In 2022, Caden Velasquez, a former University of California, Davis student, noticed that a cool Do It Yourself (DIY) scene was emerging outside of COVID. He noticed there were a lot of events occurring in people's backyards, with small bands and very little promotion.
“I looked at that, and I saw an opportunity to support this initiative, and I just wanted to promote these local events,” Valasquez said.
Velasquez started an Instagram account that quickly blossomed into a platform that attracted a large following. People turned to the account when looking for things to do, and soon, DRC Creatives was born, promoting and putting on its own shows.
“We started hosting our own shows with the following that we got. And those shows slowly got better and better and better,” he said.
Formerly known as the Davis Rave Co., DRC Creatives is a full-service creative agency that produces experiences in many different ways, including audio, visual components, staging, and lighting.
Today, DRC Creatives has become a vibrant hub of the local music scene, curating and booking local talent for various events, from electronic dance music and art shows to pop-up raves and day parties in Sacramento and Davis.
Valasquez said DRC Creatives is close to producing 100 shows.
“It's a big eclectic array of events that we produce, but at the end of the day, we just want to create memorable experiences for people and inspire a love for this scene,” Velasquez said.
Caden Valasquez with a DJ at one of the DRC events. (Photo courtesy of Joey Meier, The Conductor)
Creating shows
DRC Creatives is known for its unique guerrilla marketing style, a key element that sets their events apart. For many of their shows, the location is a well-kept secret until the day of the event, adding an element of surprise and excitement for attendees.
Valasquez said the first marketing tactic they did was printing a flyer and posting it around Downtown Davis, not necessarily advertising the events. He said they made bold, "fairly humorous” statements to get people's attention.
“I think one of them was a call to some person that said, ‘Jake, I'm pregnant, please call me’ or ‘Emily, why'd you break up with me?’” Valasquez said. “It was like a call to action, and people would text the number, just because people are interested in whatever's going on — and they'd get the invitation to the event.”
Velasquez said that the moment you look at the flyer, you’re enveloped in the world of DRC.
“Whether it's the flyer that you see or if it's a friend telling you about the event, that's where your experience begins,” he said. “And then it never ends, because you either decide to go to the event, or you see the event and you get FOMO, or you go to the event, and then you're like, wow, I want to go to another one.”
He said, although there is an element of surprise when it comes to the shows, depending on the venue, many people are attending the shows.
DRC has done what they call a “train rave,” where they have an event under a bridge over which a train travels. They also host monthly shows at Sophia's Thai Kitchen in Davis.
“We're looking at other venues in Sacramento that we want to kind of push out a similar style to, and it's a nod to the rave scene and these kinds of underground secret location events have been going on for decades now,” Velasquez said. “So we're just kind of continuing that. And people really love it, because there's also a level of anonymity.”
Valasquez said that in the future, he hopes to expand across the nation, mentioning Colorado, Los Angeles, and San Francisco as possible expansion cities. He also said he would love to create a DRC Festival.
“Some festivals can transport you to an entirely different world, and I like to think that we do that on a small scale at our events,” Valasquez said. “But when you take an attendee and ask them to come to some remote location, bring a tent. They're gonna camp out. We'll provide the music. We'll provide the entertainment, we'll provide the experience. You can learn and meet new people. And it's this beautiful collection of people that are all coming together who have this passion.”
Picture of the crowd at DRC’s VOID show in Oakland. (Photo courtesy of Joey Meier, The Conductor)
Creating a community
DRC Creatives has a community department to ensure the audience connects with the environment and the artists.
“My goal when it comes to events is to make it feel like the environment is something that is curated for them,” said Val Velasco, Director of Community. “And to really bridge between the artist and the audience.”
The company is prioritizing safety as they grow larger, she added.
“That's one of the lessons that we've all learned is that we promote a zero tolerance policy, and that just encouraging that safe environment for people that are so young is super important,” she said, adding that the police department is familiar with them because of the frequent permits for their events.
Velasco said part of her job as the director of community is to actively listen to and engage with the show's audience to find ways DRC could improve the events it hosts in the future.
“My motto is just be as open, as receptive as possible, because you can always improve,” Velasco said. “We would not be doing what we are doing if it wasn't for the sake of our regulars and our audience and people who just want to try something new. So we understand that first impressions are so important.”
