For The Locals: Homework - the last night to win SOUP's Thursday Initiative

For over 14 years, SOUP has been a pillar of Manchester’s underground music scene, giving a platform to emerging DJs and promoters while maintaining a fiercely independent, community-driven ethos. That ethos was laid bare in late 2024 with the launch of their Thursday Initiative - a competition designed to find and nurture the next generation of Mancunian club promoters, offering three winners the chance to run their own night at SOUP’s formidable Thursday slot.

Last month, the three winning nights were announced, and we’ve been diving into each one. First came -140, a grime and dubstep-fuelled clash of heavyweight sounds. Then, we had Club Curated, a night championing open decks and genre-fluid club sounds. Now, rounding off the series, we have Homework—a night built on house, acid, and Italo flavours with a mission to connect the dots between dance music's past, present, and future.

Founded by Mattia, Homework is more than just a night out—it’s a tribute, a history lesson, and a full-throttle party all at once. “It’s a kind of combination of a bit of a tribute - we got the name from one of our favourite albums, which is Daft Punk's Homework, which sort of revolutionised a lot of the club sounds in the 90s,” says Mattia. “It's that as well as a sort of, like, not in a pretentious way, but we want to sort of help connect the dots between the music from the past and the present and the future.”

It’s a night built for heads and hedonists alike, and whatever the groove of your tribe, Homeworks has you covered. “We’re comfortable in the sort of house, acid, Italo, sort of genres. But, we've done everything from grime and dubstep nights in London. We're sort of split between London, Leeds, and Manchester, so we try to tailor and cater the sounds for what people like in those different cities.”

While Homework is rooted in the exploration of the strings that tie dance music history to the present day, the night’s primary goal is simple: have fun. “The main focus is just like creating a really fun party atmosphere that people feel comfortable in,” Mattia says. “We like to get the harder, more intense stuff in there. The squelchier acid, the basslines, the bleeps, the bloops, you know, the whole nine yards.” 

“The main focus is just like creating a really fun party atmosphere that people feel comfortable in”

Yet, like the other winners of SOUP’s Thursday Initiative, Mattia knows the trials and tribulations of being a young promoter all too well. But in the short time since winning SOUP's competition, he is already feeling the benefits.“Being a young promoter definitely has its positives and negatives.

"You know, there's a lot of challenges with admin and stuff and venues and dealing with that. And SOUP's been really helpful, like giving us a lot of advice on how to manage relationships with artists and agents and like the technical stuff as well as, you know, being an absolutely amazing space.

“I mean, I've had some of my best nights out here, and it's such a well-respected venue that we're pretty honoured to be doing a night here.” 

With Homework, SOUP’s Thursday Initiative signs off in style- now all that is left to do is head down and support these competition winners at their run of Thursday night slots.

For Homework, that is this Thursday where they bring Roy Don to SOUP's basement. The mastermind behind Thudline - a Scottish party currently setting the bar for the Glasgow scene - Roy Don is a well-versed selector in many genres, and you can expect acid-infused breakbeats, hypnotic percussion and deep late-night transmissions. Grab your tickets below!

HOMEWORK: Roy Don at SOUP

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Check out our What's On Guide to discover even more rowdy raves and sweaty gigs taking place over the coming weeks and months. For festivals, lifestyle events and more, head on over to our Things To Do page or be inspired by the event selections on our Inspire Me page.

Header image credit: SOUP MCR