Shannon Carroll is the local booker (working alongside other local promoters) behind popular Chop Suey dance parties like Comeback, Lick, and Hipsters and Fags. With his wildly successful 21+ events gaining momentum, the last place you might expect to find him is at an all-ages club, but in his efforts, he noticed the underage scene was hurting for some DJ action of its own. So along with friend and faellow DJ Oscar Molof (DJ Nice Jewish Boy), he founded a new monthly dance night at Vera called Push.

Push, a "homocore dance party" that will go down the first Saturday of every month, has been a long time in the making. The idea came about while Carroll was working at Hamilton Middle School, where the students had recently founded their own chapter of the Gay-Straight Alliance Network.

"We started a GSA and the kids involved knew I booked dance nights at local clubs. They were very interested in coming to them, but the clubs I worked at wouldn't let me do all-ages shows," says Carroll. "The dance nights I book aren't pushing the queer agenda, but really putting us out there in a different way, so to not be able to do all-ages nights was really frustrating."

After making a few calls to the Vera Project, Carroll and Molof found the perfect venue to put their plan into action, and this Saturday, October 1, Push will make its grand arrival.

"I'm really excited about it," says Carroll. "The night is open to everybody, and the music we're going for is dance, punk, indie, and new wave. And we need younger DJs! It's been a real struggle to find young DJs, especially underage, so for this first one I'm bringing in DJs from Lick and the Bus Stop. But my hope is for it to have at least 50 percent underage DJs. They don't have to be queer-identified, but I really want to use this night as a showcase for what underage people can do. I'm hoping that DJs will come and give me a demo tape and we'll get them on the bill for next month."

This month's installment features DJs Nice Jewish Boy, Sappho, and Shananigins, and costs only three bucks with a Vera club card ($4 without).

Earlier that same Saturday, Vera will also host a workshop featuring Daylle Deanna Schwartz, author of the new book I Don't Need a Record Deal! Your Survival Guide for the Indie Music Revolution. From 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Schwartz will be on hand to discuss how bands and musicians can do everything from market a CD to promote a tour to license music for TV, movies, and even ring tones. It costs $20 advance ($15 for students), and registration information can be found at www.theveraproject.org.