Crossdressing Diogenes Issue 5 / January 2020
picture_Visual Caliber_klubd
Season 2 Issue 5 Jan 7th 2020
Issue 5 comes at a time of changes. A lot of things closed, some new things are opening. People come and people go. It might not be ending the year the way we thought, but then again it’s always that way. We continue moving slowly along the way, and we will continue to dance whenever we can. Wherever we can. Until we can’t. :)
Angeliki Koutsodimitropoulou layout design Niko Mas texts Izabela Gałkowska cover picture
picture_Visual Calliber_klubd
Contents
Introduction to Issue 5 The Gathering IV Gemini Club Urban Resonance Dishonest: RAVE Metatron Colazione 5 Independent & Happy Dreaming of Summer in Cyprus KlubD Closure A Note from Alex Tomb Photoalbum Seasons 1-4 CDCY on Klubd Photoalbum Seasons 5-7 Interview with Andreas Simopoulos Photoalbum Seasons 8-12 S//IP What to look forward to in the next year
picture_Izabela Gałkowska
T he G a th e r i n g I V
Tamassos Reservoir, Kampia 26-28.07.2019
Let’s keep this brief, because we could talk forever. The Gathering 4 was held as it always is, in Kampia, albeit at a new area, with a really impressive view of the reservoir. The main stage had a huge rainbow encircling the entrance, which singlehandedly granted the whole site a twisted dystopian vibe. The heat was intense; the underground character was exacerbated by the challenging climate - it could be described as a fight against nature, to sustain energy and will on the dancefloor, in the Late July heat. Yet, the situation provided enough facilities and stimuli to sustain a 72 hour rave; There were a thousand beautiful moments forged in that furnace. One major difference this year was that all the facilities and stages were within the same complex – this gave a very different feeling from the years previous, where the stages and campsite were disconnected. Once you came down that hill, you were in, everything was there, and it amplified the feeling of being in a bubble, cut off from the world. There is too much to go into, too many names to accredit, but all in all they pulled it off. This is a group of volunteers consistently running a 3-day festival by themselves, and it was 70 hours straight of local Cypriot talent. They wanted to build a monument to the Cypriot underground, and they did – a monument that very fairly and honestly reflected the state of the scene right now – each viewer saw something else: some saw the good, some saw the bad; most saw both. What did you see?
picture_Izabela Gałkowska
picture_Andria Elia
picture_Anastasia Dolitsay
picture_Anastasia Dolitsay
G e m i ni C l u b
Imagine Bar 16.08.2019
Introducing Gemini Club, an informal series of events set to appear in episodes, with different characters and scenes. The concept is that all the DJs will be Geminis, a kind of fun experiment. First up was Ina and Niko Mas, who play different styles, but meet in the middle around the rominimal aesthetic. It’s a good pairing as the two can do their own thing and move back and forth. It started out b2b, but moved into 1 hour sets; the night was structureless but under control. As always the crowd at Imagine were up for it, the bar makes a good dance floor; it has bohemian vibe with an open top, and this quite suited the house-y minimal and acid sounds. There are not many places in the North where you can listen to dance music so if you can provide quality music, people will show up and dance for it and support you. Good first night, so let’s see who is selected next.
Ur ba n Re s o n a n c e v. 2
Engomi Industrial Estate 16.11.2019
Urban Resonance rolls out from a group who like to keep their happenings off-radar. Warehouse, small sound-system, couple of lasers and some map coordinates. It was underground, with a spontaneous last addition to the line up. Someone visited from Greece for a BDSM seminar of all things, and ended up opening the U.R party. Totally unexpected, but the event and mentality of the people made it seem normal, and in retrospect that kind of last minute spin worked out fine. The booth was set up on a frame of scaffolding, the only thing in the large, empty workshop room. Huge potential in this space if anyone can figure out what to do about the acoustics. Seriously good night, free entrance, cheap drinks. Watch out for the next one.
Di s ho ne s t : R AV E
Engomi Industrial Estate 23.11.2019
What happened in the warehouse the week before Dishonest was good in its own right, a lot of fun, but Honest Electronics took the space to a much higher level of production quality. All the scaffolding was cleared out, with a really minimal set up. Speaker towers in front of a long black table. Behind that, a hand-made lighting installation, built out of 15 car headlamps. As dry ice filled the room, the headlights would shoot piercing columns through the mist. Seeing these stacks of speakers coming out of the smoky floor was impressive too. A full 24-hour line up was set, moving through a lot of sounds in a well planned ordering; a long stretch of dance music tailing off in performative work and ambient. It was the first time that VSim and Janis Plasmatik played through that Cerwin Vega system that Honest Electronics drag around the island. The yearly Dishonest party is always well timed, opening the winter season, and moving it into the warehouse really suited the Dishonest aesthetic. H.E events are always worth checking out, and as always, this one was extremely well presented in terms of decor, design, and graphics.
M e ta tro n
Fu ll M o o n Ga t h e r i n g Sardunya Bay, Lapta 14.09.2019
Absolutely battered by bad luck and rain, the combined teams behind Imagine Bar and Sardunya Bay Beach Bar threw a party. The 4 hours of heavy rain was tragic, and lead to the main stage being closed for a few hours, but they battled to get it open by 11pm, and they totally delivered something special for that crowd. All it meant was that Niko Mas and Wanderwonder warmed up the event inside the bar area next to the sea, which seemed to work well anyway. The team were successful in providing something unique to their scene, and it had potential to be even better. At the peak of the night, there was a big crowd; Atesh K was really satisfying the audience – the smoke machine and strobe lighting all together was vivid. It felt like a rave. They achieved what they wanted. A really solid first step.
C o l a z i o ne
Warehouse in Nicosia 20.10.2019
The colazione series continued, this time inviting Ness as the international act. Ness has some history in Cyprus, having played here many times now, including at Governor’s Beach B2B with Claudio PRC. It’s high-end Deep Techno, mixing Italian and Berlin Deep Techno styles much like Alex Tomb does, and it worked really well in the venue. Ness came on after a strong set from Dimi Kass, who played heavy and hard, and Ness’ opening was quite melodic, and he held the energy high for 3 hours or more before finishing on a bomb by Barac. Definitely one of the best so far, the atmosphere seemed really settled and comfortable. The consistency of the sound-system also contributes to this comfort, and for sure TRAP will continue to work with Crystalline Audio Systems to optimise the sound every episode. The Techno scene isn’t dead, that’s for sure.
pictures_Stelios Demetriou
I nde pe nd e n t & H a p p y
Haratsi Nicosia 01.10.2019
Haratsi is a good spot for the occasional party. It’s been successful in the past, and the location is romantic and vibey; this time there were several rows of bunting hanging from some trees, all with little pictures of the Archbishop on them; existentially quite strange, but also strikingly ironic and fun. It’s a picturesque place. Despite seeming like a perfect place for rominimal, the music overall was more on the house side of Alternadiva’s sound, with sets from Patsas and Mpakalis contributing to this, but it worked fine too; Happy mood situation. It’s interesting to see that different kinds of electronic music are working nicely in this space because it makes for a promising future in a really unique space.
photo album Dreaming of Summer in Cyprus 13.07.2019 Kampia pictures_Andria Elia
picture_Costas Dracos_31.12.2009_Alex Tomb & Friends
A note from Alex Tomb NIKO So, the first thing that I would love to know, is what KlubD was like before 2008. Can you reveal to me the history of the club before the re-opening in 2008? What music was being played? What was the attendance and atmosphere like? ALEX TOMB Basically, it was called “Club D” before, as per the name of the owner, Danny. I am not sure when it opened exactly but I remember having my first gigs in there around 2003. Up to 2008 it was renovated twice, and from 2008 onwards it was roughly the same (The 3rd renovation). The 1st version: you would go in from where the DJ box is now; the DJ booth was where the back speakers now; and where the entrance is now, there was a chill area with chairs and tables. The 2nd version: The entrance was in the same place, more or less; DJ box was where the big bar is now, and the bar was kind of in the middle. There used to be a small glass roof and you could see the daylight in the morning. There was also a big chandelier on the roof and used to turn on and off from the guy doing the lights. The music in those days was mostly dark, progressive house and UK deep house (“Terry Francis”, “Dave Mothersole”, “Peace Division”), but in general anything was played there based on electronic music, trance, progressive trance, Psy-trance, and all kinds of house sub genres. But it used to open much more; like even on Thursdays and Wednesdays, depending on the occasion, but always Friday and Saturday 100%. People were more free to express themselves and dress code was insane, anyone could wear whatever they could think of, more kind of punk or extreme 90s days. everyone knew everyone, because Cyprus is really small, but it was more connected like a community and everyone was there for a shared purpose. N I can’t imagine KlubD with daylight and a chandelier! So it started off with quite varied aesthetic in terms of music? A T Yes, kind of, but mostly progressive music. There was a record shop that was importing Psychedelic records back then, as well as crazy clothes, so that might have had an impact on the scene. It’s also because of the factor that I was really young and easily impressed.
picture_Costas Dracos_31.12.2009_Alex Tomb & Friends
N
When did you work there as booking agent?
A T I used to go partying [In Berlin] since 2007, whilst living in the UK [at that time]. Then at some point around 2010, when finished my studies, I realised that London and its scene were not interesting to me anymore, and I couldn’t find parties that I liked. So, I made the big decision to move to Berlin just for the music, and to try something new. I knew many people there because I had met them at KlubD; I was doing KlubD bookings between 20102012 while I was preparing to move to Berlin. N Looking back at the event history, this seems to be the time that Deep Techno was big in Cyprus, through artists like Donato Dozzy, Claudio PRC, Giorgio Gigli. A T I guess it was because I have a strong connection with Rome and Italy. I think it has to do something with the Mediterranean culture and feeling, and influences from our past. As a Cypriot, and having many Italian friends, we click together nicely, share same thoughts and agree on many things, especially on music; the way we do it and play; the atmosphere we are looking for in a party etc. N
And now that KlubD has closed?
A T Its sad but on the other hand, I feel proud and complete after being there from the beginning until the end in this long cycle. klubd shaped me as an artist in a way that nothing else would. we will never be able to repay what danny gave to the scene in Cyprus, things would be different without klubd. Klubd shaped electronic music landscape in Cyprus. N
So what next?
A T The only thing we know here is that a dedicated electronic music club is coming soon to town, around December, with full Martin Audio system. More info soon! _some of this interview was extracted from an interview conducted in 2017
picture_Costas Dracos_11.06.2010_DOP Live
picture_Costas Dracos_31.12.2009_Alex Tomb & Friends
picture_Angeliki Koutsodimitropoulou_27.11.2010_klubd 3rd anniversary_Wareika
picture_Luke Christopher_08.10.2011_season 4 opening night_Italoboys_Socrates
picture_Angeliki Koutsodimitropoulou_04.06.2014_Plug Conference
CDCY on Klubd KlubD was open for 18 years. From around 2001 to 2007 it was open as “Club D”, later converting to “KlubD” until the closure in 2019. It was considered by many as the romantic home of Electronic music in Cyprus, the master node in the scene, holding everything in place by offering a consistent meeting point and a sense of permanency - it is where so many people first connected with the culture and ethos of Dance Music, and the Underground in general. The times before Club D, the early 90s through until the millenium, are virtually lost to history. There is no record of anything. No one really remembers what was going on back then. There is word that Pafos was the place to be, at a time when it would take 6 hours to drive there through all the villages; at a time with no highways, no internet, and only Zivania at the parties. Back then there were microscopic Garage, Trance and Psy movements. Before Ayia Napa even. Or so they remember. While Europe was in full swing, raving hard through the second summer of love, UK Garage, and the Detroit-Berlin explosion, Cyprus appears to have been quite disconnected from this, understandably. It all started with these small rumoured movements in Paphos and Ayia Napa. This was the absolute first time people were connecting with both the concept of electronic music, and modern club culture. It was a time of learning, of trial and error, and amateur beginnings. Perhaps no one remembers exactly what happened back then, because, at that time, no one was exactly sure what they were doing. It was all so new. The opening of Club D in 2001 reflects that first kindling of Electronic music and Rave culture on the island. The era where there is actually enough demand to justify opening a dedicated club. It wasn’t the first club, as there was also Versus happening, which did have a role on club culture, but KlubD would later grow into an entity that really represented a distinct underground electronic movement in Cyprus. The club’s importance is that it was there from the
beginning of the movement, growing symbiotically with the audience. KlubD helped push the scene to new levels of understanding and quality, and also pushed and educated the audience enough for their advancement began to feedback on the club itself. The club taught the audience how to teach the club. What was happening weekly in the club would also have huge impacts on what was going on outside the club. It’s the only entity that has lasted from the time where people didn’t have experience, to today, where there are a lot of inspired and intelligent initiatives happening.
picture_Visual Caliber_01.02.2014_Praslea_Janis Plasmatik
KlubD, in the form we know it now, is often described as having three phases which began in 2010, around the time where Alex Tomb was the booking agent. The three phases reflect the rotating management and booking teams, who each reached out into the cosmos of electronic music and brought back with them a different idea, and a different sound.
When looking back, it seems more like a university schedule, with three distinct terms, made up of multiple semesters. In the first term, there was maximalism and Deep Techno; Giorgio Gigli, Donato Dozzy, Claudio PRC. In the second term, Minimalism and rolling grooves from romania. Third, fidelity and classic culture, manifesting as detroit and electro-sounds, rotary mixers and vinyl records. As KlubD closes its doors, it is sweet to imagine that the scene has graduated college, and we collectively are armed with the qualifications to really set the machine in motion. As soon as the word of closing got out, people reacted with despair, and the landscape felt empty. It is not enough alone to depend on the temporal happenings in bars, warehouses and beaches, especially in winter; stable, dependable entities ground and contextualise everything in networks, whether a social network or a cultural one. No doubt this truth is the reason why immense effort has gone into filling the void; KlubD was, in respect to cultural development, so successful that it’s closure left a hole so big in the scene that it required immediate attention. It’s withdrawal from the situation has triggered the revolution that was waiting to happen.
picture_Theodora Demetriou_08.11.2014_season 7 opening night_Maayan Nidam_Slow
picture_Visual Caliber_02.11.2013_season 6 opening night_Vera_Janis Plasmatik
picture_Visual Caliber_22.02.2014____Rhadoo_Anestie Gomez
picture_Angeliki Koutsodimitropoulou
picture_Theodora Demetriou
picture_Izabela Gałkowska_05.01.2016_Cezar_Dubtil_Janis_AA lumens
picture_Izabela Gałkowska_28.04.2018_season 10 closing_Binh_Vsim
Interview with Andreas Simopoulos NIKO When did you start in KlubD? ANDREAS Season 8. I didn’t start as manager, I started as the guy who puts the stamps. I knew francos from before, and he told me one day that the crew was about to change so prepare your music because it will be nice for you to be in the club. This was the end of Season 7. N How did things begin for the club that year? A So in June that year we started working on renovations inside the club that summer, and it was at that time that I realised the situation with the sound inside the club was a bit off. We cleared a lot of things from behind all the walls, stuff that was there from the very beginning of the club. Honestly, before that time I hadn’t thought much about the sound in the club, it was hard for me to say if the sound was at it’s best because back then there was a lot of people using CDJs and Tracktor, digital stuff which I find more difficult to understand if it is at it’s best quality of sound possible. I didn’t play records then either, but the only thing I knew was analog sound engineering. It wasn’t until... I think it was Daniel Bell or someone? He came and played a lot of records and music that I knew very well, and it was that night that I realised that the sound wasn’t.. the best it could be in the situation of the club. I told Danny that we should put some time in updating and tuning the system again. N I can’t imagine he wanted anyone messing around with his sound-system though. A Haha, yes. But, after one very good DJ from Paris, Molly, came to play in the club, I made a lot of alterations and at the end of the night, we agreed that it seemed to sound extremely nice. Some days after this, I was called and asked if there were any other changes I wished to make. I immediately said to throw the two rear JBLs, and get two new Funktion-1s. Through connections with my old sound engineering teacher, we found an amazing distributor from UK, and they sent
picture_Izabela Gałkowska
the engineer out with the speakers to install them. This was a proper British guy. Very british guy. I mean… a Sound Engineer. Cares only about sound, doesn’t like football, 55 years old, loved drum and bass. He was kind of a hero for me, because he literally only cared about the sound and only spoke about the sound. N Did the engineer do the first tuning for the new set up then? A No. Danny asked the guy to make the sound for the club, but the British guy said... look, I don’t know your music, I know drum and bass. In this situation, Andreas knows this music better, maybe he should make the sound. So he left, and from this day on I started tuning. I was writing down the hours spent tuning the system, and until now it’s probably been thousands of hours. N What was your vision for the club at the time? A It was at the time that we, with the other guys, were trying to make the club into vinyl-only in a way... if you play with Tracktor, or CDJs, or whatever, its okay by me, of course, but it’s not so romantic you know. It is not bad, but for me is not the same. We just liked the romance and culture. So in Season 9, I started to suggest to the guys to take a rotary mixer. I was thinking about the classic situation in the 90s. What did they have in the 90s in the booth? Rotary mixer, Technics, and Vinyl Records. After weeks of research I suggested to the guys about the Bozac, which we then took from Bristol. At that time, people were unsure if the mixer’s workflow was suitable in a club context, but it didn’t take long for some people to agree that the sound of it really suited KlubD. We were just trying to bring the classic sound of Techno. Maybe people brought this sound to KlubD before, we are not criticising the people before us, but yes, we tried to bring this classic Detroit sound and culture. Honestly not many really liked it. Even Danny wasn’t into it. Me and Socrates were in heaven, but it wasn’t working.
picture_Izabela Gałkowska
N Do you have any idea why people didn’t see what you were trying to do, or why they didn’t like this sound? A Guys, we are in Cyprus. We have just 6 hours to enjoy the club, we are not in Berlin when we always have 3 day parties. For this reason I thought about reviving the classic style... when you only have 6 hours, every track should be a bomb. In KlubD I don’t know what a warm up set is, or what a main set is? Cypriots go to the club whenever they want.. if there is 20 people in the club at 1am, I want them to be dancing already so that when more people arrive at 2am, they arrive and see people dancing. Anyway, we had a lot of criticism around this time. Before us, there were a lot of styles… and there were people who really liked that sound, and they felt we were bringing something new, something hipster or hype… but we said this is not new music, its music from 1985 to 1995; the classics! So we had a lot of struggles in the club, I saw a lot of people unhappy. We had people coming from outside of Cyprus and tell me, “man, the sound here is one of the best in Europe”. Yet, the people were unhappy. Maybe in the last 1 and a half years, some people start to accept the sound, but I don’t know. This is fine though, the audience is allowed to have their opinion, and to care about what they listen; we tried to adapt to them, without abandoning our vision for the club. N So what did you do moving forward? What were the last two seasons like? A Well, one of the things about Cyprus is that the followers of one “sound” can start to seem like a football team, they want to hear one thing and only come when their team plays. As an example, some people who like the Alex Tomb sound, only come when Alex plays. So we tried to make tactics about this – one night we put myself to play before Alex Tomb because we wanted to show our sound to his crowd. It did not go well. We even brought Ceephax Acid Crew. Socrates found him. I pushed him a lot to bring this guy here… Socrates and I said “malaka, Ceephax is for all! Ceephax is without borders”. Again, the attendance was down. We struggled to accept this turn out. Sadly Danny saw everything too, he saw problems
picture_Izabela Gałkowska_31.12.2017_Lamache_Maik
here and there, lower attendance and communication difficulties. Three days before he told me the club will close forever, we were trying to plan the program; we said we will be local. All local. 27 nights next season, 24 local nights – 3 internationals: Rhadoo, Do or Die, and Lamache or someone else. We were trying to do whatever it took to get the support of people. Anyway, then Danny just told me, you know what, I don’t see a future, I think it’s time to close the club forever. I was in extreme shock. But, I understood him. He supported me 100% for 4 years, now it was time for me to support him. Everyone is still in shock until today, but we have to remember that, yes, KlubD was amazing, extremely nice club, but now we can move on and create something else. The club taught us how the scene here works. N A
A new legacy. A new era.
picture_Yiannis Zouris_28.04.2018_season 10 closing_Binh_Vsim
picture_Izabela Gałkowska_06.01.2018_Socrates_Bangladesign & Steffi Crown
picture_Izabela Gałkowska_02.12.2017_Janis_Slow
picture_Izabela Gałkowska_21.10.2017_Etienne_Vsim
picture_Izabela Gałkowska_18.11.2017_Socrates_Vsim
CDCY: On S//IP Issue 5 somewhat documents a transition. No one is claiming, and no one should claim that S//IP and KlubD are the same thing, they are not. Within itself, and within the context of Nicosia, KlubD was perfect, from the space, to the sound, to the community. It was the grand hall for DJs in Cyprus; organisations and promoters like Honest Electronics, Alternadiva and TRAP all have their “own turf” in places like Kampia, Mazotos, Warehouse 612, and so on, but a gig at KlubD was a gig played on a kind of mutual ground. KlubD’s culture reflected an averaged out impression of how people here in Nicosia engage with Electronic music, and taking your music there is like taking your music to a high culture stage where the audience has been sitting watching performance after performance for years; the eyes of KlubD saw everything the scene has to offer, and there is nothing in the space to distract you from what the DJ puts down. It takes years to build this situation up, and even more years to build respect from the community. However, the reality is that, upon KlubD’s closure, Nicosia had nothing left except the new version of “RED musiki skini” remaining. The scene is full, so many artists, DJs, dancers, promoters, designers, but absolutely zero prospects for spaces to play. In this situation, the opening of one or more spaces was an absolute emergency, someone had to take on the job, and take on the risk, and we’re lucky that someone has done so, at such a speed. This is Cyprus, and a team has pulled a club out of thin air in a matter of months. It’s a miracle, and as a community we might have to put some extra warmth into the new space to help it survive the first winter. The team can be trusted to do this job over time, incredibly passionate people with history, experience, and talent; now that it is about to open, we should step back and let the space develop in its own time. It takes time to build what has been envisioned. It will be different in S//IP, but if the attitude of the scene matches the work of the club, the pace at which we can develop will accelerate.
graphics_Nico Stephou
The venue looks beautiful inside, and considering the timing of everything, the sound has been tuned very well by a pair of extremely experienced ears. Yet, as with all spaces, maybe what we see on opening night isn’t the final form, but there is no benefit at this stage to scrutinise too much. Bars and booths and bathrooms can be moved, lights can be changed, sound-systems can be expanded and re-tuned. The booking schedule gives a lot of space for local nights, and new combinations of local artists, and the policy regarding rental is also giving space to local organisations to bring their concept to the new central community space. We will see groups from Limassol or Larnaca bringing things like Disco Dystopia and Brandy Sour to Nicosia. Having a professional, audiophile space is also one of the most important elements in bringing good international artists to perform for us. Yes, we’ve seen Ness in the warehouse, we’ve seen Dave Mothersole on a flooded beach, but a lot of serious artists require something a bit more comfortable. The opening night has Federico Marton from ITALOBOYZ on the schedule, something fun and upbeat, something without borders and accessible to everyone. The decision to put Daoutis in front of Federico Marton is an example of a new, creative booking schedule - there is a connection between the two artists, one that is not particularly obvious but somehow intuitively tangible. The two will pull each other into areas they might not usually play, perhaps a more tribal Daoutis, or a more Minimal Marton. We’re going to see a lot of familiar faces around S//IP, and while no one claims that S//IP is trying to replace KlubD, what is for certain is that S//IP has the potential to grow into something equal in its own right, to create its own space that bring its own unique contribution to the overall Electronic music movement that has been in motion for more than 20 years now. The phrase “a new era” is a bit dramatic, but it’s absolutely true. If S//IP moves into a central role in the overall scene, it will influence and change the trajectory of the movement overall, in a way that we cannot predict.
2019
has been a strange year in terms of staying organised with CDCY. We realised that some of our goals regarding distribution and punctuality are not completely possible. Thank you for staying supportive throughout these changes. As always CDCY aims to remind everyone just how many good things we have in our scene, and while some beloved entities fade into memory, there is a lot of new things happening and this is a really good sign.
back page picture_Theodora Demetriou_klubd
What to look forward to in the next year :
S//IP Honest Electronics ++The Gathering ++Dishonest Alternadiva ++Low Society TRAP Trash Your Gender: Electronic RED Square Promotions Unknown tour Gemini club Urban resonance Afternoon records club Call me salome Low Tom Peculiar Gatherings Disco Dystopia Wizzy Wigs Brandy Sour Subaerial Moneda C’est Demon Infected Unfortunate Events XRC Collective
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