The Silent Disco connects music through radio frequency headphones worn by disco participants

By James Sloan, Rogue Valley Times

Nestled in Lithia Park with live music from DJs, light-up headphones and plenty of dancing and grooving, Ashland’s Silent Disco brings all the fun of an outdoor concert minus the loud noises.

The all-ages events draw out music fans for a night of melodic fun, with the Silent Disco hosting dance parties in Ashland since 2016.

The Silent Discos are organized by Jordan Rose, owner of managing company SLNT.LY.

“I was born and raised in Ashland, and when I stumbled on a silent disco in Portland in 2016, I knew it would be the perfect fit for Ashland, which suffers from a problem many cities do where noise ordinances can be used to shape what type of events and gatherings can happen,” Rose said. “We worked with Ashland Parks & Recreation over many years and fairly quickly built their trust and showed them that we were really creating a family-friendly dance party and community gathering.”

For those unaware of how silent discos work, a DJ or other music source plays live tunes to listeners wearing specific radio frequency headphones, creating a concert minus the loud, expensive equipment typically needed for a typical performance.

“It’s the same technology as FM radio transmitting to car stereos, just on a smaller scale,” Rose said.

The organizers host pop-up events, announcing them via its mass text service. To receive notice of upcoming Silent Discos, text “DISCO” to 541-625-6500. 

Events are also announced on SLNT.LY’s Instagram account and website.

Headphone rentals are $10 for the evening.

Multiple local guest DJs — such as Agent Orange, DJ BeRadley and djay rose  — take turns playing sets during the event to keep the music fresh and varied.

“We try to diversify each lineup with six DJs total in each event, and so far, our summer doesn’t involve any repeats,” Rose said. “Jeff (Smith) — one of the day-one Silent Disco organizers and a local DJ — and I both play the opening slots most nights, leaving the later night slots for our guest DJs.”

“There is a ton of amazing talent in the community,” he added.

A key focus for Rose is to bring the fun outside and utilize the Rogue Valley’s abundant parks.

“I’m a big fan of utilizing the outdoors for silent discos as it really showcases what it’s useful for. … I hope to branch out and do some events in other parks around Ashland, Talent, Phoenix and Medford as well as bringing back movies in the park, using the headsets, which was always a huge hit,” Rose said.

Rose sold the business to a friend in 2019 and moved out of Southern Oregon, but he recently returned to the area and began hosting Silent Discos once more — this time with a few new features.

“Besides the mass-text platform, we also are using an amazing new headphone checkout system that cuts checkout time down to a third of what it previously took,” he said. “It all takes place on our two iPads … our events are completely off-grid, powered only by our portable battery power stations.”

Before COVID, Silent Disco brought out around 700 listeners per event. The extra time during the pandemic, when everything was shut down, allowed Rose and organizers to find more efficient ways to put on the events.

“I had a lot of time during the pandemic to really look closely at every aspect of our events and found solutions to streamlining the entire operation,” Rose said. “This year, we have moved locations from the front of Lithia Park, just a few paces up the path to the lawn just behind the lower duck pond.”

“It’s taken a little more time to get the word out since we are more secluded, but the intention was to always have this first be an event for local families, and if tourists find us, lucky them,” Rose added.

Another change organizers made was the switch to the pop-up format and announcing silent discos a week or so beforehand rather than organizing them months in advance.

“(Past organizers) did a few events in Ashland but had bad luck with rain and smoke, which is a big part of us moving to a pop-up event platform,” Rose said. “With the smoke during the summer and a good chance of rain in spring and fall, being successful at this requires being flexible and making quick decisions.”

The Silent Disco organizers have continued to build their relationship and collaborate with Ashland Parks & Recreation for events.

“I felt this deep desire to do my part to make Ashland a cooler place than it was when I was growing up,” Rose said of what motivated him to start Silent Disco. “You hear of bored teens getting into drugs in small towns because there is just nothing else to do, and as a parent, I want to do everything in my power to avoid that from happening to my kid, or any kids for that matter.”

Rose and organizers are working to bring back more kid-focused programs to their events.

“By next summer, we should have our kid’s channel back up and running … (it) was a mobile ‘Synth Wagon’ that up to 12 kids at a time could collaborate and jam on, actually creating the music on their station,” he said.

Rose and his team also hope to start a DJ program for kids and teens in the community, giving them a chance to learn more about the entertainment art form and potentially perform at future Silent Disco events.

For more information and updates on future events, visit slnt.ly.

Reach reporter James Sloan at [email protected]. This story first appeared in the Rogue Valley Times.