Photo by Sophia Lail
In post-pandemic America, there has been a shift in how Gen Z parties. Seemingly, this generation has graduated from garage kickbacks to attending DJ sets and writing in ‘Go to a Boiler Room set!’ on their bucket lists.
Following Brat summer, DJing has met the mainstream again. Instead of ending up in a fraternity basement, twenty-somethings are banding behind local DJs by religiously showing up to gigs and trading parties for sets, and Kansas City isn’t immune to this shift.
All of a sudden, my phone isn’t buzzing with house party invites. Instead, I’m getting an influx of gig posters, with new names on the lineup nearly every time. With venues such as In The Lowest Ferns and Kali Soundroom popping up, alongside various DJ collectives having formed from Kansas City to Lawrence, I have to wonder: What inspired this shift, and does Gen Z reminisce on the club culture that predated them?
Is the sudden rise of mixing a recession indicator? Maybe. Or, is it that millennials ditching clubs for breweries made going out a little bit… lackluster? No shade. Thankfully, having a plethora of information at our fingertips gave Gen Z the accessibility to learn how to mix tracks that might take things up a notch.
Lizzy Arnold, known professionally as DJ Dizzy, is a hobbyist who uses the art form as a way to connect with her friends post-college.
Photo by Sophia Lail
“My friends bought a deck and started teaching themselves to mix, and I would sit around and work on homework or various creative projects while listening to each of them go up and spin some music,” Arnold says. “That evolved into me having my own opinions on what they should mix, and they said, ‘You should just do it yourself.’ I decided to get up there, kind of as a joke… but then it really fueled my love for DJing; This started as a really fun activity, and then it kind of just evolved into a hobby.”
Arnold and her friends host parties with the intention of connecting through music. They create different sets to perform, turning their intimate gatherings into mini-raves.
“It’s nice because you can dance however you want. You can play whatever you want. There’s kind of this sacred circle of just getting to share art and music with people that you love. There’s something to be said about that because it’s also so fun to go dance with complete strangers, but that is like, a very separate vein of fun,” she says.
“There’s something just so safe and sacred about getting to be your full self with the people that you love, and celebrating with music and music bringing you together.”
DJing has quickly become a successful tool to bridge communities. In a metro that hosts a vibrant DIY scene, it feels like a necessary addition to an already Midwest-emo-heavy culture. Sure, it’s easy to find like-minded people in the alternative rock scene; all you have to do is show up to a house show.
Yet for everyone else, it’s a little more complicated. For some, these shows act as a queer safe space and a way to connect with the local queer community through music. Specifically, through Lady Gaga and Charli XCX.
Jakob Dilbeck—known professionally as Sprngbrkr—recently moved to the metro and has integrated himself into the local scene. It started out as a hobby that allowed him to connect with queer, club-classic-loving individuals like himself.
“I think, as queer people, we so badly seek the community and a sense of being able to let go and not have any expectations. I feel like DJing has been able to create a community like that,” Dilbeck says. “It has given queer individuals a platform to be creative and have an outlet.”
Dilbeck felt inspired by social media, specifically by creator DJ Mandy on TikTok. Yet, this ‘trend’ hasn’t only affected social media. He felt even more inspired to take it seriously after seeing the successes of artists like Charli XCX, The Dare, and Shygirl—all three of whom have publicly rocked decks in the past year.
“It’s a trend for sure, it’s really big on social media. But there’s a lot of people that actually, really find a sense of identity through it. It’s something that gives them a hobby and a purpose. It’s something that I lose myself into and allows me to experiment with new things,” Dilbeck says.
“You have the opportunity to host your friends over a good time, but then there’s a pattern that starts to repeat. DJing breaks that pattern and allows you to create new sets and new vibes; It’s just really fun. It’s so versatile, there’s so many different genres of music that you can play and so much that you can bring in to create a vibe.”
Dilbeck centers club-classics in his sets—a homage to the glory days of clubbing, something that my generation seems hungry for. Something previous generations got right was how they partied. Dilbeck curates not only his sets but the expectations for each event.
Therefore, curating the vibe is equally as important as the actual mixing of tracks. Every event has a curated vibe, theme, and dress code. This is true for every DJ that I interviewed; It’s both a visual and auditory artistic outlet.
And like all generations before us, Gen Z craves connection and community. Some of these face-to-face connections you get from attending these sets can’t always be replicated on social media. Forcing yourself to show up to the afro-house gig you’ve been eyeing for months will likely have a net positive on the growth of your own personal network—something this era of humans is ultimately craving in the age of introversion.
A recent local player that has a loyal community of its own is Room 96—a DJ collective co-founded by Nate Sullivan. Simply put, it has fostered a huge network of people that love to party, and majorly respect the art of mixing.
“There’s something awesome and communal about music that you don’t get from a lot of other art forms. Music is more of a direct connection to that,” Sullivan says.
Since Room 96’s genesis, the collective has hosted dozens of DJs across multiple events at venues such as In The Lowest Ferns, The Replay Lounge, and The Bottleneck. Alongside hosting gigs, they run two radio shows, vintage pop-ups, and other community events.
“I feel like now that I have this platform, it’s cool to be able to platform other artists. Have them on my radio show, or bring them through to a gig,” Sullivan says. “In terms of just being an artist, DJing is just another way of communicating.”
Through his work with Room 96, Sullivan has connected with a multitude of DJs with a variety of tastes. If you go to a set, you’re going to be hitting a multitude of genres in one night. You’re not just another person in the audience; You’re connecting with each DJ through their selected music and hearing something you might have never considered before.
Not only is it accessible and connection-driven, but it’s also affordable. As talks of a recession have seemingly taken over the media and Ticketmaster finds itself in the midst of a lawsuit due to price gouging, seeing live music may feel more inaccessible than it used to. However, if you’re following the right DJ, you can pay a $5 cover and hear your favorite artists without your wallet screaming.
“DJing allows you to go out with your friends and listen to a set. Regardless of what kind of music they’re mixing, you’re gonna find a way to have fun, because it’s live music in the sense that you get to hear a lot of your favorite artists. It’s live music, in the sense that you get to go out and let loose for a little bit,” Dilbeck says.
Want to let loose? You’re in the right place at the right time. Kansas City has recently been hit by the DJ Epidemic, and you can find gigs through groups like La Maison and Room 96, or through the regulars that are mixing at your favorite spots.
Try going to a set; The connections you’ll make may surprise you. However, if you have an individuality complex, maybe stick to Spotify’s incognito mode.