Despite all the obstacles presented to those wanting to keep music culture thriving, there are still a wide range of DIY initiatives being kept alive by communities old and new.
We want to spotlight different and homegrown approaches to traditional music making through collaboration. From self-managed events and self-shot archives to self-produced records. The list goes on! Scroll down to hear more from them about these platforms, the challenges that face them and the communities they cultivate.
Club Soft
South London day party Club Soft is alcohol free. It aims to unite underground electronic music fans and giving them unforgettable sober memories. Curated by DJ and music producer Mina, Club Soft pumps out global club sounds. It focuses on the building blocks of great parties – namely sound systems – to create authentic rave experiences. “By throwing our events during the daytime and early evening, we aim to cater to people who for various reasons cannot stay out late in regular clubs,” Mina tells Mixcloud. “We also want to highlight dance music’s alcohol dependent financial model. Test out an idea for an alternative space that reflects the changing needs of our community.
With curation comes challenges, and Club Soft faces unique obstacles when it comes to running events on the ground. “We have two big challenges – the first is how to cover costs without selling alcohol,” Mina continues. “So far we’ve never broken even, and rely on volunteers and a grant to cover our costs. The second is how to convince people who are not so comfortable being sober in a club that they will have a great time. We have a no-cameras policy on the dancefloor. This makes the experience for attendees much better, but harder to tell the world how great our events are. You will have to come and see for yourself!”
Despite these growing pains, Club Soft is going from strength to strength. It attracts people from all walks of life, underpinning its community focus. “There’s no awkward standing around at the beginning, everyone goes straight onto the dance floor,” Mina says. “It’s really intergenerational too which I love. You leave feeling so happy and energised, and the feedback I get from attendees is so positive. I’m confident we’ve created something really special.”
duck! radio
Based in Adelaide, Australia, duck! radio is an online broadcasting platform for local and global voices. It focuses on expressing and sharing music for the joy of each other. Self-branded as a “cultural emulsifier,” the station’s programming is packed with diverse creative voices spanning all genres. As a result, it facilitates a collective visibility which can empower the wider community to engage with the station and its messages.
Despite this, duck! radio faces the daunting daily reality of operating in the midst of economic troubles in Adelaide. “The biggest challenge is maintaining the infrastructure in a volunteer capacity during the current cost of living crisis,” they share.” We’ve been lucky to be supported by an established and generous space and have received backing from the community and city. However, organizing as a collective takes a lot of time and effort and without our energy levels, nothing can happen. duck! is also facing the looming redevelopment of the community space that we operate from, Adelaide Bike Kitchen. There is currently a grassroots effort from other similarly affected organisations attempting to bring attention to these issues with the aim to increase support from local government: Save Our Spaces (SA).”
Yet duck! continues to be a beacon of its local community. It is reflective of the social and cultural make up of modern Australia. On top of that, it is a symbol of hope that DIY can stand the test of time. “We’ve attracted a really beautiful community of diverse people,” they tell us. “A lot of us have been inspired to be more present in our city and share time, space and ideas with each other. There is a sort of cracking open that duck! has helped with, bringing together demographics across generations, aesthetics, and geographies.”
Big Blanket Super Picnic
A small picnic with friends sparked an idea for something bigger for Caleb Matheson and his late friend Imhotep Blot. It turned into purchasing 28 oversized gingham blankets and hosting the first ever Big Blanket Super Picnic in Houston, Texas, in April 2023. Since then, nothing’s been the same and now thousands come together to connect and enjoy crafts, music and activities. “There’s a lot going on in Houston, usually centred around nightlife and dancing,” Caleb tells us. “But we sensed a gap in community, conversation and connection. We wanted to create a space that made it easy to meet people and feel part of something. Especially for those who don’t always feel at home in traditional social spaces.”
While championing connection, Big Blanket Super Picnic faces the difficulty of operating as an independent platform, with costs skyrocketing to the same rate as hiring out venues. “The biggest challenge by far is just making the thing work financially,” Caleb shares. “We were basically doing the picnic illegally at first — no permits, just blankets in a field — and it was super cheap. But now that we’re doing it all by the books, the costs have ballooned. Honestly, it ends up being more expensive than renting a venue for the number of people we host. Up until the last picnic, we were doing everything for free and funding it out of pocket. It’s been a stretch — definitely not sustainable — but we’ve kept it going because the impact has felt worth it.”
But Big Blanket Super Picnic’s mission drives their course. The sight of seeing people form bonds brings more meaning than money can quantify. “I think the picnic has become a symbol of something deeper, addressing something a lot of people feel: loneliness and disconnection,” Caleb says. “There are plenty of events with great music, but not a lot that are designed to help people actually meet each other. That’s the question we’re always trying to answer: how do you make meeting new people effortless? Music plays a big part in setting the tone. But we’re trying to show there are other ways to bring people together with music besides turning the speakers all the way up and jumping around.”
Moonshine
What started out as small kitchen parties is now known as Moonshine, a multidisciplinary collective focused on African and Afro-diasporic club culture. Now after 11 years in the game, the platform has come to represent something bigger than the confines of Montreal where they got started.
“We felt that Montreal’s nightlife didn’t have a lot of Afro-diasporic representation, visibly or sonically, even though African music was bubbling beneath the surface,” Moonshine tells us. “There was a vibrant undercurrent of Black artists, but very few local platforms embraced those voices. Moonshine was born out of a desire to hear African music at the rave. The overwhelming support from our community really inspired us to go further. At our core, Moonshine is about reclaiming space and creating a world where our cultures can thrive unapologetically.”
On the challenges facing them, Moonshine’s footing as a Black-led platform has led to visible and invisible barriers placed around them. “From lack of funding and gatekeeping in the industry, to visa issues when touring and systemic barriers for Black-led initiatives, it can be a real challenge,” they share. “As a DIY collective, we often have to juggle multiple roles between only a handful of people, all while trying to operate at a level of excellence. We also have to navigate sustainable growth without diluting the soul of what we do. We’re constantly working on these things quietly in the background, and we don’t always have the answers.”
However, Moonshine has found joy in finding a place in the ever-expanding creative scene for Black artists and creators. This mission has led to expansion and collaboration around the world. “Our audience has grown globally, and we’ve helped spotlight emerging Black talent and collaborated with artists directly on the African continent, which was extremely important to us,” they say. “It’s been very meaningful to exchange and build within a global network of micro-communities. Whether it’s through our ‘SMS for Location’ album series, being able to pay homage to African legends via our merch and film, or through our nonprofit Club Sagacité, we’re super proud to be a contributing member of that ecosystem.”