Awards and Recognitions

2018/2019/2020/2021/2022/2023 Winners of The Knot’s “Best of Wedding DJs” + “The Knot’s Hall of Fame”

2023 Winner of The Knots “Best of Wedding BANDS”

2019 + 2022 Winner of Brides of Austin “Bridal Buzz” for Live Entertainment

2020 Winner of ILEA/ASE for Best of Entertainment in 2020

Preferred vendor of Austin Wedding Planners Association (AWPA) and Brides of Austin

DJs

Since 2010, DJ Nick@Nite has been DJing downtown for UT parties, downtown clubs, and weddings in Austin, Texas. In 2015, he formed Hype Rhythm DJ, LLC, and started the first wedding DJ + Drummer duo. At the time, Nick@Nite was the resident DJ at various famous downtown dance clubs such as Shakespeares, The Ranch, and Buford’s. Specializing in playing dance hits of all generations, “open-format DJ style”, he met drummer Chris Gray in 2015, and decided to give the hybrid idea a chance. After about a year of gaining popularity downtown, the two switched to doing weddings full time in 2016. 

After much experience and honing our craft, we have gotten really good at throwing the perfect wedding and dance party. While working downtown clubs, Nick@Nite met a few other downtown DJs that provide a similar mixing style, and added them to the roster in 2022. We have now in 2024 added in other live musicians such as sax, violin, and guitar to further expand on other hybrid options that can work alongside our DJs. Also added in more DJs that come from wedding band backgrounds, white label DJs, and musicians turned DJs. 

Our style is to mix songs continuously, mixing out from each song about every two chorus/verses. We prefer to not play cheesy songs, like line dances. Normally we start a dance segment with oldies and progress to more modern hits as the evening goes on. Before the end of the night we will do some speciality set (like rock or rap/hiphop music sets), and then bring it back and end of a generational sing-a-long high note. 

Live Musicians

Drummer

The original hybrid duo that made us famous. Drummer Chris Gray has worked with numerous musicians and musician acts over the years. Since 2016, we have been perfecting our set, our sound, and our transitions to achieve a high level entertainment options for weddings.

Drummer normally plays the end of the dinner, formal dances, and then plays the entire dance segment (2-3 hours total). They take also the same number of breaks throughout the dance segment, while the DJ continues playing or puts a slow song on. 

Its not uncommon to have a semicircle of people dancing around the drummer, taking videos of him, or sticking around after the show to express their amazement to the drummer. An absolute must have for any wedding. A crowd pleaser for any couple looking to elevate their wedding dance experience. 

Saxophone Player

A must have for a lot of events in 2022 was adding in the sax. During dinner, these pro sax players had the crowd doing a standing ovation between some songs, and then during the dance segment would have a semicircle of people taking video and photos around them.

Some awesome creative ideas from 2022 weddings: During one awesome dinner, sax player Collin played sax over the top of 90’s hip-hop/rap instrumentals with accompaniment by Sienna String’s Electric Violinist, Alexis. At another party, sax player Daniel, played to Kygo type house tracks and had the crowd going wild. Collin played a similar, chill Kygo set hour at Two Wishes Ranch that had everyone on the dance floor, during cocktail hour! Sax player JD has been so smooth and elegant to hear for our jazz/Frank Sinatra/Rat Pack playlist requests. So many entertaining options to consider!

We now have the capability for a full horn section (trumpet and trombone), as well as 4 saxophone players ready to be booked for weddings with Hype Rhythm. 

Violin + Cello

Another hot request in 2022 was for couples looking for the infamous “Bridgerton vibe”. We personally love string covers of pop songs, (shout out Vitamin String Quartet being our most listened to artist of 2022) and we wanted to make this trend in the real world.

In 2022 we partnered with Sienna String Quartet to offer clients some of the best classically trained musicians for weddings and events. SSQ can now offer wireless, electric violin and cello to play over backing tracks that sound even better being amplified through our speakers than a full quartet.

We did an event in 2022 where the electric violin was played during cocktail, then the couples first dance, and then transitioned into a pre-dinner dance segment with accompanying saxophone. Electric violin with the DJ has been an amazing addition to ceremony, cocktail, and dinner. We are hoping to get the chance at a dance segment asap! Below we have SSQ owner, Samantha, preforming at a backyard party with DJ Brad.

Guitar Players

A big request we are getting currently is for electric guitar for the dance segment. We have recently added 3 guitar players, with the first choice being guitarist/bassist Trevor Helt. Videos coming asap! We are truly becoming more and more of a hybrid band option.

More Live Musicians

As mentioned above, we can offer a combination of musicians together or accompanied by other similar instruments. Sax plays well with violin. We can also offer trumpet, trombone, viola, harp, bass, keys, singers, full string quartet (partner with Sienna String Quartet) or even ideas like dueling instruments, instrumental improv, or adding in a skilled live musician friend of yours. 

Equipment Used

Reviews

Our main social media where you can find videos and pictures of our entertainment is Instagram. Our main review website is The Knot. We also have reviews on Google Reviews and stopped using Wedding Wire a while back, but you will find some there too. 

Finally, inquire to see if we are still open on your event date by clicking this link and entering the relevant information. We will reply with our availability and relevant pricing information, but this is also a direct link to our pricing info. 

We book about a year out from the current date (especially for the busy seasons Feb-May and Sept-Dec), so inquire as soon as possible. If the inquiry is urgent, contact us directly by text to set up a meeting at 210-336-5959. Thanks for stopping by!

5/5
"Where do I even begin?! The dancing piece of the wedding was the most important part of the night for my husband, so I knew when we booked our DJ / band, we needed to find the best. I don’t regret our choice a single bit. First of all, Hype Rhythm gives the most incredible blend of DJ with a live feel. The drummer brought SO much energy to the dance floor, I could not imagine what it would’ve been like without him. Secondly, Nick made the song choice process so easy and executed on our requests perfectly. We had quite a handful of special songs we wanted to play and he made sure to get them all in while still expressing his own creativity and feel for the vibe. Lastly, they brought the freaking party. We had a NON-STOP 2 hour rager on the dance floor because of them. I got SO many compliments from older folks and my college friends alike on how fun they were and how much they loved the song choices. One of my all time favorite memories of the night was when I looked over and the drummer was banging his fist on the wall he was going so hard. Immediately, my husband ran over and was jamming face to face with him - it was so hype and so special. I could not recommend them more!"
5/5
"11 out of 10 stars for Nick and Chris!!! My entire experience with Hype Rhythm from start to finish was extremely easy, organized, and thorough. Nick sat down with us and laid out every detail necessary ahead of the wedding day. On the day of, everything went so smoothly-- we didn't have to worry about a thing! A friend of mine sang a live song and my husband's aunt did a live performance as well. Both of them said the guys were awesome and super easy to communicate with. Every generation was represented on the dance floor and it remained packed all evening. Multiple guests who attended have reached out to me saying they were really impressed and had the time of their lives dancing the night away. The drummer Chris was a huge hit-- him and Nick really brought the energy to 110%. I can't praise them enough and highly recommend their services!"
5/5
"Don't look anywhere else - JUST BOOK THEM! My wedding was two weeks ago and we hired Hype Rhythm (Nick and Chris) and I don't even have enough words to describe how amazing they were. The dance floor was always poppin, and everyone could not stop talking about how much fun they had and how impressed they were. Multiple people had said "this was the most fun I've ever had at a wedding" or, "I usually never dance at weddings but they had me on the dance floor!" It was the best night of my life and it wouldn't have been the same without them. A full wedding band wasn't in the budget, but I wanted more than just a DJ, and honestly, they were even better than a full band because they aren't limited with the songs they can do. The sound they provided for the ceremony was perfect and never had any hiccups, and they perfectly mc'ed all parts of the evening. I would hire them again and again. THANK YOU!"