running your own night

[ultraspatial]

any ninjas with experience got some advice on the matter?

i've been thinking of putting on my own nights for a while now, as i don't feel connected or represented by most local things. only good nights i've been to lately were put on by mates but it's mostly just deep dnb and dubstep and it gets old after a while. and techno nights just attract loads of hipster types, especially if they're not held at bigger more mainstream clubs.
lately a few mates kept approaching me with the idea, but i'm not sure i want to get involved in this with others, as we don't see eye to eye on certain aspects. also doesn't help that i'm not 100% in what direction i want to go with this; like i'm stuck between a focused musical direction vs random shit or making the night more accessible vs face control/guestlist only.

[Laszlo]

Kmag has done a series of articles on this. Some of it might be useful to you. Here's the first instalment - http://www.kmag.co.uk/editorial/feature ... art-1.html

[mks]

I tried it once, but realized that I'm really not a promoter.

If you have a good venue that is willing to work with you then go for it.

Sometimes it is better to work with a crew or team, so you can pass on various responsibilities to other people but if you are not seeing eye to eye on things then maybe it is better to do it on your own.

[kidshuffle]

if you're okay with constantly networking and pimping yourself out, go for it. anyone can put on a night, but only certain people can make it successful. be prepared to get stressed out a lot during the organization process, and have some sort of extra savings put aside for the nights. you never know what you'll need it for.

i'm stuck between a focused musical direction vs random shit or making the night more accessible vs face control/guestlist only

random shit (not saying go overboard with genres, but a little variety never hurt anyone) and make the night accessible. you never know who will show up, so theres no point of excluding anyone from the get go.

[Molzie]

I ran a night for a couple of years promoting local dubstep in it's earlier days. I was lucky to have a partner who was already established in the scene who already had the right connections I just worked on the marketing. It was loads of fun until I found out my partner was pocketing a percentage of our takings. We also booked Truth for their first dubstep gig.

[test_recordings]

I've wanted to do this, but from a punter's prospective you want decent drinks prices because no-one wants to go somewhere just to stand for the vibe (an out of the way smoking area also helps)

[ultraspatial]

(an out of the way smoking area also helps)

no smoke ban here

cheers guys
@Laszlo gonna check those articles

[nowaysj]

Following for further developments.

[wub]

The music vs. party vibe is your call to make. If you go the route of musical speciality, you do run the risk of pigeonholing yourself in terms of how the night evolves. If you go for full on batshit crazy party, then having a guestlist only approach will give an exclusive vibe and may help word of mouth about your event, however you run the risk of the first few parties being quieter as it's not immediately accessible.

Venue is EVERYTHING. Ideally you'd be wanting something with low ceilings and a bar that is in the same room as the music so you don't have people going in and out whenever they want to get a drink. This goes especially if you've got a two room venue and there is only a bar in one room, as this means the room without the bar will always be on a timer based on when people need a pint refill.

Lack of smoking ban will help you a lot in this instance, nothing worse than having the crowd effectively cycle every 90mins whenever a new DJ comes off and their entire entourage wanders out for a smoke.

Sound system and equipment should be looked at. I'd suggest going to the venue on night they're already running to hear what it's like with people. If they've got an in house sound guy, have a word with him and see about the possibility of bringing extra stacks in. Is there a sub? How much can it handle? Can you come back on another night before they open and play some of the tunes you like with a lot of low end to see how it handles them?

DJing equipment, check the booth and what they have at the moment, plus what they can potentially fit in there if you need to bring extra. Ideally a both should be able to comfortably hold 2 x turntables, 2 x CDJs, a mixer and a laptop comfortably, without having to stack stuff on top of one another. If it's lacking some equipment, find out what you may need to provide the other DJs. This goes doubly should you be booking any 'names' in case they have an equipment caveat on their rider.

Club decor, army surplus shop (reckon you'll have a few of those where you are?) and get some camo netting. Staple gun to ceiling. Instant vibes, if a little cliched. Smoke machines, discoballs, lasers, mirrors...all optional but good for both hiding and creating the illusion of space. Confuse the punter, make them feel disorientated and claustrophobic.

Advertising wise, in addition to the standard web presence (Facebook group, event page, Twitter if you want etc) get some flyers done up. If you're on budget, then a simple black block design photocopied onto bright coloured paper will often do the job. You should, for example, be able to get a 500 sheet ream of flourescent yellow paper for ~6€ from an office supplier shop, that's 2000 A6 flyers. Obviously if you can afford to get glossier ones designed etc, then by all means.

Design wise, get a friend of a friend to do a simple brand logo. Something recognisible that if push comes to shove down the line won't look out of place or ridiculous on a t-shirt. You could even consider getting a few t-shirts made up for the DJs to wear whilst they're playing.

Flyer distribution - record shops, college/university campuses, outside other nights. Always worth taking a few flyers with you if you're going out so you can hand some out at the end of a night you may be attending somewhere. Optional taking of email addresses to send people a link to a DJ mix or two that sums up the vibe of the night, and if you're going with the invite only approach as per above, then getting email addresses is a way to keep it exclusive and build up your mailing list.

If budget is an issue, then do a quick calculation;

A) (Club capacity x 0.25) x ticket price
B) (Club capacity x 0.75) x ticket price

If you can't afford to make less than A, take another look at some of the expenses and try to reduce. Clubs are usually open to negotiations in terms of hire cost if it's a night they are usually quieter (like a Tuesday, Thursday etc)

That's all I've got now, will update more later. Good luck

(There's also this thread which has a few more tips in it - http://www.dubstepforum.com/forum/viewt ... 1&t=179922 )

[ultraspatial]

deffo some stuff to think about

The music vs. party vibe is your call to make. If you go the route of musical speciality, you do run the risk of pigeonholing yourself in terms of how the night evolves. If you go for full on batshit crazy party, then having a guestlist only approach will give an exclusive vibe and may help word of mouth about your event, however you run the risk of the first few parties being quieter as it's not immediately accessible.

i kinda want to make it more about the music than the party; more like an outlet to play stuff i like that's either poorly represented imo or not represented at all. there's plenty of student clubs, big room house, hospital/ram type dnb nights etc around if you're looking to just get pissed and hit on girls. that being said, i don't want to go in the totally opposite direction either. it's a fine line imo. as for accessibility, i'm more inclined to go for a face control thing tbh

Venue is EVERYTHING. Ideally you'd be wanting something with low ceilings and a bar that is in the same room as the music so you don't have people going in and out whenever they want to get a drink. This goes especially if you've got a two room venue and there is only a bar in one room, as this means the room without the bar will always be on a timer based on when people need a pint refill.

Lack of smoking ban will help you a lot in this instance, nothing worse than having the crowd effectively cycle every 90mins whenever a new DJ comes off and their entire entourage wanders out for a smoke.

Sound system and equipment should be looked at. I'd suggest going to the venue on night they're already running to hear what it's like with people. If they've got an in house sound guy, have a word with him and see about the possibility of bringing extra stacks in. Is there a sub? How much can it handle? Can you come back on another night before they open and play some of the tunes you like with a lot of low end to see how it handles them?

got my eyes on a few clubs that are either one big room or multiple rooms (each with it's own bar). some people i know actually handle the sound system at one of them and it's pretty heavy (even mala played there). the others have pretty shitty systems but i can get in touch to hire some guys with funktion ones, so it shouldn't be that big of a problem. was looking at some warehouses as well - and just set up a system there.

as for advertising, pr, "building an image", getting people's details etc, i feel like that's a bit too spammy and intrusive - like in those kmag articles; just felt like they were shouting "give me attention!"in your face. i don't like it when other promoters do it, so i wouldn't want to do it myself, even if that means it'll be a smaller night. vibes are better at smaller nights anyway imo.
others have recommended scoring some kind of deal with a beer or energy drink company etc to provide cheaper drinks and handle a part of the cost, but i'm not sure i'm comfortable with seeing some company logo. it's a club night not an advertising campaign. tobacco companies as well, but they just get some girls in the most kitsch outfits possible walking around, interrupting people, trying to sell shit and get people's details. so offputting and annoying; deffo don't want that.

[nowaysj]

Before you enter the market, think about why the market is the way it is. What has brought the market into this shape? If you do this, and choose to ignore a market force, that force will likely shape you just the way it shaped other players in the market.

Why aren't there people putting on face controlled really interesting nights where you are? Why is that? Answer that question, and try to answer as truthfully as you can, and not hopefully - like, "Because nobody has done it yet." Maybe. But think about it.

[wub]

s for advertising, pr, "building an image", getting people's details etc, i feel like that's a bit too spammy and intrusive - like in those kmag articles; just felt like they were shouting "give me attention!"in your face. i don't like it when other promoters do it, so i wouldn't want to do it myself, even if that means it'll be a smaller night. vibes are better at smaller nights anyway imo.

I'd disagree, there is a world of difference between handing out flyers for a party and getting the name out there vs. spamming. Same for a Facebook group...you're not forcing anyone to join, but if you make it exclusive and have DJ mixes and news of upcoming parties and galleries of pictures of the nights that been, people like to be a part of that sort of thing. Doesn't mean you're actively forcing it down anyone's throats, but if you have something in place and your party is good then it will grow organically.

[ultraspatial]

Before you enter the market, think about why the market is the way it is. What has brought the market into this shape? If you do this, and choose to ignore a market force, that force will likely shape you just the way it shaped other players in the market.

Why aren't there people putting on face controlled really interesting nights where you are? Why is that? Answer that question, and try to answer as truthfully as you can, and not hopefully - like, "Because nobody has done it yet." Maybe. But think about it.

yeah, was thinking about this too. regarding the face control thing, never really seen it out here tbh; only age restricted (but most of the times they still let kids in with no problem), invite only or, the worst, hyping an event up and then saying you don't want to sell anymore invites/tickets b/c it's a private thing - or in the opposite spectrum, sending out more free invites than the capacity of the club

out here there isn't much of a scene for anything really; just small clicks with their own sound - some more popular than others. good underground nights don't bring that many people in - unless there's a big(ger) headliner - but still somewhat successful. and people kinda show up for anything really. which in a way is good, in a way it isn't. dunno, to me it always more about the music and found it a bit strange to pay to go to a night just because it's at x club or just want to party etc. i mean, there's always student clubs or w/e for that.

s for advertising, pr, "building an image", getting people's details etc, i feel like that's a bit too spammy and intrusive - like in those kmag articles; just felt like they were shouting "give me attention!"in your face. i don't like it when other promoters do it, so i wouldn't want to do it myself, even if that means it'll be a smaller night. vibes are better at smaller nights anyway imo.

I'd disagree, there is a world of difference between handing out flyers for a party and getting the name out there vs. spamming. Same for a Facebook group...you're not forcing anyone to join, but if you make it exclusive and have DJ mixes and news of upcoming parties and galleries of pictures of the nights that been, people like to be a part of that sort of thing. Doesn't mean you're actively forcing it down anyone's throats, but if you have something in place and your party is good then it will grow organically.

i'm alright with like a fb page and some flyers to hand out at other nights, but other than that it feels a bit too spammy imo. i think the whole video, podcast etc thing only works after you reached a certain level. i've seen promoters with more podcasts than nights, and from djs who aren't even playing at them - don't see a point in doing that tbh.

some of the best nights i've been to were like hardcore floor shows with 20-30 people in some dark basement dunno, guess i'm viewing things from that angle, which maybe isn't the healthiest one?

[wub]

i'm alright with like a fb page and some flyers to hand out at other nights, but other than that it feels a bit too spammy imo. i think the whole video, podcast etc thing only works after you reached a certain level.

Fair enough, agree to disagree

some of the best nights i've been to were like hardcore floor shows with 20-30 people in some dark basement dunno, guess i'm viewing things from that angle, which maybe isn't the healthiest one?

Well if that's the vibe you like, that's the one you can always try and base your party on. Not sure what licensing laws are like in your part of the world, but there isn't anywhere that says you have to be in a club at all. A recent party I went to here in Madrid was in the basement of a bar (think it was formerly where the beer was kept). Low ass ceiling on the way down, tiny space barely enough room to stand up, fat soundsystem.

Similarly, some mates of mine in London used to run an invite only house night in the basement of a Greek restaurant on a Wednesday. Restaurant had a 5am alcohol license because of something to do with it serving food.

[nowaysj]

Wub, in response to your post the other day about the importance of fixed physical nights in the development of a scene: I've been thinking about what it would take to set up not a night, but kind of a TUNA!, a place for local beats/electronic producers to play tracks. Like I think I'm looking for a dive that has 500,1000 watts, and wouldn't mind having 11 new customers, who also like to smoke weed. How would I go about finding such a place?

[ultraspatial]

Well if that's the vibe you like, that's the one you can always try and base your party on. Not sure what licensing laws are like in your part of the world, but there isn't anywhere that says you have to be in a club at all. A recent party I went to here in Madrid was in the basement of a bar (think it was formerly where the beer was kept). Low ass ceiling on the way down, tiny space barely enough room to stand up, fat soundsystem.

Similarly, some mates of mine in London used to run an invite only house night in the basement of a Greek restaurant on a Wednesday. Restaurant had a 5am alcohol license because of something to do with it serving food.

gonna read up on licensing, but yeah, you can pretty much a throw nights anywhere really. been to parties at a museum that has a bar and big balconies overlooking the city at the top floor of the house of parliament

[wub]

Wub, in response to your post the other day about the importance of fixed physical nights in the development of a scene: I've been thinking about what it would take to set up not a night, but kind of a TUNA!, a place for local beats/electronic producers to play tracks. Like I think I'm looking for a dive that has 500,1000 watts, and wouldn't mind having 11 new customers, who also like to smoke weed. How would I go about finding such a place?

You know your local area better than I do, all you need is a bar with a decent soundsystem that wouldn't mind some weirdos playing electronic noise on a quiet week night. You don't even especially need a 'DJing' setup if all you're going to do is play some tunes, just an input into the in house system and maybe a laptop to control and stream whatever is bought down on USB stick.

[nowaysj]

You know your local area better than I do

Not sure that I do. Guess I'll have to start prowling the streets, looking for dive bars.

[wub]

gonna read up on licensing, but yeah, you can pretty much a throw nights anywhere really. been to parties at a museum that has a bar and big balconies overlooking the city at the top floor of the house of parliament

One more thing I've just remembered - visuals! Even if it's just a projector showing something on a white sheet hanging behind the DJs, visuals! One of the last parties I promoted in London we had this playing;



Kung fu films work well, if a little cliched. But I find that if you put a whole film on, sometimes people start watching it and the emphasis of the party changes. Made that mistake showing Kung Fu Hustle when it first came out, half the dancefloor spent most of the night watching it project onto one wall

You know your local area better than I do

Not sure that I do. Guess I'll have to start prowling the streets, looking for dive bars.

At least one new bar a week, that's my motto. There's so many of the bastard things here in Madrid it'd be rude to not get stuck in

[ultraspatial]

visuals definitely help. but again, there's a fine line there. like you don't need to put on b&w pictures/videos of buildings, factories etc at a techno night.
b-movies and just plain weird shit like demdike stare's videos or the29nov stuff work really well tho imo