Amsterdam: Support the amazing OCCII!!

OCCII an awesome autonomous social in Amsterdam is doing a crowdfunding:

100% funded and still 30 days to go??!!

We’ve been surprised and thrilled to see that within hardly 10 days into the campaign through donations from more than 250 people to have already the full amount of 10.00 euro we asked for, our campaign is 100% funded!

This surpassed our wildest dreams and we thank everyone that has already made a donation! However, being a DIY venue we have been humble in asking our supporters for financial help. The goal we set up is the bare minimum we need.

We decided to raise the current goal, it could give us the change to invest into the acoustics of the space. When viable we could then invest in new monitors, mixer, some new durable mics and cables all needed to increase the sound experience at the venue. For our visitors and performers alike!

The actual realistic budget to renovate the sound and acoustics would come down to 19.000 euro. We still have 30 days to go, and there are many benefits being organised throughout Amsterdam in June (events at OCCII, Volta, filmhuis Cavia, MKZ to name a few). This is why now our new aim is to get our complete sound wishlist funded!

Our story:
OCCII needs a new sound system! The amps are currently so outdated that they’ll need to be entirely replaced. However, that will be very expensive and that’s why we’ll need your help! Even more unfortunate, while we were preparing for this crowdfunding, on the night of May 5th, OCCII was robbed of all its cash money at the venue. Apart from this loss, there was a lot of damage done to the building – to repair this it will set us back even more in our saving reserves. The money we put aside to partially fund the new sound system is now completely depleted because of this. That makes the situation only more urgent and that’s why your support is even more needed!

Sound system
The current sound system of OCCII is old. About 20 years ago we managed to get this system second hand. We were at that time very fortunate with obtaining such a sound system – the quality of it is still very high, even after having endured OCCII for such a long time. However, it still needs to be replaced before it’s too late. By now, the amplifiers are so outdated that there aren’t any manufacturers anymore that make replacement parts. This means that if even the smallest component breaks, the amplifiers will need to be completely replaced. In that case, all concerts at OCCII will be put on hold until there’s enough money for new amps. We do not want to wait for that to happen! The reserves we once had were spent on thorough renovations of the floor and façade. This totalled to a lot of costs for OCCII at the time and depleted our reserves. But with your support we can still get new amplifiers.

Importance of a new sound at OCCII
OCCII has always been at the front lines of new innovative sound. Which was once a horse tram coach house, has since 1992 been used as a space for diverse sounds.The programming has always been diverse, and many local subcultures have found their place here. Almost the entire organization is being run by volunteers that do this out of love for the underground and music. Not just local but also international artist have wonderful memories of this special location; such as Thurston Moore, Lighting Bolt, Lydia Lunch, Zu, SMIB and many others.

Reserves depleted
In the night of Sunday the 5th of May, OCCII was robbed, and all the money from the safe was stolen. Besides, the money that was lost, OCCII also suffered a lot in damages to the building. In order to compensate this, we had to deplete all our reserves, which were first also put aside for the new sound system. That’s why we had to raise the crowdfund goal to €10.000. The total amount for acquiring new amplifiers will be about €14.000. The original plan was to collect half of the amount through your donations and to pay the rest with our reserves, but this is sadly not possible anymore due to the robbery and its damages. However, we have confidence that we’ll manage to get enough support and succeed after all!

If we complete our goal, then what?
The goal for this crowdfund campaign is the exact amount we need to be able to acquire new amplifiers. If we succeed in reaching this goal we want to use the rest of the donations to further improve the sound at OCCII. We furthermore also have the dream for years to obtain new monitors and a new mixer, which will be about €20.000 altogether. Such an amount is probably a bit too far fetched, but we have our dreams. In any case we will guarantee that every donation will be invested in the future of OCCII.

How can I contribute and what do I get in return?
You can make a donation on this page, on the right-side you’ll find a list with different options. You can also decide to donate without a compensation, but we did mange to make some lovely options available for you. This is made possible by some organizations that also support us. It’s possible to buy a A2 print of our current wallpaper, or a tour and beer tasting session for 10 people at our favorite brewery Butcher’s Tears. Furthermore, OCCII invites someone new from time to time to design our wallpaper, this time you can be the one to decide it for us!If you rather physically donate money during the campaign, there will be a donation pot at OCCII as well. Besides that, there will be some other actions in the city during the campaign, such as benefits at other cultural spaces where you can also physically donate.

On the 3rd of May we already had an amazing crowdfunding-preparty at the Vondelbunker.

Upcoming events:

– 16 Juni Rebel Up! Soundclash & Filmhuis CAVIA present FILM: ZERZURA (NE, The FIRST EVER Saharan Acid Western!) w/ Dj SL’OCCii & Dj Papelón Kifesh

– 20 juni in OCCII zelf met o.a. Etenesh Wassie + Tijdelijke Toon + Andy Moor + Terrie Ex Ethio DJ Set

– 22th of June in Volta with: de Inbranders & more TBA

& more events TBA

Do you or your organization also want to do something to support us? E.g. organizing a VOKU? Contact us at crowdfunding/at/occii.org – we are very curious to hear your ideas and we’ll naturally join if possible! We thank everybody for their support, without you there’s no OCCII! For more information about OCCII visit: occii.org

Crowdfunding site, scroll down for english