Newcastle University’s DJ society held their first event at SR44 on the 7th of December, starting at 10pm with a 3am finish. The lineup consisted of Molly Sinnot, Patrick Lallo, Sam Warren, Noah Macdonald, ‘Triple O’, ‘Dockta’, ‘Timefall’, ‘Toasted’ and ‘Exponent.’ With support from those who go to the society, along with the larger student body and friends, the night was a large success selling around 200 tickets.
‘The DJ society is all about involvement from people interested in DJing as well as DJs themselves’ Adam Haydock, president of the society told me. He continued, ‘We’re trying to increase the accessibility of DJing, since it can be such an expensive hobby, and we want to encourage more inclusivity for people from different backgrounds and beliefs. It can be a very cis male dominated space so it’s important to change that.’ These words show care and passion about not only Djing and music but people generally, an attitude which was evident throughout ‘UPRISE’ as an event. Hannah Diggle, vice president of the society expressed ‘the society is for bringing like minded people together. We want to put on events where anyone can play, if they’ve learned from us or otherwise.’ The lineup for their first event was made up of members that frequent the groups socials and other activities.
Speaking about the creation of the event Adam recounted, ‘There was nobody to learn from. This is only the third year of the society and everyone from the committee last year, except the president, are on it this year too. When I joined halfway through last year, we never got given any lessons. It felt like we didn’t really have anyone to ask.’ Hannah agreed, ‘Other societies can just recycle things like socials but we have to brainstorm a lot more. It’s definitely easier said than done running an event.’ Despite the trepidation due to this lack of structure, when it did come to planning the event Adam said ‘I took it upon myself because I’ve ran an event personally in the past.’ He did so along with five other members of the society who labelled themselves as the event team, created through asking people who had a mixture of interest and experience. He made sure to include that ‘It was a lot easier this time around in terms of securing a venue and a crowd’, which was in part due to the pull of the society as a brand along with the fact he was no longer working on it alone.
SR44 was selected as the venue due to a connection the society have made with events group ‘Chain Reaction’. Originally allowing them to use the space for an open decks event for members to gain experience playing on club standard equipment, their talks led to an event working out. Molly Sinnot, one of the DJs on the night, reflected on the open decks experience saying ‘I think Adam sort of used that to check who would fit the vibe [for UPRISE].’ The venue offered the group free venue hire for the night which they were grateful for, telling me the decision to have it there came down to that and Chain Reaction.
Continuing about the origin of the event Adam and Hannah told me where the name and branding came from. ‘There’s been some horrible stuff in the news lately and I’ve been thinking we really need to rise up. Then I thought of ‘Uprise’ and how thats got a ring to it’ Adam laughed. ‘When we were considering what feelings and sounds we wanted at the event we just thought high energy. This led to the event being surrounded by bots and lightening.’ The two gave a lot of the credit to Zach Shamma, the societies Media Officer who created all the graphics and posters for the night. ‘He really made it what it was’ they told me, ‘Without his work nobody would have had as much interest in coming. It’s all down to the branding and he really understood the assignment.’
Discussing their previously established ethos of inclusivity, Molly said ‘There’s been a fair few times now within the society and I seem to be the only girl playing. I don’t know many female DJs who will play out.’ She continued to emphasise the community feel of the society and how great the event was, making the point that the lineup doesn’t reflect the whole picture of gender behind the scenes. The committee members echoed this sentiment, telling me ‘In terms of the ticket sales on FIXR there were more girls that bought tickets than males. This was something that made us quite proud.’ Hannah, while also believing there should be an effort for more girls to play at these events, reasoned the gender split on the first lineup as down to more males coming to university already established as DJs or simply more encouraged by their peers.
Ultimately the event was a big success, with great sets and matching atmosphere leaving many to be eagerly awaiting the next. With these issues on their mind and a clear knowledge of how to market on their side, it’s exciting for students and the scene in Newcastle to have more of this going into 2024.
Follow Newcastle’s DJ Society here to keep up to date with their future events.
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