Mouth to mouth
Mouth to mouth
04-04-17
The latest edition to our rotation of Thursday night thumpers is Mouth to Mouth, the three-way brainchild of A Boy From Outer Space, Joe Roberts and Nick Powell! With a beyond-impressive combined CV which ranges from House of Trax to Field Maneuvers and our very own Uncontrollable Urge, this new Thursday night rave will have you crawling into bed way past your usual weeknight bed time! Their strong focus on early nineties house, hi-NRG disco, electro and rave and a distinctly queer ethos have got us very excited to see this baby grows. We caught up with residents Sadie, Joe and Nick to chat top tracks, party politics and, well, making out!
Hey Mouth to Mouth DJs! Can you each tell us a bit about yourselves for those who don’t know you yet?
NICK: I’m Nick, ex-resident of musically-maximalist Sunday funday get-together, Blogger’s Delight, and then of vogue, house and booty-bass monthly party House of Trax. I’ve been playing out since doing Bugged Out! and Fabric in my teens, and also love to do more experimental/ambient sets, warming up for less dancefloor-orientated gigs…
SADIE: I'm Sadie, a lover of early '90s rave and hardcore, new beat, synth-pop, Jimmy Somerville, being true to yourself and anything above 130bpm.
JOE: I'm Joe. You may know me as a resident of Superstore's weekly Wednesday party Uncontrollable Urge, from my previous incarnation as an editor of a dance music magazine or as a frequenter of too many East End after parties from 2007 until...
Also one half of Field Maneuvers residents Local Group, purveyors of garage, hardcore, jungle and other things that go bass in the night - we have a monthly Strange Loops radio show on Music Box Radio.
How did the three of you come to be throwing a party together?
JOE: I met Nick through Violet, wonderful Portuguese DJ, producer, co-founder of Radio Quantica and muse of Donatella Versace, while she was still living in Dalston. We all DJed together at a pub by Victoria Park and when the night was over it transpired we'd drunk all our rider and all our wages too. Naturally, I invited Nick to play at a party off-shoot of another of my radio shows, Ecstasy Garage Disco (also on Music Box Radio), and it spiralled again, but this time in a different way.
NICK: This was at Wunderlust in Deptford, where Sadie’s beautacious ways entranced behind the bar. We got chatting and natural energy got us wanting to throw a fun and free-lovin’ gay partay in a less manufactured, less economically demanding way that many events seem to be headed.
SADIE: Since moving to South London a year ago I'd always been thinking, 'Where are the gay parties in SE London?' There are a plethora of queer people in SE and I've always wanted to put on a rave for queers in SE, then the universe brought me the perfect people to do it with. As a queer South-Londoner gagging to be free on the dance floor and dance to incredible music in my endz, within the first magical conversation I had with Nick (at EGD) we'd decided we wanted to throw a party together with Joe.
What is the concept behind Mouth To Mouth?
SADIE: Music to thrust hard to in a dark place.
NICK: Mouth To Mouth is about doing away with sexual boundaries, just as a good DJ does away with genre boundaries. The crowds are free to do as they please and whoever they please, in parallel with the DJ playing what they please. Music passes like kisses from mouth to mouth; passion reigns supreme.
JOE: Free your mind... and everyone else's ass will follow.
Where did the name Mouth To Mouth come from?
NICK: The natural foregrounding of the sensual over the anything else. But mainly, not the Audion track.
JOE: It started with a kiss... never thought it would come to this. Whatever your identity, kissing is pretty much a universal good time. There are some also some pretty fetishistic close-ups of CPR on the web and it felt like we could breathe some new life into clubland.
SADIE: Kissing is my all time favourite hobby, second to mouthing off.
Why did you choose Dalston Superstore for Mouth to Mouth?
JOE: Going to Trailer Trash from around 2007 to whenever it ended, the weekly party run by Matt Tucker and Dan Pope, two of the founders of Dalston Superstore, changed my life. It was at On The Rocks, now Basing House, which then was a ramshackle venue that was rammed from start to finish with nothing to do but get stuck into a heavy mix of electro, techno and early fidget house that nobody seemed to be playing anywhere else. Feeling I didn't really fit in at (de facto) straight or most traditional gay venues, the mix of people there just made sense. It was about open-mindedness and not giving a shit about who or what anyone was. From there I met so many other people that I'm still friends with, Jim Warboy, whose Sabajaq party I'm also resident at, being one. Superstore is a continuation of that energy and attitude.
SADIE: I've been having an amazing time at Superstore for years, and when I was first going could only have dreamt of playing there. Not having a particularly 'gay' community around me when I was younger it was difficult meeting people with similar sexual preferences, but Superstore is a haven for a variety of cultures, sexualities, genders and ideas, as well as continuously booking incredible DJs. Dreams can come true.
NICK: Dalston Superstore has definitely established itself firmly as a venue with unparalleled positive energy about it. It's a space that people who are open-minded musically flock to.
If you could change anything about London’s LGBT+ clubbing scene, what would it be?
SADIE: To be honest I think we're doing pretty well, and it's getting better in terms of music variation and parties in East London. Were working on the SE part. I do find there are less women at gay club nights. Perhaps I need to throw a lesbian warehouse rave.
NICK: The main thing that can’t easily be changed would be to lengthen the opening hours of clubs. It gets tiring having to leave a club at 3am, rather than 8 or 9, for example. Also, London is so big, it needs more clubs generally. South London in particular is full of gay boys and girls who have to travel for hours to let themselves go and be free. Also, being bitchy can be fun and part of gay culture – i.e. reading culture – but London clubs can just get so scene-y it’s a huge turn-off for many people. Many people do not go to the same club week in week out and therefore are not part of a scene, and are treated cuntily for this. Perhaps if there were more clubs to choose from the scene would be diluted and the atmosphere refreshed.
JOE: People of all nations, genders and sexualities dancing together, rather than in niche parties. When that happens, it's the best. At the same time, I totally understand the need to be around people you identify with.
We love your artwork! Who is the visionary behind it?
SADIE: It's me! I really like the abstract, surrealism and geometry. I love combining odd colours and forms, especially those that express free love. I'm always saying you have to listen to the universe and let it out from the unconscious, and thats hopefully what my drawings do. I think we should definitely talk about sex and sexuality more in order for us to all feel more comfortable with ourselves, our desires and our sex lives. It's not a secret or anything to be shy about. All our bodies and genitalia are beautiful and I want us to all feel that from my drawings. You'll definitely be seeing more of my work soon!
If you had to sum up Mouth to Mouth in one track, what would it be?
JOE: Divine - Native Love (Step By Step)
SADIE: Company B - Fascinated (Club mix)
NICK: Vicious Pink – Cccan’t You See
What records aren’t leaving your bag at the moment?
NICK : 1. Housemaster Baldwin feat. Paris Grey – Don’t Lead Me (Medusa Mix) 2. Seydinah – A La Folie 3. Gay Marvine – Heaven
JOE: 1. A.Avenue – Golden Queen (I-Robots Reconstruction) 2. Bwana – Generation Nostalgia 3. Import 1 – Set It Off (Party Rock)
SADIE- 1. Shawn Christopher - People of all Nations (House Mix) 2. Transform - Transformation 3. Yazoo - Goodbye 70's
Do you have any exciting plans on the go that you can let us in on?
NICK: I'll be supporting Tropic of Cancer and Demdike Stare at the Jazz Cafe at the end of May.
JOE: I'm playing at Sabajaq at the end of this month with Kim Ann Foxman and Catz 'N Dogz which I'm really hyped about! We've also just started a monthly two-hour show on Radio Quantica, complete with weird, time-stretched affirmations and non sequiturs amongst dreamy downtempo, electro, house and rave.
Catch Sadie, Joe and Nick at Mouth to Mouth this Thursday 6 April from 9pm-2:30am at Dalston Superstore!
Mouth to mouth