United We Groove

At parties within the ivied walls of Harvard, the mastermind of sound is more than likely a Harvard student who also moonlights as a DJ. Student hosts used to merely hire DJs known by a friend of a friend, but now even party planners without DJ connections can tap into Harvard’s “Local 1200,” a support network of a dozen or so DJs who keep in touch via e-mail to share information on gigs and to standardize the Harvard DJ scene.

Marc A. Wallenstein ’02 organized Local 1200 this past fall after becoming frustrated with the lack of communication and unity among campus DJs. One particular party, Wallenstein remembers, illustrates the problems with the Harvard scene pre-Local 1200. He says an overeager host hired four or five different DJs for one party just to cover his bases. When they all showed up and realized that a live band was playing as well and that no one was sure about how everyone was getting paid, the fun factor plummeted for Wallenstein and his colleagues.

“We just want to be treated like professionals,” Wallenstein says emphatically. So he organized Local 1200. “It’s more of a cartel than a union,” he says. “It’s about having a network and having someone to fall back on.” There are no meetings, no list of demands—just an e-mail list where members can ask to borrow equipment or solicit advice about what tunes would be the best to spin at a certain party. Being organized helps Local 1200 members get their sound out to a broader student base and perhaps diversify students’ musical tastes.

“I think a lot of people go to a party and they see a DJ there, and it doesn’t really click that, hey, this guy could play something cool I’ve never heard before. A lot of people only want to dance to the songs that they know,” says Caleb S. Epps ’02, a hip-hop enthusiast. “I think people would have more fun at parties if they danced to what they heard even if they hadn’t heard it before.”

The cartel also seems to have helped drum up business. “I’ve actually been getting a lot more work, which is great,” Epps says.

Jonathan R. Ardrey ’05, who spun at Pfoho 54 in the fall, says he also appreciates the resource. But he’s not interested in collective bargaining at the moment. “Right now I feel like more a member of a club with tight music and talented people rather than something along the lines of the AFL-CIO arguing for higher wages and better hours,” he says.