Music was my first passion. As a young child, I was always musical, playing the piano and singing. And then a few years later, I started drumming and joined various local bands. But after discovering alcohol during my teens, there was no denying that partying became my new passion and my main hobby! I dropped piano lessons, gave up the band and discovered a different kind of music. I threw myself headfirst into the 90s rave scene. After living in and working on the Manchester club scene for several years, I moved to London and began a 20-year career in the TV industry. Back then, TV was the perfect environment for my party lifestyle. I worked hard. I played hard. And it seemed everyone else did the same. Alcohol was very much celebrated, whether it was at parties, free bars, on location work trips or late-night drinking after long shoots. There was a collaborative understanding that working on a hangover was just a given.
Emma, also known as DJ Barroness, found a new passion once she went alcohol- free. She now gigs across the country bringing her own brand of house music to the people while she celebrates who she is without alcohol in her life.
Little did I know that years later my new motto would be 'as long as I am sober, everything will be ok.
No matter the occasion, alcohol was very much a big part of my life. Happy, sad, stressed or trying to relax, – alcohol was playing a part. It was so important to me that I always said to myself ‘as long as I have alcohol everything will be ok.’ Little did I know that years later my new motto would be ‘as long as I am sober, everything will be ok.’
In 2016, several elements in my life came together to make me realise I couldn’t carry on in the same way. It wasn’t sustainable. It wasn’t healthy mentally, physically, or emotionally and I wanted change. I read a book called This Naked Mind by Annie Grace. A book which would change my life. After reading it, my relationship with alcohol was tainted. I felt I had learned too much about the realities of alcohol and dependency, and I looked inwards at my own needs for the first time.
Through this I discovered a whole world of support on social media. The week before my four-week alcohol experiment began, I went to Ibiza with friends for a long weekend. I partied, went clubbing and had an amazing time. On my return, I felt a sense of sadness that the party was going to be over once I started my trial of sobriety. Thanks to the support and strength I gained from the sober community, my month-long experiment turned out to be much longer and I have now been sober over five years in total.
In early sobriety I went to a sober rave with some of my newly found sober friends... I suddenly realised that it was possible to have fun sober.
In early sobriety, I went to a sober rave with some of my newly found sober friends and I couldn’t believe my eyes. People were dancing to house music first thing in the morning and completely sober! It was a real game changer for me – I suddenly realised that it was possible to have fun whilst being sober. This also sparked my passion for music again. I remember in the early days of going alcohol-free, a friend asked me what my passion was before I started drinking and very clearly I knew the answer was playing music. By that point, I'd been sober a year and my confidence had grown. I felt if I could get sober, I could do anything. So, I decided that I would buy some DJ decks and learn how to mix house music. A secret passion which I had always wanted to do but would never have dared to try previously. When you prioritise booze over everything else, you don’t prioritise yourself.
I felt if I could get sober, I could do anything, so I decided that I would buy some DJ decks and learn how to mix house music.
After taking up some lessons, I then landed some gigs on the sober rave scene, playing alongside other sober DJs like Brandon Block- a favorite of mine from back in the 90s. Early last year, I teamed up with two of my sober buddies to create our own sober clubbing event: The House of Happiness, where we now have a regular slot at the iconic Fire club in Vauxhall, London. We wanted to show the world that sober definitely doesn’t mean boring! The sober crowd bring so much to the party - smiles, energy and a safe space where everyone can be themselves with no judgement. The atmosphere is magical and combining a life dream of DJing with my sober tribe is just awesome.
About the author
To follow Emma on social media, find her on Instagram at @dj_barroness and to find out more about the sober club nights which Emma is involved in, follow The House of Happiness on Instagram.