On the 21st November ‘See You Next Tuesday’ hosted their first event at Ernest in Ouseburn with a line up of co-founder Florence, Becky Woodcock and Neenzy. While playing garage and house to a packed out venue, the goal was to create a safe space with a lineup that empowered and showcased the female talent present in Newcastle. Addressing the issues of the male dominated scene, I spoke to Flo and one of two other Co-founders Ruby Redfern about how the event came to be and what it means to them.
Discussing the origin of ‘See You Next Tuesday’ Ruby told me her and Dodie, the third member of the trio behind the event, had been flyering for another group when they became dissatisfied with the underrepresentation from the very lineups they were promoting. ‘We thought, we’ve got a lot of friends who are DJs and who’ve started their own events but they’re all boys. We were like ‘why are there no female events?!’
While this question is hyperbolic to an extent as Ruby would later express to me how they did find events with similar pursuits as their own such as LADS (Ladies and Decks) which takes place in Cobalt Studio, it is emblematic of a larger issue present in the scene, especially as these nights are harder to come by. Ruby went on to comment that ‘In the whole clubbing industry, for doing promotion, DJing, managing, I’ve heard a lot of stuff about women not being paid or being underpaid. There’s also a massive emphasis on tokenism in being a women in the scene. They drop you in the lineup to have a bit of representation and it’s not really authentic.’ Creating an authentic experience for all parties was crucial then and became the driving force behind the event they aimed to organise themselves.
Dodie and Ruby approached Flo since she had taken up DJing over the last year and according to them, ‘it all just snowballed from there.’ When it came to branding the event, playing on the vulgar slang term for women’s genitals was a no brainier for them. ‘We thought it was hilarious when we said it and it’s kind of perfect because it’s taking the piss out of being women but it’s also reowning the word’ Ruby asserted when asked on the decision. With a gap in the market in terms of a night out for third year students in Newcastle, a Tuesday night worked perfectly for both the chosen name and attracting a crowd.
On top of addressing the problem of underrepresentation, See You Next Tuesday aims to acknowledge and lessen the difficulties of being in these spaces as a woman. ‘Everything about clubbing is harder for women, you’re viewed as sexual objects which makes it less enjoyable. The potential for harassment is so big so we wanted to make a safer space’ they told me, confirming that the attitudes and actions of men in these environments often inhibit enjoyment at events.
Both the lineup and the marketing of the event were curated to try and combat this, a move which many events could benefit from. Further action was taken to ensure that the event promoted their ideology too, that being their collaboration with charity campaign ‘Lets Get Our Knickers in a Twist’ who aim to provide vulnerable women with underwear. ‘It worked with what we’re doing’ Flo said, ‘We’re really pleased that we did it for charity as well because it felt like something not just done for ourselves but for other people too.’ See You Next Tuesday aim to support more charities that acknowledge women’s issues throughout their next events.
Flo continued, ‘People like us want to make a change’ and this was evident from the night organised by the group. ‘We’re really pleased with how it went and are looking forward to hopefully doing even bigger and better stuff soon’ the pair informed me, confirming another event to be coming as early as February with a few more to follow throughout 2024.
While the event at Ernest sold 150 tickets, these deserved follow ups certainly have the potential to be even more successful given the goals and passion that is evidently behind them. Keep up to date with everything they’re doing by following @seeyouncl on Instagram.
Also follow @letsgetourknickersinatwist and support their cause however possible.
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