Everyone hates Mondays. They have historically been frowned upon in the west as a part of the capitalist workweek. However, Kawthar Ahmed, also known as DJ Until, is challenging that stereotype through her bi-weekly Moody Monday events. She says, “reframing Mondays from the lunar perspective of stepping into personal greatness through intuition and emotion- here we cultivate a space rooted in self through sonics, sights, and ass shakin’ at the Selina Hotel.“
Kawthar has always known that she wanted to be a DJ, “spiritually I’ve been Djing for my entire life“, says Ahmed. She has been compiling songs in her music library since the age of 10. She has even kept a running notepad of songs that would transition well and sound good together over the years. Finally, the list became so long that she realized she needed to start mixing songs. A critical moment that pushed her to get serious about DJing was a conversation with her son while she was unemployed. “My son said, “hey, we should get you a job doing something you love,” so I asked him what I love, and he said, “you love music!” Incredibly profound for a 5-year-old.”
Despite all this, Kawthar was still unsure if people wanted to hear the type of music she would be playing. So throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, she released mood-specific playlists almost daily, and the responses were overwhelmingly positive. One friend even referred to her as an “energy synchronized witch.” This was more than enough fuel for Kawthar to realize that she had something special. “It’s one thing to be playing in person and be able to read the room, but when you are just putting something out into the ether and have people receive it so well… it just fills you with confidence.” To this day, Kawthar doesn’t plan her sets and never knows what’s next. “It’s just a vibe. Depends on the energy around me.“
Moody Mondays is somewhat of an homage to “The Main Ingredient,” the infamous party founded by her mentor Jahsonic that was held at Marvin from 2007 until the historic venue closed in 2020. There haven’t been any parties happening on Monday since then, so Kawthar wanted to change that. Coming from the service industry, Monday has always been the day that workers get to recharge from a weekend full of forced interactions. She wanted to create a space where she could do that but still be in a community with people she cares about. “The lunar calendar is innate to me because I am a Muslim, but beyond that, it’s convenient for a biweekly party; there’s always gonna be a moon phase that corresponds.”
The sun, the moon, and the stars play a crucial role in the party. “It is an astrologically inspired experience; Mondays are ruled by the moon. The moon also rules cancer, known as a “moody” sign. I am a Cancer. The moon represents nurturing and intuition. My goal was to create a nurturing space grounded in intuition because most of my DJing comes from an intuitive space.” One of the critical features of the party is birth chart readings done by local astrological oracle Java, @4alloracle.
The party also features art, jewelry, and live painting from DC-based artist Rhythm Bowers, @r.b.artcollectables, as well as sets from a mainstay in the city’s nightlife scene, DJ PAE ME, @karpaex. In addition, Kawthar has plans to have live projections, guest bartenders, and food vendors for future iterations of Moody Monday. The next party will be on October 3rd at Selina Hotel in Union Market.
