How to Have the Perfect Party House: Pitt Edition

Sometime around your sophomore or junior year of college you leave the dorms and take a step into the big leagues. You and your closest friends finally have a place of your own. Of course this new step involves paying rent and buying groceries; but the best part of it all is throwing house parties. To find out the best way to turn a dingy Pittsburgh basement into the perfect party spot, I decided to ask Junior Dominique Monayong. This is a man who knows about throwing a good party. Dom is an Information Science Major with minors in Administrative Justice and Economics. When Dom has free time you can find him DJ’ing at many South Oakland parties, or at  his fraternity SAE, where he is the Philanthropy Chair. I got a chance to sit down with Dom and find out the inside scoop of how to have the best crib for a party.

HC: How do you turn a dingy typical South Oakland apartment into a presentable party place?

DM: First of all you have to clean up a bit. Make sure there are no cobwebs, just a decent scrub down. Next you have to think about what theme you want. You can decorate with spray paint, paint, or backlights. Black lights are essential to create an atmosphere especially when you have a party where people are dancing.

At Dom’s house he decided to use spray paint to decorate his walls.

Notice ‘Twerk’ painted on the wall by yours truly.

HC: What kind of speakers should someone get for the party?

DM: You would want passive speakers that are between 100- 200 watts for your average Pitt party. Sometimes people think their 20-30 watt speakers that they use for their room is good enough for a party, but the sound won’t carry in bigger spaces.

HC: What are the best ways to avoid trouble with the cops?

DM: If everyone in the house isn’t 21 there shouldn’t be a massive amount of people going in and out of your house because it draws too much attention. If people do go outside just make sure they are careful because if the cops come there won’t be as much of an issue. Lastly, make sure the volume of the music is at a decent level.

Do you have any last party tips for those thinking of throwing a party?

DM : Here are a couple of tips: 

• At Pitt in particular, themed parties are a no go. People party hop a lot so sometimes themes aren’t the best. However, if you do simple and original themes it could work. Also holidays themes are fairly successful.
• Make sure the person who is at the door is firm.
• You can’t be drunk at your own party. You need to be sober if the cops come and you need to be able to deal with drunken people.
• When the amount of money spent is over 30 bucks you should probably charge.
• Text messaging is usually a great way to advertise a party and make sure to text the people who will bring lots of friends.
• Whenever you throw parties your house will get messed up. That’s just a given.

There you have it future party throwers! You too, can have the ultimate Pitt party.