Stevie G: The power of a music community
In Cork, there are many examples of communities bringing people together. In Bru bar you can find regular hip-hop and chess events run by DJ Jus Me and friends.
It can be frustrating for musicians, DJs, producers and other artists trying to make an impact in a world where the sheer volume of music is bigger than ever. This is more apparent than ever these days.
As a DJ starting off in the '90s as a teenager, there were many challenges, but I always felt that at least I was bringing something unique to the table, and once the word got out, there were plenty of opportunities to spread the word. In 2025, many youngsters will also have that determination and drive, but I can see why it can be more frustrating trying to get heard amongst the crowd. Finding a community of people may help in many ways and community is more important than ever in my opinion.
Social media is the main vehicle for driving music these days and it has changed the game 100%. My algorithm on TikTok consists almost completely of DJ culture and if you are a youngster looking at it you’d imagine that everybody is doing incredible gigs. Watching others can be inspiring but it can also bring anxiety, and many artists of all disciplines can often feel they are stuck in the mud when it comes to their own ambitions.
Instilling confidence and belief in your own vision is easier said than done, and I remember it took me a visit to the United States in my early days to see that my own vision for music was solid. This trip gave me confidence, because I saw that others were doing what I wanted to do here really well, and I knew that Ireland would eventually be ready for it too.
In 2025 it can be intimidating, as there are a lot more DJs and probably musicians and producers around, but one thing that can definitely help is the community.
In Cork there are many examples of communities bringing people together to do something positive. Music can be a lonely pursuit but collectives and other community initiatives can make things much easier. We have the Electronic Music Council here, and it’s a resource which is used by many DJs and producers. They share their knowledge and resources and cross promote gigs and music, and also run events. Eist radio is community driven, as are many of the club nights and parties here. In Bru bar you can find regular hip-hop and chess events run by DJ Jus Me and friends, while scenes such as reggae, dub, techno, house, drum n’ bass and more have many different participants coming together to run gigs, parties and festivals.
From a personal point of view I’ve found it much harder to navigate the DJ world in the post 2010s, when residencies turned into more sporadic parties, and when the sense of community, on the surface at least, might have seemed to have broken down. Some of my best projects since have revolved around community, including our monthly morning parties at Everybody Dance, in the Marina Market, which includes a community often excluded from the club scene. Our Taboo and Outside era parties have helped create a community amongst fans of African and Jamaican music, while our Vinyl Love events have managed to bring people of all sorts of backgrounds and tastes together for a celebration of records, music, design and indeed friendship and positivity.
Some of these communities were even developed partially online.
As artists we naturally have some degree of anxiety in a world which often doesn’t value art, and many people now are growing up with social anxiety possibly compounded by the pandemic, by social media and by a world looking more turbulent by the day. Getting by is harder than ever, and music is obviously one of the things which helps us find sense in this mad world. But depending on it for a career can bring extra stress too, and most of us will have to work in multiple areas to live out our music dreams. Finding a community can definitely help because, believe me, there are many others just like you and I out there feeling the same thing! Strength in numbers can definitely help make a difference, and bring people together.
