DiY Sound System, also known as the DiY Collective, was a British

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture in the late 1970s, as DJs began altering ...

sound system that formed in 1989. The group "divided their activities between free parties and legal club nights, acting as a bridge between counter-culture and the mainstream".ed. Low M. and Barnett C., (2004) ''Spaces of Democracy: Geographical Perspectives on Citizenship, Participation and Representation'', SAGE Publications,

History

The DiY Collective was founded in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

in 1989 as a reaction against the growing commercialisation of pay parties, especially Orbital raves such as Biology and Sunrise. DiY's standpoint came from a merging of

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...

principles and a history of attending both

free festival Free festivals are a combination of music, arts and cultural activities, for which often no admission is charged, but involvement is preferred. They are identifiable by being multi-day events connected by a camping community without centralised c ...

s and clubs such as

the Haçienda The Haçienda was a nightclub and music venue in Manchester, North West England, which became famous during the Manchester years of the 1980s and early 1990s. It was run by the record label Factory Records. The club opened in 1982, eventually ...

. They wished to form a cohesive, collective, political front against the prevailing anti-rave legislation that was beginning to come into force at that time. This became more marked around the time of the

Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (c.33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It introduced a number of changes to the law, most notably in the restriction and reduction of existing rights, clamping down on unlicensed ...

, with DiY playing a key role in the illegal rave at

Castlemorton Common Festival The Castlemorton Common Festival was a week-long free festival and rave held in the Malvern Hills near Malvern, Worcestershire, England between 22 and 29 May 1992. The media interest and controversy surrounding the festival, and concerns as t ...

prior to the Bill in May 1992. After hooking up with a group of progressive travellers at the 1990 Glastonbury Festival, they began to throw a constant stream of illegal, outdoor parties (often at travellers' sites, quarries and disused airfields) all over the country for many years.

Simon Reynolds Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his professional career on the staff of ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He has since gone on to freelance and publish a number of full-length books on musi ...

wrote that DiY threw "free parties at abandoned airfields or on hilltops, drawing a mixed crowd of urban ravers and crusty road warriors".Reynolds, S., 1998, ''Energy Flash'', Picador, DiY also worked in the realm of legitimate club nights, starting with their first night at the Kool Kat, Nottingham on 23 November 1989 on Harry's 23rd birthday. Their "Bounce" began at Venus, Nottingham in February 1991 and ran for five years at various clubs, including nights at the Dance Factory. Bounce also at one point had a network of nights in Liverpool, Manchester, Hull, Sheffield, Bristol, Birmingham, Exeter and Bath. The Strictly 4 Groovers label put out its first release by Alabama 3 in 1992, followed by records from members of the DiY Collective, as well local artists including Atjazz,

Rhythm Plate Rhythm Plate are predominantly a deep house production duo who formed in 1995. They consist of Matt 'Rhythm' and Ant 'Plate', who have infrequently DJed across the UK (Egg, Fabric), even less so, Europe ( SONAR 2009 & 2010, Cork, Montpellier) a ...

and Charles Webster, later changing the label's name to DiVersions and going on to release over 80 12 inchers, CD's and LP's (see Discogs for full discography). . DiY continue to hold occasional free parties, typically to celebrate a milestone date—on 19 September 2009, DiY celebrated their 20th birthday with a free party near their home town of Nottingham, and on 23 August 2014, their 25th birthday with a free party held in a field in Leicestershire. On 3 October 2020, it was announced that Pete Birch (DJ Woosh aka the Peaceful Ones) had died from cancer. Despite Covid restrictions, a wake was held in Nottingham and a ceremony was held at Prestwold Natural Burial Ground where he is interred. In May 2021 a birch tree was planted on his grave. This was followed later in the year by the publication of 'Dreaming in Yellow', an autobiographical story of the history of DiY by founder member Harry Harrison, published by Velocity Press on March 23rd 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:DiY Sound System Sound systems British electronic musicians Collectives Counterculture festivals activists Rave culture in the United Kingdom English house musicians House musicians Musical groups from Nottingham

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links