Makis Melissaratos was still a boy when a family friend in Kefalonia invited him into his radio station.
Melissaratos was spending the summer on the island, where both of his parents were from. The invitation became a routine. He returned to the station week after week, spending days playing music and helping with programs.
“That’s kind of the spark,” he recalled.
More than 20 years later, Melissaratos, better known as DJ Makis, is still choosing the music at Greek-American weddings, christenings, graduations and church events.
Born and raised in New Jersey, he grew up at St. Thomas Greek Orthodox Church in Cherry Hill, attending Greek school, GOYA and playing basketball. He credits that parish life with shaping him from an early age.
The kalamatiano remains one of the dances he can count on to fill the floor, even when some guests have never danced it before. At Greek weddings, “Ωραία που είναι η νύφη μας” is another standard, with the bride and groom taking the floor as family and friends gather around them.
Twenty or 25 years ago, Melissaratos said, bands were far more common at Greek-American weddings and DJs often played a secondary role.
“Bands were like the thing,” he said. “DJs were kind of up and coming.”
Today, he sees more couples relying on DJs, particularly when families and guest lists include different cultural backgrounds and want a broader mix of music during the reception.
His parents built their lives in the St. Thomas community after immigrating from Kefalonia, and Melissaratos now serves on the parish council. He sees that role as a way of supporting the same community that supported him growing up.
He wants his two daughters to have that same connection. Both attend Greek school at St. Thomas and take part in Greek dancing there. At home and in the car, they also hear plenty of the music their father is preparing for events.
Sometimes, he said, he hears one of them singing a Greek song she first heard during a drive.
DJ work often takes him away on weekends and can keep him out until 2 or 3 in the morning. He credits his wife and daughters with making that schedule possible.
During the pandemic, his wife learned balloon decorating and twisting and eventually began taking event work of her own.
“Now we’re like a family entertainment business,” he said.
Melissaratos also has a job outside entertainment and says DJing is not how he makes his living. That allows him, at times, to help churches and nonprofit groups that may not be able to afford larger entertainment companies. He takes particular pride in that work.
After more than two decades, he says he does little advertising. Most calls come from people who have heard him before or received his name from someone else.
When they see him at an event, he has one request.
“Come say hi,” he said. “Ask me for a request. Just don’t touch my equipment.”