iMullar Sound System creates the ultimate day-party experience

iMullar Sound System is one of the only DJ-focused day parties hosted in Accra, a 6-hour music set where all the coolest of Accra cool kids hang out.

In this week’s creator spotlight, we are speaking to Maxwell Adjavon, the Founder and Employee One at The iMullar Network and iMullar Sound System (IMSS), the inspiration behind this event, and more on Energy 004.

JF: Tell me a bit about yourself and iMullar Network

MA: My name is Maxwell Adjavon, and I am Employee One at iMullar Network. I have almost a decade long experience in the media and music industry.

iMullar Network is a bridge between the media here and the media outside Ghana and Africa. We are focused on culture, so we can report across various subsets of culture like fashion, style, music, food, etc.

iMullar Network seeks to provide solutions to some of the problems within these subsets and has developed different products to solve different problems, and IMSS is one of them, focused specifically on giving DJs centre stage.

JF: How would you describe iMullar Sound System?

MA: I will give you a direct quote from how I describe it to our newsletter community, “iMullar Sound system is a DJ-powered event created by iMullar Network, and it features good music, good energy, sunshine, old and newly formed friendships plus a round of drinks”. For me, it is a daytime gathering that allows people to come out and listen to DJs play centre stage, vibe, make new friends, and reconnect with old friends over a round of drinks or two.

JF: That’s very spot on! There’s a theory that people don’t attend day parties in Accra. How did you manage to get people to show up to IMSS at 11 am?

MA: I knew there was a market for day parties if done right because not everybody likes to go out at night. So I knew there was an opportunity. We just needed to find a way to tap into it and do it right.

With iMullar Sound System, the show stars are the DJs, and DJs will vibe and play a good set regardless of the number of people, so we knew it could work. We just had to show our community that we wouldn’t wait for anyone and we would start and close at the stated time.

It was just something our community respected, and we always make sure to keep to it. Sometimes people have such a great time that we almost can’t just end the event and send them home. In those cases, we can extend the set by an hour or two.

JF: Let’s talk about Energy 004

MA: Energy 004 is our next session on the 24th of December. It’s a 12-hour-long DJ-only set. In the usual IMSS style, we’re doing 12 DJs, so one DJ for every hour. The idea behind this is to extend the usual IMSS event and create two different sets and experiences within one event. So imagine it doubles the fun, the vibes, and everything. We want to curate the ultimate experience for whoever wants to jam with us this December.

The sets will be split into two 6-hour sets; the sunup and the sundown set. For people who are unable to join us for the entire 6 hours, we have created a split that allows them to pick their most interesting 6 hours and come jam with us.

JF: This sounds so exciting. What should people look forward to?

MA: We want to usher people into 25th December in style! Hence the 12-hour set, we are bringing DJs from across the world, from Ivory Coast, London, and all over Ghana. And they will all be playing their unique sets and sounds from their country. We even have big and small producers coming to play a set. These are people you wouldn’t necessarily find at everyday parties, so it’s going to be a great time.

We obviously don’t have things like fireworks, but if you love music and you enjoy catching a vibe and having a great time, you should be at Energy 004. Come with an open mind and ears, and ready to have fun!

JF: What has been the best and hardest thing about creating an event like this?

MA: Dealing with equipment suppliers and logistics can be a nightmare, so getting them to show up on time and do exactly what has been discussed has to be the hardest thing for me. But I have found a way to navigate it and make it work. The joy outweighs the stress, really.

Now onto the best thing. For me, it has been how people respect our timing. Our guests are always on time, and our talents are as well. So that usually makes me very happy.

Also, seeing people having fun, enjoying themselves, and the DJs doing their thing. Having fun themselves, being centre stage, and being celebrated have been a joy. Especially because in Ghana, most venues have the DJs in a corner, so being able to change that has been phenomenal.

JF: What does your DJ selection process look like?

MA: (LOL) I would say it’s faith. I just trust that the DJs will not rubbish themselves, so I give them that opportunity. For me, the only process is identifying the DJs in some of the spaces and finding out what sounds they are interested in so I know where they fit.

I believe in trusting people and giving them an opportunity and stage to showcase themselves. Some of the DJs that come on have never played before, and some have played, but I have never seen them play in real life. Sometimes I book them based on their SoundCloud sets. I guess from those sets and their dedication, I can trust that they would deliver, and they always do a great job.

I also listen to the recommendations from my team members when selecting DJs. A good set is something anyone who loves music can recognise, so yeah.

JF: What piqued your interest in Tix, and what’s your favourite Tix feature?

MA: Prior to using Tix, I hadn’t used any ticketing option. So when I heard about it, I was open to it because it removed the bulk of work involved with selling tickets via social media DMs, which was what we did for our first event.

My best feature has been the inbuilt email marketing feature. It allows me to stay in touch with guests, message them and send them updates. I also like the invite-only ticketing option because I can create invite-only ticket options and send them out to people we already have their email addresses from past events.

Tix is also easy to use, and it’s not complicated at all.

JF: Thank you so much for speaking to us, Maxwell. We’re looking forward to being at Energy 004!