Max HeyraudBelfast DJ Matcha has spoken out about crowd behaviour after a man entered the DJ booth during her set and interfered with her equipment, raising wider questions around audience etiquette and sexism within club culture.
Recounting Thursday night’s incident, Matcha said a group of men repeatedly asked her to play chart music, including Ed Sheeran, despite her explaining that she didn’t have the tracks and that they weren’t part of her set.
Later, one of the men approached her with a phone, which she realised was on FaceTime. He subsequently entered the side of the booth and began rewinding the deck she was playing on. Matcha said she had to physically move his hand away, while he filmed himself and his friends laughed and encouraged the behaviour.
A member of the crowd alerted bar staff, who contacted security and checked on Matcha.
According to the DJ, the incident is part of a wider pattern. She said it was the second time someone had interfered with one of her decks and around the fourth time someone had entered the booth while she was playing.
On another occasion, she recalled a man repeatedly entering the booth despite being removed three times. He eventually began scrolling through her USB, saying he wanted to go B2B because he was also a DJ.
Matcha stressed that song requests are a normal part of playing out and that she is generally happy to engage with audiences. The issue, she says, is when requests become persistent, and audience members begin crossing physical boundaries.
For Matcha, the incidents also highlight a wider lack of respect towards DJs, particularly female DJs, and the need for venues and audiences to better understand where the boundaries lie between engaging with a performer and interfering with their work.
