Interview with All Hands On Deck
Nearly a year ago I interviewed All Hands on Deck, before the virus snatched the sun, for the first issue of the Dance Policy zine. In celebration of the third issue coming out the end of January, I’m releasing an updated version of the interview for free online with the input of Sophie and Rosa who could not make the original interview. These four individuals represent what is truly good about dance music and it was a pleasure to talk to them.
In their own words, All Hands on Deck is “is a feminist DJ collective that runs open deck parties for women, trans and non-binary people. Aside from our open deck parties, we also host DJ workshops and social events for our collective members. The collective was founded on the basis that we wanted to create a welcoming space in which people could try their hands at DJing out in a low-pressure, non-judgemental environment. We believe that it is important to support and uplift new DJs in the face of a scene that is not representative of Manchester's diversity.” The founders are Anna Cooper, Sophie Hayter, Tracy Duah, and Rosa Methol.
How do you think AHOD has impacted your relationship with the wider Manchester dance culture scene, and even with each-other?
Anna: I’ve lived in Manchester for five years. The thing I really like about Manchester is that it’s got so much going for it but it’s also got a degree of smallness. If you want to get to know specific types of music or meet people interested in the things you like, you can do that really easily.
I think though as opportunities are less for certain groups of people, what we’ve managed to do with AHoD is bridge that gap and make our own space in Manchester for people that might not have one. That’s drawn a lot of different people in as a result. For example, Limbo radio who have been really supportive from the start and gave us a show and residency. More and more people reaching out to us and supporting us in different ways. All Hands On Deck has strengthened it.
Tracy: Doing AHOD has strengthened my relationship with Manchester. I feel like I’m proper part of it now.
Anna: That’s the idea. We wanted to take DJs who might ordinarily be on the sidelines and put them in the middle.
Sophie: Wow, AHOD is my relationship with the dance culture scene in Manchester. It fostered my relationship with the kind of partying I wanted to be part of. It’s given me a way to engage with music in Manchester in a meaningful way, through community & music. All the support in AHOD builds your confidence in being a part of the dance culture scene, feeling like it’s for you & made by you as well.
Are there any other spaces in Manchester important for you?
Tracy: Partisan. If it wasn’t for Partisan, AHOD wouldn’t exist. It’s a DIY space, run by members. What is so great about Partisan is its grass roots events, we had our first party there. Queer parties like Fatty Acid have got a really good following now and they started at Partisan. It’s this space where members can bring the community together. Book clubs, allotments, groups that focus on social justice. It’s a great venue.
Anna: Volunteers come through to raise money to subsidize the costs of being open as a community center for all the projects Tracy mentioned. It brings the community together who are simply interested in those things.
Tracy: The whole point of the space is to take the initiative to run whatever you want in that particular space. In the spirit of partisan, we’ll do things ourselves and have this space that backs us. It’s done that with so many other DJs too, every single time there is an event they’ll do a call out and ask which member wants to play at this festival or this party and lots of people will respond, including first timers.
Sophie: Partisan is important to so many people and especially us. It ties together music, community & activism, then they all feed into each other. They’ve moved premises during the pandemic & downsized but are still trying to keep that energy going online, and through new work like setting up the BIPOC fund. Partisan will be back! We can't wait to be back in there for the best homegrown intimate parties, whenever that may be. A big shout out also needs to be given to The Old Abbey Taphouse in Hulme, they’ve always been really supportive of us and give you free space for a party if it’s a fundraiser, our last proper party was there back in December 2019... The venue is super welcoming too and they’ve done loads of vital activist work since March, getting meals out to the local community.
Do you think All Hands On Deck (AHOD) is filling in a vacuum that’s been left in the Manchester scene?
Anna: Yes. Definitely. I think that there has been lots of women and non-binary DJs that have been in Manchester but there was never really a space for people to learn and grow. There were lots of established nights like MEAT FREE and BLOOM as well... but they were run more as parties that were established. A lot of cis men will have friends that run nights and will play at house parties and will get their gigs through their friends. For non-binary and trans people those opportunities are less and less.
In my own experience, I didn’t know anyone running a night, so you don’t have that opportunity to be like “oh I want to DJ at these events.” At AHOD we filled that space because we say to people, “look, whatever level you are we’re going to make this space that is really welcoming, regardless of what genre of music you play.”
Tracy: We’ve helped bridge that gap between people wanting to DJ and then actually DJing. Often that gap has been filled by friends and knowing people.
Rosa: We made something new! If we had to stop doing this for any reason, there would be a gap to fill now and I’m pretty sure there would be enough interested people to pick up where we left off. So that’s a good place to be in.
Where do you see the Manchester scene going and how do you feel about it? What would you like to see change?
Anna: I want to say something really optimistic but I’m reluctant. There will always be people who have it as their passion and are doing something we’re doing, there’s always going to be people putting in that work for the music. It’s just about what’s structurally available to people.
Tracy: You’re really right. There’s a difference between what the people want the scene to look like and the then the people responsible for giving out licenses. They have such a different idea of what nightlife is. Like Warehouse Project, charging people £40 to go to an event for six hours. There are so many issues with that because it doesn’t promote the essence of nightlife culture. If you’re the council and you see warehouse project you probably think, great, but if you’re a mid-sized venue putting on new DJs the council doesn’t want to fund and want to turn into flats. The people on the top and who profit should start talking to people who contribute to nightlife culture. It’s one thing saying we support Manchester but if you’re supporting the people down below... it’s not very Manchester, is it?
Rosa: Since this this zine was first printed, we’ve all been through the alien experience of lockdown 1, tier 3, lockdown 2 and back to tier 3. Coming out of this, the main hope is that the venues we love will all be able to reopen their doors and have us back in.
Aside from that, I think the fallout from the pandemic might create a push towards more local nights. So in Manchester we might see more parties with line ups that showcase mainly artists from here or other places in the North West. Maybe we’ll get a stronger feeling of residents attached to particular venues or nights, with less international bookings in general. As a result there might be a reappearance of the kinds of parties that feel really intimately continuous, that regulars religiously return to every month. If it plays out like that, it could be actually be great for pushing local artists, genres and sounds forward.
This is just a guess of course as no one really knows what’s going to happen, but I imagine some kinds of travel restrictions will exist for an extended period and then there’s the fees involved with booking massive international artists – loads of venues are on their knees at the moment and will probably be thinking of ways to keep throwing great parties without spending so much.
You can catch AHOD on their socials at Facebook and Instagram.
Thank you guys!