New club night hopes to promote young local DJs

A new club night is looking to establish a stage for local up-and-coming DJs to play alongside big names, bringing together promoters and artists to help grow the Drum and Bass (DnB) scene in Somerset.

XYZ Events are an independent events company from Somerset who want to give people the opportunity to discover underground music locally, without having to travel to bigger cities.

Their debut event, in Wells, will see renowned DnB artists such as Ed Solo and Brockie share the stage with Somerset-based acts such DJ CLOVA, from Bath, and 3SEVEN6, from Glastonbury.

"It's very exciting to see [the scene] branching out. It's really nice to see it spreading out to other towns," said DJ CLOVA, 25.

Nightclubs and underground music venues have been declining across the UK since the pandemic.

The Night Time Industries Association say about 800 venues have closed nationally since March 2020.

DJ CLOVA, whose real name is Chloe Athay, says people her age typically have to go to Bristol to hear the music they love.

"Bristol is the heart of DnB in the United Kingdom, so that's the place to be - but it's a shame to not see so much in Bath, and to see an event in Wells is very exciting," she said.

Athay says there is a following for DnB and underground music in Somerset, adding there needs to be more space for it, as nightlife options are currently "limited" and people do not always want to travel far on a night out.

"I think it will open it up to more of the older generation, who might feel a stigma about going to the bigger cities - and there are loads of students.

"I think it will be really nice to see," she said.

The event marks a return for XYZ, who were putting on events in Somerset before the Covid lockdowns.

XYZ's founder, Keanan Kruse, 40, hopes that bringing big names to the area will help local venues.

"I think the main problem is transport in the rural areas," he said. "There's a lot of small and mid-size venues that are struggling to get the known artists to the area, so we're trying to bridge that gap."

The event is taking place in Studio24 in Wells, a former bingo hall that reopened as a live music venue in 2024, having previously been a nightclub.

Kruse said he hopes the event will "help get the venue popping and will have a good impact on the local economy".

"It's bringing a bit of a community together, including faces that I knew were in the scene but didn't know personally," he said.

"It's really nice to see."

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