Teen Gothic

I've seen an influx of posts on here of people who are struggling to find their local scene. To put it simply, goth scenes are hard to find for a variety of reasons– either they don't exist in your local area, or they're run by older people who primarily use Facebook to promote, or just in general, there is little to no promotion for the event happening at all because its a small, tight-knit group of people who have been doing scene-related things together for years.

Goth is a pretty niche subculture. You'll often find that goth scenes just don't exist in the city/town you're located in, or whatever scene there is, it's small. I'm a brand new promoter in DC, and so far, I haven't had a completely dead night where no one showed up, but it happens, because the scene is small, and it's hard to find if you aren't intentionally looking for it. As a promoter and an owner of a club night, we do our best to make ourselves visible and accessible, but the work we do can only go so far.

So, here's my advice to people who are struggling to find their local scene– make your own. It isn't as difficult as it sounds, but it is definitely intimidating if you've never been in charge of anything before.

Step number one is to learn how to DJ. By far, the most difficult step out of all I'm about to talk about because it can get expensive. You'll need a DJ table, a laptop, and a digital library of music. I got a cheap table for maybe only $ 150, but you could probably even thrift one. Some tables don't require laptops, but they get more expensive than standard tables.

Step number two is to find a venue. Most goth nights get hosted at bars because the venues are eager to make money off of patrons, so they're always willing to host an event. Find a local bar, talk to the bartender, tell them you're interested in setting up an event there, ask them how to get an event set up, etc.

Step number three: promote. Make flyers for the event. You can make these in something like Canva, which is a photo-editing app that lets you put text over pictures. Print them out, and post them up around local spots (libraries, cafés, anywhere that lets you advertise with paper flyers). Take the image and upload it to IG, or Twitter, upload it to Facebook, make a Facebook event for it, and use hashtags related to your local area. For example, if you live in DC like me, you would use the tags "#dcgoth" or "#dmvgoth".

All of these steps are way simpler if you have friends to help you out along the way. These steps are also incredibly simplified, but I am definitely 100% willing to give a more in-depth explanation to anyone who wants to start their own scene in their area.

Here is an updated version of my vest. I unfortunately didn’t have much time to work on it this week so I only got to add a single band logo studs, and chains.

Hot off the press! I shot and edited this short phone video just for everyone here. Nox Novacula finished playing their set a few minutes ago at a small bar/venue in Colorado Springs. Originally the band finished their set with the song "Vultures" which fit the venue name perfectly. They then walked off stage and came back to play this encore song after the crowd chanted for one more. Nox Novacula shared the stage with WitchHands (I shot some video of their set on a real camera for their upcoming music video). To absolutely nobody's surprise both bands were amazing. Nox performed just as well last night in Denver with some other amazing bands. Definitely go see/hear these beautiful musicians if given the chance.

Hi everyone! So I've been trying to compile a Spotify playlist with as much Deathrock as I can 🦇

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2m9fhXtvDQpuDPMt2qtBoe?si=aa9b2fbc12354015

I'd love to hear any suggestions on what I should add any artists I should add or remove if they're not really deathrock 🙂

Does anyone know a sub dedicated to the german goth scene?

If anyone knows a goth sub for the part of Germany called NRW that would be even better!

Thanks guys 😀

Had someone insist online that I wasn't a real goth because my friends tend to be more "basic", but I dont see a problem with it! I'm nice to them, their nice to me. I don't see the need for any complications.

Also- another dilemma, im against the insult "basic". I find it incredibly misogynistic and rude. Go ahead and scream at me in the comments, I wont care enough to acknowledge it. The point is, this person yelled at me and called me a "poser" for this.

If the answer to either of these questions is "yes", ill leave the goth community, no questions asked. Not out of anger– it just doesn't fit me.