Things I've learnt running a club night for one year with Rare Finds

On April 16, Rare Finds and General Pants celebrate the one year anniversary of their Rare Finds nights at Oxford Art Factory; a monthly night for locals to bask in the live talents of up-and-coming artists and bands. Organiser Rob Carroll tells us five things he’s learnt over the past 12 months about running that very club night. And while you get learned, check out the April 16 party, which features the likes of Deep Sea Arcade, Owen Rabbit and Lime Cordiale HERE.

1. Take risks with curating lineups:

Maintaining quality bills goes without saying but ensuring they're exciting, fresh and different is what really gets our crowd excited. One of the highlights of a Rare Finds event is catching that undiscovered gem opening up the night and having them totally blow your mind. Nocturnal Tapes did this recently opening up our Rare Finds #12 party last month. People were completely gob smacked and as a result the band gained a lot of new Sydney fans.

2. Select the right venue:

The importance of a venue that supports your vision and that doesn’t try to push their own agenda to overshadow what you’re intending to accomplish. We’re incredibly lucky to have the team at Oxford Art Factory understand what we’re trying to achieve and respecting our long-term goals that are in place. They’ve been very supportive and helpful since we setup there as our new home. Cheers Gerbs and Hamish!

3. Grow at your own pace:

Our ultimate goal is to foster a scene and take the night weekly. To achieve this we’ve taken a slow and organic approach via a monthly format focusing on quality over quantity and over the last 12 months it’s been brilliant to see the results come to fruition with most nights reaching capacity. Now coming up to our second year we strongly feel we’ve reached a demand to increase the frequency to fortnightly soon, which is the obvs bridging step to weekly. Exciting times!

4. Music + Feels = ?:

Bit of an obvious one, but attention to detail on this is imperative. Make sure your DJ knows what’s up: there's a huge difference between a great DJ and some knob who just gets up essentially flicking in between tracks on a USB (guilty!). Ensure the venue is aesthetically pleasing and has a vibe - people are going out on the weekend to have a rad time and feel good. If they’re in an environment where they feel boss - they’re coming back!

5. Watch out for those sneaky interns:

Don’t give the intern control over artists/VIP drink cards. The cards end up ‘misplaced' and nek minute said intern and friends are coincidentally standing around a table with 40 Sailor Jerry & Dry's between them.

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