It’s been one year since the first Preston DJ Social took place.
Founded by DJ Jason Marx, Preston DJ Social was created to bring together local DJs and creatives, improving mental wellbeing in what can be an isolated career.
A year on, and connections have grown. DJs have become friends who check in on each other, run events together and go on days out outside of the Socials.
Jason runs Preston DJ Social alongside Emma from Manchester’s Our House Your House, and together they’ve kept the gatherings completely free.
We caught up with Jason to reflect on the first year of the Socials, his favourite moments, and what’s next.
Tell us about your memories of the first-ever Preston DJ Social.
We had about ten DJs in a beer garden in the sun playing bangers on some borrowed decks. Although we all kind of knew each other because of work, we had never spent time together. There wasn’t the numbers we have now or the equipment, but that first event was so fun!
How have things evolved since then?
Since our launch, we’ve moved to Chew’s Yard, received equipment support from Pioneer DJ, thrown nine socials, raised £300 for Movember, and myself and Emma are now Mental Health First Aiders. We also hosted a production competition with The Preston Weekender and ran a rekordbox 7 workshop.
What have been your highlights?
We started the socials because – although we can spend our weekends surrounded by hundreds of people – it’s quite an unsociable career. It’s been so rewarding putting people with the same work schedule and interests in a room together and watching the friendships form over the year.
We had a last minute venue switch to The Ferret one month and afterwards Ian who’d been working the bar said: “Thank you for bringing such a nice group of people down”. I really like that comment because it comes from someone who’s worked in the industry a long time, and it’s the very essence of what we wanted the DJ Socials to be, a nice group of people.
Who or what inspires you?
Honestly I’ve not felt this charged up and passionate since I first started DJing. I’m constantly thinking about how to improve the Socials. Some of the people I’ve met this year who are doing amazing things for the city’s culture fill me up with energy every time I talk to them. There are so many grassroots initiatives going on at the moment, the city is bubbling and we want to keep being a part of that.
How has Pioneer DJ been involved?
Their support allows us to provide DJs CDJ3000s and a DJM A9 mixer. This is a festival and event set up so when Lancashire DJs step on the main stage they will be familiar with the equipment and be able to play with confidence.
We also demoed the new Pioneer XDJ – AZ when it was released. The first time a lot of people had seen it and we hosted an industry talk with European Product Planner for Pioneer DJ Sam Shepherd, who talked about his journey from Leyland DJ to where he is now and the mental health aspects of such a demanding career.
Tell us about the competition you ran with The Preston Weekender.
We joined forces to give Lancashire DJs the chance to put new music directly in the hands of two of the biggest names in dance music – Pete Tong and Sam Divine. Entrants were asked to submit tracks in a professional production format, with the ten best submissions being given to the superstar DJs.
The winners also got free tickets to the event. It was really nice seeing everyone hanging out together all day, dancing and having a laugh. Pete Tong and Sam Divine smashed their sets and left with a little bit of Lancashire to take with them. Just a matter of waiting and seeing if anyone gets a phone call or an email now.
Do you have any other events coming up?
Yes! For over a year, Preston DJ Social, The S-Werd and Art & Joy have been setting up events for creatives of all abilities and backgrounds to meet, express themselves, support each other and make friends. On Sunday 18 May we’re going to throw them all at the same time in the same space and bring our friends. There will be an art exhibition, open deck, spoken word open mic, and doodle and chill across three studios and a terrace at ARTCH Studios. We’re also having wood fire pizza and it’s free to attend.
What’s next for Preston DJ Social?
The main focus will always be to foster community, help people build support networks and use DJing as part of a positive mental health regime. We are aware however that Lancashire does not have the music infrastructure of places like Manchester and Liverpool and we believe that Preston should be the gateway to bigger things for Lancashire music.
It’s been an amazing first year at a time when the city is changing. We want to continue making friends, drinking tea, cheering each other on, facilitating collaborations and providing access to the equipment, ideas and practices at the top of our industry.
To find out more, follow @prestondjsocial on Instagram.
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