After Hours: Agency and Identity in Toronto’s Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Electronic Music Scene
Abstract:
The architecture of a night - a party lasting until the sun breaks, and the crowd of faces disperse, without a trace. What happens in that one night, however, is part of a much longer story about community growth, where small-scale venues encourage experimentations with identity.
Do-It-Yourself (DIY) electronic music events inhabit spaces not zoned for nightclub or venue use, making them technically illegal. Meanwhile, the legal zones for nightclubs are some of Toronto’s most expensive real estate creating a high barrier to entry. Unlike large-scale nightclubs, DIY events enable organisers a high degree of curation, allowing them to define new social rules. Increasing access to DIY venues creates opportunities for underground musicians and artists to practise and perform. Their community-led nature suits smaller establishments with more intimate crowds. Resultantly, the DIY dancefloor becomes a space where queer and equity-seeking guests can participate comfortably, free from judgment and harassment.
After Hours centres a series of conversations about the experiences and desires of DIY attendees, referencing events in Montreal, London, Tokyo, Berlin, and Toronto. These conversations are fragments of a larger series of eighteen zines that illustrate the socio-spatial dynamics of DIY spaces for future practitioners. Adding to the growing discourse on safety, identity, and gender in urban nightlife, this thesis explores community-led inhabitation and agency. How can spatial and social scale enhance perceived comfort in nightlife spaces?
The examining committee is as follows:
Supervisor:
Marie-Paule
Macdonald
Committee
member:
Rick
Haldenby
Internal-external
reader:
Tara
Bissett
and
Scott
Sorli
External:
Alan
Webb
The
defence
examination
will
take
place:
Friday,
August
19,
2022,
09:30
a.m.
This
is
a
hybrid
defence
taking
place
in-person
in
the
Loft
Gallery
at
the
School
of
Architecture
as
well
as
online
via
Teams.
Please
contact the
grad
office or
the
student
for
the
Teams
link.
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.