DONNIE - ABOUT YOU
Tell us your elevator pitch, so who are you? How do you introduce yourself to people?
Donnie Sunshine. A multidisciplinary creative. An all round-er who works primarily in audio and visual creativity. An East London, Caribbean, Black queer man. All of these intersections matter and play a huge part in my creative outputs.
How is it all going?
It's going amazing. Half of the things I do now, didn’t exist when I was growing up. So I couldn’t have predicted or imagined I’d be here but I’m loving it. I feel privileged and blessed but I also work insanely hard. I have been working for a long time in so many ways.
What's your superpower? (read: what can no one chat to Donnie about?)
Awareness.
As a DJ, I’m hyper aware of who’s in the room, and what they’re vibing to. If there’s a shift in the energy I will shift [my DJing] to match that. I meet people where they are. In terms of video production, I'm very aware of what makes people comfortable and uncomfortable. I produce amazing content with artists and creatives because I make sure I create a space that they feel comfortable in before I put a camera in their face. Also, I know when to put the camera down!
What is core to your work? What do you carry with you across different disciplines?
Visibility and authenticity. The more authentic I've been and projected that out, the more work that has come my way. You might get further faster if you aren’t authentic but I want to get to the top of my ladder in spaces where I'm respected and accepted for all of me, not a fake picture that I painted.
Don’t try to be anyone you’re not. Don’t try to be Kendrick because you think it's cool to be deep. If you’re a material girl just say that.
What is your number 1 advice for full time freelancers?
In the words of Diddy “adapt or die”. When I was in university doing video production, I was learning on film cameras there weren’t DSLRs. There was no Instagram. In fact, the year after I left uni, the first digital film was made; sin city. So everything I learned had to be adapted. You don’t wanna get left behind. At the same time, bring what you know into the future. Studying TV and video production has been key to shooting social media campaigns. For social campaigns, I consider the narrative, mise-en-scene, composition, lighting and sound. Don’t throw away what you know, just adapt.
Earliest party memory?
I’m a party animal. I’ve been a part of so many scenes. Growing up in a Caribbean household there were always house parties and other celebrations. From the age of 4 I attended my first function and by the age of 8 I was pouring drinks behind the bar at 1 in the morning. It was a part of the cultureI started raving at 15, going to ‘Soca vs Bashment’ parties in Palace Pavilion, then at college, it was Funky House. I did the West London clubs for a bit. After this, I got into alternative East London scenes and then eventually queer nightlife like Booty, Bang Bang, and Work it London.
What is your favourite party memory?
I’m gonna have to plug my own night, To The Left*. It’s been years in the making. I created it because I was having birthday parties every year. I loved it but I couldn’t play everything I wanted to. At To The Left, I can play all the things that I wanna play and you just don’t have to come if you don’t want to. Everyone just comes out for the love of music. I hold it in The Mix (formerly known as Visions), a Black owned club that has been passed down generations and different generations of my family have experienced it. I want to carry this on through my night.
I’ve had so much feedback from men, women, non-binary and queer people. All shouting about how much they needed a space, and a party like To The Left.
[ To The Left can be described as an ethereal wonderland scored by Alt RnB/HipHop, Future Beats, Progressive Soul, Alte, Vogue, Electronic, Disco. To The Left is a safe space where one of the main components is visual expression giving people the opportunity to be their most opulent, radical, stylish, carefree and extreme versions of themselves. The next party is 25th June 2022 ]
6. What is black nightlife missing, and where is the future?
More intersectional spaces. I offer one of them and there are quite a few but we need more. Places where all different types of people can connect and let go through their love of music. Not necessarily for hooking up or linking their cliques.
