University of Ottawa (U of O) graduate Elena Bales and fourth-year Carleton international business student David Mayer have been DJ-ing together in small venues around Ottawa over the last 11 months. The pair played their style of techno that Mayer described as “very deep and bassy” at the Daily Grind Oct. 2.
The coffee shop was calm and friendly while the two young DJs who call themselves Woerks and M played in front of an open window. At the back of the venue, the bartender doled out beer to attentive students.
A small group of U of O students gathered in a room upstairs to study for midterms they had the following morning with techno booming in the background.
The musicicans traded off every few minutes, each of them taking time to chat with the audience during their time away from the boards.
“We’re trying to build a space where open-minded people can come and experience some new music . . . and push the boundaries a little bit,” Mayer said. “We like to play stuff like techno, house, or a weird hybrid that has a lot of bass and high-end frequencies.”
He emphasized that it’s important to feed off the crowd.
“It’s really difficult to find music like this,” Harrison Niznick said, who frequently attends events put on by Woerks and M.
“The two of them put on a collection of music that’s really different,” Gerrit Westland agreed, tapping a pen in time to the music.
Mayer said he has ambitions to play in bigger Ottawa venues like Babylon.
“I want a night where you can have a hybrid of people chilling out and people rocking out,” he said.
Mayer said he was inspired by the techno scene in Paris after attending shows at huge venues like the Social Club. When he returned to Canada, he taught himself to DJ with YouTube tutorials, and some computer software. That was when he met Bales at the Daily Grind, who recently returned from Berlin.
Bales explained such a unique style of music is difficult to sell to businesses but the owners of the Daily Grind want to promote the local indie scene.
Despite occasional sound violations, the pair said it’s been a great venue. They have also played in Ottawa at Planet Coffee and hope to snag a segment on CKCU in the future.
“Ottawa’s a weird city for it,” Mayer said.
Bales described the nation captial’s music scene as diverse, yet challenging to find events.
“You don’t really know about them until they’re happening, but that’s also part of what makes them fun,” she said.
