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Crossdressing Diogenes June 27 2019

IV Issue IVIssue IV cdcy, a fanzine for rave culture and electronic music in Cyprus

Contents Catching Up (Event Reviews) Upcoming: The Gathering 4 -Including Stephou Interview Upcoming: Staub x TRAP Upcoming: Dave Mothersole Feature: Venus_of_Mars Low Society Six in Depth Introducing: Unknown Tour Square is Closing Music Review: Krimson Vial EP Feature: Leo Viridis Astrologia Credits & Announcements

Photograph: Anastasia Dolitsay

Introduction

Welcome back to Issue #4 of Crossdressing Diogenes. It’s been one year since Issue #1 was released, and we are so grateful for your support.Wihout the amazing attitude of the scene here, we could easily have given up after every issue - everyone works for free, just to help bring something to the community which we hope all of you can be proud of. This is your scene; this is your zine. Here’s to another 4 issues, and another year of CDCY. Love from Niko Mas <--- (Not this one, the other Niko)

Photograph: Anastasia Dolitsay

p ing U

Catch

Photograph: Izabella Galkowska

Alternadiva Showcase 02/03/19 KlubD The full Alternadiva team were back in KlubD for their showcase which exhibited some enhanced visuals and a lot of good music. Visuals are a really important dimension to consider when you have events on in the same place as others, even if a light system is good, it can lose its power over time, and sometimes all it takes is a little update to freshen the entire room. In this case it was achieved through projecting handmade patterns and forms on top of the back wall. The visuals phased in and out of organic textures like leopard print or bubbles, as well as a face adorned with lettering. This overlayed on top of the lighting system was very aesthetic. It wasn’t the usual AA crowd though, which meant that there was a minor disconnection between dancers and DJs. You could see that it was not minimal fans in the audience, so naturally the DJs had to respond by shifting their sound slightly. It was still a good performance, and it’s really impressive to watch the trio rolling all night - responding to the crowd by nudging each other in new directions and moving as a unit.

TRAP #06 09/03/19 KlubD In chapter 6 of this series, the TRAP team brought Adiel, one of the current Goa club residents in Rome. This was a nice move, because of the cultural history of Deep, hypnotic Techno. A lot of Alex Tomb’s legacy in Cyprus involves his connection with that famous Italian sound - when the Techno scene here really started “solidifying”, it was partly to the sound of Donato Dozzy in D. It’s nice to bring that energy back to life, and to reconnect with the club’s own history. The DJ was slightly controversial, when speaking to people about it, there was a lot of love/hate reactions, although personally I always sympathise with internationals coming to Cyprus because the scene here is a little bit confusing due to the size, it must be hard to understand the niche audience. It was a good show though, high energy, a lot of movement, and the guest DJ had a lot of tasteful performative flair. I would love to see Adiel on her home turf in Rome. On to the next one!

Photograph: Stelios Demetriou

Photographs: Izabella Galkowska

Mihai Pol 19/04/19 Square What a party! Huge credit to Sobamonk, whatever vibe he pulled out that night was the perfect warm up, soulful, deep minimal, classic feel good tracks. Everyone knows this guy is a bit of a legend around here, and he was on great form. Mihai Pol really delivered. It was 4 hours of non-stop bombs. It takes skill to create that much energy with minimal music, and even more to sustain it. Classic Romanian party minimal - it doesn’t seem possible that a set could go any better than it went - that was possibly the upper limit of how good a party can be in a bar. The room was rocking back and forth from the full house, it felt like a while since everyone showed up. One of the best nights of the year. Perfect place and crowd for this, every lined up, amazing booking. Thank you Square.

Photographs: Izabella Galkowska

Colazione 4 01/05/19 Warehouse 612 BillyD, Isel, Alex Tomb, THNTS [De] Solid rave. This time with upgraded visuals. More and more people are taking the visuals in events seriously, and it’s great because there are a lot of really talented visual artists in Cyprus. Instead of some small lasers, they put a huge metallic safety blanket behind the DJ and projected light patterns across it, reflecting wildly and rhythmically. Once the crowd was full, the sound system excelled, too - good visuals, good sound - the fundamentals were set. It was extended too, this time the line-up was 10 hours or more. BillyD made a great warm up, minimal with boomy kicks, melodic elements and some harsher timbres. It looks like Minimal Techno is being used here to warm the room up, as every Colazione so far has opened with this sound. Isel was impressive, showing a deep understanding of his machines. The set was heavy through-out, but the progressions were good. Alex Tomb was on fire; The mixing was smooth and sophisticated, with 4 layers of sound shifting in and out. The surprise international was THNTS, who had flown almost directly from ‘://about blank’ in Berlin, a club with a big international reputation. THNTS’ set was heavier than Tomb, reflecting some of Isel’s liveset, but one thing is for sure: THNTS knows how to close - massive conclusion.

Photograph: Anastasia Dolitsay

Photograph: Izabella Galkowska

A lot of people really respect and enjoy the anonymity of Colazione events, although it does undercut the value of International acts in a way, the surprise element doesn’t sparkle as much as it could because if you don’t know who is playing when you arrive, it can be a bit awkward. It would be great if they continued this way though, because the line ups have been amazing, and the visitors in particular, too; we live on an island but we don’t operate in a vacuum, it’s good to be connected to the nexus of European Techno. It’s nice that a venue in Cyprus is on the same circuit for some DJs as ‘About Blank’. The only thing left to figure out is how to get people to come early, the opening acts are being ignored completely - so far BillyD, Janis Plasmatik, Motif and Daoutis have played opening sets to nearly empty rooms. They were all really good sets too, they shouldn’t be missed.

Photographs: Anastasia Dolitsay

XRC: 2 year anniversary Astytekk - 20/04/19 - Square Des Williams, Milton Fields, Spivak & Bon Bon - 11/05/19 - KlubD XRC is a great project, with a great community supporting it. They’ve established a strong aesthetic identity in various warehouses in Nicosia. The organisers are so passionate and committed and the XRC audience is fun and diverse It’s been around for 2 years since the first event in Diaxroniki Musiki (ex-treno), and until now has maintained a solid aesthetic identity. The 2 year anniversary party was split across two downtown venues: a night in Square, and a night in KlubD. The format was a bit strange, although it did feel very celebratory, and there was a huge spectrum of music played across the two nights; some breaks; some minimal techno; some trap; some post-punk; you name it. They seemed to temporarily leave behind what they had established as the “XRC aesthetic”, and present a body of new ideas and sounds through some unexpected line ups. It was still XRC, but It didn’t have the same attitude. The artists varied so much that some of the transitions between performers were quite jumpy, for example with Dez Williams coming in after what had been an hour of minimal techno.

That being said, Milton Fields was very, very fun in Square, and Spivak’s set in KlubD was impressive in how it interpreted the XRC aesthetic and installed it in KlubD; she understood where she was. Anyway, it was an anniversary and the organisers deserve a chance to just have fun and celebrate without overthinking. Best of luck to the legendary Milton, and the XRC collectiva, for another two years - no matter what is said, XRC has been consistently good, and is one of the most solid and authentic electronic music entities in Cyprus right now. We were there with XRC at the very beginning and admire them a lot; so here is a personal happy anniversary wish from CDCY to XRC Collectiva. Photographs: Anastasia Dolitsay

KlubD Closes Van Sim & Binh - 18/05/19 Janis & Rhadoo - 01/06/19 Generally speaking, the last third of the season is challenging in KlubD because even regulars who love the club can get tired out from attending every Saturday night for 20 weeks straight; the summer draws near as well, people start wanting outdoor events. To be transparent, booking Rhadoo for closing was considered controversial or strange to many people based on how the year had gone - but looking at the closing as a 2-parter is a different story. Pairing Binh with Van Sim is really nice, the two relate to each other in many ways, and likewise, the pairing of Janis & Rhadoo is equally well set for obvious reasons. The musical and stylistic spectrum that these two events create is intelligent, covering a lot of sounds which the KlubD community enjoy. It was a power move, two beloved internationals paired with the best possible local legends. Binh performed extremely well, much more alive than a year ago; Rhadoo wasn’t at the peak of his game, but his set was solid, he and Janis Plasmatik tapped into the kind of minimal which sways from side to side, rocking the room like a boat in stormy waters. Big finish to the year, thank you to the KlubD team for a good season. Much love from CDCY. What would we do without D.

Photographs: Izabella Galkowska

Photographs: Izabella Galkowska

Upc o

: g n i m

eG Th

eri ath

IV ng

The Local Edition This is interesting. Honest Electronics has a dual nature, seeming to focus primarily on the people in Cyprus, the local talent if you will, whilst simultaneously projecting that outwards toward europe with a history of connections across Berlin, Amsterdam, Bristol and so on. In the first few years, the gathering festival had a high ratio of internationals, maybe even as high as 60/40 the first year. Things have changed for HE, and while they’re still transmitting quality Cypriot art outwards into the international sphere, it looks as though the collective has started to focus upon creating something here. This side of the scene is very much in a phase where everyone just enjoys to party with each other and hear each other play music; the essence of the gathering has become about 30-40 artists returning each year to play music to each other. For this reason it makes sense to forego bringing international names and to focus all the energy on providing what the main audience wants from their yearly ritual at Kampia - the family feeling; the local vibe; the feeling that we’re leaving reality for a few days to connect with each other. If everything goes to plan, The Gathering 4 will be one of the biggest celebrations of local talent in the electronic music scene in Cyprus

30+ DJs, friends and acquaintances performing to each other, and to a crowd of people who know the history and personality of each other - international names are great but there is a great magic to knowing the story of the artist you’re listening to. The human element is lost on the international stage, where everyone dances to an artist they’ve never met or connected with - and sometimes this is great; sometimes it feels depersonalised. The huge array of sounds, from postpunk to deep techno, from disco to detroit, is going to require a lot of work to fit together. Fitting such a spectrum together could not have been an easy challenge, but its excited to wait and wonder how they will do it. The added fun is that, for some of them, it will be our 5-10th time making a set in Kampia, in front of a similar audience so there is a lot of energy this year going into how to plan a performance that surpasses the previous performances. If someone had night time set last year, they likely have a day time one this time, or if they had a dance floor vibe last time, perhaps they will spin something more chilled out - it’s all about how each artist will match their sound to the time of day. A couple of months ago, one of the KlubD residents posted an article about the problems of fusing rave culture with festival culture Photographs: Anastasia Dolitsay

and one of the most interesting points made regarded the problems inherent to multistage events. It was describing the psychological impact of being able to “move stage”, and how “having another option” can make an audience member less interested in committing to a single artist’s performance. It looks as though Honest Electronics are going to be using a single stage, which really plays into the local vibe - we’re here to hear the locals, with no option but to commit to the artist - the playing field feels fair and appropriate for what the team wants to achieve with the festival. We’re yet to see how the team is going to decorate this year, but with a setting so stunning, all they need is a good shade and enough water, and we’re set for something incredibly special, and something incredibly Cypriot. The added twist is that the location has changed, moving to a fresh lakeside location; this year is going to be different.

Photograph: Anastasia Dolitsay

Stephou: It always depends on what area of Kampia land we will use and what for, this year, the water is so high that most of what we did before we can’t do, but since it’s so close to our rave stage we decided to use only that area, the plan is to create a little festival island by the water. So the energy is focused in one area of the land only, and that’s definitely new. Every year it’s different, organisationally speaking the only things that stay the same are things we were satisfied with, we had a lot of experimentation and exploration on what works and what doesn’t, so now we have our list. Along the way we got lucky and managed to build a good team around us that knows how we work and under which conditions. Trust can go a really long way especially in low budget projects like this. What was the thinking behind the local edition?

by Niko Mas

Interview with Nikos Stephou

Besides the obvious “local” element, what is going to be different this year in terms of organisation and delivery?

Stephou: The local edition idea came after the quick realisation that the wave of Cypriot underground artists is big enough to cover us. Once we were doing these events to tell young people how exciting and interesting electronic music is, now we do events to let them tell us how exciting it is. This was one of our most important decisions, a three day festival that is compiled by 35 local acts is a big as a monument. The type of sculpture you put high in the middle of the village, to make locals feel more proud of their work and give them some long awaited confidence boost, a super scene accomplishment.

There is going to be a wide spectrum of sounds and genres, has it been difficult to organise this into an ordered line up? Stephou: There was this split between “rave” sounds and “artistic” sounds, there was also an obvious split between the crowd that attended these events in the local scene. We observed this very well on the second festival. Last year, the third version, our intention was to dissect the festival into nights that either suited this or that. This for me has really helped the live culture, it gave it a fully appropriate atmosphere and focus. But this split has also caused a lot of mess and a downgrade to the importance of rave. This year our challenge is to manage to merge these two cultures into a three day continuous trip, as we believe that both can really benefit the other. Friday night will be alive and fresh, Saturday morning to dusk will be organic and easy, then by the Saturday night it will become trippy and dark as the rave will take on, which will be dimming into brighter and later minimal after sounds in the Sunday morning, then we will observe a gradient from minimal to ambient on Sunday’s dusk until Monday morning. And somewhere here is the spectrum hidden. There’s no accident that there’s rainbows on our posters this year. For any first timers, do you have any advice for surviving 3 days of Kampia in late-July? Stephou: Kampia can get warm and dry during the day, we have invested in shade and water resources and this year a proper camping with shade and showers. In the night it can get fresh and cold, bring your mosquito repellent, a hoody and closed shoes. There will be thoughtful rave vegetarian food and our people behind the bar can offer really revitalising drink ideas with alcohol or not. We do our best to keep the prices very friendly for everybody. Please do not bring your dog, we feel a bit uncomfortable when dogs are exposed to loud music! Photograph: Panny Brown

Up

co m ing:

One thing we have been following a lot in this zine is the TRAP series, including Colazione - the work of ΠΔ & Alex Tomb. Whilst on summer break, TRAP has managed to score itself a collaboration with Staub from Berlin. It’s actually a great combo, as the Colazione event series has a clear conceptual link to Staub’s day time parties at About Blank in Berlin - both organisers are doing a similar thing, and both face the same kind of challenges in taking their shared concept and moving it to a beach in Cyprus. It being Staub, there was only really one or two places in Cyprus which could accommodate the kind of audience size that Staub expect - so it has ended up being incorporated into Guaba’s GU-festival in Limassol bay.

T r x a p b u a t S

There is of course that sense of “why does it have to be at Guaba?”, but it worked for Trap #4, when BillyD, Tomb, and Alan Backdrop played beachside, in amongst the bright colours of the beach bar - hopefully this is a chance for STAUB to educate Guaba’s audience on underground music, although maybe it isn’t that simple. Let’s just hope that the essence of STAUB is not lost to Guaba - STAUB are politically minded and their party embodies much of this - the anonymous line ups, the anti-showmanship - it all reflects a philosophy which STAUB founder “Irakli” calls ‘Techno Communism’: “Everyone contributes, Everyone gets the same fee, everyone gets the same treatment”. These guys throw big parties and have great ideas about techno culture and how to provide profound experiences on the dancefloor - all without the flashiness of Guaba - so it will be interesting to see how it goes.

Upcoming : In the first issue there was a lot of mention of Dave Mothersole, both Aristodemos and Cusack referenced him as one of the first major artists to come to Cyprus and show the crowd what the underground warehouses in London were listening to. It’s a really nice link to the past to book him again, connecting with the island’s own history. Dave Mothersole was there in Goa in the 80s, playing first-wave Trance and Psy, he was there in the 90s carrying Acid House around London, and he held strong with his unique style until just 4 year ago, when he retired. This is a 30 year veteran of multiple rave archetypes, and to bring this guy to Mazotos beach is really wild - a massive DJ, at Green Mango Beach Bar... it’s going to be memorable and intimate. It’s been a while for an Exotica event, the last big one was Radio Slave last June, and it’s good to see there is still life to it. You hear it all the time from people, how they miss Exotica, and this could be a dramatic re-entry into the scene. We will be there, lets see how it goes.

Photograph: Izabella Galkowska

Dav eM

othe rsole

Artist : Venus of Mars Title : Forever for now Concept: The phenomenon of the immortal self that is happening in the digital era, even after ones nonexistence.

Low Society VI

I had huge expectations of this event, which is a terrible predisposition in general, for that you will have to forgive me. My expectations were high because I love Alterndiva, and, from the little I have seen, I love what they are about. It’s challenging to write critically about something you love, and even fair criticism can come off as harsh; this is true about a lot of the things covered in CDCY, especially Low Society and The Gathering. These kind of events are so unique, and feel so authentic and in-touch with the underground scene in Cyprus, that saying anything other than praise seems unfair. Low Society returned to the Mazotos beach house, hidden away in the trees; a small complex with two buildings and an enclosed garden, joined by a path that lead down to a stone patio area adjoining the sea. The place was majestic. This year, the team lined the areas and pathways with bamboo fencing, transforming the beautiful sprawling garden into a professional-looking site with two stage areas. The whole estate was really minimal and clear, like a dreamy club house boasting one of the best ocean views on the island. It is so blue there, so infinitely blue. There was a big, sea blue light in the entrance walkway, soft pink and purple lights on the way to the beach, finishing in deep red at the main stage; a well picked colour palette. The smaller stage was made specifically for a performance by E&E, two of the best experimental and ambient artists in Cyprus, who were booked to play a 6 hour set in the secret garden, while Janis, Ciprian & Slow played by the sea. It’s an inspired idea; anything Elektroniki & Emiddio Vasquez touch turns to gold, so giving them their own miniature stage, complete with miniature CDJs was a really powerful addition to Low Society. It does however come back to that two-stage problem. The booking was too good, I didn’t know how to spend my night; both Alternadiva for 6 hours by the sea, and E&E’s first B2B booking, for 6 hours in a beautiful hidden garden, are unmissable events.

It’s paradoxical: booking such talented performers at your ‘second stage’ is part of why it was such a good move, but it also meant that I couldn’t feel certain that I was in the right place at the right moment. I ended up missing all of their set, having decided to commit full-on to the main stage. The ‘main stage’, or whatever we’re calling it, was spectacular. When I arrived on the friday afternoon, I found Janis Plasmatik standing at the top of a ladder hammering away at a wooden Gazebo, which was being built to hold the bamboo shade. There is a lot of this kind of thing in Cyprus, DJs doubling as carpenters, or dancers coming early to help actually set up. It’s quite reflective of the scene here, it’s still in that DIY or die phase, if people don’t do it together, off their own back, nothing is going to happen at all. I was obviously sleeping those weeks, as I seemed to be the only one at the site who didn’t know that Latyp was driving around the island somewhere with two sound-systems, one of which was VOID. It wasn’t even a secret, I was just out of the loop, and wow it was a nice surprise.

Photograph: Izabella Galkowska

Photograph: Anastasia Dolitsay

This was a such a well-played power move; the sound of that system, combined with the look and feel of the place to make something truly special and unique to our scene. It was a VOID Air Motion V2 system, with the tri-horn tops, paired with 2 chunky subs. There were no words for it. In Cyprus, it’s hard to imagine a better quality sound outdoors, and this was the first time the engineers were using it. Even in the videos you can feel the quality; I keep watching repeats of clips on instagram and thinking damn. It was actually a really funny story. There were a lot of really typical Cyprus problems in the morning trying to pick up this artillery, and when it arrived, no one had the specific 19mm ratchet-spanner required to fit the horns to the stand. People walking around asking each other if they have a 19mm ratcher-spanner. We stood there in disbelief for a second, before deciding someone would go back to Nicosia for the tools and Souvlaki. The system was built before the morning came, but they still needed the massive generator that would power both stages. Until that arrived, there was a lot of smaller things to be finished. Walls to be finished, areas to be cleaned up, T-shirts to be organised, tickets and drinks tokens, all that stuff. We made juice for the after hours session; orange, carrot and apple, the beginning of Low Society Juice Klub. After driving around the island for several days, Latyp was finally able to open the party, and the set was professional.

A solid 4 hours, with a consistent flow; rising up, coming down. It takes a while for a venue to fill up in Cyprus, with most people coming at 2am, so the opening sets usually require a lot of patience; in this respect Latyp handled it so well, and did a fine job of setting up the situation for Janis, Ciprian and Slow. The red lights were so menacing, at the hour the Trio came on, it was so vivid, and powerful. The Trio rolled. They just rolled. For 6 hours it rolled so fluently, I don’t know what to say. Class act. It rained though. It rained in June. In Cyprus. It wasn’t such a problem but it was weird. It was also really bright at about 4:30am, but cloudy, and it pretty much stayed that was until 9am; I wonder if this absence of a cut and dry sunrise made the transition into the after hours session more challenging for the DJs. Whatever it was, the audience gradually faded out and the party dried up around 11am, ready for the after-after hours session. The party went until around 5pm, and actually even with less people than last year, the atmosphere was amazing. This is such a special and unique thing happening here in on the island, I really feel that Low Society is the kind of thing you bring people to Cyprus to see. Really good weekend. Thank you Low Society.

Photograph: Eleana Georgiou

Photographs: Eleana Georgiou

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ntr o d u ci n g :

Photograph: Izabella Galkowska

r

o w n n k n Tou U

BillyD & HXOS, a b2b project between two minimal techno DJs have initiated their new series of events that will be called “unknown tour”. The first installment was held in Kafeneio 11, in the tiny garden with a spanish vibe, and it made for a great introduction. It was casual, but the music was serious, and actually suited the garden quite well - it was like a miniature “sixdogs” moment on a Sunday afternoon after a big party. Something about the event felt like a teaser; “if you liked this, wait till you see what we have planned next”. It is exciting to think what kind of format the next event will come in, and it looks as though they are trying to find new spaces and experiment a little with where and how you can play minimal sounds. Can’t say too much as this stage, but very high potential here; watch out for more.

Square is closing

This is a bit of a sad one. Square has officially closed, probably permanently. Square Bar has sat next to Elefteria Square for 5 years, and has been of immeasurable importance over the years. In many ways it was just a bar, but in other ways it was the first and only place an up and coming artist might get to play getting a gig at square was always a really important step in getting recognised as a DJ in our scene. There were really no other venues downtown where you could play Underground Dance music. For “just a bar”, it also had some great bookings, including Nasti Moto, Anestie Gomez, Kreon, Mihai Pol, Alex Cle, K.atou… Square became the home of Underground Minimal Techno in Cyprus, with a long list of DJs who connected with each other, and enjoy listening to each other. What made it interesting was that no one seemed sure if it was supposed to be a bar or a club, because in terms of functionality, it was basically a club where you could go and hear a set of underground music. If everyone was acting like it was a club, then the DJ could perform as if it was a club also. This allowed some really memorable nights, like BillyD’s birthday party in 2017, and the Mihai Pol event in February 2019. The venue will be missed, although for sure the space the Square is leaving in the scene, will be replaced by something even better, so hopefully this is all for the best. Big shout out to the owner and the staff, thank you for everything.

A note from Niko Mas: Apart from after parties, and some raves with Aristodemos, Square was the first place I DJ’d in Cyprus. There were really few opportunities to get a gig here, especially in a place where the audience and staff are really into Underground dance music. In Square, you felt that someone who cared was listening, even if it was just Savvas in the bar, or Daoutis and Latyp sitting to the side. Thanks for the opportunities.

Photographs: Izabella Galkowska

Music Review:

Honest Electronics [HE013] The first track, Atlast, has an interesting paradoxical feeling to it; the timbre is sweet, with a sour acidity, but it hits really hard when it opens. There are a number of plucky synth sounds layered up to create a deep, and wide soundscape. The backdrop has a soft, fabric-like texture; it shimmers excitedly, fading in and out. In front sits the slightly acidic lead, which jumps around in a way that feels erratic, but somehow seems deliberate and purposeful. Both these sounds, and the others all have a lot of detail worked into them, with a lot of modulation on the note-decay, opening and closing from long, warm, and expressive, to a strobing staccato that nibbles at the ear and can send a tingle down the spine. The journey is brief yes, but the melancholic vibe that drifts in like a gas cloud, reframing the melody like a kind of obscure but well placed key change. It is however curious to wonder why the artist chose to end when they did, as the material is really rich, and it is almost a shame every time it ends.

Krimson Vial - Pockets EP

The main course comes as a 5 minute experimental piece which delivers a range of sounds, progressing slowly, but with a firm conviction; it kind of powers through a spectrum of ideas really confidently. It’s actually really cool. The opening is great, it sounds like the start of an amazing minimal ambient techno track, comparable to Vand, or even Dygas. The snare is acceptable (;]), snaps nicely, with a nice harsh timbre, which quickly adds some industrial dirt to the minimalism. After a few minutes, the kick drops really nicely; the warm acid bass warps in; the decay on the bass opens and closes tastefully with a nice growl to the resonance. Even though it moves quickly, it remains coherent all the way through, never changing in a way that cuts the flow. It stays interesting throughout; great attitude; punk techno; hardware vibe; next!

The Astrology of Hello from the lion’s den, it is Leo Viridis Astrologia, your neighborhood / island’s astrologer. I have long been interested in the intersection of astrology and culture, or how astrology can be employed as cultural commentary, so when I was invited to occupy space within Crossdressing Diogenes pages it was my pleasure to do so. Astrological charts can be generated not only for individuals but for anything that we can pinpoint its birth in space and time. I thought it would be most appropriate to pick at The Gathering’s chart, something that many of us know and love, so that it facilitates our astrological reading. This will not be by any means a conclusive reading of our beloved happening as it is also a heavily aspected chart but what I am aiming at is to touch upon its purpose and how it is collectively experienced by its audience and attendees. So let’s delve right into it. Elements: Let’s start by considering the elements. We can find planets in all three water signs (cancer, scorpio, pisces) therefore water as an element is emphasised . When water features strongly in a chart, moving through life with feelings comes naturally, so music becomes a means to express and communicate those emotions otherwise left untold. Ascendant in Aquarius: What the ascendant (otherwise known as rising sign) best characterises is the way we approach life, hence the time of moment we come into the world is needed to calculate that. With Aquarius rising on the horizon, our tribe and social circle, the ideas and ideals that bring us together, serve as a vehicle which carries us throughout our journey. Moon in Virgo: Our embodiment of the mother archetype, the care and nurture we need to give but receive as well, is amongst the many things the moon speaks of. With Virgo there, we recognise how important it is to be of service and assistance. Every set transforms into a healing practice in a more direct, earthy manner.

The Gathering

All writing and images contributed by LeoViridis Astrologia (@leoviridisastrologia)

Sun, Mercury, Venus in Cancer: I was not surprised to find a Cancer Stellium* in the Gathering’s chart. With 3 planets in Cancer assuming the role of a great mother is central to its identity therefore it creates a home for its attendees, cares for them through music that we all can connect to and nurtures our souls while bringing us all closer to each other. Cancer is also notorious for being sensitive to the environment so I imagine the location is of outmost importance and vital to how the music resonates with the audience. Being a water sign, subjective and indirect communication is also key with those placements, especially since Mercury is also involved. We are speaking of music that has less to do with talking and describing but rather more about feeling and experience. Conclusion or Final thoughts: The Gathering’s chart has a heavily aspected Cancer sun: it is receiving a lot of information from all the other planets. Meaning that in the Gathering’s journey there’s a lot to consider, assimilate and express through the tribal space that it holds for all of us. It looks like our beloved electronic nest will remain in Kampia for as long as we need it to.

Glossary: Stellium: When 3 or more planets are conjunct in a sign. Aspect: The angle 2 planets form between them. Some are rather tense while others are harmonious. All are necessary and contribute to the chart’s dynamic. Conjunction: When 2 planets are next to each other. Some astrologers consider or not a conjunction depending on the degrees between them. Usually it varies from 6 to 8 degrees , up to 10.

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