Froth Entertainment: The young people trying to revive Wellington’s nightlife

A collective of young people, fueled by the desire to ‘go crazy’, are trying to revive Wellington’s nightlife.

Froth Entertainment – ​​​​named after their vibrant dance parties – first emerged in a student dormitory in 2019.

Founder Theodoor Kraayvanger, aka DJ Kraayjoy, and his buddies hosted house parties in Newtown; the kitchen became a dance floor, the lounge became a reverberating club.

“I was inspired when I visited Dunedin when I was 18, seeing the chaos that was going on there and I wanted to bring that energy back to Wellington,” says the 25-year-old.

The goal was to create safe dance spaces where people could let loose for an evening, be themselves and live for the moment – something a typical night out on “the city” didn’t offer.

Many locations in Wellington were closed in the early 1920s due to buildings being prone to earthquakes and rising rents. The Froth crew wanted the freedom to throw their own style of parties, so they used everything from industrial areas to war bunkers as makeshift clubs.

Five years later, the Froth crew has graduated to key Wellington locations such as San Fran, Valhalla and 121.

A few months ago they organized a sold-out festival evening to celebrate their fifth anniversary at The Grand.

The Froth crew all like different styles of music, which is reflected in the evenings they put on. There are ‘donk’ nights (a loud, fast and crazy beat), thumping drum and bass and punchy techno rhythms.

“High energy is the key. Anything that gets people’s heart rate going, just moving your feet faster to good music,” says Kraayvanger.

Visual jockey Graham Dickie, aka Uncle Graham, helps set the scene with his team.

Dickie works with the DJ and projects their art live behind the musician. The music drives the images and merges into one experience.

In October, Froth hosted Hamadi Hassani, aka DJ TRAVELLA, who traveled here from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. He controlled his music (and the music spinning on the dance floor) with an old PlayStation controller.

Dickie says Froth’s music keeps people guessing. No niche is too crazy. This means that a Foam evening feels very different from an evening ‘going out in the city’.

“It’s mainly the love we put into it,” says Kraayvanger.

Looking out over Cuba Street, on San Fran’s veranda, as hazy cigarette smoke swirls around the conversations, Froth DJs Gracie Stirling and Kaleb Anderson say the community keeps them coming back every Froth night.

“It’s about connectivity: meeting like-minded people and getting off your phone at the weekend,” says Stirling.

“We’re all here just to enjoy the music,” Anderson says. “Whether that’s indoors on the dance floor, or talking to people outside.”

“Wellington has a super groovy scene, all walks of life live here and we want to give everyone the chance to come out and have some fun as that in itself makes the evening more fun,” says Dickie.

Froth’s next appearance will be in Valhalla on November 29. It is a collaboration with New Year’s festival Twisted Frequencies and teases the good atmosphere of summer.

Safety is the top priority, and the Froth crew is confident they want to show young people that a good time doesn’t have to involve binge drinking.

There is always a permanent crew staffed to work the door and roam the floor. Posts on social media set out the rules of the night. A kaitiaki crew often attends the events, run by the Psy-Care team who also work at Twisted Frequencies.

“That’s where I first came into contact with this idea, where you have people who are not security guards at your performances, but people who make sure you have a good time and make you feel safe, and if something happens, you you can do that. Go talk to them,’ says Dickie.

“That’s what we try to create during our performances, where you can dance, have fun, be crazy and be yourself without being afraid.”

“We teach the new visitors how to have fun, how to respect everyone, how to treat the venues well, how to treat the sound systems well, how to keep their phones away as much as possible, how to enjoy the moment to enjoy and how to live in the moment.” says Kraayvanger.

Dickie says it has been more difficult financially to run gigs and break even, but that has only inspired them to pivot and stay flexible.

“You can book international artists and have more expensive tickets, or you can stick with the locals and lower ticket prices,” says Kraayvanger.

One of their performances, starting at $5 for early bird tickets, sold out in three days.

“That’s a formula we’ve seen work well this year, as people want to see their friends play at a cheaper rate.”

The music scene has changed since they started throwing parties, Kraayvanger admits.

He thinks this is because so many young people have left the country since then, while a backlog of foreign experiences has arisen again after the corona lockdowns.

“But there’s still a very vibrant scene and there’s still a huge amount of great people working hard to bring great music and great art to the city.”

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