Melting Lights Is Throwing the Rave of the Future, and It’s Good for the Planet

Written by Chloe Clarke

Melting Lights is a new London-based music and events collective bringing people together through sound, creativity, and a commitment to fighting climate change. Melting Lights showcases emerging artists and DJs while bringing climate awareness to every event by partnering with small, environmentally conscious venues, measuring their carbon footprint, and creating sustainable set designs. 

Groove Magazine spoke with founders Jamie, Giulia, Charlie, and Alice about their vision and journey. Meet the team: Giulia Villa, a multidisciplinary designer and music industry veteran, creates immersive, climate-conscious spaces where music and design thrive together. Jamie Ardour, an award-winning DJ, artist, and multimedia creative, fuses music, design, and sustainability to tackle the climate crisis with bold, imaginative ideas. Alice Rawson, a sustainability consultant, is dedicated to inclusive, grassroots-driven solutions for environmental and social change. Charlie Porter, an environmental marketer and DJ, blends music, storytelling, and sustainability to unite people in the fight against climate change.

With a shared belief that music and raves can be a catalyst for change, the four founders have built something that’s part party, part protest. We wanted to know how Melting Lights came to life, what drives them, and where they’re taking the movement next.

How would you describe Melting Lights?

At its heart, Melting Lights is a club night in London. But it’s also more than “another” club night. Our mission is to learn how to make events more sustainable, put those measures into action, and use the power of music and creativity to raise awareness about the climate crisis.

Personally, it’s a space where we can bring our passions into play, whether that’s design, storytelling, or event production, and use them to build something that offers both cultural and environmental impact.

So far, we’re approaching sustainability through three core streams:

Climate engagement:

Designing events with creativity and climate storytelling at the centre. Communication to show what’s possible to bring sustainability into the music scene. 

Carbon footprint:

Actively learning to reduce our emissions, tracking our data to calculate our own footprint, and therefore setting more accurate targets to improve.

Social impact:

Supporting local communities and charities through donations, partnerships, and our new sustainability fund concept, we aim to raise funds through events to support potential investments for venues.

Let's discuss how Melting Lights is making rave a part of the sustainability movement. Can you walk us through the experience of making sustainability feel exciting and fun?

Rave culture has always been a powerful driver of change. Look at the positive social and political impact it created in recent history. It builds communities, challenges norms, and unites people from completely different backgrounds. There’s a huge amount of heart in the rave scene, and we see that as an opportunity to channel energy towards bigger causes like climate action.

Making sustainability fun is about creativity and problem-solving. Some parts are hard work, but that’s what makes it rewarding when you set a vision, figure out the challenges, and get stuck in. We’ve learned so many new skills through this process, from building decor to experimenting with low-impact production methods.

On the night itself, we bring sustainability into the experience through interactive installations, climate-themed visuals, and even things like travel surveys where people play a role in our mission. That interaction or engagement draws us together, where everyone can play a role. It’s about sparking curiosity in a way that feels playful and engaging, not preachy nor focusing on “doom and gloom”.

Could you share with the Groove readers your favourite project or projects? 

Great question! Do you mean projects we’ve done or examples that inspire us? How about we answer both.

I’d say the work EarthPercent is doing is hugely inspiring. The concept of music royalties for the planet, started by Brian Eno, is just brilliant. Massive Attack are also a big inspiration for me. They’ve been pioneering sustainable approaches to live music for years (not to mention they’re one of my favourite bands since I was a teenager). Most recently, they were involved in LIDO, a London festival powered entirely by renewable energy through a large battery system connected to the grid. Seeing those kinds of benchmarks being set is really motivating.

Our work?

We both agree that we loved the experience from our first summer party in 2023. Great venue at The Baths in Hackney Wick, with lots of outdoor space. What made it special was that it lasted all afternoon and into the late evening, offering a variety of activities for people to enjoy themselves. We started working on some of our interactive pieces, and showcased an exhibition with various people across the UK submitting artworks. The daylight coming in, the outdoor seating and great weather offered a nice festival summer vibe. Then, later in the evening, our lighting and AV animations shone bright, and the music with our DJs progressed from the lighter groovy vibes to the late-night high energy. It was a blast. 

How do you find venues that share your company values? 

We start by looking for spaces that fit our creative vision. That includes the right capacity, great vibe, and (practically) affordability. Then we like to visit in person, have honest conversations with the venue team, and get a feel for their approach. We also do our research online and ask around in the community.

Some venues are already doing great things; others haven’t considered it yet or have specific constraints. We try to recognise the constraints smaller venues face and see if we can offer support or ideas. That’s part of why we’re creating a sustainability guide pack for venues, and why our long-term aim is to help smaller, local spots invest in sustainable solutions without it being financially impossible for them.

It's also worth saying that where progress is happening, it's still mainly the large-scale, well-funded events that are doing it. With smaller venues closing down so quickly, it's these spaces and the local communities that lack this level of support or funding. These are who we’re targeting to try and create more effective impact without incurring unrealistic costs.

Can you tell us about the process of creating a creative and inclusive community space while educating the community on sustainability? What practise/methods do you use to showcase your message to ravers? 

We really believe in what Brian Eno says: ‘The science is there, but creatives are needed to communicate it. Facts alone can feel distant; emotion and experience make it real.’

For us, sustainability isn’t just about carbon footprints; it’s also about equity and community. We work hard to create events where everyone feels welcome and safe, no matter their background. That sense of inclusivity is essential if you want people to connect with the message.

At the end of the day, Melting Lights is all about the love and good vibes!

We weave climate themes into the event design, as part of our sustainability streams, climate engagement. Those details spark conversations during the night, which can carry over into people’s own lives afterwards.

We also do a lot online, such as on Instagram. We like sharing various tips on what people can do to make better climate-conscious choices. It can often be perceived as big changes or high costs. But honestly, there’s a lot that you can do just by being more mindful of your choices, doing a little more research, or moderate certain treats and vices. We also share everything. We’re not fully sustainable yet - we’re learning how to become it. Transparency is vital, not to mislead or greenwash, but also to encourage and inspire.

You build your entire event decor from reused and repurposed materials. Could you explain this process to us?

It’s definitely a get-your-hands-dirty process, but it’s one of the most fun parts. Who doesn’t love a good bit of DIY??? Everything we use is rescued from waste — things that would otherwise go to landfill or incineration. We’ve collected old stereos, wood, boards, and random materials from skips to create our decorations and interactive installations.

As an artist, I’ve always seen potential in these discarded objects. Even our paper butterflies are made from thrown-out newspapers and packaging. It’s about showing that creativity doesn’t need to come from new, expensive materials. With some imagination, you can create something beautiful from what’s already around you.

We have seen artists like Billie Eilish make each venue they play sell vegan food, and festivals such as Glastonbury put their focus on sustainability, which has had a very positive response. There is a clear want among music lovers for this change. 

Do you have advice for ravers attending your events and others on how to make their night out more sustainable? 

There is indeed! It’s amazing to see big acts and festivals making sustainability a priority. The whole Melting Lights team was at Glasto this year and were so impressed with so many of their initiatives. We mentioned the new pioneering standard with Massive Attack and Lido. Even Elrow - they were a big inspiration in creativity and experience, but behind the scenes, they’re very passionate and do loads of climate initiatives!

I also mentioned the issues with access to these solutions. Smaller venues and community events are just as important to a city’s culture, yet they often lack the resources to make big changes. We want to bridge that gap by showing that even smaller-scale measures can add up to meaningful impact, especially when adopted widely.

So, first piece of advice, if you come to our events for a good night out with your friends, fill out the travel survey! The more accurate our data, the better we can target our carbon reductions and share the insights with you. 

More broadly, there’s no one-size-fits-all. We share lots of practical tips online, but we also recognise that everyone’s circumstances are different. Do what you can, and don’t feel guilty if you can’t do everything. As Anne Marie Bonneau says, “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.”

Is there anything you would like to share with the readers? 

We’re having our next event this coming Friday, 15th August, and we’re super excited!

We like throwing quirky themes for the summer occasions compared to the more classic raves. This time, we’re doing a party on a canal boat! It’s a secret North London location, which ticket buyers receive on the day. Their own solar panels fully power the boat, and it’ll be a nice secluded location with lots of greenery around us, perfect for a little break between DJs! Don’t worry, the location’s pretty close by!

We’re always open to collaborations, feedback, or just meeting new people who care about music and the planet. We’d love to work with more people and organisations in music to build this initiative; we all share the same vision to create positive change for our society and world. 

If you haven’t already, check out our sustainability report — it’s designed to be easy to read and full of practical insight for people who’d like to start implementing change, without the corporate jargon.

We thank you for having us!