Becoming a DJ and learning to “play” music is a tempting dream for many young people. And now, a possibility offered to children from rural areas of the Community of Madrid. Because from next week, three locations are opening DJ training workshops for 12-25 year olds. An activity that helps them express their feelings and break the cycle of loneliness and boredom, while opening them to new horizons.
“I feel good, sharing what I feel”, “I am welcomed and valued”, “this is my place” are some of the expressions that María Arias, DJ for 17 years, “mother” of “Who is in the house”. and promoter of this activity, which will take place next week at the “bowling” in the Madrid countryside. Because there are leisure activities for young people beyond “spending all day on the cell phone and the ‘refrotón'”, he says.
In their hands, music, and especially house music, becomes a tool to combat loneliness and help strengthen mental health. A healthier and more creative leisure alternative for young people living in rural communities.
“Two years ago, after Covid, I created the first school with the help of the town hall of Simancas, a town in Valladolid with 5,000 inhabitants. It was about learning to be a DJ; well, it was full of people of all ages, old and young, some with mental health problems and other difficulties,” remembers María. The boys told her: “It motivates me”, “it’s another life”.
For cities
After the success, the DJ, who has been playing in Ibiza for many years, decided to open a private school in Madrid, “Who is in da house”. “But I also wanted to continue taking it to the cities.”
He then contacted the Community of Madrid, “and they loved the idea; they offered me a ‘tour’ through three municipalities”, and that’s the one that begins now. With courses from September 2 to 7 in Buitrago del Lozoya (1,800 inhabitants), Colmenar de Oreja (7,900) and Villamanta (2,800). The workshops will be given to 60 young people, so that they acquire skills to “play” electronic music while strengthening their mental health.
The idea, explains the general director of the Territorial Rebalancing of the Community of Madrid, Javier Carazo, is to “revitalize” these rural areas. And in the case of young people, they want to achieve this by “adapting to new needs and opposing traditional leisure activities.” When María Arias made them this proposal, they thought it fitted like a glove with their desire to replace these more conventional activities with “healthy and fun leisure activities, and a way to also develop their artistic gifts.”
Carazo recalls that “in rural areas, the problem of alcohol and drugs is very present, due to the lack of other alternatives”; so the regional government has decided to sponsor this activity. “It is free for children,” and if it receives the reception they expect, it could be extended. “It is about providing these initiatives to all regions, so that their young people have less need to travel to Madrid.”
The Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Local Administration, Miguel Ángel García Martín, insists on this idea: “This program not only informs young people about the serious problems caused by drugs and other addictions, it also offers other healthy leisure alternatives and gives them tools to develop creativity.
The first of the municipalities that will launch the DJ workshops is Villamanta. Its mayor, Mariano Núñez, supports the initiative because in his town “we have a fairly young population” and although “there are traditional camps and they work very well, children want new things. It’s different from 40 years ago, we have to update ourselves.” In fact, in the surveys they have carried out, they have already detected that the idea of learning to “dj” “motivates them a lot.”
“There are leisure activities for young people beyond spending all day with their cell phones and their ‘refrotón’,” explains DJ María Arias, promoter of the idea.
In each municipality, groups of up to 20 students will be organized, who will receive six-hour classes over two days, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. “With computers, in three hours, you can play,” explains María, for whom the main value of this practice is that “it is super therapeutic.”
Their main motivation is to “create communities”: “Children tell me that they feel part of a family, those who did not have friends now have many.” The effect of music on mood is also very powerful: “I have an 8-year-old student who tells me that when he is sad, he plays a few songs and changes his mood.”
It also helps them overcome their insecurities, especially when playing in public. Because María makes sure that her students play at events such as the Pingüinos festival, the annual biker gathering in Valladolid. On the last day, a recording of the sessions will be made, and they will be broadcast on Who Radio. In addition, a final event will take place in Villaviciosa de Odón on Sunday, September 15, where five children will participate and show the skills acquired, which will be published on the YouTube channel “Who is in da house”. This initiative has its own label, so that the participants even have the opportunity to release their productions.
Learning to be a DJ also has later uses: “You can apply it at a party with friends, at birthdays…”. And now “it’s also a FP, a professional opportunity; “It’s not necessary for everyone to be a lawyer or an engineer.” And in cities, they can be attracted: “There is a tendency to hire outside DJs for parties, while locals love to have someone from there play,” explains María.
