Music
How local DJ workshops are smashing down gender barriers in club culture
Community-run DJ workshops are fostering the next wave of femxle and non-binary selectors. Here, three collectives discuss the importance of skill-sharing and representation behind the decks.
In the past few years, there has been a rise in grassroots groups offering womxn and the queer community access to free DJ workshops around the UK.
Alongside the ascent of collectives like Discwoman and Pussy Palace, who are dedicated to providing safe club spaces and a platform for artists and DJs from their communities, these workshops are helping to further break down barriers in the nightlife industry. They provide equipment that can be expensive to own or difficult to access, a safe and encouraging space within which to learn, and open up budding DJs to a new and supportive network that can aid them on their journey to becoming a DJ.
Below, get to know three collectives who are fostering the next wave of standout selectors: Leeds’ Equaliser, Birmingham’s Selextorhood and Bristol’s Mix Nights. They discuss their approach to inclusivity, and how an open policy of skills sharing and togetherness are part of the movement to shift gender inequality behind the decks.
Greater representation at gigs means more womxn will be inspired to give it a go themselves as well as thinking that there is space for them as DJs
Equaliser, Leeds
Equaliser is a Leeds-based collective that run free DJ courses for women, transgender and non-binary people, and throws parties for everyone across the city. Crew-member Zoya gives us the low down on the community and their work:
Why is providing these DJ workshops for your community so important?
It sucks when you want to do something and face barriers, like not having access to a network and other non cis-male mates doing similar stuff, or being judged for your DJing through the tinted perspective of your gender.
Hopefully the DJ workshops we do and the community they facilitate begin to resolve some of these. It's been great because it’s given us a sense of visibility and through that we’ve met so many more non cis-male DJs in and around our city.
What's unique about an Equaliser party?
Lots of people coming together to make something work, contributing their thing. We want to provide a space and platform for people who are underrepresented in the mainstream club scene, not just the DJs but also sound technicians, decor crew and more.
Another thing I love about our parties is having artists who have just given a workshop play a set afterwards. It builds a sense of connection and dialogue with the artist than if we just booked them to play some music. And then we share that with our wider community and dance!
Who would be your dream booking for an Equaliser party?
This is always evolving. Currently thinking I’d love to have Yu Su, Maryama Luccioni, Zakia, Manara, Eva Geist, the list goes on.
Is there anything you wish someone had told you when you were starting out DJing?
Throw yourself into the deep end, make some mistakes, learn some stuff. If you’re interested play some tunes and have a mess around – you've got nothing to lose and only some experience to gain!
Keep an eye on the Equaliser Facebook page to sign up for the next round of DJ workshops
These collectives are helping to break through the next wave of DJs
© Alison Baskerville
Selextorhood, Birmingham
Selextorhood is collective made up by Holly, Josie and Nikki. The trio host DJ workshops and talks for womxn at community hub and record shop, Café Artum, in Birmingham:
Tell us about the Selextorhood journey?
Holly: I started the workshops in January 2019 because there was a distinct lack of femxle DJs in Birmingham. From personal experience, I know how hard it is to learn without knowing a boy who has the equipment and to put yourself out there without a network of people behind you. It was really important to create a safe space for womxn and non-binary people to be able to learn and practice without the feeling of judgement.
What’s stopping womxn and non-binary people breaking through?
Nikki: I think that getting into DJing and producing can feel quite intimidating when most of the people already in the electronic music scene don’t look like you. It’s been really important for me to find successful femxle DJs on social media and playing out. Seeing how people like me can make it helps to get past the feeling of not fitting in the scene.
Also, a lot of DJs get sets through local promoters or DJs that they know, but if you aren’t in these predominantly white male friendship groups then it can be difficult to break through. I’ve also found that a lot of the girls I speak to don’t have access to equipment to practice or have friends to share knowledge and practice with – which is why Selextorhood is so important in providing a space and a chance to network.
Let’s talk about representation behind the decks…
Josie: Greater representation at gigs means more womxn will be inspired to give it a go themselves as well as thinking that there is space for them as DJs.
Nikki: There are so many insanely talented womxn out there doing amazing things in music but struggling to get traction and being overlooked for standard white male bookings. I think it’s the responsibility of festivals and club promoters to give these womxn a platform and show that they can smash it just as hard as the guys.
Tell us about a personal Selextorhood highlight
Nikki: I think meeting some of the womxn that I look up to in music, like re:ni and Jossy Mitsu, has been the highlight for me. Hearing that they have the same anxieties and experiences as we do starting out has been the main driver for me pushing forward with music.
It was really important to create a safe space to learn and practice without the feeling of judgement
Josie: The first time I beat-matched was such a sick feeling, just so satisfying, and that was at a workshop. At our first Selextorhood party I had people bopping to my tunes which was a first for me, so that’s a moment I won’t ever forget!
What’s the best thing about Selextorhood?
Holly: Seeing Selextors who have come to the workshops and taken steps to become DJs. Whether the community has given them a boost in confidence, taught them skills in networking with promoters or given them the knowledge to use CDJs; it’s all positive and I can’t wait to see some more girls and non-binary people to come through.
Selextorhood DJ workshops and pre-gig talks take place on the last Wednesday of every month at Cafe Artum. Keep up to date on their Facebook page.
Mix Nights host showcases for the course DJs to show off their new skills
© Ashley Reynolds
Mix Nights, Bristol
Mix Nights is a DJ course in Bristol which operates under the Saffron umbrella of music tech education for womxn. They also host parties at The Love Inn that showcase the DJs coming up through their ranks. We chat to project manager Lizzy Ellis about the work they do:
How did Mix Nights come to life?
We’ve been running for over three years and it was created by members of Bristol Women in Music (now defunct), Saffron and DJ Shanti Celeste. All of us were seasoned clubbers and felt frustrated at the lack of female representation on line ups in Bristol and around the world. Pooling our skills, we felt the most tangible way to address this issue would be to teach womxn to DJ in an encouraging, safe and welcoming environment.
Why is providing DJ workshops and a safe space for womxn and non-binary people important for the Bristol (and UK) dance music community?
For me, dance music is about unity and shared experience and that means we cannot allow certain communities – or womxn as a whole – to feel marginalised. Empowering womxn and building a supportive community is integral to creating a vibrant, creative and fresh scene – as rave was supposed to be in the first place!
Why is important for festivals and clubs to move toward a more equal gender split on DJ line-ups – does it matter?
I see great DJing as a valid art form, and art is surely much greater and more progressive the more diverse voices we have contributing to it. I believe that promoters need to look at the gender split on their line ups and also the intersectional value of this – are they representing people of colour, folks that are differently abled, or those from less privileged communities? This is the kind of artistic and musical world that I want to be part of anyway.
What's the best piece of advice you have for any aspiring DJs?
Don’t compromise your sound, stay true to what you love to play, practice as much as you can, keep hunting down new music, build your own community!
Your parties take place over a few different venues around Bristol, can you tell us about a particular favourite workshop that’s been particularly poignant?
I have definitely cried happy tears multiple times seeing how our graduates have gone to achieve amazing things. Whether that’s them getting booked at Glastonbury, Love Saves The Day and fabric, playing a show on Rinse FM, a mix on 1Xtra or starting their own DJ collectives and making waves across the UK.
That said, I feel equally as happy when one of them says to me that Mix Nights has helped with their confidence or social skills, and they feel supported by the network of womxn we have and are now part of a community. That is one of our ultimate goals, not just teaching DJ skills.
What been Mix Nights’ biggest achievement to date?
Recently, a few of us travelled to Russia with the British Council and ran a really amazing intensive DJ course for womxn in Moscow. It has given us the confidence to start the process of rolling Mix Nights out to more cities, which is hugely exciting. Also, Boiler Room created a little mini film about us! It's nice to be recognised for what we are doing.
Any DJs that have been through your workshops that you want to shout out?
Loads! Check out: Kiia, Vanessa Maria, Bethbethbeth, Ellis Roberts, J-Oh-Zee, Billie-George and Luce to name but a few.
Check out the Mix Nights website for future courses
If you're based in London, stay tuned for the next edition of Normal Not Novelty – a monthly DJ, production and engineering workshop series open to female-identifying DJs, sound engineers, producers and vocalists from all musical styles and backgrounds. Held at Red Bull Music Studios, each session invites women to network and share advice and learnings in their fields.