Berghain’s Anthony Parasole Bemoans New York’s Straight Rich Club Scene
Ostgut’s new US signing Anthony Parasole chatted to the Quietus about the changing face of New York nightlife this week and admitted he misses the decadence, sex and sexual ambiguity that defined the City’s golden era of clubbing of the 80s and 90s.
“The sex part was a big thing. It was part of the escape and being lost in the moment, but a lot of people died,” the acclaimed underground techno producer recalled.
“If you’re my age or older and used to go to these parties, you know a lot of people who’ve passed away from AIDS. It’s so different today.”
“There’s no gay people mixing into the party scene in New York. Back then if you played the good music parties, they were gay. It’s changed quite a lot here and it’s not cool… I don’t like it, “ he added,
“Now it’s just rich people having fun.” (Quietus)
Downtown New York legend Johnny Dynell also blamed AIDS for destroying ‘at least two or three generations of creative people- the best’, in an interview with Skrufff last year and recounted the dread that accompanied AIDS’ the disease’ brutal cull.
“Kids today have no idea what it was like back then: to lose so many people,” he recounted.
“If you ran into a friend after not seeing that person for a couple of weeks you would both breathe a sigh of relief to see that you were both still alive. There was this constant darkness (especially in clubs) that is thankfully a lot brighter today,” said Johnny.
“When I look at the music that I get sent every day now I am astounded by the lack of creativity. Almost every song is either a remix or a remake of another song. To just blatantly steal parts from other records is considered song-writing,” he continued.
“This is the least creative generation that I have ever seen and I can’t help thinking that losing so many real artists to AIDS is one of the reasons.”
One of New York’s most infamously wild underground/ mixed gay clubs the Roxy closed in 2007, prompting its last owner Gene DiNino to post a poignant tribute in the Village Voice.
“Most of the people I started with are in jail, deported, or out of business. I don’t want to name names. I’m very sad,” he said,
“A club like the Roxy, it’s so well-known, so legendary; it becomes a part of you. It’s part of who you are. It’s a sense of loss, a loss of self.” (Voice)
Click here for more on Anthony and his label The Corner.
Jonty Skrufff: https://twitter.com/djjontyskrufff