UCLA’s EDMC hosts benefit concert to fund cancer research

Two weeks before Elizabeth Matusov was going to tell her about the idea for the concert, Ashley Jensen-Pray passed away. Going forward with the project has been Matusov’s way of giving back to all that Jensen-Pray had gone through and her ability to provide comfort and care to other people during her own fight.

The event, titled “Message in a Melody,” featuring Kastle, is the brainchild of second-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student Matusov. It is inspired by her high school classmate Jensen-Pray, who fought a rare form of soft tissue cancer that went into remission and then relapsed months later.

UCLA’s Electronic Dance Music Club (EDMC) will host “Message in a Melody,” its first-ever on-campus benefit concert, featuring DJ and producer Kastle, on May 26, Memorial Day. Fundraising efforts support the research of Dr. Theodore Moore of Mattel Children’s Hospital, whose cell therapy clinic strives to help bring the recovery rate of pediatric cancer up to 100 percent.

As UCLA students enter Ackerman Grand Ballroom, second-year computer science and engineering student Marko Vojvodic and third-year Design | Media Arts student Philip Scott will perform consecutive 45-minute DJ sets. They represent EDMC as openers for Kastle.

Matusov said Moore worked with Jensen-Pray at Mattel Children’s Hospital, and that his research is a new project that is very underfunded.

Once she heard about the research, Matusov said she knew the capability that it had to help so many others, including people like Jensen-Pray, had it been given a bit more time to develop.

Matusov said she approached fourth-year mathematics student and EDMC president Andrew Neeld with the idea for a benefit concert last summer, just as Jensen-Pray had relapsed.

Neeld said EDMC has placed several club social events on the back burner this quarter because it’s busy preparing for all aspects of hosting the show.

One of the most important steps in creating the event, Matusov said, was to select an artist that would well suit the occasion.

Scott said Kastle had been on EDMC’s radar as a potential headliner from the very beginning, and that the club‘s biggest priority was to choose an innovative artist in dance music who would perform music that people may have never heard before.

“Kastle’s music is very unique, and a big part of this kind of new wave of house that’s happening right now,” Scott said. “We’re really excited to bring him over to UCLA because he’s never played here before.”

Neeld said that Kastle’s style is a groovier type of music that people can have a good time experiencing.

“You can just dance to it as opposed to having to stop and wait for the drop, and then go crazy for 30 seconds, then wait again for the next drop,” Neeld said.

Scott said EDMC is making efforts to improve branding and its marketing campaign throughout the whole fundraising process with digital design.

“We’re really excited to keep to this very tight aesthetic for the whole thing, and that will translate over into the visuals,” Scott said.

Matusov said EDMC has raised over $1,000 so far for Moore’s research at Mattel Children’s Hospital’s department of pediatric oncology, where Jensen-Pray stayed.

Matusov said that the club’s two-pronged fundraising effort reaches out to both UCLA students and the local community.

A raffle, with $5 donation tickets to raise money, will feature prizes including tickets to the HARD Summer Music Festival and a weeklong stay at a time-share of choice. Matusov said the club’s video, which outlines the cause and details the event, has been a successful online crowd funding platform.

“We will be hanging out on Bruin Walk all week from 11 to 2 p.m. (with a sign-up sheet) until we reach capacity, which is 1,500 for us,” Matusov said. “The night of the show, you can come pick up a wristband and all you need is a valid student ID.”

Vojvodic, who goes by the stage name BVSD, will be the first to perform Monday night. Scott said Vojvodic has a deeper understanding of dance music than most people.

“He bounces around a lot,” Scott said. “One minute he’ll be playing some mid-‘90s fast garage kind of stuff, and next he’ll slow it down and play some crazy future-style bass music.”

Scott said he is excited to test out a few new releases during his set and plans on staying true to house music while including some bass and footwork.

Matusov said that as a whole, there has been a core group of people within the club who have gotten very close through the process of planning the show.

“It’s been very exciting to see club members get really motivated and excited,” Matusov said. “Just seeing how happy they are that we are putting on an event like this for our campus has been a really sweet thing.”

Matusov said she has a personal motive behind founding the event. It has been most inspiring to see people back her up, as well as all of the capabilities of where the show can go from here in future years.