The story of Local Mojo: How one group of students is changing the UMass music scene

During his sophomore year of college in November 2021, Charley Blacker wanted to start an organization that was unique and new to the University of Massachusetts Amherst community: a group dedicated to promoting local musicians through playlists, music, videos, photos, interviews, shows and more.

The organization that Blacker founded that very month is called Local Mojo, and it has since become a ubiquitous name in the UMass music scene.

In the years since, Local Mojo has become the home for more alternative genres of music at UMass, a school known for robust jazz, classical and musical theater programs.

Local Mojo produces local events that feature student artists. And at UMass Amherst, a school that many associate with partying and drinking culture (see: Blarney Blowouts and ZooMass Slamherst), Local Mojo hosts events that revolve around community and artistic creativity, and where there is less pressure and less emphasis placed on drinking.

“I love to party and be stupid and stuff, but that exists at every school,” says Blacker. “There should be something that exists at every school that is more focused on music and going out to experience something new or be with a group of people that is just fun and supports each other.”

The other thing that makes Local Mojo unique is that it is operated entirely by UMass students but has no formal ties to the school.

“At the start, we want it to be a Registered Student Organization. Most of the music scene is off campus and not through the school. Then I thought that it’d be best if we weren’t an RSO,” says Blacker, who graduated from UMass earlier this year with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and business analytics. “We kept going kind of as an unofficial club. We started to pick up more and more momentum.”

Once word started spreading about a new, independent, student-run music organization, others reached out to Blacker. One of those people was fellow sophomore, Emily Donovan.

“It was very much a homemade effort,” says Donovan, who graduated earlier this year with a bachelor’s in communication. “We were doing anything that we could, we were setting up a table in front of Berkshire Dining Commons just to give out our stickers and make people kind of aware of just our name and our brand.”

During Mojo’s first year, Donovan and Blacker were still living on campus and didn’t produce any events. “That first year was like a networking year,” Donovan says. “We were going to different events and trying to meet with different people and new bands.”

Soon the team began expanding further to include photographers, videographers, journalists and more, all students who became close friends through the process of creating Local Mojo.

After two years of elevator pitches and digging into their pockets for funding, this past school year, the team behind Local Mojo was finally able to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

“We’ve been able to infiltrate so many businesses,” Blacker says of the successful events Local Mojo has produced at Amherst spots like The Spoke, The Drake, Garcia’s and The Monkey Bar (also known as Bistro 63 during daytime hours).

And the relationships Mojo has built with local businesses have proved mutually beneficial, as a loyal following of college students eagerly packs venues hosting Mojo events. 

“Working with Local Mojo, we set the bar for event production, and good times for everyone,” says Michael Duhl, production manager at Garcia’s. “We are glad DJs and local bands were able to find a home at Garcia’s and be part of many more events thanks to the the network Local Mojo has built. We look forward to the next chapter.”

While most Mojo events occur at local businesses, the group’s largest event to-date was MojoFest: A Woodstock Revival, held at UMass’ Alpha Tau Gamma fraternity house on April 20. The event included six UMass bands, as well as student vendors and artists, and was attended by over 1,000 college students from every social scene.

Donovan credits teamwork for the success of MojoFest. “It was just kind of nice that there were responsibilities spread out within the organization … It feels like that is a major part of why we could handle it.”

Success has not come without struggle, especially for an organization operated by full-time college students.

“Dealing with people in the entertainment industry, no matter what stage you’re at, you’re always going to run into issues,” Donovan admits. “There are just so many different people who are trying to accomplish different things on their own time.”

Then there’s the fact that none of the organizers make any profit from the events, a fact that no one seems to mind.

“When you love what you’re doing, it doesn’t feel like work,” Blacker says. “We have total creative control over what happens at certain places. You’re working towards something you’re very passionate about. It’s easy when you’re having a blast doing it, when you’re working with people who you would just love to hang out with anyway … I can’t go to bed because I’m just thinking about new projects or new, exciting things.”

One of those exciting projects that keeps Blacker up at night is MojoBoston, a new branch of Local Mojo that he launched in December 2023.

MojoBoston has already hosted live music events at venues such as The Middle East Club in Cambridge and collaborated with music festivals such as Levitate Music & Arts Festival in Marshfield and NICE, a fest in Somerville, by providing ticket giveaways, photography and content creation.

“In Boston, there are street performers who might have the voice of an angel but they don’t have any platform to showcase what they do. We want to give all these people an audience and a spotlight that I think they deserve,” says Blacker.

According to Blacker, students from schools in other states, like Pennsylvania State University, University of Connecticut and University of New Hampshire, have reached out to him about creating Mojo branches in their respective areas. A branch at Penn State is already off the ground with a 15-person team of college students.

“They looked at our website and our Instagram and they were like, ‘We should have this at our school.’ So they reached out,” he said. “We’ve been in constant contact with them about how they’re starting up. I think they’re going to accelerate quicker than we did at UMass because they kind of have a good blueprint of what works and what doesn’t from our experience at UMass. I’m excited to see what they do.”

Though no longer students, Blacker and Donovan plan to continue working with Local Mojo and “growing the brand into something huge,” says Donovan.

Based on their exponential successes, the upcoming 2024-2025 school year may be Local Mojo’s biggest so far. Incoming senior Danny Richard, a finance major who has been a part of Mojo for two years, has stepped into the role as president just as Mojo has formally filed as an LLC.

“I’ve already been working on a calendar and getting everything prepped,” he said. “Between me, Vice President Mickey Miller, photographers and videographers Salvi LoGrosso, Jamison Wrinn and Alex Parker, everyone’s already thinking about it and planning a lot … More bands, more DJs, more members, it’s gonna be awesome.”

Local Mojo’s next event, “Mojo at The Drake,” will take place on Sept. 14 with Boston-based band Nikki & The Barn Boys and newly-created UMass bands South Pleasant Revival and Grand View Point. The show will run from 8 to 11 p.m. with doors at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.

To learn more about Local Mojo, visit www.localmojobrand.com.

UMass Amherst journalism student Paige Hanson is arts and features intern for the Gazette and Recorder.