Local Mojo, a student-run organization promoting musical talent in Amherst, recently marked its four-year anniversary.
The idea for Local Mojo blossomed in a University of Massachusetts Southwest Residential Area common room on Nov. 21, 2021. Charlie Blacker, the organization’s founder, brought together a crowd of like-minded students to plan sets for basement bands.
Local Mojo has come a long way from its early days. Now, it hosts around 40 shows a semester at local Amherst businesses and has expanded to other states from Illinois to South Carolina. Blacker has even started a Local Mojo headquarters in Boston, taking his idea from college campuses to a big city.
UMass students, who have been involved since the beginning, are now in their senior year and are reflecting on their time. Luca Shortall, a senior managerial economics major and the vice president of Local Mojo, had never DJ’d before joining during his fall semester freshman year.
“It has led me to opportunities that I never thought would happen before,” Shortall said. “Like at the beginning of the semester I opened for Latto at the Mullins Center.”
The creative freedom and support that Local Mojo provides to its artists has allowed the organization to continue to grow rapidly. Shortall now produces his own music and the music of other DJs in Local Mojo.
“A big part of why I DJ is to play the music that I create, because I think that’s a really special thing,” Shortall said.
Writing and producing original music is a gift that many Local Mojo artists possess. Current president Claire Stephenson, a senior speech language and hearing science major, learned about Local Mojo in 2024 through a friend who brought her to a meeting. Before joining, she had only casually sung. Now, she’s the lead singer of Patio Band, a band she helped create.
“I just rounded up a few friends in the club and said, ‘We’re starting a band,’” Stephenson said.
In addition to performing, Stephenson is the main booking coordinator for the Local Mojo bands and has “learned how to create and maintain good connections with local businesses. …They love it when we bring the crowd.”
Stephenson, Shortall and the other members of Local Mojo’s executive team keep it running, but the bulk of the organization consists of general body members. These members encourage attendance, increase audience outreach and assist in marketing processes.
Senior natural resource conservation major Cassidy Fallon joined in her junior year when she met a friend who was a DJ and brought her along to the meetings.
“It’s awesome to just show my support for the people who run it and give ideas on what we could do as a group next,” Fallon said. “I joined with zero percent musical talent; they love to have anyone with a passion for music.”
Having a passion for music and a positive attitude are the only requirements for Local Mojo. The welcoming nature of the club is what continues to increase membership and even bring back alumni who have graduated.
Class of ’25 alumnus Josh Kravets previously served as Vice President of Sales. He says Local Mojo performances still bring him back to campus, especially with close friends still involved. Kravets believes the organization’s impact has only grown, and said that it has “fostered and shaped the local music scene to have everlasting genres of music that provide entertainment to students far and wide.”
Kravets’ favorite memory is Mojofest, or Local Mojo’s modern-day recreation of the legendary Woodstock ‘69.
“It was where all real good local music collided as one and everyone was able to have a beautiful time, vibing on the same frequency,” Kravets’ said.
The second Mojofest this past April was the club’s largest and most successful event yet. Even on a rainy day, an estimated 4,000 people attended from surrounding areas. The event was filled with live music, DJ sets, local vendors and food trucks.
Kravets says its impact reaches far beyond the shows, merch tables or even friendships that drew him back to campus. He said the club gave him a new way of hearing the world around him.
“It created my appreciation for local music scenes in general,” Kravets said.
Cassie Brown can be reached at [email protected].
