Recent mixers receive positive reactions after years of bad reputations

Upbeat electronic music pulses through a dimly lit room with flashing neon lights. Teenagers dance and scream, but the music drowns out their voices. Hundreds of students from different schools mingle with one another.

This is the atmosphere at a typical mixer, a type of music-based party and social event designed to unite high school students at rentable event venues such as community centers. Hosts often use social media to promote their own events, such as using Facebook’s event feature and inviting their Facebook friends.

According to senior Ai Marie Asai, mixers help friends from different neighborhoods bond.

“You dress up and get ready together or hang out before [the mixer,] so you get close with people you want to,” Asai said.

However, mixers have sometimes earned a bad reputation because of alcohol and drug abuse, Asai said.  

For example, at a Winter Beats mixer held last Dec. 4, 800 people crowded into the SFV Lodge in Mountain View, a venue designed for 200.

During the event, an attendee overdosed on ecstasy and fainted.

“Some girl passed out on Molly (a slang term for the drug),” said junior Julius Woods, who went to the event. “I think her heartbeat stopped, and it felt like she was out for 10 minutes.”

The incident at Winter Beats is example of poor conduct during mixers, Woods said. Although alcohol and drugs were officially banned, many partygoers went to the event already high or drunk, he said. Because mixers prohibit alcohol and drugs, most attendees indulge in alcohol and drugs before going. After the student collapsed from drug overdose, the event closed down.

After hearing about the Winter Beats incident, senior Ishan Sharma from Cupertino High and senior Raaghav Minocha from Lynbrook High tried to emphasize safety at Summer Vibes, an event they hosted. They wanted their mixer to be a place where  “students can go to be high school [kids] and have fun without the supervision of parents or school principals,” Sharma said.

Sharma and Minocha spent $1,000 to hire security guards in hopes of preventing illegal activities. Numerous San Jose Police police patrolled the Chinese Performing Artists of America Arts Center during the Aug. 8 event.  

The investment paid off because no known illicit incidents occurred, Sharma said. One officer called it the “safest event he’s ever hosted,” and many of the attendees agreed.

An anonymous junior student, who went to the Summer Vibes mixer, recalled that security searched the guests for illegal objects and checked student IDs. She said she enjoyed this mixer because she felt it was “safer than other mixers.”

Although ticket sales were low for the Summer Vibes mixer, and the duo only earned only $300, Sharma and Minocha achieved their goal of “establishing a brand and a dependable service for high schoolers to recognize next time they’re looking for a night to unwind and dance.”

The hosts said the  Summer Vibes mixer was a trouble-free event that contradicted from the stereotype of drug- and alcohol-infested mixers.

More recently, another Cupertino student, senior Wing Poon, hosted his own R-ixer on Aug. 21. A R-ixer, Poon said, is a mixer with elements of a rave — a large dance party featuring performances by DJs and live performers playing electronic dance music.

“I’ve seen a surge in popularity for raves,” Poon said. “It was logical for me to promote this event with a rave feel. We brought in eight different performers to create an atmosphere more appreciative of their music.”

Rensselaear Polytechnic Institute student Krish Chadhani, part of the music duo LUVKUSH that performed at the R-ixer, recalled it as a fun relaxing night, where students could take a break from their stresses.

“We performed four songs for the crowd,” Chadhani said. “It was a great night. The only drawback was all the back-to-school dances on the same day, which took away from our attendance.”

A concern of the R-ixer was the wide age range and safety.

“I can tell you that the host was delegating security jobs to high school students, and they had very few peace officers,” said Sharma, one of the hosts. ”And of course, college students are a recipe for disaster.”

Chadhani, however, remembered the R-ixer as a smooth event with few problems.

“There was no trouble at the dance,” Chadhani said.

According to Chadhani, the host invited college students to the event because Chadhani himself and his brother are college students, and their friends wanted to attend and watch them perform.

Despite doubts about the event, the R-ixer turned out to be a great success, Chadhani said.

“The idea for this event was to make it like a rave dance, mixer and concert, and it was exactly that,” Chadhani said.

Hosts and attendees said both the Summer Vibes Mixer and R-ixer went smoothly, unlike the Winter Beats Mixer. With their recent successes, hosts like Sharma, Minocha and Poon hope the reputation of mixers is changing.

“I plan on improving our events to make Function Junction Events a respected brand,” Poon said. “We plan on another event in December with all the bugs worked out.”

Asai says that mixers have allowed her to meet people from different schools and get closer to her Saratoga High friends.

“It’s just like when you go to [the] kickoff dance or if you’re new to the school,” said Asai. “It’s a fun experience.”