KCL DJ Society and 300 revellers from the King’s community and public filled Corsica Studios for another instalment of the popular ‘Platforms’ night on Tuesday, 15th of January. For five hours, student DJs mixed under the arches in the Elephant and Castle hotspot, raising £524 for local mental health charity Lambeth & Southwark Mind.
DJ Soc has been supporting charities since the start of the Platforms series, with 20% of its event profits usually going to the Access Project, which helps disadvantaged people get to university. This time however, they decided to do a Mental Health special, coming from an initiative from a former member who serves as President of KCL Think Mental.
Lambeth & Southwark Mind was chosen by Sophie Majoe (Mei), third-year medic and active DJ, who found the place by consulting doctors whilst on mental health placement in a hospital in Lewisham.
The society is adamant that cheap tickets to their events (priced £1-£3) are essential to the night’s character and success. Cheap tickets are a ‘statement against commercial club culture,’ explains their president, Martin Wagner. Wagner also emphasised the importance of accessibility, DIY attitude and community in putting together the events.
Fellow DJ Michael Szlesinger (Kem Ra) elaborated further, describing their sensibility as ‘punk’ because of its minimalist nature, as opposed to paying £40 for a name at Fabric.
A couple of years ago, the society boasted only three members, a pair of PC Logitech speakers and a Numark Mixtrack Pro controller. Now, after years of graft, they have around 80 members, extensive equipment (including a recently acquired analogue synth) and an editing suite in Bush House SE.
DJ Soc hosts weekly sessions for beginners and experienced DJs from 8-10pm in Bush House and are searching for their next crop of talent to nurture. There are two more upcoming Platforms nights at Corsica, one scheduled for the 12th of February and another in March to be confirmed.
Correction: an earlier version of this article misstated the name of the charity. The charity is Access Project, not Axis Project.Â
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