In this episode, I talk to Jody Zinner, aka DJ Mommy, about the quarterly raves she throws at the Lunenburg Legion. Jody and I discuss the relevance and importance of supporting local creative efforts, and we also discuss the role that artistic communities can play in creating change and strengthening political engagement. Jody’s efforts show that arts can serve as a unifying force to foster collective action.
DJ Mommy (Jody Zinner) is a multi-disciplinary anti-fascist creative person working in the underground art and music scenes. Her creative outputs shift in relationship to what's going on around her.
Much of DJ Mommy's art work has involved collaboration and sharing dreams, aspirations, resources and politics with other people while dancing together. DJ Mommy was a dancer before a DJ and is firmly rooted in her own transcendental connection to music through dancing and the healing possibilities of collective movement.
DJ Mommy's art practice can look like DJing, cooking, gardening, political organizing, graphic design, being in bands, or writing. An invitational practice less focused on mastery and more grounded in community activation and cohesion.
Rooted in the simple knowledge that "we have to make our own fun" DJ Mommy believes that art is a vehicle that can transform reality and belongs everywhere. The opposite of international art star is the small-town artist and DJ Mommy's practice is rooted in the local - art as an act of service for her rural community. Everywhere is somewhere on earth and deserves our care and effort.
Some* Event Collaborators: Steve Wiseman, Khyber staff and volunteers, Dan Joyce, Miriam Moren, Chris Foster, Keiran Kelly, Eva Bryant, Geoff Tanner, Will Vandermeulen, Andy Munro, Daniel Espeset, Grant Pardy, Vince Vining, Eastern Bloc staff, Emma Geldart, Rollie Pemberton, Sebastian Cowan, Raven Storm, Swamp Brat, Kurt Inder, Bianca Palmer, Brea McAllister, Bryana Kenny, All the DJs that have participated over the years - too many to list!!!, All the Lunenburg Legion staff
Tracks:
References:
Exploring Euphoria: Delineations of Raving Morality, Collective Effervescence, and Therapeutic Culture in the Halifax Rave Scene. Eleanor Waite (2024). Dalhousie University, Faculty of Social Anthropology.
Yellow Squares Project: Has there ever been a creative scene that has thrived under high rent?. Elijah, 2024. Instagram.
Platter is written, recorded, and edited by Taylor Mooney.
Platter’s theme is from the track Vernacular by Echolurch, a producer based in Halifax.
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