With the Dallas Fire Marshall targeting the DIY arts community, making much ado about fire codes and certificates of occupancy, a specter has set over the city. Groups and individuals are programming with little to no budget, sometimes with city funding. Now that a certain fear has settled upon the arts community, it should fall onto institutions, such as our premier museums and large-scale venues, to pick up the slack.
Moody Fuqua, the music programmer for Club Dada, agrees. He was hired this year to bring a local feel back to the venue. Which is why he hopes his partnership with Deep Dallas’ Jessica Martinez for the new, aptly named, “Lokal” series will change the game.
“The whole experience is creating a new environment for bands to play they didn’t have before,” Fuqua says.
The duo met when Fuqua was still at Bryan Street Tavern, programming the venue’s local booking. Martinez took notice of Fuqua’s shows with events like Rocktoberfest. Although attendance was low, the festival stuck out to Martinez for its all-local lineup and ambition, which Fuqua fondly remembers after a tiring two-day, 25 band line-up as a “total bust”.
Martinez founded Deep Dallas in 2010 and runs the popular “Dallas Music” social media pages, but it’s been about three years since she last booked a show.
“I got kind of cocky because the first show we had over 500 people show up,” she says. “Then we had two shows after that and we still had about 250 each. But I was expecting so much more I ended up paying out of pocket for those last two shows.”
Fuqua and Martinez have learned from their past mistakes, and hope to lure a heavier Red Bull presence back into the Dallas market, with the brand providing partial sponsorship for the Lokal series.
Martinez plans on using her vast contact list to enlist videographers, photographers, and branding specialists to create digital packages for each show, marketing the event like few others in Dallas.
The Lokal series will bring Dallas-based musical talent to the brand new outside stage at Club Dada. Since leaving RBC and joining team Dada, Fuqua has made the outside stage his personal project.
“When I came out there was a floodlight, no seating, and a deck falling apart — 90 percent of it was not lit,” Fuqua says. “We put seating out here, lighting. We re-did the entire deck and put on a brand new roof. This is a whole new venue out here, created by Dallas for Dallas. When was the last time everyone had the opportunity to play an outside stage in Deep Ellum?”
The first in the Lokal series was last week, with Rat Rios, 88 Killa, Dezi 5, and a DJ set by Christy Ray. It continues Sept. 15 with Sealion, -topic, Teen Slut, and Blue the Misfit. The third show will be Sept. 22 with xes, Loafers, Sudie and a DJ set by Playlister P. Fuqua put the lineups together himself.
“I wanted the locals to be the first ones that experienced this stage,” Fuqua says.
Martinez adds: “It’s about planting a seed and seeing what happens. Oftentimes people in the local community work in silos, and we all want the same thing. But it’s great working with someone like Moody because then you can build something together.”
Fuqua foresees the event being once a month, with no one act serving as a headliner. While the first iteration was more accessible accessible in its blending of styles, you can see the daring increased in the second iteration.
“I would be happy to go on record to say I am not a fan of folk andAmericana music,” Fuqua says. “It was all that was talked about when I first started doing this and there is so much more. It left a bad taste in my mouth. Booking an Americana or folk show is easy. It’s easy money. It appeals to a vast crowd, it gets the drinkers out. It’s a no-brainer.
But what’s to separate these shows from what’s happening at RBC, Crown and Harp, or the any number of dingy DIY warehouse parties that exist from Denton to Oak Cliff? For one, they are happening at one of Dallas and Deep Ellum’s oldest and established venues, at the neighborhood’s only fully tricked-out outside stage.
“People will come for a Dezi 5 but be introduced to a Rat Rios,” Martinez says. “That happens to me too. I’ll go for a certain act and be introduced to a certain act that blows my mind. I hope that happens with this. Often times at venues the last band plays and everyone is out the door. We want to keep them here, dancing.”
Martinez and Fuqua have even bigger plans for the Lokal series, with their sights set on working with additional tastemakers for eclectic line-ups. They even hope to expand it to Fort Worth and Denton as a touring show. Fuqua says he has already arranged something with Fort Worth’s Shipping and Receiving, and has plans to speak to Denton’s Harvest House.
“The local scene in Dallas is coming together, the local scene in Fort Worth is coming together, the local scene in Denton is coming together. But there’s still this divide, we’re 30 miles away from each other,” Fuqua says. “I think us all working together furthers the national cause of putting our music scene on the map. We have three cities next to each other that need to be co-existing. This is a long-term goal to me.”
With Martinez returning to booking and Fuqua bringing his signature passion to the Lokal series, the team-up, within the context of Club Dada, could elevate the Dallas-based music community, beyond just the warehouses and basements.
“The idea is to make it a traveling show and eventually reach other parts of Texas, Austin, Houston, San Antonio. Make it a Texas-wide thing, and then grow beyond that,” Fuqua says. “The way to do that is by getting support money. If you have a sponsor, and we do for these first two events, the bigger thing is that the sponsor sees the bigger picture. This could be something that’s bigger than Dada.”
Moody Fuqua, the music programmer for Club Dada, agrees. He was hired this year to bring a local feel back to the venue. Which is why he hopes his partnership with Deep Dallas’ Jessica Martinez for the new, aptly named, “Lokal” series will change the game.
“The whole experience is creating a new environment for bands to play they didn’t have before,” Fuqua says.
The duo met when Fuqua was still at Bryan Street Tavern, programming the venue’s local booking. Martinez took notice of Fuqua’s shows with events like Rocktoberfest. Although attendance was low, the festival stuck out to Martinez for its all-local lineup and ambition, which Fuqua fondly remembers after a tiring two-day, 25 band line-up as a “total bust”.
Martinez founded Deep Dallas in 2010 and runs the popular “Dallas Music” social media pages, but it’s been about three years since she last booked a show.
“I got kind of cocky because the first show we had over 500 people show up,” she says. “Then we had two shows after that and we still had about 250 each. But I was expecting so much more I ended up paying out of pocket for those last two shows.”
“It’s fun, isn’t it,” Fuqua says.
Fuqua and Martinez have learned from their past mistakes, and hope to lure a heavier Red Bull presence back into the Dallas market, with the brand providing partial sponsorship for the Lokal series.
Martinez plans on using her vast contact list to enlist videographers, photographers, and branding specialists to create digital packages for each show, marketing the event like few others in Dallas.
The Lokal series will bring Dallas-based musical talent to the brand new outside stage at Club Dada. Since leaving RBC and joining team Dada, Fuqua has made the outside stage his personal project.
“When I came out there was a floodlight, no seating, and a deck falling apart — 90 percent of it was not lit,” Fuqua says. “We put seating out here, lighting. We re-did the entire deck and put on a brand new roof. This is a whole new venue out here, created by Dallas for Dallas. When was the last time everyone had the opportunity to play an outside stage in Deep Ellum?”
The first in the Lokal series was last week, with Rat Rios, 88 Killa, Dezi 5, and a DJ set by Christy Ray. It continues Sept. 15 with Sealion, -topic, Teen Slut, and Blue the Misfit. The third show will be Sept. 22 with xes, Loafers, Sudie and a DJ set by Playlister P. Fuqua put the lineups together himself.
“I wanted the locals to be the first ones that experienced this stage,” Fuqua says.
Martinez adds: “It’s about planting a seed and seeing what happens. Oftentimes people in the local community work in silos, and we all want the same thing. But it’s great working with someone like Moody because then you can build something together.”
Fuqua foresees the event being once a month, with no one act serving as a headliner. While the first iteration was more accessible accessible in its blending of styles, you can see the daring increased in the second iteration.
“I would be happy to go on record to say I am not a fan of folk andAmericana music,” Fuqua says. “It was all that was talked about when I first started doing this and there is so much more. It left a bad taste in my mouth. Booking an Americana or folk show is easy. It’s easy money. It appeals to a vast crowd, it gets the drinkers out. It’s a no-brainer.
But what’s to separate these shows from what’s happening at RBC, Crown and Harp, or the any number of dingy DIY warehouse parties that exist from Denton to Oak Cliff? For one, they are happening at one of Dallas and Deep Ellum’s oldest and established venues, at the neighborhood’s only fully tricked-out outside stage.
“This is a whole new venue out here, created by Dallas for Dallas.
“People will come for a Dezi 5 but be introduced to a Rat Rios,” Martinez says. “That happens to me too. I’ll go for a certain act and be introduced to a certain act that blows my mind. I hope that happens with this. Often times at venues the last band plays and everyone is out the door. We want to keep them here, dancing.”
Martinez and Fuqua have even bigger plans for the Lokal series, with their sights set on working with additional tastemakers for eclectic line-ups. They even hope to expand it to Fort Worth and Denton as a touring show. Fuqua says he has already arranged something with Fort Worth’s Shipping and Receiving, and has plans to speak to Denton’s Harvest House.
“The local scene in Dallas is coming together, the local scene in Fort Worth is coming together, the local scene in Denton is coming together. But there’s still this divide, we’re 30 miles away from each other,” Fuqua says. “I think us all working together furthers the national cause of putting our music scene on the map. We have three cities next to each other that need to be co-existing. This is a long-term goal to me.”
With Martinez returning to booking and Fuqua bringing his signature passion to the Lokal series, the team-up, within the context of Club Dada, could elevate the Dallas-based music community, beyond just the warehouses and basements.
“The idea is to make it a traveling show and eventually reach other parts of Texas, Austin, Houston, San Antonio. Make it a Texas-wide thing, and then grow beyond that,” Fuqua says. “The way to do that is by getting support money. If you have a sponsor, and we do for these first two events, the bigger thing is that the sponsor sees the bigger picture. This could be something that’s bigger than Dada.”
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