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University of Utah senior Drew Green has an assignment many students would be envious of: throwing a party.
On Dec. 10 from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m., Green and seven other students in the school’s multi-disciplinary design program will present Neon Desert Exp. 1, an exploration and celebration of house music.
The event, which represents a semester’s worth of work, will be held at Fice Gallery (160 E. 200 S. Salt Lake City) and will feature six DJs (five of whom are local), augmented reality filters and a range of interactive installations to teach guests about house history and culture.
Admission is free but a donation of $5 to $10 is encouraged. All raised funds will go to the Frankie Knuckles Foundation, named for the influential house music DJ and which focuses on music in schools, LGBTQ+ youth homelessness, AIDS research and prevention, and diabetes education.
“If you had asked me ‘Do you think you’ll end up at a house music party … for a class?’ I would have said ‘No way,’” Green said. “But lo and behold, I’ve made tons of friends and [I] absolutely love that scene. It’s super welcoming and friendly beyond belief.”
All about movement
For those not familiar with the genre, house music is a type of electronic dance music derived from disco in the 1980s, according to music website Deep in the Mix. It is characterized by 110 to 130 beats per minute and a four-four rhythm pattern.
Its name comes from The Warehouse nightclub in Chicago, where Frankie Knuckles was a DJ. As Knuckles’ mixes became more popular, people began requesting “music from the Warehouse” and then “music from the house.”
Green said house music is all about movement.
“It’s music that is going to get you out of your seat and dancing,” he said. “It can really be this amazing experience to listen to it with a group of people and see how it can motivate and energize an entire crowd.”
He also said the genre is sometimes associated with drugs and wild partying, but those elements aren’t necessary to house or any dance music.
“You can be completely sober and have a fantastic time,” he said.
Creating the Neon Desert
Green said Neon Desert Exp. 1 grew out of plans for a house music celebration that their instructor, Grant Zilles Barth, had been planning prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After pandemic restrictions eased, Barth connected with leaders of the multi-disciplinary design program about collaborating with college seniors on the project, Green said.
He and his classmates have been working “nonstop” since late August, he added. “We’re all so pumped to see the pieces fall into place.
The project has involved a number of elements, from immersive installations to social media management, Green said. Guests will first browse a timeline of house history and culture in the gallery space, then be led outside to the “Neon Desert,” where they can dance to house DJs and buy memorabilia.
Green said he was particularly excited about incorporating the concept of “compression and release” into the exhibit. One example of this is the moment right before football players come through the tunnel; another is the feeling when the lights in a movie theater go dark.
“There’s a moment of calm and collection in the darkness before you emerge,” he said. “It queues you up and prepares you for the big event.”
His program sometimes holds review nights to celebrate individual projects produced by the studio, Green said, but to have eight students working on one project that involves community partners and a fundraiser is “definitely unique.”
A space to connect
(David Arellano) DJ Jesse Walker is one of six DJs who will be featured at Neon Desert Exp. 1 on Dec. 10, an event designed by University of Utah students to celebrate House music.
One of those partners is DJ Jesse Walker, who has been mixing music since 1993 and will be featured at Neon Desert.
He heard about the project through a friend of a friend, he said, and when he connected with the students, he immediately wanted to get involved.
It has been a huge honor to have a group of people research and elevate his work, he said. “I’m learning things from them.”
Walker said people sometimes think house music belongs strictly to the gay subculture and doesn’t have a lot of meaning behind it.
However, “it’s simplicity is deceptive,” he said. “[With house music], you can really just focus on the beat itself and create these movements within the structure that take their time to evolve and build up and then break and then build up again.”
He also said the draw to house music for him is in how it allows people a safe space where they can connect.
“Make a new friend, even if that friend is yourself,” Walker said. “Enjoy everything that we’ve built from the beginning of house music to what we’ve created here, specifically in Utah.”
Green said he also is hopeful that people will experience a sense of belonging at the event, and even feel joy through house music after such a long period of quarantine.
“It’s all about getting to know a new genre of music, or maybe just celebrating the culture that they already know,” he said.
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