What is the best way to listen to an album? Alone? With friends? How about at a listening party?

I attended my first listening party at U Street Music Hall this past Monday for M.I.A.‘s new album, Matangi.

The listening party was free for ages 21 and over, but $5 for everyone else. Plus, it was a chance to listen to Matangi one day before its official release date. I knew the concert production agency DC to BC through my friends Quinn Coleman (a co-founder) and Kevin Kunitake. They are both knowledgeable about rap, electronic music and independent artists. The combination of DC to BC and M.I.A. assured me that I could not miss this listening party.

I asked myself, “Who likes M.I.A. enough to go to a listening party?” and “Will there be any guys there?‰” When I entered U Hall, there was a surprising amount of people there. It was super-packed and everyone was getting down to Matangi. I assumed that most fans of M.I.A. were younger women. Not only do a ton of people in D.C. like M.I.A, but about half of the crowd was male, too. Attendees appeared to be between the ages of 18 to 35 and everyone donned their hippest outfits. The listening party was a hit and Matangi is truly a memorable album.

The event urged me to reach out to DC to BC. In order to find out more about the company, I decided to interview one of the founders, Modele “Modi‰” Oyewole, over the phone.

FM: Hi Modi, Thanks for throwing the listening party and chatting with me.
MO: Hey Faith, no problem. I actually just arrived in NYC for the Influencer Conference, but I can talk.

FM: Great! For starters, what is DC to BC?
MO: DC to BC is a group of creative individuals who are interested in music and many forms of expression. We are a concert production agency and we are very selective about what projects or events we curate. It is totally independently-owned and operated. If we like something, we pursue it to the fullest extent.

FM: How did DC to BC get started?
MO: Well, it started as Quinn Coleman‰’s radio show at Boston College in 2007. Totally open format, two hours on an AM station, 11-1 PM Tuesdays and Thursdays. Quinn was interning at the station. We put people on to music, like new artists, underground rap and electronic music. It was like the anti-radio radio…you know, because mainstream radio ignores up-and-coming musicians. It turned into a blog and we got into Twitter really early in the game. We reached out to artists through Twitter and often times they would follow us. Basically the people that worked on the blog and coordinated everything early on were Quinn, Marcel Marshall and myself. We were the founders, essentially.

FM: How did you shift to concerts/events from the blog?
MO: Well, Quinn and I went to high school together and we hadn‰’t been back in D.C. because we were in college. Marcel was my college roommate so the collaboration came naturally. When we all came back to D.C. we threw a birthday party for Marcel and realized how big of an impact we made on people here. Then we decided to throw a DC to BC cookout to gauge our following and actually connect with people face-to-face. It was really popular and spur of the moment. So many people came out, were engaged in conversation and excited about the blog. We sort of used the cookout as a stepping-stone. We got a lot of attention from the blog because we were one of the first to write that “Kendrick Lamar is the future‰” and important people listened to us. We were able to book him in 2011, early in his career. We wanted to bring artists to D.C. because we felt like a lot of musicians skipped this city. There was a gap and we needed to fill it.

FM: What inspired you to do this free/cheap listening party?
MO: Right out of college I worked at The Fader doing street teaming. I kept turning out good work so they‰’d send me more assignments. To this day, I am in contact with representatives at The Fader. This was an event I created after I learned that Cornerstone (an event promotion company connected to The Fader) teamed up M.I.A‰’s label, Interscope, to publicize the album. Cornerstone chose ten markets and D.C. was one. Thus, Cornerstone contacted me and I curated the Matangi Listening Party. I also arranged a private listening party and invited people from Indigo studios, Neon V Magazine, engineers, executives, producers and some artists. We decided to do the larger event at U Hall and luckily Monday was free so we designated that time for the party. We hyped it on social media for a week straight and people came out. I love the listening party setting, it‰’s so powerful. When you have loud speakers and a cool ambience it really complements the music.

FM: Were you pleased with the turnout? Surprised?
MO: I was a little surprised because it was on a Monday. But because we could do it for free I think that was a big draw. The listening party just fits with the DC to BC mission. We want to share music with people, attract a diverse crowd and vibe out with real people. I think a lot of people can support that.

FM: Have you always been into M.I.A.?
MO: I dug her first album Arular and all her artwork. Honestly, I am a huge Diplo fan so all her collaborations with him were on point. I love how she is outspoken and demands attention for the causes she supports. She put me on to Rye Rye and other talented artists. I respect her work and her message.

FM: Are you going to any shows in the near future?
MO: I am going to see James Blake and Hiatus Kaiyote. I grew up listening to rap but now my tastes are broader. As you can see.

FM: Thank you so much for answering my questions!
MO: My pleasure.

DC to BC created an electronic and rap-centered music festival in D.C. called Trillectro. Check out their website, videos and pictures from last year‰’s Trillectro.