New alcohol-free club night from Mina, Club Soft, debuts at Colour Factory this week
“Why do I have to choose between seeing my favourite DJ and getting a good night’s sleep?”
London-based DJ and producer Mina is hosting a new alcohol-free club night, Club Soft, this Sunday (18th June) at Colour Factory.
The Earth Kicks founder and Boko Boko member will take over the Hackney Wick garden space alongside D-Lish b2b Mahnoor, Fiyahdred, ÌYÁÀLÙ, and Blu Edmunds for a night of alcohol-free fun.
Mina stopped drinking alcohol six years ago after noticing it was exasperating her chronic migraines and interfering with her touring schedule. After being met by judgemental responses from some people, and wanting to return the focus to music, she is hoping that Sunday’s Club Soft event will be the first of many alcohol-free parties across the city.
“I guess because we’re so used to it, we don’t really reflect how much alcohol dominates our culture and dominates our social events,” Mina told DJ Mag. “But there are a lot of people that alcohol just doesn’t work for and they absolutely deserve to have a good time too.”
She continued: “I think a lot of people are really starting to reflect on their relationship with alcohol and that now is a really good time to present alternative spaces.”
Though Mina has previously performed at KEEP HUSH events at Colour Factory, Club Soft will mark her first time hosting a party at the venue. “I’m really grateful to Colour Factory for believing in me and supporting the vision. They’ve been working really hard to help find sponsorships and to make people aware of the event,” she said.
“I’m by no means the first person to do this – there are obviously plenty of alcohol-free events all over the world – but in terms of our [electronic] scene, I’m not aware of any. I also wanted to book DJs that represented the alcohol-free scene, as much as possible, just because I thought it would be cool to show people that we are here – that there is a community.”
The event, which will take place from 4 - 10 PM on Sunday, also aims to counteract late-night drinking culture. “Why do I have to choose between seeing my favourite DJ and getting a good night’s sleep? I think there should be space for both, and that’s really what I’m trying to do with Club Soft,” Mina said.
While Club Soft is currently a one-off event, Mina is hoping to put on more alcohol-free parties in the future. “I never expected to have such a big response... I had so many people reaching out and saying that they wished something like this existed in their town. I guess it just takes one person to be like, ‘hold up, is this working?’ and everyone starts to reflect a bit. I really hope this is the start of a movement of these kinds of events around London, and maybe even the UK.”
At the start of last year, Mina launched a new platform, ‘Funding With Mina’, aimed at helping artists with funding applications. It was a practice she started during the pandemic after receiving a grant from the Arts Council to help develop her own live set with close collaborator, Bryte, and has since helped artists write successful funding applications totalling over £100,000.
Revisit Mina’s Recognise mix and interview with DJ Mag here.
Tickets to Club Soft are available here. Find out more about the event below.
