Detroit’s Underground Music Academy launches online courses

Detroit-based Underground Music Academy (UMA) is launching its first series of online courses.

The three classes will be run by Detroit DJs Stacey Hotwaxx Hale, Rimarkable and Coflo, and will run for eight weeks each. Prospective students can apply to take part in the classes until Tuesday, 20th August, but enrolment is limited.

Stacey Hotwaxx Hale’s class, ‘Respect the Architects’, covers the history of electronic music with a particular focus on the Detroit scene from which she emerged. Students will be given assignments with the intention that they “gain a good understanding of the foundational elements and influential figures that have shaped electronic music”.

Rimarkable’s ‘Alchemy of the DJ’ class will aim to help students find their own DJing style and identity. Including lessons on how to read a crowd and guides on how “DJing can be a conduit for social change”, the class will show “how a working knowledge of music history, technical DJ skills, psychology and intuition can all translate to unifying a dance floor and community through the power of music”.

Finally, Coflo’s ‘The Details Matter’ class focuses on music production and aims to teach students the fundamental elements of post-production, such as EQing, using compression and frequency masking. It also aims to emphasise that students shouldn’t feel they have to conform to standards that are deemed “technically correct”. 

You can register to take part in any one of the three classes here. 

Founded by Detroit DJ and producer Waajeed in 2020, UMA opened its physical studio space in Detroit last year.