1. How was Deltronica founded and where did the idea come from? Deltronica was founded in Spring of 2011 by Seniors AJ DiBiase and Joe Vela. I got involved right around when the club was recognized as an RSO. The idea was to bring campus awareness to the new types of modern electronic music out there, and promote the resurgence of the rave scene. Genres like jamtronica, trance, house, and dubstep are some of the music we strive to introduce people to. Our goal with Deltronica is to bring these acts to campus for shows and festivals, take groups off campus to see shows, and teach students about some of the ways music is created these days. (We just recently had a very successful Ableton Live workshop hosted by DubSpot, a DJ’ing school out of New York City). Another thing we try to do is give local electronic acts a chance to play for a crowd.
2. Can you tell us a little about the idea behind Bass Campus and how it came to be? The founders and I had been tossing around the idea of an outdoor music festival since the birth of Deltronica. Joe and I started planning for it in the winter. Us and our friends have attended lots of music festivals and shows together and we wanted to create that feel on campus. So the model for the festival was very similar to a typical festival you would see now: main stage, silent disco, vendors. All of our events for Deltronica have been free so far so we decided to keep going with that trend. We asked the university for some money and they gave us around $13,000 for the entire event. Between that money and the help of our many cosponsors, we were able to put together a pretty substantial festy.
3. Tell us a little about the music talent and how you recruited them.
The bands were great. Our headliners are all nationally touring acts that are up and coming on the jam/electronica touring circuit. Tweed (Joe and AJ’s band) is from Newark and is starting to make their way onto that scene too. We booked these headliners through Deathwaltz Media, a production group out of Philly that has booked shows for Tweed, and manages the headlining acts. Some of the other bands and DJs are actually students here..like the Racket Boys, Tweed, and DJ Slipcase. Others perform locally around the area (DJ HMAzz). I play the violin in the Racket Boys and occasionally with Tweed. So in general, the music was a collective effort through students and people that we know in the local and regional music industry.
4. For our readers who don’t know, what exactly is the idea behind a silent disco?
Valid Question. The silent disco is basically just a DJ transmitting his music set into headphones. In our event we had 50 headphones. So at some points there were 50 kids moving their bodies to music that nobody else could hear. It really is a sight to see, and super fun to be a part of.
5. Bass Campus was a huge success, what do you think made it such a great event? It was indeed. There are a lot of factors that went into it: our volunteers, co sponsors, artists. Its great to see all the planning and meetings that we put into it pay off. Also, the guidance of our UD staff advisor, Laura McGrath, was crucial in helping Joe and I get through a lot of UD/Newark red tape.
6. What other events does Deltronica have planned for us in the future? Many, I’ll start with the near future. On May 2nd, we are having a fundraiser at Mojo Main. It will be a showcase of some performances by local acts that our club will vote on and will culminate with the debut performance for an all electronic improv project that Joe and AJ (Tweed drummer/guitarist) and myself (Racket Boys violinist) started last year called Cherry Ellis. Cost will be $5.
Also we will be having a showing of the movie “DMT: The Spirit Molecule” in Trabant theatre on Tuesday May 8th. <http://www.thespiritmolecule.com/>
That’s it for this year. Keep an eye out for “Fall Drop”, an EDM extravaganza that
will take place next Fall. And of course, Bass Campus II will be around the same time next spring.
7. What was your biggest challenge with planning an event as large as Bass Campus? I would have to say the biggest challenge was getting the city of Newark/ UD Resident Life on board with loud music into the night. About two days before the event we almost had to cut two hours off of the production because of noise curfew. Thankfully, we were able to get them on our side.
8. Is there anything else you’d like us to add? If you like to rage, Deltronica caters to you. Come out to our events and tell your friends!