DC House Grooves strongly supports the Black Lives Matter movement, and on Saturday June 13, we’ll be proudly supporting the Say it Loud, Say it Proud: Black Lives Matter!march to the White House in Washington DC, a collaboration between ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ก๐ข ๐ ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฆ and all the local underground electronic music crews: 630 Radio, Art by Quest Skinner, Bump’n’Grind, DarkRoom, DC House Grooves, Forward DC, Hothouse, Market Crash, Meso Creso, Petworth Social Club, ROAM, SEQUENCE, Sleaze, Sprรผdel, The NeedlExchange – TNX, Virtual Underground DC, Sticky Fingers Collective & Team Zapata. All our welcome, and we encourage all our friends and followers to raise their voice and make themselves heard by joining the march on Saturday. Please share with your friends and let’s make sure they hear us!
We will march from 6th St NE โค Rhode Island Ave NE/NW โค Florida Ave. NW โค African-American Civil War Memorial/Museum โค U St NW โค 14 St. NW โค Rhode Island Ave NW โค Black Lives Matter Plz (formerly 16th St NW) โค The White House.
We will pause at the African-American Civil War Memorial/Museum and The White House for approx. one hour/each.
We will have an 8-person golf cart fully equipped with Martin Audio sound, provided by 630 Radio. Prioritized golf cart seating will be given to those with mobile disabilities. We will be driving slow; feel free to walk or bike alongside us.
โซ Music will be curated by Bernard Farley in support of black artists of all orientations. We want to make a lot of noise; if you have drums or bongos, please bring them.
We will have 100 PB&Js and 200 bottled waters available to protestors on a first-come-first-served basis. We will also have a limited amount of gloves for those who prefer to wear them. ***BYO MASK*** We will have a very limited amount of extra masks available. We urge you to bring your own.
If you or those in your household are at higher risk for virus transmission, or if you feel unwell, please stay home. Take care of yourself. We want everyone to remain as safe as possible. If you must stay home, and would still like to help, the best way to do this would be to spread the word about this march via social media/phone/email. If you are financially able, we also invite you to donate to Black Lives Matter: https://blacklivesmatter.com/
11am Meet at 630 W St. NE 11:30am Begin march down Rhode Island Ave 12:30pm Arrive at African-American Civil War Memorial/Museum [30 MIN-1 HR BREAK] 1/1:30pm March to The White House 2/2:30pm Arrive at The White House [~1HR BREAK] 3:30/4pm March back to 630 W St. NE 5:30/6pm Arrive at 630 W St. NEForecast says it may rain in the afternoon. That may change, but โ please plan accordingly. See you there.
๐ฆ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐:
630 Radio Art by Quest Skinner Bump ‘n Grind DarkRoom DC House Grooves Forward DC Hothouse Market Crash Meso Creso Petworth Social Club ROAM SEQUENCE Sleaze Sprรผdel The NeedlExchange – TNX Virtual Underground DC Sticky Fingers Collective Team Zapata
Getting the band back together! After a few shows in lockdown, Ramirez is back in the basement with Andy Grant & Katrina Mir for another edition of the DC House Grooves Show on Underground Quality Radio at our regular time slot 10pm ET on Saturday May 16. Regular listeners will know the drill, 2+ hours of the very best underground house, disco, techno and everything in between from three of Washington DC’s finest selectors. We’ll be hanging out in a new Messenger room, join at https://msngr.com/THW4xtIp5DEqLVnr
Well this sucks. No clubs, no dancing, no DJing, no fun ๐ To stop ourselves from going completely mad, we’re gonna be playing records from time to time and streaming it to the Interwebs. Bookmark this page, and check back everyday… we’ll likely be going live around 7pm.
Tommy Cornelis is a member of the DJ collective and party The NeedlExchange, and DC House Grooves has invited him to give you an unofficial and underground guide to DC Pride 2015!
It’s easy to assume everyone in our underground community knows that we owe a great deal to our “dancestors”, particularly LGBTQIA people of color, when we step on the dance floor. But then you hear Ten Walls (aka Mario Basanov) spew some truly vile shit that would make Rick Santorum blush, and you’re left scratching your head.
And while it’s great to see gay rights progress incredible fast, it’s sad to see gay audiences completely unaware of our roots. I meet gay people all the time who have never heard the names of Larry Levan or Frankie Knuckles, but know every word to [insert name of generic, straight pop star].
Far too often lines are drawn on both sides, albeit unintentional, where gay people might be really into a DJ, but the harsh reality is that they may not attend the event because they don’t want to be the only gay person there, coupled with the concern “is this truly a safe space?”. Conversely, some straight people won’t go to a queer event out of fear of invading their space, or maybe they too feel like the “odd one(s) out”.
As we embark on our annual DC Pride celebration, active discussions on diversity in dance culture and the commercialization of Pride are taking place. While these (and many other) conversations are crucial to our identities, and should be evolving beyond the scope of one week in June,ย I say we stop taking sides and strive to create inviting spaces that would make our dance forefathers and mothers proud. We are aย resilient, diverse community, bound by our love for the dance floor and expression of self.
If you want to take me up on that challenge, here are some pride events from DC’s emerging, queer underground for you to sweat to this week!
Wednesday Picks
Market Crash – Pride 2015 Special Edition at The Big Board It’s really cool seeing gays throwing weekday parties AND branching out of NW, and Market Crash just celebrated one year of doing just that with their monthly party on H Street at The Big Board. For Pride they’re bringing in guest DJ Tommy Cornelis and drag queen Heidi Glรผm. Heidi hosts a drag night at Black Cat called Gay Bash, where you’re more likely to see a Marilyn Manson performance than Britney Spears.
Schadenfreude Neubauten w/ DJ Laura Palmer at Dr. Clock’s Nowhere Bar DJs Wolfblister (Kwasi) and Dianamatic were DJing a party called Kitty Twister together at Dodge City when they started Schadenfreudu Neubauten as an outlet to play coldwave, post punk, minimal synth, goth and near goth stuff. And they do this all at Dr. Clock’s, which has served as an incubator of sorts for off-the-wall ideas. Find out who killed guest DJ Laura Palmer this Thursday.
Shirtless at Green Lantern No one goes here for the music, but “Shirtless” at “The Latrine” is a proud DC tradition. The deal is you drink for free from 10-11PM if you take your shirt off. It creates a dance floor full of shirtless, sweaty dudes, which sometimes hits the spot.. especially during Pride. Shirtless is also a stop on the Leather Barcrawl, which has a free bus to the not-so-convenient new location of the DC Eagle, so it’s a good opportunity to drink cheap, check out the Eagle, and get your leather on!
Pornstache at Satellite Room Satellite Room is hosting several pride-related events this year, including this party from the team behind Market Crash.DJ Kevo and DJ Melo will be playing electro music all night, and there will be performances by drag queens Heidi Glรผm and Salvadora Dali.
Booty Rex at Black Cat Top pick for Friday night is definitely the now annual and quite legendary Booty Rex party, combining the Anthology of Booty collective and the (now defunct) She.Rex party. There aren’t a ton of lesbian parties in DC, but when there are- people show up in full force ready to get down. There’s something to be said about this model in a city where we so often have to pick and choose from several great events each night. Booty Rex takes over both floors of The Cat w/ DJs Natty Boom, Alex DB, DJ RAt, and Junebullet, to name a few.
Otter Crossing feat. CTRL at Green Lantern Otter Crossing is one of the few gay parties in DC that has achieved a cult-like following that doesn’t compromise on music selection. For Pride, Otter Crossing is hosting the boys of CTRL, who promise to transport us to a 70s bathhouse and play some disco!
Paradise Mirage feat. Kim Ann Foxman at U Street Music Hall I’m obviously biased but top pick for the entire weekend is Paradise Mirage, where U Street Music Hall and TNX (Bil Todd, Baronhawk & Tommy Cornelis) aim to resurrect Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage through Keith Haring-inspired artwork, Paradise Garage-inspired visuals, and music from the Butch Queen DJs, TNX, DJ Lisa Frank, and Kim Ann Foxman. The theme for Pride this year is Flashback, so it’s great to see a party connecting with the origins of the queer and modern dance floor, and that uhall is again supporting this vision with an amazing booking. Kim rose to notoriety through Hercules and Love Affair, but has been holding it down as a DJ and producer and at the helm of Firehouse Recordings. This event is also part of The DC Three present: LOVE TRIANGLE Fundraiser and a portion of proceeds will go towards helping one of our own to say #FCancer!
Here are some preview mixes from Lisa Frank and TNX to put you in the spirit.
Babe Rainbow at Black Cat For the 2nd year, the Black Cat is giving over both floors to local DJs who represent a diverse collection of underground nights in DC. Keenan Orr, Dean Sullivan, Alex DB, Abichula, Tom from Prague, Bryan Smith, and Candice Jones will give you a great mix of sounds, and a portion of proceeds go towards The DC Center. Definitely include this as a stop while you’re party hopping and expect amazing artwork from the hands of Linas Garsys. Black Cat is at the forefront of supporting queer weirdos and their out-of-the-mainstream parties, something, sadly, not many gay bars in this city are willing to do. They’re really stepping up by giving over both floors to pride events on Friday and Saturday.
Here’s a preview mix from Dean
Supergay Saturday! at Embassy Row Hotel If you’re looking for a destination before, after or even during the parade, One Love Massive is hosting a pool party at the Embassy Row Hotel with DJs Outputmessage, Tommy Cornelis & Illexxandra from 12-7pm. If you haven’t yet, check out Outputmessage’s entirely original and seriously good productions. Bernard is a great DJ too, so expect perfect poolside vibes from these 3 in a beautiful setting that’s waving distance from the parade. It’s supposed to be a hot one on Saturday, so a no cover event with free access to a pool is greatly appreciated.
A proper, queer afterhours party in DC is finally happening.. and it features San Francisco’s Honey Soundsystem no less! Following Flash’s party with Vicenzo, Honey is sending over Jackie House and Jason Kendig, and they’re letting you scramble on that windowless dance floor from 4am til noon. Honey Soundsystem absolutely destroyed TNX’s pride party at uhall last year alongside Honey Dijon and Nancy Whang, so it’s going to be really nice to see them play an extended set for pride this year. We’re really hoping DC can hang with them for this one. Pro-tip: tickets from Vicenzo are honored for this event, and stamps from Paradise Mirage and Babe Rainbow earn you a $5 discount.
Double Feature at Satellite Room Satellite Room has been showing two movies on Sundays, and for Pride they are showing Hairspray and Paris is Burning!
