Check Out Sterling And Abbey Leverett’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sterling And Abbey Leverett.

Hi Sterling and Abbey, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
It all started sitting in the dining room of in n out last october. Abbey said to me hey lets throw a halloween party. It was met with some fear and a little confusion, but soon after we started talking about options: how do we execute, where do we do it, how do we get people there etc. The next day I walked up to the owner of the restaurant and pitched the idea of a halloween party. Next thing you know theres a banner facing the street, the town starts to buzz, and we created something no one has done before.

We met at ICON COLLECTIVE music institute in Los Angeles and we have always had our own music projects. So we decided we were going to host the party and DJ the party ourselves. Halloween comes around we had 100 rsvps and bought an extra speaker to be able to fill the room. We set up our decks and begin djing, with no avail of how it’s going to go. Next thing you know we are staring at 200 people all in costumes, we knew we had struck gold. The event was a hit! everyone was talking about it, and thats where it was going to die. The owner of the restaurant was so impressed he asked us to do it every week. Then came the same question, how do we get people here, what are we doing, and is it even possible. From that day we started the Word of Mouth Project.

Designed to be the hub of events in south oc, where we curate, promote and dj the entire event ourselves: 4 hour back to back every time. During the first few parties we had no idea the power of social media. In turn, we would print out hundreds of flyers and put each one into a cheeky invitation envelope and hand them out old school style at our local bars. NOTHING, CRICKETS. We had to find another way. Once we got onto social media we found our own style the rest was history.

We managed to a turn a 50 year old restaurant into a party hub of the town. bringing crowds of 100 plus people to see us dj and experience our party every week, from hip hop to disco to house we did it all. Within a few months we were beginning to be known around town and other venues/restaurants were contacting us so we ran with it. The goal was to change how the house music scene is structured. We wanted to throw parties in obscure places and bring the crowd on OUR journey. No lineups no slot times, just a concept: a feeling. We ended up doing parties everywhere all the time, from barbershops, arcades, market places even a tattoo lounge. We believe that there is no rules to where the dance floor can be. We just had to find it and make sure enough people knew it too.

As married dj/producer duo we’ve been able to spread our mission across Orange County, bringing people together in a place that was prior known to be a boring surf town. Now we are on a mission to expand the project not just by bigger events but our music too. creating a travelling party with gogo dancers, lasers, and the djs who created the whole thing themselves sharing their music and vision with the world.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been smooth. We were working two jobs in the beginning have to blow up a party every week in 5 days. On top of that we were taking events all around town as well. So imagine working 2 shifts a day, doing all the marketing for multiple events in your free time. Then on the weekends djing each event 4 hours, one friday one saturday, setting up and breaking down each own by ourselves. Then come sunday two shifts, monday promo, on repeat.

In the beginning with were met with a lot of strife, no one believed in us. People trying to stifle our events and make them what they wanted. Eventually we had to leave the first restaurant in order for us to have autonomy.

Now that we have progressed into only doing events that we choose it has smoothened on all frontiers . We have “cracked the code” in a sense. Through the struggle we have been forged into strength. It is as if this is what we were meant to do so. We have learned so much in such a short time and there is still plenty to learn. Now we are ready for it.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We specialize in house music, creating events focused on the spaces and the journey. What sets us apart is where our events are and who’s playing music. We do not focus on the club we focus on the city. What place can we convert into a dancefloor. We bring in everything, sound, security, go-go dancers, and bartenders. We are the only event company that dj’s our own parties. Most events you see will have a line up and a headliner. Each slot being a depiction of skill, status, connections, experience etc. We do not like the hierarchy, so we deleted it. We are the opener the closer the headliner and everything in between. Teaching people that they can do it themselves all you have to do is try. What we are most proud of is our most recent Barbershop party. We converted a century old barbershop into a rave. We had festival production lasers, a full go-go dancing team and a mobile bar. Completely re-imaging how a party can be thrown and experienced.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Vision
Trust
Work Ethic
Consistency

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wordofmouthprojectoc/

Image Credits
photo credits : arrowsmedia