‘Wake ‘n’ Shake’ gets early birds grooving
Local disc jockeys tap into international trend for pre-workday dance parties
Area residents have a new outlet to shake off their early morning drowsiness and get energized for work.
As daylight appeared on May 6, about 50 people made their way to a vacant warehouse east of downtown. Some arrived sleepy-eyed in their pajamas. Others came in sweatpants and T-shirts. Some had gotten up even earlier to primp and dress for the middle-ofthe-week workday and arrived wearing khakis and dress shirts. All had arrived for one reason, though and it was to dance.
The early morning dance party, called Wake ‘n’ Shake, was held for the first time in Houston from 6:30-10:30 a.m. at the warehouse, the location of which wasn’t disclosed to participants until 24 hours before the event.
It is like a rave, except beats are played by disc jockeys at the start of the day instead of in the cover of night. Juice is served instead of alcohol. And in place of party drugs, the strongest pick-me-up at Wake ‘n’ Shake is the caffeine in the coffee.
“The idea is before going to work, instead of going to the gym or to a yoga class or something like that, all which are great, you dance your tail off for a couple of hours and then go to work,” said Graham Gaskill, a local disc jockey who created Wake ‘n’ Shake.
He and John Tran, another local deejay, are partners in the venture. Leading up to the event, they encouraged people through email to attend Wake ‘n’ Shake. The event’s creators are planning the next event in June and hope to continue it monthly.
The duo does not want anyone to get in trouble with their bosses, but they do want to help people arrive to work bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. The event is held during
the middle of the week, because, Gaskill said, Wednesday is often the toughest part of the week for workers. He also hopes Wake ‘n’ Shake will help Houston’s work-oriented residents loosen up a bit.
“Houston is a very corporate town,” Gaskill said. “Everyone is always busy, and sometimes we forget that we need to let loose and have some fun.”
Those who showed up for Wake ‘n’ Shake’s inaugural event were in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
“The biggest enthusiasts were the ones who used to go out until 2 a.m. to hear their favorite disc jockeys and dance all night, but they’ve gotten too old,” Gaskill said.
Despite being a professional disc jockey and playing in bars and clubs, Gaskill considers himself among that group.
“I’m 44 years old,” he said. “Unless I’m being paid to go out to 2 a.m. and deejay, I am in bed by 11:30 p.m. every night. Most of my friends are, too.”
Parents could also bring their children to Wake ‘n’ Shake, Gaskill said.
“Bring your kids out and throw a pair of headphones on them to protect their hearing and have a blast,” he said.
Many parents who used to go out clubbing can’t do it anymore, Gaskill said.
“This is an opportunity to kind of do that again and do it in a sober environment where you are not putting up with a bunch of drunks,” he said.
Montrose resident Stephanie Cantu, 29, was among the people attending Wake ‘n’ Shake’s inaugural early morning dance party. She arrived in her gym clothes. Cantu, who owns a yoga retreat business, skipped her normal pre-workday workout routine for the chance to dance to music spun and mixed by professional disc jockeys.
Originally from Austin, Cantu said she used to frequent that city’s Sixth Street bar and club district.
“I’m a little old for the bar scene now,” she said. “It can get crazy.”
She still loves to dance though, and Cantu she said Wake ‘n’ Shake sounded like a “cool and different way to start the day.” Plus, she added, dancing is a cardio workout.
Cantu liked that Wake ‘n’ Shake was held in a downtown industrial building where daylight shines through skylights.
“People weren’t drunk, and they were their true selves,” Cantu said.
She had heard about the event from Tran, who goes by the professional name of “DJ Kung Fu.” He and Gaskill mixed upbeat dance music for the event along with another deejay they hired.
“My goal was to support my deejay friends and meet new people, and I would say I accomplished that,” Cantu said.
She was so pumped after the dance party that she still went to the gym to attend a workout class for which she had previously registered. She said she couldn’t wait to tell others that she had spent the morning dancing.
Word of mouth is how Gaskill hopes news of Wake ‘n’ Shake will flow.
“That is basically how it spread from Europe to the United States,” he said.
Gaskill first heard about a similar early morning dance party called Morning Gloryville, which originated in London, while he was in Europe playing at a large music festival during the summer of 2013.
“A couple of the deejays I was performing with had been booked to play this, and I asked what it was,” he said. “They said it was an early morning dance party/rave that people go to, and it is a sober event without alcohol or anything.”
Gaskill kept an eye on it from afar when he got back to the United States. He noticed early morning dance parties began to spread to other cities across Europe, and eventually the trend jumped shores to New York where Morning Gloryville NYC is held.
According to its Facebook event page, Morning Gloryville NYC is “challenging conventional morning culture.” In addition to dancing that event includes massage stations.
Another early morning dance venue called Daybreaker is popular in California and is spreading to other states, including Georgia. A recent event in San Francisco including a conga line of people dancing while giving the person in front of them shoulder rubs.
The event also included a yoga session.
Some events charge as much as $20 to attend. Those who attended Houston’s Wake ‘n’ Shake event paid $10 for pre-party tickets purchased through Eventbrite.com. Others paid $15 the morning of the event to gain access.
Most didn’t even know the location of the dance party until 24 hours before the event. Gaskill likened it to the speakeasies of the 1920s and ’30s. In this case, the secrecy was mostly to ensure it was a controlled event, he said. Keeping the location somewhat quiet, he said, also helps with word of mouth.
Gaskill posted location hints leading up to the inaugural event on Wake ‘n’ Shake’s Facebook event page in an attempt to shed some light on what part of town the event would be held. A few more events may be held at the same warehouse venue, but the location could change as Wake ‘n’ Shake’s crowds grow.
“I would love to do this in a big open field like at Discovery Green,” Gaskill said. “I could see it going one day to a bigger venue.”
Finding a place to hold the event was Gaskill’s biggest problem. He needed a place that could accommodate a crowd, but also that would not be near residential areas since the loud music would be playing early in the morning. He also didn’t want a venue that would be dark like a nightclub.
“Daylight needed to play a role in what was going on,” he said. “You are in a very bright room where everyone can see each other. Nobody can hide in the darkness. I think that is a great thing because more often than not we tend to sort of hide in our own shells and try not to be ourselves around other people.”
For now, the venue will continue to be held at the warehouse. Gaskill doesn’t know how many will attend the event in June. If it is anything like how the early morning dance parties were started in Europe that also started with smaller crowds, word of mouth and social media could bring in 150 to 200.
“Houston is such as diverse city, and we are really hoping to see that diversity at Wake ‘n’ Shake,” Gaskill said. “We want to see all the different folks here. We want to see people in their workout clothes and in costumes.”
Wake ‘n’ Shake’s website is still in development. To learn more about upcoming events, visit www. facebook.com/wakeshakehouston. Allen Jones is a freelance writer