Newly established this semester, FUZE is the only DJing and party planning club in KAIST. Last month, FUZE drew keen attention from students by successfully hosting a Halloween party. So, The KAIST Herald met with the president of FUZE, Seonggu de Kim, to hear more about the inside stories of creating such club and his ambitious party plans that would bring more joy to the campus.

Can you give us a short introduction of yourself?
Hello, my name is Seonggu de Kim, one of the founding members and the first president of Fuze. I am a sophomore majoring in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. I came up with the idea of organizing a club for party planning and DJing. Since I had a huge interest in electronic music, I initially wanted to create a club for producing such music genres. But, unfortunately, I could not get approval from school last year. So, this year, I organized a party planning and DJ-ing club called FUZE with a group of my friends who also have the same interest as I do.

Can you explain more about FUZE?
FUZE is the only club in KAIST which deals with electronic music. The four founding members decided to name our club FUZE, since we are combining the two areas, Djing and party planning. By using the letter “Z” instead of “S”, we wanted to emphasize mixing, the main color of our club. We recruited 14 members in total this semester, consisting of six party planners and eight DJs.
In the case of bands, they can play music as long as they have a stage to perform. On the other hand, DJs have far more limited chances, as they can only play when there is a club party. For this reason, I began to take interest in party planning as well.

What are the major activities of FUZE?
We are planning to host a big theme party once a semester similar to the recently hosted Halloween party last month. In the spring, we will host an electronic music festival or club party during the school festival season. Also, by collaborating with the local community, our club will host smaller parties at local bars or lounges once or twice a month.
Moreover, we offer training programs to learn about DJing and party planning for our members. The three-week curriculum of DJing consist each week of explaining about electronic dance music, music mixing, essential components of music, and mixing equipments. Then, there is a one-week curriculum of party planning, providing lessons about general party culture and related practical matters, such as working with the party budget, getting enough sponsor, and etc. For us, last month’s Halloween party was the biggest event that we held so far, as it was advertised around the whole area of Daejeon. Through this experience, our members were able to gain a hands-on experience about party planning and DJing.

Do you have more parties or events that you wish to host in the future?
In this semester, the KAIST Art & Music Festival (KAMF) was held, inviting various musicians and indie bands. We are hoping to host world DJ festivals or electronic music festivals on campus similar to KAMF. Also, as many party planning clubs in other universities often host big scale parties in well-known clubs and hot spots, we too would like to have such opportunities.

Do you have any last comments for students who are interested in FUZE?
In our society, people tend to have prejudices against parties or clubs, that these are places for the young with indecent purposes to fool around with each other. However, FUZE would like to break such prejudices and misconceptions. We wish to spread the ideal party culture, creating an enjoyable place where students on campus can gather around and have chances to socialize with others.
When students apply to join Fuze, many of them often misunderstand the purpose of our club - that we are to just have fun and play around. But, our club has clear goals: to provide places for people to socialize and establish a proper party culture on campus. So, FUZE is looking for students who not only have correct perceptions of party culture, but also have an adequate understanding and passion for electronic music. I hope many more students would take interest in party planning and electronic music and also enjoy upcoming events that we are excited to present on campus.