NPO Partner presentation: Firefly Club

Inclusion through music. That’s the mission of the Firefly Club. People with disabilities get trained to become DJs and get started in the Viennese and Lower Austrian music scene. We spoke with Christoph Sackl, founder and chairman of Firefly Club, Enjoy!

What does Firefly Club stand for?

Talent knows no disabilities: With the help of music, we want to put people with disabilities on stage, show and promote their talent and at the same time contribute to a more open society in which there is no room for exclusion of certain groups of people.

As the name implies – Firefly – we light up the dark shadows of the public that people with disabilities often find themselves in. Because music connects people and knows no prejudices.

What are your current projects?

At the moment we look after a DJ collective in Lower Austria with DJ training and DJ performances. Apart from the regular DJ appearances, we organize an inclusive party every year at the “Kunstwerkstatt Tulln” (Art Workshop), where our DJs and other musicians with and without disabilities perform.

In 2019 we developed a new booking platform, the Firefly Agency, in which we have professionalized our DJ training together with our DJs and DJ trainers and offer them for sale to different customer groups.

Currently there are no funded DJ training courses in Vienna due to financial difficulties. However, we continue to place the trained Viennese DJs in various events. However, it is planned to re-launch sponsored DJ training and to recruit the Viennese DJs through DJ bookings. We are looking for supporters who can support us with the DJ training and accompany our DJs to performances.

How is your work going during Corona?

Since no physical meetings are possible due to the pandemic, we have specialized in digital streams, i.e. the entire DJ collective in Lower Austria plays alone without an audience from an event location and the music is streamed on the Internet on the streaming platform Twitch.

And instead of the canceled DJ workshops, we also meet regularly in video conferences.

Would you like to expand your team?

We are looking for the following voluntary helpers: Accompanying services for our DJs with disabilities at performances, people to search for performance opportunities, people to help and organize our DJ workshops, help with public relations, for example at exhibition stands and social media activities. Once the restrictions are lifted, we will definitely need that support – stay tuned for that on Social Held.

In addition, we are still looking for people who can help us set up a volunteer system, people who are interested in the strategic development of our association (consulting, etc.) to allow the association to grow; People who can give us legal advice on some questions from time to time and people who are familiar with funding in the cultural or social area and can provide assistance.

Stay tuned on Facebook and Instagram.

Video & Photos: Firefly