Inside the Shutdown of the UB EDM Club

One of the defining aspects of attending a university are the people that students choose to surround themselves with.

The formation of a social circle is a process that can happen with time or fairly quickly. Whether they originate from dorm hallways or from interacting with that one person you recognize from your lecture, communities can be created in various ways. 

Arguably the most common phenomena found on college campuses are student clubs. Spaces where shared interests turn casual encounters into something more intentional. These organizations often become the backbone of student life, giving students the opportunities to meet like-minded people or try something new.

At UB, there are nearly 500 total clubs. From academic societies to hobby-based organizations, each one offers students a different way to carve out their place on campus. Some come and go quietly, while others leave a lasting impression on the communities they build. 

The UB Electronic Dance Music (EDM) club was one of those communities. 

Founded by UB alum Dominick Matarese in 2022, the EDM club described itself as a group that came together to enjoy all aspects of raving and EDM, featuring DJs, producers and enthusiasts alike. The club, while fairly niche, hosted a plethora of events tailored to its members, including workshops, rave meetups and demo showcases.

Matarese, better known as PITLORD to his fanbase, kickstarted his DJing career off the back of the EDM club; with his debut show being at the club-sponsored ‘Fallhalla’ event during his penultimate semester. He credited the experience as something larger than just a performance opportunity. 

“I think the thing that I’m most proud of is the friendships that have come out of EDM Club,” Matarese said in a 2023 interview with UBNow. “a lot of people were specifically looking for a community, and I’m happy that I could provide that.”

Matarese relinquished his role as club president following his graduation. But even without its founder at the helm, the club continued flourishing in its activities, holding weekly meetings and expanding its presence through collaborations with other student organizations. They would also participate in UB Student Association (SA)–affiliated music events as openers and hosted guest speakers, including local DJ and UB alum Ryan Dils, who now works as an EDM promoter with local booking collective Honey Group.

Despite having previously maintained a steady campus presence, the EDM club was shut down earlier this spring semester. Their e-board announced the decision to cease operations in an Instagram post this past February. Specific reasons behind the decision were announced to members of the club’s official Discord server but were not made widely public. 

Until now.

Former core EDM club member Luna (they do not wish to be identified by their surname), served on the e-board during the club’s final months of activity and was part of the internal discussions that ultimately led to its dissolution.

A junior mechanical engineering student, Luna had been a consistent member of the club— even serving as club president for the 2024–25 academic year. They recount the club as a small but passionate one, having only around “10 to 15 members” by the time of the shutdown. While the organization never reached the size of some of UB’s larger student groups, Luna believes that intimacy became one of its defining strengths. 

Because of the club’s niche focus, members often formed closer relationships with one another, united by a shared interest that many felt was difficult to express elsewhere on campus. Meetings felt less like formal gatherings and more like a community of friends brought together through music.

“Our meetings wouldn’t really have a set structure,” Luna said. “Some of us would be DJing, other people would converse about upcoming shows, what they wanted to do. It was just a space to hang out.”

Meetings are a focal point of any club’s existence. But it can be difficult for student-run organizations to each receive equal treatment; especially at a university where their sizes and overall campus influence vary. Smaller creative organizations often struggle to maintain visibility compared to larger academic or professionally oriented clubs. For the EDM club, outreach was one of their biggest hurdles.

“We were a very grassroots-type club,” Luna said. “We would occasionally get offers from SA to help with events, but outside of that, we were grouped in with a lot of hobby and community organizations when it came to funding. We only received around $350 a year, so we had to work with what we had to bring people in.”

This wouldn’t be the only time the club would find themselves at odds with the SA.

During the 2024 edition of Fall Fest, the EDM club were the opening act for the concert. Originally expected to perform a brief 30-minute set before rapper Saweetie and hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd took the stage, members of the organization instead found themselves in an uncomfortable position after headliner Cash Cobain failed to appear for the event.

According to Luna, communication surrounding the situation became chaotic backstage as organizers attempted to determine how to address the growing crowd of students waiting for the performance. Eventually, members of the EDM club were informed that they would be responsible for delivering the news to attendees themselves.

“We were basically the bearers of bad news,” Luna said. “It put us in a really awkward spot.”

What was initially a major performance opportunity for the student organization quickly shifted in tone as students reacted to the cancellation. The unexpected situation forced the EDM club to continue performing for attendees who remained at the venue for a full hour.

The Fall Fest incident became one of the club’s most publicly visible moments. Luna said the experience also highlighted how much responsibility was often placed on a relatively small group of students behind the scenes. The workload attached to keeping the organization active gradually became more difficult to sustain. What many students may see as a casual social club often required extensive planning and commitment from a handful of members working entirely on a volunteer basis. 

Although the club was still recognized by the SA to the end of the spring 2026 semester, internal challenges began to affect how sustainable its operations could realistically be. According to Luna, the group’s day-to-day structure became increasingly difficult to maintain, particularly as members of the e-board balanced their personal lives with their academics.

“I was surprised by just how much work went into it,” Luna says. “Even with people helping on the e-board, when midterms and end-of-semester work pile up, it becomes hard to manage everything. It was really just a case of wanting to keep the club going, but school and life getting in the way. Our academic needs had to come first, and unfortunately, we had to step back.” 

The decision to shut down the club was not made impulsively but came after extensive discussions among the organization’s leadership. The e-board explored several alternatives that reduced the workload, including scaling meetings back from weekly to biweekly gatherings. However, the lead members ultimately felt they would be unable to maintain the level of effort and consistency that had defined the club during its most active years. Although Matarese reassured the remaining leadership that they had done their best, Luna said the e-board felt compelled to preserve the community he helped build.

“There was definitely a lot of self-imposed pressure surrounding the club which he built,” Luna said. “We didn’t want to feel like we were letting Dom down because everyone knew how much effort he had put into creating that community. He was actually very understanding about the situation and gave us his full support when we told him we were considering shutting it down, but there was still that feeling among us that we wanted to do right by what he started.”

The closure of the EDM club may reflect broader questions about how creative organizations survive within a university environment increasingly centered around academics and professional development. While UB continues to host hundreds of student organizations, smaller arts and volunteer-based communities often rely on a limited number of dedicated students to remain active after the end of each semester.  

“I think there’s definitely more that can be done to help student clubs,” Luna said. “A lot of organizations struggle with the bureaucracy involved, and it can sometimes feel difficult to figure out exactly what needs to be done when working with SA. I think streamlining that process and giving clubs more resources to promote themselves through SA’s channels would make a big difference, especially for smaller organizations trying to reach more students.” 

Despite the EDM club being officially shut down, the community it created still exists beyond official meetings and university recognition. Many former members still remain in contact through the club’s Discord server, attend local shows together and continue collaborating creatively outside of campus spaces. 

Luna still holds hope for a potential revival in the future, but for now, the EDM club is just one of the many groups that faced an unfortunate end partly due to the limited resources they were offered.