The term “DIY” (do it yourself) can often be vague, especially when it comes to something like coordinating a music or art collective. The “yourself” part in the acronym will often refer to a group of people organizing to produce something, rather than someone actually doing it themselves. The concept, by all means, is perfectly fine. Appreciation of the arts is a crucial thing, and there is no fundamentally wrong way to produce art, but the term “DIY” get’s thrown around too often where it shouldn’t be.

The Venus Collective, an all-girl art collective ran by Samantha Herrera, hosted a show Mar.12, featuring performances from Spacegirl Gemmy, 2ToneDisco, and RIIOTTT. At this particular show, the term “DIY” found a proper home.

“I pretty much just organized the event myself (set times, ticket prices, etc).” Herrera said in a direct message. “Gemmy and I have followed each other on twitter for a while and I saw she was going to be visiting the US, so I contacted her asking if she would like to perform in LA; she agreed.”

As for the rest of the performers, “I reached out to people who she was friends with… and that’s how I got 2ToneDisco and RIIOTTT. I booked the Jewels room in Union through Adam from HAM because he referred me to the booking team at the venue,” Herrera explained.

But why do all of this? Something that requires so much time and effort usually takes a few people, if not a team, to pull off; doing it solo is highly stressful (keep in mind, I’m only referring to the collective’s organization; jobs like security, working the door, or vending would be impossible for one person to do). Herrera’s explanation is simple, but empowering, “the reason I made the collective [was] for the girl support… as a girl there is still some resistance,” said Herrera, “my focus is more to support the females because I feel like guys already have enough support.”

The female support is apparent, two out of three artists performing at this show were female, and both of their performances were beautifully unique.

RIIOTTT, originally an artist from New York who moved to Los Angeles to start her otherworldly music career, opened up for the show. RIIOTTT is no stranger to the stage, and managed to enliven an audience that was a bit crowd shy at first. Her musical performance fabricated a pop-music, intergalactically-charged vibe from another galaxy.

2ToneDisco played a non-stop eccentrically enhanced set. Their performance was a bit long, but they still managed to miss any mellow moments. Heavy bass made the venue feel like a nightclub; this combined with remixes including artist like Kanye West and Migos helped keep their set refreshingly energized.

Spacegirl Gemmy, visiting LA from Australia, was the headliner of the event. A crowd favorite even before playing a single song, Gemmy’s performance mixed hip-hop and rap with an 8-bit sound that feels like it was pulled straight out of an old video-game. “All my friends inspired me. Oh, and video games and anime.” Gemmy said. Gemmy’s unique sound is almost guaranteed to bring in a huge following in the near future.

Herrera recently announced on Instagram that this would be her last show for a while, saying, “I’ll miss planning events and hopefully soon I’ll feel like planning one again… until then, I’ll be helping The Venus Co and also supporting my fellow DIY friends.”

Herrera’s work with The Venus Collective has encouraged female empowerment throughout LA’s art scene, and her contributions will continue to progress as the collective builds it’s reputation.

You can keep up to date with The Venus Collective by following their Instagram and/or twitter at (@thevenusco).