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FETISH EXTRAVAGANZA
The Scottish Cyberball Studio 24, Edinburgh, Sun 22 0a.
A drag queen sashays across the dancefloor. A girl in a clinging, red PVC outfit that could be described as 'head-to-toe’ if it did not make some rather obvious anatomical revelations, flirts in the wall-length mirror and dances with her partner, a tall man in high heels and a 26in corset.
At the decks, the guest DJ, AudioSlut, surveys the scene. The room is above a well-known, central Edinburgh watering hole. The people, kinkily clad in various combinations of rubber, lace and PVC, are members of the long- running fetish night, Violate. And they are all potential participants in the Scottish Cyberball fetish event that AudioSlut is promoting in the capital.
If the Scottish fetish scene is not yet out of the closet, then that is only because it can't make up its mind on which outrageous costume to wear when it does emerge. And the 1,000 ticket Cyberball, at which the appropriately-named, London-based fetish club the Torture Garden is hosting a room, will be just the place to do so.
‘It started off as an idea with just one room and a dungeon,’ says AudioSlut, who prefers not to go under any other name. 'I think that nobody thought of doing one on such a scale before, except perhaps for the Passion Cage in Glasgow, which has a big three-floor event. This is certainly the most ambitious on the East Coast. It just got bigger and bigger, so we decided to get more 015 and put it on two floors. Then Violate phoned and said they’d run our dungeon for us.’
And to judge from the nefarious activities which take place in that upper room where Violate is in control, activities involving whips and people chained to various items of ‘equipment', then AudioSlut's pleasure will be
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rhythms, from Africa to Bra/il, thanks (filausselt's
Joe Claussell at Traxx H, W.
main to
Dress code suggestions for the Cyberball
provided, for those who like such things, with a few, lingering lashings of pain.
But toys and whips are only a small part of a scene where being seen is the central purpose. ’Fetish events are always very visual,’ says AudioSlut. 'The club itself is foreplay. It is all about showing off, it is all about the senses. Then you can go home and do what you want afterwards.’
So a strict dress code will be enforced at the Cyberball, although the scope of the code is wide enough to uncover everything from 'sci-fi costumes' to 'extreme' ('that's mostly nude,‘ explains AudioSlut) with the usual rubber and PVC in the middle. And the music — hard house from the likes of Alan Joy downstairs and stay- up-for-ever trance upstairs — will be interspersed with fashion shows and performances from a flame-wielding maniac who goes by the name of Luci Fire.
(Thom Dibdin)
give the people what they want 'I
own tend to play all kinds of music, I play
Renfrew Ferry, Glasgow, Fri 27 Oct.
Man of the people Joe Claussell
Joe Claussell is something of a renaissance man Since 1996 his Spiritual Life Music imprint has heen a driVing force behind the latest wave of house to incorporate world music
XX THE llST 2‘. Sea-'75 Oct 2000
production work He also co-owns and runs the \.'\.'orid-r'eno\.vned Dance lrac ks record shop, \‘.'lll(l‘ pushes the deep, soulful and eclectic brand of house the lahel seeks to promote
Somewhere in this hectic schedule of production, release and retail, ClausselI also finds time for a spot of [)Jing alongside Danny KriVit and the legendary Francois K at the cluh that has dominated New York's underground cluhhing scene for the past four years, Body & Soul Of these three, it seems the last is C Iaussell's true calling 'Well I love it all, producing for myself Dng for the crowd,’ he admits 'l\.lusic is definitely my life, everything I (lo is involved in music There are differences hetween the things I do, hut when it comes to Dling, it's all ahout interacting with people, and | /c)ve that '
Claussell's Scottish clehut at li‘a‘oc is the perfect opportunity to sample the taste of Body 8. Soul, as he intends to
ia// cluhs, | play house cluhs, whatever I was raised in a home with music lovers, where we listened to all kinds of music-my first love was rock-and that’s the way I like to DJ It all depends on the crowd, on how I feel, hut what people know as the Body 8. Soul sound is what I'll he playing over in Scotland ' Those eager to analyse an expert deck technician he vixarned, however, Claussell has no time for the tiainspotter ‘l’m not a DJ's DJ,’ he says, ‘I DJ for the people mth that party attitude and making people dance is what I'm concerned With If I wanted to please the DJ's in the crowd I could— doing trick mixes all night, hy only playing unreleased records-hut that isn't necessarily going to turn a crowd out l'm working with the energy of the crowd, not the people on the sidelines who are ci'itiguing the llllX or noting the records I play It's all ahout myself and the crowd haying fun ' iJac k Motti‘ami
clubs@list.co.uk
Word U
Aspiring DJs shouBget their tapes together and send them to Duncan Alexander@PopRokit, 2 Picardy Place, Edinburgh EH1 3JT if they fancy a chance at playing a set on Thursday nights at the aforementioned bar. Any style will do as long as it’s not too hard for the pre-club environment. See Thursday pre-club listing — Rookie Night — for more details.
Development is already underway at the venue formerly known as The Vaults and destined to hec'oeie The Honeycomb mark ti‘.o under the management of Edinhurg'n cwttrepreneur Vv’arren Deignaii Tee List \'.(‘lll down to check out the htiiidiig 0% and the planner: changes are loo-erg ery [)iOllilS"‘q 'iide The whose space nas heen almost completely gcitted and :nteresting structtirai cha'iges :iic lude net: to'let areas, a VIP room and a constructed walkway to connect the main corridor \‘Jllil the hack room Live gigs wit he ."-(‘l(l during the week and Detghan nas iaic: part:c ciiar stress on making the S()t.'t(l system the finest Scotland has ever heaici
It's new venue time in Glasgow. First up, Canvas, part of three floor Arta complex, is opening its doors on Fri 27 Oct. Promising something a bit different, Canvas will play host to live music and cabaret from mid November, and until then will offer top notch comedy, table service and luxurious surroundings. On Friday 27, all three floors of the complex will be open as a taster for the forthcoming programme of club events. Go to www.canvasclub for more information.
V. e can also reveal furthe" cieta Es of new c‘uh Mas Ooe's'tg on \‘uecinesday 8 Nov, t'te \.enue is. '. exentuaily oroi'cie a \.'~.hopp:ng 16,500 sguare feet o‘ clanchg room e the ‘orm of a great pic; is.arehoase-stye space and the more
ir‘t 'nate rooms The emphasis ‘.".llf he or‘ hici" citiaiity sound and right S‘ySKHNS ."(()."t)()r(i’c(‘(l into t"e architectural oriet, raine" than being no‘tecl on, and nice
it: e detai s like Y"‘ee/er-c hillec: g'asses for your dr-nk As for the music po-icy, it looks like there'i he no (()ll((‘SS!Ol‘.S to coininerc iaiisiii to fir: the lOll‘i lnsteaci, there's a gua ty agenda Tiifeo tip for if‘.(‘ first coaple o‘ rr‘onti‘s |.".( I.,:i 'zg the likes o‘ Jaciues La Conte ii)|(,itll("(l , Boo
Sinc :air a"d Orciar‘=c Audzo See next *sstie t'or itii' detai‘s