TIPS FOR STARTING A DUBSTEP NIGHT

[KappaDUBSTEP]

Just wanted to ask the forum, and promoters

What kind of steps and resources would it take to start a dubstep night?


Here in hawaii the dance music scene has grown tenfold over the past few years. Although the mainstream "raves" with "well known" artists perform here, there aren't any true dubstep specific events. Having a large appreciation for bass music since 2006 it always questioned me why no one would start a consistant night for bass music. (since there is a lot of bass music lovers here). This past weekend a friend of mine and i decided that we would get our ideas together and looking for options to start this.

If money wasn't an issue, What resources, steps, or any other tips
would i need to know to get this idea off the ground.


ALOHA!!!

[AntlionUK]

a GOOD sound system is essential.

[isiahfire]

If you want to make money, be smart and cynical with your bookings. You might like artist x, but he's gonna cost plenty of dough to bring to Hawaii (this is a major problem i foresee you guys having) and he wont pull in enough people to cover his fee + travel. If you can keep it low key at the start, build a following and keep the costs low enough so you can put money in the bank for developing later on, you'll be laughing. If you want to book UK artists then sign yourself up to agency newsletters/mailouts (ESP, Coda, Reprise, Elastic, etc) and keep an eye out for US tours.

Do not skimp on the system though, there may not be much competition but if you want to build something that will last then getting the fundamentals right from the start is essential.

Best of luck!

[lloydnoise]

i would love to go to a rave in Hawaii

if you're confident you will get enough attendees, you have a decent venue and have access to a system, you're halfway there. Obviously it will be expensive to fly artists over but if you do your sums and book sensibly (a bit of bartering never goes amiss) you'll probably be fine.
Also, quality control

[LA_Boxers]

Yeah defo need a decent system. Have local artists with a big following to help get your numbers up and help with promotion.

I would hazard a guess that most Uk based artists might even drop their fee a bit to play in Hawaii.....thats some holiday destination shit right there.

[clifford_-]

I would hazard a guess that most Uk based artists might even drop their fee a bit to play in Hawaii.....thats some holiday destination shit right there.

This would probably be true in a fair few cases.
My bit of advice is dont label it as dubstep, anyhwhere, just have your night as your night. then you dont have to live up to anyones expectations but your own.

[KappaDUBSTEP]

THANKS TO EVERYONES INPUT SO FAR!

it really is helping me

big up to everyone

[LA_Boxers]

I would hazard a guess that most Uk based artists might even drop their fee a bit to play in Hawaii.....thats some holiday destination shit right there.

This would probably be true in a fair few cases.
My bit of advice is dont label it as dubstep, anyhwhere, just have your night as your night. then you dont have to live up to anyones expectations but your own.

This also.

Quite a few of my mates wont go to a Dubstep night. If I tell them its a bass music night, then they are more likely to go. They then even proceed to enjoy the dubstep.......without them even knowing it.

Sneaky.

[clifford_-]

I would hazard a guess that most Uk based artists might even drop their fee a bit to play in Hawaii.....thats some holiday destination shit right there.

This would probably be true in a fair few cases.
My bit of advice is dont label it as dubstep, anyhwhere, just have your night as your night. then you dont have to live up to anyones expectations but your own.

This also.

Quite a few of my mates wont go to a Dubstep night. If I tell them its a bass music night, then they are more likely to go. They then even proceed to enjoy the dubstep.......without them even knowing it.

Sneaky.

Whenevr i want my bird to come to something i just say its a mixture of everything. She cant see past drumnbass and psytrance...
Although ive educated her just enough, she actually wants to come to dmz with me nowdays instead of me dragging her!

[Pada]

Don't;
Rely on anyone else unless you know 100% what they say is true and that they will deliver!!!!
Book a DJ you don't like.
Be lazy with promotion.
Rely on people who've said they're coming to actually turn up.
Use a shit flyer designer, you can get nice flyers/posters for like £30.
Spend the money you put aside for the night on other things.


Do;
Book a system you have heard before and were impressed with.
Ask detailed questions not just Pioneer CDJS you want 800s or 1000s.
Make sure your needles aren't gonna skip if your playing vinyl at all, thats a killer.
Make sure there are adequate monitors.
Start cheap, even free if you can.
Make sure any other events at the same venue are complimentary to your vibe, try to get a venue to yourself.
Stick to your age range All Ages usually means kids, so if you don't want just kids make it 18+.
Book a DJ with a following to headline the night.
Relax and have fun.

My first night pretty much all these things went wrong, terrible experience.

Good Luck!!

[Genevieve]

-Network with A LOT of DJs, that's important. It's all about networking.
-Book musicians who are touring together. You'll usually get a package deals on a line-up that sells tickets.
-Get some good working relationships with some booking agencies and networks going. I host a breakcore party and if it weren't for some of my connections, I wouldn't get the line-ups I do for the money I have at my disposal
-Start out cheap to test the waters, see what works and what is commercially viable and base your choices for headliners for the first few editions after your testing period on that.
-Look at what it takes to break even. This is incredibly important. Let's say you've spent about 1000 bucks on the night (for simplicity's sake). And the room has a capacity for 500 people. You would be able to break-even at 250 people paying 4 bucks to get in. Try to break-even as fast as possible, while having the attendees pay as little as possible. If you're renting a venue/club, try to get some cash made from drinks too.
-Don't work on trust, but on contracts.
-DIY or die. Do as much as you can yourself so there's only you to blame when something goes wrong and you can actually fix it.

Basically, self-sufficiency is the most important thing here. For stuff where that isn't an option, solid contracts are.

[DRTY]

I started my own last year, and would basically echo what everyone else has said.

DO
-Ensure the venue you do it at want you to do it and aren't just filling space with you.
-Make sure their sound system is decent, and if not, get one, without a good system the night is pointless.
-Book an artist that's possibly not to your taste. The night isn't just for you.
-Treat your artists with respect, get loads of rider, food, offer them whatever they need.
-Use agencies. Going through people you know is useful sometimes, but building a rapor with an agency will do you favours in the long run, and if something goes tits up you're better covered.
-Not get too stressed
-Put the effort in. In my experience any time you're not out flyering or promoting online, you're essentially wasting time.
-Do it all yourself. Paying other people to do what you cba to do is a bad move.
-Have someone who know's what they're doing design your flyer; A bad flyer is a failed night.

DONT
-Clash with other similiar nights
-Piss people off by spamming too much
-Get beat down by your local authority for flyposting - Check your local laws.
-Order too many flyers/posters (I do it at a 400 cap venue and get 5k done, and 100 A3)
-Expect to make money.
-Promise DJs money they won't get.
-Expect to rock up to a fully funtional setup; I usually bring 3 extra turntables, and 3 extra CDJs.
-Let your mates on the guestlist; You wouldn't ask your mechanic friend to fix your car for free.
-Get too stressed on the night.

[capo ultra]

DO

-Book an artist that's possibly not to your taste. The night isn't just for you.

Can't agree with this like

[Pada]

DO

-Book an artist that's possibly not to your taste. The night isn't just for you.

Can't agree with this like

It depends on circumstances, and your tastes. If you only like youngsta style dubstep but no one else does compromise is necessary, but if you like a wide range you can book a crowd pleaser who you also like!

[firky]

Hawaii...... man, am in England, beneath cold concrete skies, with a coalition government of liars and thieves, in an over-crowded city, where there's massive social problems because of the collapse of heavy industry (we used to make things like ships and bridges), and you come to us asking for tips

*scratches head*

[phrex]

I started my own last year, and would basically echo what everyone else has said.

DO
-Book an artist that's possibly not to your taste. The night isn't just for you.
.

NO!

[2manynoobs]

just go with the flow; everything will work out. The only thing that you have to be very very careful with is the people that work for you. If it are hired people then it's probably ok; if it's all mates doing it you've got to make things crystal clear to them: no giving away free beer, no letting people (without their bag searched) in; if your lame and can't afford those things that you do around your arm (can't come on the name) not just a stamp, but a stamp and a purple (or any crazy color that no one will have) alcohol marker. Just make sure that in the end you get your money. I'm sure you have the finesse to take good care about all the rest (basically a good soundsystem, a bit of light, plenty of beer and drinks, quality dj's + material; and that's it, simple as that) Just make sure that in the end you get the money that you owe everyone (dj's, soundguy, etc) Besides that: relax and enjoy. And if something happens, talking will solve everything; most people will be pretty reasonable talking to if you let them know that your the boss of the night
Also don't get caught up in it too much: just make sure you get your money and that it is safe (in the safe) and that people have what they payed for and there won't be any problem. IF there still is one, just relax and let it pass by; most of the time it'll fix itself because there's always a lot of people around, and there are always random people who like to help out, trust me. Oh yeah one more thing: if your not renting a proper venue, make sure that you always double check the electricity and in worst case you get a genny. Some high end genny that gives proper constant power stream is about 200€/day. So that's not a big deal. Better be safe than sorry..

[DRTY]

I started my own last year, and would basically echo what everyone else has said.

DO
-Book an artist that's possibly not to your taste. The night isn't just for you.
.

NO!

Lol, well if you want to break even you can't just put on events for your own taste?! You might as well book someone to come and play your front room.

I'm not saying book Justin Bieber here, just don't constantly go for your favourite artists. You have to appeal to more than your own taste.

[Genevieve]

What's important in a dance night is having a dedicated fanbase where you can count on that they'll come pretty much every time. Without those people, you can pretty much count on not making it very far.

If this means having to introduce this 'dedicated fanbase' to your night through a popular DJ/producer, go ahead. Just make sure you're not misleading your attendees by booking someone who isn't at all representative of your concept. That's what nights are, concepts. If you only wanna do deep dubstep, don't try to introduce people to your night by booking Rusko. But if you only wanna do deep dubstep but don't.. for example, like Kode9, book Kode9 anyway.

[phrex]

I started my own last year, and would basically echo what everyone else has said.

DO
-Book an artist that's possibly not to your taste. The night isn't just for you.
.

NO!

Lol, well if you want to break even you can't just put on events for your own taste?! You might as well book someone to come and play your front room.

I'm not saying book Justin Bieber here, just don't constantly go for your favourite artists. You have to appeal to more than your own taste.

if not enough people like the same taste as i have (and it's enough broad and goes beyond mala and burial) then you probably shouldn't do a night or you just risk it and try to get people liking that very same mentality of music.

it worked in zurich. good friends of mine do a clubnight and it took more than one year untill they had a full house - but it's now stuffed with good people aged around mid 20s - mid 30s who want to expirience bass music.

here you go, that's their line up for this year:
kode 9 & Orson
cyrus&distance
geiom live
scuba
mala & vivek
pearson sound, Ben UFO & Pangaea
(http://www.comfortnoise.com/blog/2011/0 ... -2011.html)

it worked out! at first not enough people came although they had big headliners such as pinch, headhunter, 2562 or martyn... but they took their time and energy and kept on doing it - about 8 month ago it finally went well when kode 9 came and played in a full club. last automn mala smashed the place, and a while ago it was kode 9 again...

keep doing what YOU like - not what others like - and it will get well!