This summer The Woolworth’s Basement has already been a host to many different events, but this last weekend, The Basement held “Sounds of Summer” with DJs and producers mixing beats and creating a summer vibe.
The event produced by many different creatives gave way to a night of memories and opportunities. Britton Lee and Jesse Moreno are two of the creatives who worked on this event and made this night be as memorable as possible. Lee, the Director of Marketing at Woolworths, has helped make the venue stand out through marketing throughout the reopening process and Moreno, co-founder of 4U&I, the collective where DJs and producers worldwide can share their music and talent.
While working together for this event and meeting to talk about the logistics, the concept of “Sounds of Summer” came about. During the planning process they discussed other things like who they would get to play, when the event would take place, and other technical needs, yet the theme remained the same.
“There’s always this artist that takes over summer or this summer music that a lot of DJs love to play and we decided to go in that direction.” Moreno explained. “As far as the aesthetic, because it’s summer, we’re thinking more of like the water and things to incorporate like the sun with the lights,” described Moreno.
As a graphic designer, Moreno chose to use lights and a projector to replicate the look of sun reflecting on water and added this underwater wave look to the walls and ceiling in The Basement. He also design the promotional flyer, which takes the same theme with watery colors and waves, giving a cool and relaxed look to the event all around.
Lee explained how there was also a focus on the individual artists and their own audiences.
“Some folks who are loyalists for 4U&I, they’re gonna show up no matter where they’re playing or what they were doing,” explained Lee. “And for us at The Basement and for Woolworth, we were like ‘Okay, we are kind of mobilizing and trying to reach a whole different group of folks than we have in the past’.”
With the many different groups of artists they were also trying to appeal to individual groups while still working to showcase the venue itself.
“Showing it [the venue] was like really intentional, showing people what it looks like from the street view, the back kind of hallways, then the venue itself; just like bringing people in and teasing it without giving away too much,” Lee said while describing the promotional reel.
The event’s promotional reel was throughout The Basement’s Instagram alongside the flyer and other captivating posts. Lee described how the hope for The Basement is that anyone who hosts an event there can turn it into anything they want, creating opportunity for endless possibilities.
Both of them had slightly different ideas as to what would come out of this event for the audience. Moreno wanted the audience to make memories and friends with others while enjoying a new sound they may not have known about. While Lee thrived for a sense of community where people can enjoy an event without the fear of being intimidated about going somewhere new.
These hopes the two had were reached to audience members like Jessica Lopez, who was attending an event at The Basement for the first time. She described how she had seen the events they were hosting throughout the month on Instagram and was intrigued by the venue.
“I had heard about the place, but I wanted to get a feel before coming to other events,” Lopez explained.
The promotion and reach to the community came through the work Moreno and Lee contributed to the event. There were many people in the audience dancing and seen enjoying the vibes of the “Sounds of Summer.”
To keep up with what The Basement will be hosting next go to their website at https://www.historicwoolworths.com/the-basement and their Instagram at @thebasementatwoolworths.
