“Murky Sonics” is an underground music events company created by co-owners Fergus Holmes-Stanley, a third-year ASNaC student at St John’s, and Rob Olliffe, a third year Maths student at Queens’. From humble beginnings, Fergus and Rob found themselves increasingly bored over lockdown and spontaneously came up with the idea of developing a student DJ community at Cambridge to quench their thirst for live music.

Initially under the banner ‘Underground Sounds’, Fergus and Rob soon became resident DJs for Radio Cam FM’s weekly sets, using the platform to bring students who offered something “deep, dark and electronic” to light. From then on, the ball started rolling, as the two spent the opening months of 2021 live streaming sets from their glamorous accommodation in Cambridge to Goat Shed’s Studio in Bristol. Anticipating the infamous June 21st lifting of restrictions on night-clubs, Fergus and Rob soon began to attract widespread attention from clubs eager to book them as they approached Easter term. Despite the frustration of a prolonged period of lockdown, they were nonetheless able to perform at a St John’s June Event, thus igniting the beginning of their rebrand to “Murky Sonics”, the music events company designed by students for students.

“Both Olliffe and Holmes-Stanley felt it necessary to create a space that could showcase a wide variety of talents and sounds”

Indeed, Olliffe noted the sheer lack of variety in drum and bass events in Cambridge tailored to students as a significant motivating factor in his decision to co-start Murky. Both Olliffe and Holmes-Stanley thus felt it necessary to create a space that could showcase a wide variety of talents and sounds, as opposed to what they saw as “repetitive” events tailored to one type of electronic music.

From Michaelmas of their third year, Murky’s co-owners were quickly able to mark their place at MASH Cambridge through a sold-out show on October 25th, opening up the door for a range of students seeking to showcase their skills on the decks on a weekly basis. Although far from smooth, Olliffe stepped up to the set for his first ever club event, facing a range of technical difficulties that required some quick-thinking and the faithful method of turning the decks on and off, before the brief crisis was averted.

After this, it was smooth sailing. Murky was able to DJ at events in places ranging from Cambridge and Olliffe’s hometown of Bournemouth to Val-Thorens, for Varsity’s opening and closing club nights. Thus far, Murky has worked with several other groups such as Playtime, a female and non-binary DJ collective, Lift Up and Dubspiracy, in their aim of bringing like-minded people together. Murky also grants a space for student photographers, graphic designers and sound technicians with previous experience from shows at the ADC respectively. In other words, Murky was built for the primary purpose of establishing a more intimate community that cultivated its popularity not merely through big name DJs or flashy club-nights, but through an immersive experience that truly involves everyone — connecting the audience to the DJs on stage.

“It can become “very much like a full-time job””

Olliffe and Holmes-Stanley have also described their experience running Murky Sonics as a vast learning curve, stating that they have “learnt so much from every event”, such that they are able to constantly improve on the last, with respect to various aspects — from lighting and sound to decorations, promotions and riders.

But all lessons must come at a price, much like the hefty tuition fees Olliffe and Holmes-Stanley actually pay as they endeavour to balance their Cambridge degrees with running an ever-expanding business. Holmes-Stanley admitted that it can become “very much like a full-time job” and felt that running Murky was getting in the way of his degree in the early stages of the business, but nevertheless felt as though he was able to develop a sound prioritisation strategy that made everything much more manageable. Olliffe further stated that the two finalists often try to spend the mornings working on their degree, whilst setting up meetings in the evening to work on Murky, although admittedly finds balancing the two to be a constant process that involves nearly every hour of their day, especially as the club nights come closer.

In the long-term, the two seek to build a business modelled on the likes of the well-renowned Boiler Room — one that is crucially intimate, meaningful and memorable for its community, and not simply a lifeless cash-grab. The two also hope to get their foot into the Birmingham and London underground scenes, which they see as a lucrative venture, while similarly setting their sights on festivals in the long-run. Despite the lengthy process, which will undoubtedly involve many hours of hard graft, Olliffe and Holmes-Stanley are nevertheless optimistic in their ability to build a genuinely lasting brand that offers the space for a diversity of talents and sounds. With their upcoming event on the 18th February 2022 at The Emperor, which they have described as more “immersive” than ever, they are bringing in set designers for the first time, as Murky takes its production to a whole new level.