Last October, BubblegumClub (in collaboration with WeHeartBeat) hosted the first in an ongoing series of cultural experiments. For the USB Soundsystem event, held in Melville, a cast of local tastemakers were invited to an open DJ booth. Guests were asked to each play three songs. Rather than mixing skills, the criteria was simply to bring interesting music to a public venue. From beloved hits to obscurities from the darkest crevices of the internet, they just needed to arrive with a USB drive. (Although a professional DJ was on to hand to guide them through any technicalities!)
The concept for the event was to ‘democratise the dancefloor’. As many of the participants interviewed below discuss, the format became a personal challenge. How can you represent yourself, tell your personal story in three pieces of recorded sound? For filmmaker Lebogang Rasethaba, the event offered to bridge the gap between personal taste and public space. Participants agree that getting to share tracks with such intimate significance was an empowering experience. The result was an eclectic mix, from Grime bangers to Frank Ocean’s epic Pyramids.
The ubiquitous USB drive was developed in the mid 90’s and since then has subtly changed our lives. They are small and easy to lose, but contain entire cultural universes in their hardened exteriors- galaxies and constellations of music, film and data. They are both personal and social, reflecting both their owners taste and that of the friends they share and swap with. The Soundsystem event shows that no matter how small the storage technology may get, music is always the most powerful force to bring people together.