DJ Barticus is an Athens staple and has continued to be throughout the pandemic via virtual dance parties.
For the duration of the Ohio stay-at-home order and the summer after COVID-19, Michael Bart, known by his stage name DJ Barticus, has hosted live-stream dance parties every Friday night through Twitch. Although the live-stream shows are not the same as the real ones, DJ Barticus is still bringing music to the people of Athens and beyond.
“I found that Twitch was the best place to do the streams because they are a little more loose with the copyright laws and that DJs can DJ on there,” DJ Barticus said. “So I had it there, and it was so much fun. I decided I want to do every single Friday, and I just rotate the different themes that I miss doing in Athens.”
He recently carried over ’80s night, which is usually held at Casa Nueva Bar and Cantina, 6 W. State St., to his Twitch stream, playing his usual ’80s tunes. These dance parties, however, take place in the watcher’s home, wherever that may be across the globe.
“There's a like a solid group of people that are only connected through that chat room, which is fun,” DJ Barticus said. “There's some people in Australia, Germany and Pakistan that are checking in … and a lot of people are just people that have connections to Athens, and maybe they graduated and moved away.”
The livestreams on Friday nights typically have around 20 to 30 viewers at any given time with a couple hundred total having checked in by the end of the evening.
Angela Adkins, a Ph.D. student studying interdisciplinary art at Ohio University, is one of his regular watchers.
“Once the pandemic started, his live-streams have been absolutely essential,” Adkins said. “For my boyfriend and I, it's given a rhythm to this quarantine. It happens every Friday. You can count on it. He's always there, and you can get in the chat room and feel like you are with people, and it helps me to feel like I was still in Athens.”
Adkins, who has been going to DJ Barticus dance parties since she moved back to Athens for her Ph.D., said she misses the social aspect of the live dance parties, things like the dancing crowd and getting dressed up for the evening.
“If you’re at a DJ Barticus party at Casa, you’re up in each other’s armpits,” Adkins said with a laugh.
Adkins said when it is safe so do so, she is excited to return back to the Friday night dance parties in person.
“I’m going to be totally obnoxious,” Adkins said. “I cannot wait.”
Although the live-streams are not ideal and he wishes he could be back in person, DJ Barticus said he doesn’t have any intention to return to his normal venues until it is fully safe.
For now, the streams will continue online and will be presented as WOUB Presents virtual events and promoted by Emily Votaw, the arts and culture editor and promotional writer at WOUB.
Votaw, who has been covering the regional music scene for WOUB for nearly five years, wanted to give a platform to local musicians.
“It wasn’t long until I considered the plight of regional musicians and performers given the ban on mass gatherings,” Votaw said in an email. “I had been covering the regional music scene for about five years at that point and wanted to provide a platform for those artists to get word of their virtual performances to a wider audience.”
Although he misses the people involved in both his work on the radio airwaves and his dance parties, DJ Barticus feels the advancement in technology that has made working from home possible is amazing.
“The idea that I could be at home and my voice could be live on the radio and I can still pick out the music and all that stuff from my house, that would be a dream come true when I was a kid,” DJ Barticus said. “Now, the fact that it's possible is amazing. So yeah, there's like there's so many downsides to this, but it's really advanced, like workplaces in general, and accepting telecommunicating and telecommuting.”
Those interested can catch DJ Barticus’s live-streams Tuesday, Friday and Sunday nights starting at 9 p.m. at @bartykutz on Twitch and Instagram.
