Moving Forward
When we started Nexus, we had a few main aims: to support the local scene, to book as diverse a range of DJs as we possibly could, and create a space where everyone was welcome to come and cut loose to some awesome tunes - ‘Techno for Everyone’ is our tag for a reason, and we’ve been talking about the need for diversity in dance music on every platform we’ve had.
Interview 1
Interview 2
As soon as we were in a position to book visiting DJs, we put our money where our ethos was - and have only booked one headliner out of 6 last year who is a white, straight male DJ - the rest of our headliners have been BAME, LGBTQ+ and/or women. Where we’ve had difficulty, is that the demographics of the local area is massively skewed (80'000 people or so in Chester, of which 90.9% are white British), and whilst we’ve tried our best to have a diverse lineup outside our ‘headliners’, it’s often proved tricky (though we’ve never, in 44 events and radio shows had an all-male, straight, white lineup).
Our assumption was that not many people from under-represented groups in music in the local area are DJs or live performers - as we hadn’t been approached by many people who wanted to play - and we hadn’t found a many people through searching around ourselves. Reflecting on this - we recognise that there are ways we can be more proactive in nurturing a more diverse scene.
So as a crew, we’ve been considering what the way forward is for us to do the best we can to help that along.
1. In the short-term, if you’re already a producer or DJ from the area, this is an active call to send us mixes or sets - we’re relatively booked for radio in the short-term (and obviously parties aren’t happening anytime soon) but we do potentially have scope for extending our shows to enable more people to be heard.
2. Once lockdown is loosened a little and we can meet safely in smaller groups - we’ll be offering DJ workshops for total beginners using digital / CDJs and/or vinyl depending on your preference (and possibly live production, DAW, podcasting, and radio workshops etc. going forward too). It’ll probably be a series of 2 or 3 half-day sessions, taught 1:1 or 1:2 with 3 or 4 tutors walking you through the basics and getting you to the stage where you’re confident to play to a crowd in future (after a little bit of practice). There won’t be any cost for these, but if you can afford to donate, then we’ll plough any cash that comes in into a travel fund for people who are short of cash to get the the workshops. There'd then be scope to potentially play on the radio, or at a night when we're up and running again.
3. We’re looking at widening our residents / main crew team too (and have been for a while). You might want to DJ, perform, dance, flex your design muscles, work the door, produce visuals, or something we’ve not thought of.
For all these projects - we welcome anyone from any background, but priority will be given for BAME, LGBTQ+ and female-identifying folks. This isn’t to take away or minimise the awesome people that don’t fit into any of the above groups - we’ll continue to support you too - but we need a way to open ourselves up and be as diverse in our local bookings and involvement as we are with our ‘headliner’ bookings and the national and international guests we have for our radio show.
Drop us a message on [email protected] if you’re interested in being part of any of the above.
Much love from the Nexus crew.
x
Interview 1
Interview 2
As soon as we were in a position to book visiting DJs, we put our money where our ethos was - and have only booked one headliner out of 6 last year who is a white, straight male DJ - the rest of our headliners have been BAME, LGBTQ+ and/or women. Where we’ve had difficulty, is that the demographics of the local area is massively skewed (80'000 people or so in Chester, of which 90.9% are white British), and whilst we’ve tried our best to have a diverse lineup outside our ‘headliners’, it’s often proved tricky (though we’ve never, in 44 events and radio shows had an all-male, straight, white lineup).
Our assumption was that not many people from under-represented groups in music in the local area are DJs or live performers - as we hadn’t been approached by many people who wanted to play - and we hadn’t found a many people through searching around ourselves. Reflecting on this - we recognise that there are ways we can be more proactive in nurturing a more diverse scene.
So as a crew, we’ve been considering what the way forward is for us to do the best we can to help that along.
1. In the short-term, if you’re already a producer or DJ from the area, this is an active call to send us mixes or sets - we’re relatively booked for radio in the short-term (and obviously parties aren’t happening anytime soon) but we do potentially have scope for extending our shows to enable more people to be heard.
2. Once lockdown is loosened a little and we can meet safely in smaller groups - we’ll be offering DJ workshops for total beginners using digital / CDJs and/or vinyl depending on your preference (and possibly live production, DAW, podcasting, and radio workshops etc. going forward too). It’ll probably be a series of 2 or 3 half-day sessions, taught 1:1 or 1:2 with 3 or 4 tutors walking you through the basics and getting you to the stage where you’re confident to play to a crowd in future (after a little bit of practice). There won’t be any cost for these, but if you can afford to donate, then we’ll plough any cash that comes in into a travel fund for people who are short of cash to get the the workshops. There'd then be scope to potentially play on the radio, or at a night when we're up and running again.
3. We’re looking at widening our residents / main crew team too (and have been for a while). You might want to DJ, perform, dance, flex your design muscles, work the door, produce visuals, or something we’ve not thought of.
For all these projects - we welcome anyone from any background, but priority will be given for BAME, LGBTQ+ and female-identifying folks. This isn’t to take away or minimise the awesome people that don’t fit into any of the above groups - we’ll continue to support you too - but we need a way to open ourselves up and be as diverse in our local bookings and involvement as we are with our ‘headliner’ bookings and the national and international guests we have for our radio show.
Drop us a message on [email protected] if you’re interested in being part of any of the above.
Much love from the Nexus crew.
x
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