Austin Caine is the newest success story in the party scene in Charlotte. Already teaming up with Sugar Society, Caine has pushed his DrumAndBassAndBreaksNight or DNBNBN through rigorous promoting, professional graphic design, and excellent show production. Promoting isn’t easy. I tried in College and hated it. I’d choose a knife in the face over a year of promoting any day. Everyone sees the glamorous promoter at the party talking their game but few see the paper pusher: getting b*tched out every time your caught flyering cars, dropping off materials at local grocery stores and coffee shops, picking up flyers that competitive promoters and angry merchants just dropped in the trash can, constantly monitoring your rep in the rumor mill, eating several thousand dollars because some Jack Arse decided to run their car into a power line at 10 pm . . . killing the power for nearly 4 hours then begging the talent and production team to cut you a break pleading that your car just broke down because you traveled 5,000 miles in the last two weeks promoting the show at every major party in a 300 mi radius. . . then having to explain to pre-sale ticket holders and those that arrived early that in the entertainment business there are no refunds, yeah and I am not bitter.

The mistake made most often is not successfully executing all three keys of promotion. First invite everyone but spend your time promoting to the right audience. If you are promoting a late night party, one must advertise at late night parties. Word to the wise, baseball games will have a minimal response. Second the promotional materials and website must accurately advertise the event and give an appearance of success. When you are just inviting your friends, the second step of promotion isn’t as important. If you want to make money then you have to get the tourist there. Otherwise you will be fighting over the same 300 people with all the other narrow-minded elitist paupers. The last key is delivery. Once everyone gets to the party you have to leave an impression. The success of the last party is the best promotion for the next.

Eye Dialogue has been active in club production in the last four years. We are hired to provide lighting and video support for all the music venues in town and now even many of the night clubs. Recreating the space through lighting, décor, and video has been the key to some of my clients’ success. Having DNBNBN at a venue with a couple par cans and wiggly lights (as my girl used to call them) means the additional cost of production. Side Note: Low-fi parties are a lot of fun and they are great as a theme. But if funds are not reinvested into the party, the party will end. However, recreating a low-fi space is easy . . . adding something. The new look will create a natural buzz churning positive press from the rumor mill.

DNBNBN was hosted at the Spot, formerly a small church. More like a house party, we had to light two main party rooms. We brought in H20 water effects to cross wash the ceilings of the small adjoining rooms upstairs. The H2O’s were mounted at 6’ on 7’ pipe and base to squeeze light in between the top of the dancers’ heads and the ceiling. With a couple of lights, we got a simple yet effective look. The focus of the night is headlining DJ’s on the main floor. The main room is a small sanctuary with a small circular stage in the corner of the room. The first DNBNBN show I did at the Spot, I placed the lights centered on the dance floor. Unfortunately the point of DNBNBN night was lost aka the DJs. By focusing on the dance floor, the focus turns away from the DJ onto the dance floor. The DJ has to compete with the energy or lack of energy on the floor. Which rocks when people are dancing but the only person paid to entertain is the DJ. The crowd will eventually disperse and get bored if the dancing stops. So leave it to the professionals and get everyone to focus on the DJ’s.

To capture and direct the kinetic energy of the DJ, we framed around the DJ booth with lighting from floor to ceiling. Six moving lights both scanned out into the crowd and shot through the DJ. Six LED pars lit the DJ making him the biggest brightest person in the room. The first thing that everyone noticed was the DJ and the blast of light swooping around his throne. You can’t help it, outside of the rope light at the bar all room lighting came from the stage. Now the DJ controls the crowd.

I noticed an immediate change in focus when I changed the system from room centered to stage centered. Most of the voyeurs looked towards the DJ all night long. The room was weighted towards the DJ stage and not evenly dispersed throughout. Cheers for the DJ were more frequently heard. The lines of communication between the DJ and the crowd were clear, and energy was transferred. With success on every level, DNBNBN is now being approached by sponsors and teaming up with some of the most successful promoters in Charlotte. Austin now has the reputation of throwing a great show and finally . . . making some money.