Format
Current chart hits and classics from several decades sit in the same set with me, and I go through your requested tracks beforehand.
Setup takes a good 40 minutes, the system needs about 2.5 by 1.5 metres of space, and I clear up myself after the party. About 2.5 m width and 1.5 m depth are enough for that, and under normal conditions (car close to the setup spot, no stairs or lifts) setup takes around 40 minutes.
You can add lighting, photo station, live music and audio guest book, and I handle the coordination.
Request a date →Frequently asked questions
This is what hosts ask me most often, and if your question isn't among them, just give me a call.
+49 176 700 580 27I look at the data sheet and photos. If the venue's system is up to it, I use it; if not, I bring my own. That way you have clarity before you commit.
I split the evening into phases: first tracks everyone knows, then step by step towards rock, rap or disco, depending on how the floor reacts. Whatever you don't want to hear, you tell me beforehand.
Yes, I pick tracks with you that suit the pictures and then fade cleanly back into the mix. You set the pace of the show, and I cut the transitions.
Fridays in Advent and Saturdays in winter go early, so get in touch in good time. For a small party a date can often be found at short notice, and you will get my answer within a day.
On request, a percussionist, a singer or a violinist adds to my set live, and I arrange the contact. You decide the moment, and I build the schedule around it.
Listen & Watch
Even more options
If you want more than a DJ set, saxophone, vocals, violin or percussion add to my mix live.
01
Live over the mix.
At a time of your choosing, a saxophonist from my network joins the mix live.
Available on request
02
Live band feeling.
On request, a female or male singer takes on a track of your choice and gives it a special shine live.
Available on request
03
Pure energy.
With percussion, the set gains on request the drive and punch that a ready-made playlist lacks.
Available on request
04
Classical meets beat.
A violinist plays, on request, a quiet passage between two songs, tuned precisely to your evening.
Available on request
05
An evening without a break.
For the reception or dinner, an ensemble can play lounge, jazz or pop, from duo to quartet. Afterwards I start my set seamlessly, so both feel like one evening.
Duo to quartet · Available on request
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More sets on MixcloudHave a listen
Instead of long explanations, you can listen in on three live recordings of real parties, unpolished and with my own edits, only this is not a sample evening, because your set comes from your guests.
Setlists
Not a request list, but real set lists from past birthday parties - song by song, in the order they were actually played.
Real set list
An excerpt from a real evening, from the opening to the wind-down. The time jumps in between are intentional; you will find the complete setlist on the detail page.
@beats_per_michabeats per micha on Instagram
Service area
In Mülheim an der Ruhr, Bochum and Oberhausen too I plan birthdays with you; further places in the Ruhr area are in the list below.
You tell me the date, place and approximate number of guests, and you tell me which records and songs have accompanied you. Whatever your guests call out to me during the evening, I am happy to take on board.
Map section around Essen with Duisburg, Bochum, Gelsenkirchen, Oberhausen, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Herne, Bottrop, Velbert, Gladbeck, Castrop-Rauxel, Dinslaken, Hattingen. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
Transparency
Hours of nothing but Ballermann and schlager? A few hits of that kind can work well at a birthday party when the mood is right, which is why they have their place with me too. Building a whole evening on them is not my line, though. I'm also not your DJ for techno with no connection to the crowd, for a list ticked off title by title, or for festivals with several stages. There are colleagues who are really good at that and love it; nothing against them, it's simply not my territory.
What I do is live mixing for guests who want an evening with feeling: clean transitions, the right title at the right moment, more than letting a playlist run. That is why I tell you openly beforehand what doesn't suit me, so that you aren't disappointed on the night.
If that doesn't suit your party, I'm not the right DJ, and that's fine. If it does, let's talk.
Contact
Tell me about your celebration and I'll turn it into an evening your guests will remember. For round birthdays an early start pays off; small parties can often be planned within a few weeks.
How would you like to enquire?
Both are non-binding – you can add more at any time.
From the blog
Honest answers about party, planning and music - from over 1,450 events I've been part of.
