Day 13,14 - June 14th + 15th

Okay so this is supposed to be the EPIC weekend recap, no?
Here is where I am supposed to tell you about the thousands of people that gathered in an abandoned Roman military forte that is called "100 prisons" because buried beneath is a labyrinth of 100 hundred prison cells. This is where I am supposed to explain the history of the Forte called Forte Prenestino and how it was taken over by punk rockers on Labor Day 1986 and has since been the longest running squat in Rome. This is where I am supposed to tell you about how the place has a huge beautiful BLU murial in one of its cathedral areas and has gorgeous graffiti murals lining the insides of the long brick tunnels and brick walls that ensconce the parklike surrounding area. This is where I am supposed to tell you about the comic book festival that will take place soon for the second year in the forte that places all of its vendors in a jail cell each underground. Here is where I am supposed to tell you about the all female DJ collective that organizes the two day festival known as Electrode and the event I played on stage in front of atleast a thousand dance crazed Romans. This is where I am supposed to tell you about the brilliant visuals all weekend at the festival and the importance of video and vj-ing here in Italy.

Well you will just have to wait because I am too tired and these fucking Romans smoke so many goddamn cigarettes that I am having sneezing fits.

TRUST THERE is SO MUCH TO TELL.

Let me take this moment to tell you about my outfit and promo for the Cruising set. In my limited time in Rome I did not see queens working many looks. Whether it is the fear of being bashed or "this butch moment in gay history" the queens were dressing down in the city. SO, when mama decided to throw on her Allan Herrera couture 1979 leathermen's outfit complete with maroon leather chaps and customized reversible leather vest needless to say she felt a bit out of place. The concept for the outfit was to fit the 1980 film by William Freidkin of which the entire set was an homage to.


After a couple of months of reworking original footage of the film to fit music and a slightly stilted narrative I asked Allan to create a theatrical costume for the two performances that would ensure when on stage at Electrode. He then came up with a reversible jacket that on one side had a yellow bandana motif and when flipped had red bandana and sequenced gashes and slashes to mimic a bloody murder scene. Then to add a bit of decadence, master jeweler Eric "Shutterlut" Stein crafted me a custom set of brass knuckles that spell PEEPLAY on the exterior. After all was put together before I left for Europe, Jody Jock did a smei-porographic promotional photo shoot of the look which was used on the poster featured below.

When Francesco aka WARBEAR told me that he had a special party planned for when I would be in Rome I believed him. We had tossed many emails back and forth about the importance of the presence of his portion of this event called Electrode. Essentially a 2 day rave set up in Rome's oldest squat, Electrode had a multitude of things going on within it which I gathered was apart of the promoting trend going on in the city (something for everyone, and a little bit of everything). I got a gist of what I was getting myself into when on every other street corner there was a wall covered with posters with my name on it (no fucking joke, lifesize color movie posters for Electrode everywhere I went).

The two day festival featured a bunch of people I had never heard of, delicious cheap dinner in the burning man style canteen, a glossed over but highly anticipated set by Vitalic (the Romans LOVE hard electro-techno), two stage areas, lots of boozing and mind melting, one really stupid fight, undercover gays on day one and making out gays on day two. After getting completely lost on my way to the venue the first day to meet up with Infidel the highly celebrated Roman Video DJ and artist I finally got to see this place. At the dead end of a major city street in a neighborhood named after the 100 jail cells buried beneath the military fortress I was about to enter was a parklike entrance with stairs and trees. Once inside there was a large arched tunnel covered in graffiti of all kinds. Once past the tunnel visitors are presented with three passageways two the three different areas of Forte Prenestino. The videos explain it much better then I can but in a nut shell there are three levels. The underground which as I said features 100 preserved interconnected jail cells which were used by the fascist regime to enslave and torture. You can wiki the forte and it will give you an idea of the current and previous state of this space.

Like I mentioned earlier, there is Burning Man vibe to the whole things. A melting pot of smelly and non smelly artist types and a mesh of the highest caliber of artisan craftsmanship and then hippie crap. Amongst the over curated wall murals is brilliant and massive mural by one of my favorite artists right now Blu. When talking to Valeria about the work:

ME: "I really love Blu's art because its always riding this line between non-violence and shock"

VALERIA (in one of her signature simultaneously hazy and commanding answers): "Better then violent, benevolent."

The first night the energy was on. I went up to Warbear and commented on how suprised I was to see so many female DJs. He explained that Electrode was actually put together by a collective of female djs that have been around since the 90s rave days. What a breath of fresh air, a huge professional music event, organized by women that wasn't promoted as a fish fest. And although the music was all over the board and 99% of it forcing me to drink more and more this unspoken female hug on the event made it special. The setting was just unlike anything I've seen before. The crowd, because the party was so well promoted and obviously THE place to be was across the board from punks, to queers, to jocks, to old schoolers, to promoters, to dorks. The party went until about 10 am at which point the sun was out and the rainbow carnage had become fully visible. Smile all around.

The second night, the one that featured Phag Off in the cathedral that featured Blu's mural, is a bit of a blur for me. One thing I do remember is the opening set by Hugo Sanchez from Phag Off and SubWOOFer. Really intrigued by Hugo from the things I have heard about him over the years I was a bit disappointed that I hadn't been able to hang out with him much. Seeing him behind the decks for the first time was going to be exciting and especially after learning so much about him over the week by prying information out of those around. The opening set at a festival of this size is no easy job. The night before the dj in the same area had incredible trouble working the cocktail hour. Hugo brought out the big guns, he started to decorate the empty dancefloor with some good vibe neu-disco sounds and feelers, slick mixes and a good vibes bouncing behind his decks. A fussy crowd of un-drunk gays and fresh arrivals Hugo stepped up his game and started to bang out some of the sickest electro grooves I have heard all year, his mixes were so sharp that I was pretty much freaking out and breaking into a sweat at hour one.

Hugo wears multiple hats. He is a resident DJ for Phag Off (which had been running for many years now) and is a promoter and resident for SubWOOFer Rome's bear super-party. He also runs an up and coming electric-disco label called Roccodisco featuring a solid lineup of musicians and upcoming releases. Hugo also has been friends and producing music with Rome hometown hero Rodion who's solid releases on Gomma have earned him an international dance floor presence. So, there is no doubt that Hugo has the taste and work ethic to be a good DJ but to hear it for myself... GODDAMN! Bangin.

In no time there was hundreds of people in the PhagOff area crowding the limited concrete dancefloor, and in no time it was show time for my Italian debut. Outfitted, video synced, and Valeria in a sheet hidden under the booth and ready to perform, I set out to dj one of the greatest sets of my current career. It was very San Francisco, trannies, 1970's throwback disco visual narrative, leather, cheap last minute props, and boys making out in a crowd full of off their tits straights. They ate it up, from me making out with Valeria performing as Al Pacino's girlfriend in the film to me getting handcuffed and murdered by Italo with huge fake steak knife. At one point I realized I was pumping my fist in the air in excitement but realized that it looked like I was sig-hailing the crowd. I kind of looked up at my hand and recoiled in terror for what It might have read as. Giving that the crowd made no notice I went on with my antics. About 20 minutes later (and even though some of those I have told this to do not believe me) a 20 something shaved head guy who was pushed up against the stage the whole set rocking out caught my attention and started to do the "hail Hitler." Mom and Dad would be proud.

The madness never stopped. After I got dragged off the main stage a murdered mary mess
the party ensued and pursued into the wee hours. Warbear banged the boxes for like 5 or 6 hours until we escaped in his getaway suitcase sized car. While everyone ran for their beds, Hugo and I decided it was time to move on to different adventures. It just so happened that the weekend I was in town was the weekend for the famous Sunday swap meet / market that happens once a month (the name escapes me). Armed with my portable record player, Hugo and I go in search for Roman treasure. Delirious from a hard night and no sleep we go in and out of consciousness only expelling energy for the few vinyl pockets the vendors held. Coming out unscathed we found a couple of ripe gems

What I do have time to tell you about is the gay beach of Rome. Its called Cappo Catto and has one of the more notorious cruising spots in the city. The beach is marked by the only big rainbow flags I saw in the city and has a small boardwalk that leads you to the sand. Once on the beach, past the bar that pumps gay deep house, your mouth will start salivating with all the delicious meat browning in small underthings and sun.


















I could spend time telling you about the mainland or I could get to the good stuff which was when I decided I had enough tanning and needed to head back into the sand dunes where all the cruising goes down. There are signs all along wooden barrier that says not to go into the dunes, maybe its a safe sex campaign, and just like most safe sex campaigns it has trouble keeping people from crossing the line.
(c) Homochic 2008