When I started Amateur’s House last year, there were issues I expected I’d end up writing about – plague raves, Derrick May, how useless the dance music press are and so forth. I also predicted I’d also run some lighter articles – such as the one recently asking about where Louie Vega’s hat had disappeared to.

But I’d have been hard pressed to imagine this one. As I’ve emphasised repeatedly on this blog, I want the #ForTheMusic movement, which techno DJ Rebekah Teasdale leads, to be a massive success. Goodness knows its arrival in the dance music scene was needed – anything which comes along and disturbs long established practices is a good thing.

However, I have been critical of the lack leadership offered by the boss herself. For instance, there was her promise of big news for the campaign – only to unveil a film which will cost €10,000 to make. And she isn’t paying a single penny of that, despite the fact she sometimes earns more than this in just one show.

Just before Christmas, Teasdale revealed she would be taking a few weeks off during January – citing the Omicron surge as one reason. Surely this would be a good time to put some work into the movement she started, yes?

Apparently not. You might be surprised to discover where she is at the moment – in Nepal and making the 5310m climb up to Mount Everest’s base camp…

https://www.instagram.com/p/CY1OcI8Mo1-/?utm_medium=copy_link

No, I didn’t quite expect that either. A quick search of one company offering such expeditions reveal prices start at around €2000. Headaches due to acclimatisation to the lower amounts of oxygen are just one thing to face – levels are typically 50% less at Everest Base Camp than at ground level.

When Teasdale finally gets to Base Camp, she can take all the views in, including the notorious Khumbu Icefall – a river which, although frozen, is still prone to a certain degree of movement and mass chasms navigated with the use of ladders. I suspect she’ll be happy enough to just glance knowing she won’t have to climb it…