We were lucky to catch up with Outergrace recently and have shared our conversation below.

OUTERGRACE, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is creating the queer nightlife party called “Slut Pop” in Philadelphia.

Slut Pop Philly is a dance party aiming to create safe spaces for queer people, queer women, and trans women in particular. Created by queer DJ OUTERGRACE, the party pulls inspiration from pop/club music icons such as Kim Petras, Charli xcx, Sophie, Cobrah, etc.

The party features DJ sets, pop-up drag shows, and go-go dancers to highlight Philly’s robust nightlife talent. It has grown over the past year to a staple in queer Philly nightlife and is only becoming bigger and better.

This project means the absolute world to me. As a queer woman, we do not have a lot of safe spaces to let loose and share community in a fun-loving environment. The party is a space for us to come together and dance our hearts out with each other.

When I created Slut Pop Philly, I was stuck doing opener DJ sets for my friends in clubs that did not feel like spaces made for me. I knew it was important to find my niche, and I was able to do so by creating this party.

I’m a huge fan of Dance/Electronic/Pop music and curating a party around these genres led me to find people who also enjoyed this realm of music and art.

The party takes place bi-monthly at one of Philly’s most iconic queer bars. I get to DJ and host the party, and am responsible for all of the talent bookings, social media marketing, and ticket sales. This has allowed me to learn more about the industry that I want to create a career out of.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

OUTERGRACE is a persona I created for myself first as a DJ but has led me to places I would’ve never dreamed of! I am known for DJing and curating parties all across Philadelphia with a focus on creating safe spaces for queer people.

I first started DJing at the end of 2019. I purchased a DJ controller and when the pandemic hit, I had nothing to do but practice practice practice. I would post a lot of my mixes on social media and was able to catch the eye of more established DJs that I looked up to. I wasn’t afraid to reach out to people doing what I wanted to do and ask for advice and mentorship.

My first ever club gig was in 2021 at a dive bar in North Philadelphia opening up for a DJ that I really admired. I must’ve done well because about two months later I secured my first-ever monthly residency at this bar, creating parties all by myself! This is where I found my passion for curating events and taking the lead on my creative passions.

The hardest part about my DJ career was finding my niche and not being afraid to take risks. I was stuck doing opener DJ sets full of hip-hop/rap music for parties that had no queer representation and that I did not enjoy. I learned when you’re trying to do things other people have already done, it doesn’t come off as authentic or true to your brand. That is when I knew it was time to take a leap of faith and trust that I would find people who wanted to dance to the music that I loved.

What sets my brand and parties apart from others is the dedication I have. The residency I secured in 2023 that led to Slut Pop Philly was originally supposed to be plugging in my USB and DJing for 4 hours. While this may work for some people, I saw an opportunity to create something I knew my community needed. I put in hours of work weekly finding talented like-minded DJs to collaborate with, scouting out local drag talent to perform at my events, and creating social media posts highlighting myself and the people I work with. And I love every second of it!

I also think something people do not realize about this job is it’s not all glitz and glamour. A lot of times you are expected to throw these extravagant parties with non-existent budgets and venues that don’t know how much work you’re putting in. It can be frustrating not being compensated for hours of prep work and not having a budget to book other talents. You have to really do everything yourself and finesse your budget to create these spaces, and it’s not easy. It can take years of work learning what works for you, but when you finally find your sweet spot- you realize it was all worth it.

The main thing I want people to know about me and my brand is that I am unapologetically queer, fem, and will do whatever it takes to get what I want in this industry. I believe in what I do so greatly, that even major setbacks (and there’s been a few) cannot stop me. I have wanted to give up many times because I have felt underappreciated and experienced imposter syndrome to a great degree. But every time I’m close to giving up, I am blessed with another opportunity that only catapults me further into the successful career I desperately want. A lot of people don’t want to see a queer woman succeed and that only makes me work that much harder.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

As we all know, social media is the prime space to create your brand and find your audience. It can be a game of trial and error, but once you’ve found your people it can be so much fun!

Along with DJing I have always been fond of graphic design and video editing. I’m talking like making stop-motion music videos at 12 years old to Kesha songs and posting them on Youtube. These are skills that have helped me showcase my brand on Instagram. I spend a lot of time creating graphics and reels that highlight what I do and it has helped me grow my presence on social media greatly.

The best advice I can give for someone trying to break through the algorithm on social media is to create something that is eye-catching to your audience. Our attention spans are getting shorter by the minute and it’s important to ensure the first 3 seconds of your posts are engaging and make people want more!

While we all want to do our own thing creatively, following social media trends can help your page find fans all over the world. Don’t be afraid to hop on a trend that speaks to you and your brand!

Another piece of advice I have is to constantly post yourself. When I first started DJing I posted so many videos of myself, whether they were good or not. This showed people the process of me learning and they were eager to watch me grow. To this day, I make videos of myself DJing songs that I love and each time I do I gain new followers.

Also, do not be discouraged if you start to lose followers as you hone in on your brand. We’re all at war with the algorithm trying to find the sweet spot of how much content to put out. Of course, it can feel defeating watching your follower count drop, but I look at it as creating room for people who genuinely support me.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect, for me, of being a creative is getting recognized in public! This may sound shallow, but it truly warms my heart each time I’m out and about and someone comes up to me and recognizes me from my parties. This proves that what I’m doing is memorable and people are listening!

The most unforgettable time I’ve been recognized was when I was at my friend’s drag show one random Saturday night. I stepped away to grab a drink from the bar and someone came up to me asking if I was OUTERGRACE. When I said yes that’s me, they had the biggest smile on their face. They opened up to me that they were going through a rough patch in their life and coming to my parties helped them feel more like themself. This is something that I will never forget because it shows that what I’m doing matters and that real people are benefitting from my art!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @outergr8ce and @slutpopphilly
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-883272607