Scrolling on Mums Against Donk’s Instagram is like being transported to the 2000s. There’s a lot of comic sans font, most of the graphics look like they were made in paint (they were), and the slightly altered slogan ‘Live. Laugh. Donk’, features heavily. When I ask Alterum, the brains behind the collective, why they’ve chosen this aesthetic, they reply that it’s because they love cringe. And it's this idea of embracing the cringe which is central to the night. From the dress policy to the music itself, Alterum has created a space where people can show up and unashamedly be themselves. As Alterum says: “cringe is freedom”. We catch up to discuss donk’s renaissance, how promoters shouldn’t be compromising when it comes to making their nights safe and inclusive, and how mumsnet has been their biggest inspiration so far.

SOS: So, let’s go back to the beginning. What was your introduction to clubbing?

Alterum: I grew up in the arse end of Hertfordshire, in a place called Hemel Hempstead. People often assume that it’s posh, but the thing about Hemel, is that because it's close to London, it was completely forgotten about by the government for a while. And that forgotten era was during my childhood. There were no venues, no club spaces – the best you could get was going to a field with a couple of mates, a speaker, and some beers that you’d convinced someone older to buy for you. We fell into the cracks, growing up past the 90s with the booming rave scene, and the 2000s came along and everything fell to shit.

Because of this, I was desperate for a place to dance growing up. Because I’m neurodivergent, when I heard the word ‘club’ I thought private member's club, I was really confused. People would tell me that they’re going out clubbing, and I’d be like, with who?

So, eventually I snuck off with them to London and managed to talk my way into GAY and realised I actually liked clubbing. And then I moved to London for uni and started going to GAY late and Heaven because I was young and queer and didn’t really know where to go.

SOS: And what experience then prompted you to start M.A.D?

Alterum: During this whole time, I had kind of forgotten about the happy hardcore genre I was called cringe for liking at school. And then in 2020 I was forced to move home, and it took a relative coming round for a BBQ and asking to put on ‘All I Ever Wanted’ (she loves Basshunter) to remind me that I loved that style of music. After that, I got intrigued and googled: “what clubs in London can I listen to hardcore in?” Which set me up for failure, as for one person hardcore is a metal gig and for another, it’s a gabba show.

Eventually, I discovered Lobsta B and apart from tracks like ‘put a donk on it’ and ‘I want to be a hippy’, that was my first real gateway into donk. Then 2022 came around, and I started going to squat raves and discovering DJs like 3DMA and that sent me down a rabbit hole discovering people like Peggy Vienetta and parties like Planet Fun.

Eventually I did a night called Fruitmachine at Dalston Superstore and despite selling out, no one could have prepared me for the add-on cost. And after doing two of those I decided to pack it in, but it had already launched my DJ career. Hearing me play was a lot of people’s first experience hearing donk in a club atmosphere, and even though I was just putting on one song after the other one finished, people seemed to like it. I wasn’t a good DJ then, I’m still not - I’ve lied my way to the top somehow. So, I started getting bookings left right and centre, which is ironic as I started just because I didn’t want to pay another DJ to play my night.

The first M.A.D was at MOT; Peggy Vienteeta and 3DMA played. It sold out, and I immediately put all the money back in to the collective. Corsica studios reached out to us and asked to do it there, and I was like, what, isn’t that where all the cool kids go to do their club nights?? And the rest is just history.

SOS: What’s the thinking behind the name?

Alterum: Sometimes I get stoned and go onto mumsnet. I love watching people complaining about things that do not need complaining about. And mumsnet is the hub of that. And they were complaining about hard fast music that is melting people's brains, and I was like ‘oh, mums hate donk’. And that was that.

What can punters expect of a Mums Against Donk night?

Mums Against Donk is best described as a circus. There’s weirdos everywhere (in the most loving way); there’s clowns in every width of vision. You can expect a night of people letting lost and not taking themselves so seriously for a few hours. The reason MAD exists, other than me just wanting to do a donk night in London, is to be somewhere where people could forget about the doom and gloom.

Silliness to me is joy, silliness to me is rebellion. My entire life everyone has said ‘you need to take things more seriously’, and I went ‘fuck that - what’s the point?’ In the earth's age, we’re here for 20 minutes, so what’s the point of being serious about everything?

When you comes to M.A.D, you’re coming in with the clowns. There’s never any drama. There can’t be any drama when you don’t take anything too seriously.

SOS: How would you describe the UK’s hardcore/donk scene?

Alterum: For a while donk was associated with lads on Wigan pier. Which is insane because these songs are so camp, and you’ve got straight men dancing really aggressively to it. Like, did no one tell them this was a little bit gay?

But I’ve been to donk nights all over the country, and the northerns are very passionate that donk is a northern thing, and I would never take anything away from that. I went to Newcastle in 2023 for Big Fat Rave, and it was the first time I’d been to a donk night out of the south. A friend had told me that people up there aren’t like the London donk goers - that it might be mostly men.

Before I played, I felt very intimidated, as it was very straight lad energy. But then I started, and I felt the energy turn, from these guys who probably would have hated me in school or just been very confused by me (that’s the general consensus when people see me out in full corpse paint), to really great vibes. People were so respectful and lovely, after you dance together you come to a level of understanding.

SOS: You’ve tried to make M.A.D a safe and inclusive space. Can you expand on how you did this and how other promoters can do the same?

Alterum: The sensory space happened at Mums Against Donk two. I just increased the price of the ticket slightly and made room two into a space that a neurodivergent person wanted to see at raves. I put a lot of money into stim toys, bean bags, and things like that so that people have a space to chill. People forget that smoking areas aren’t that for everyone. They’re not quiet and can be really overwhelming.

My driving factor is that I was hearing that people has stopped going clubbing because they couldn't be shoulder to shoulder with people. We’re living in an autistic renaissance right now where a lot of people are realising that they’re on the spectrum, and we need to ensure that clubbing can be an enjoyable space for them.

So to other promoters - if you think it, do it. Nothing is stopping you from making your club space a nicer place to be.