Dear J. ‘Mayor of Ponce’ Winter, Creative Loafing Atlanta, Editor-In-Chief Mara Shalhoup, Music Editor Rodney Carmichael, and anybody else involved or who has a vested interest:

It seems the topic of ‘dubstep’ has been a popular topic of conversation in our city lately. As somebody who has been involved in the positive promotion of this in Atlanta from the beginning, I would appreciate the opportunity to lend a constructive retort to the article ‘Last Night Dubstep Molly Saved My Life‘ that appeared in your publication starting 2-March 2011. Please allow me to tell a different story about dubstep in Atlanta to contrast your example.

Two years ago, a group of ten like-minded individuals came together with the goal of bringing performers of a niche style of music to Atlanta. This ‘meeting of the minds’ was nothing glamorous; a mere group of friends hoping to pool resources and promote a relatively unknown style of music. In February of 2009, Bazzaar was the host to Dutch native 2562. It was, by all accounts, a successful event that brought out a wide selection of mature and responsible adults to a nightclub to enjoy a musical performance. Not that much different from happens one doorway north from Bazzaar’s former location.

Two years later Atlanta Dubstep is a licensed and legitimate business in the state of Georgia. It is an organization that, while self-sufficient, does not make nearly enough to support the members who make the events happen. We have been fortunate enough the success of our events afforded us the opportunity to purchase our own soundsystems, and continue booking an internationally recognized roster of talent. Despite all this hard work and gain, at the end of the day all the members of the group are professionals beyond our involvement in nightlife, we engage these efforts out of our own desire. Nobody in Atlanta Dubstep is reaping any personal gain financially or otherwise as a result of organizing events. Thankfully, Atlanta has been very receptive to our efforts – and as member of the group I am extremely grateful for the growth that our events attendees have helped us achieve. To anybody who is reading this who has supported Atlanta Dubstep, I hope we continue to delight everybody and you all understand how grateful we are of the support.

The organization, while not perfect, does strive for a high level of professionalism. With the name ‘Atlanta Dubstep,’ we realize how we present the group, and our events, to outside talent reflects upon our city. As a member of the group I have worked hard to make something that I am passionate about gain widespread exposure in Atlanta. We have worked hard as individuals and as a group to create a product and a brand that does its best to conduct itself in a professional manner, ensuring the safety of our patrons and ultimately the longevity of our events.

It pains me in a manner difficult to express in words to read the misrepresentation of other individuals’ hard work – undermining another’s efforts because writers portray non-music related activities occurring at what appeared to be an illegally held event. Now, I am not so naive that I believe these types of events do not exist, nor do I feign ignorance that some individuals may engage in seemingly questionable behavior. This is not accurately reporting the story the headline portrays, instead it devolves into sensationalism. Your website and publication has a ‘Sex & Vice’ section, also a ‘Comedy‘ section. If that is what this article intended to be and it was simply misfiled, then clearly this was all one big misunderstanding.

All this being said, my offer still stands. There is a great organization within Atlanta conducting ‘dubstep’ parties with some level of self-respect, and respect for their attendees, and our partners who make our events possible. I would appreciate an opportunity to show you a proper representation of mature, responsible dubstep oriented events that occur regularly in Atlanta. That is assuming of course your publication is interested in printing journalism, and a lazy attempt to mimic Hunter S. Thompson in the context of 2011 dance music.