Torture Garden comes to Latin America for the first time this January; they’ll be doing two parties at the end of the month: January 27 in Sao Paulo and January 28 in Rio. And if everything goes right, this could lead into a monthly event.

In Sao Paulo the party will be hosted at Blue Space, one of the most legendaries gay clubs in town.

Sao Paulo is watching a new wave of burlesque and fetish performers attracting a young crowd looking for something cool. In several parties and even cabarets tattooed girls wearing vintage lingerie and pasties are dominating the spotlights.

Amongst the Brazilian artists performing at TG Sao Paulo you’ll find Giselle Kenj, a master in Egyptian arts and culture who uses her knowledge to perform the most amazing shows in clubs around the country.

Her fellow mate, Thot, a real albino snake, enchants the audience in every move she makes. She’s like a modern age Cleopatra. Also, Victor Piercing, who’s also been known as one of the most famous performers in Brazil.

His works are provocative, sexy, playing with androgyny and S/M imaginary, sometimes looking like a sexy cyberpunk, and others like a goth unicorn.

His electric chainsaw routine is a trademark of Sao Paulo’s effervescent nightlife.

The tickets can be bought online at http://www.torturegardenbrazil.com.

Click on the picture to buy Aladdin Sane

Alisson Gothz: ”Do you know that awesome feeling when you hear a song and you get chills down your spine? I get that in every Bowie song, even with his most underrated works.

He is – to say the least – my biggest inspiration, the one who shaped me for life. I grew up listening to him and probably will have “Heroes” playing on my funeral. My mother’s still not sure if I’m a boy or a girl, and all I know is that I like dancing and I look divine.

I’ve found him through my teen idol (Boy George), who’s also one of his biggest fans, and “Aladdin Sane” was one of the first records I ever bought with my own money – despite the fact that by then it was already more than 10 years old.
I’m glad to see that, even though “The Man Who Fell To Earth is now relaxing in his Golden Years” and living a modest life out of the limelight, his works and his influences are widely recognised and celebrated by everyone.”

Click for more Alisson

Click for more (youtube)

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Sao Paulo has the biggest Japanese community in the world living outside Japan. The first Japanese immigrants came here more than 100 years ago and, after living and working as farmers in the countryside, they chose the centrally located neighborhood called “Liberdade” (“freedom”, in Portuguese) as a home away from home.

The neighborhood has been for decades a very popular tourist spot, with streets all decorated with Japanese sculptures and gardens, but now it seems that it’s time Liberdade rejuvenates itself and maybe steal the spotlight from some more famous neighborhoods like Baixo Augusta or Barra Funda.

One of the first spots to be adopted by intrepid clubbers was the karaoke bar inside Choperia Liberdade. In the olden days, the place was a traditional pub for the Japanese community to enjoy a fun weekend, but then it got discovered by accident and soon became a place for a more ‘alternative’ crowd to hang out during the week. As it always happens, it was a great place to be before it got too popular.

The square in front of the main subway station attracts a very young crowd every Saturday and Sunday, big anime/manga fans who also dare to dress up in very fashionable outfits – it’s not rare to spot a “gothic lolita” or a “punk rocker in a bear costume” parading amongst them. At the main avenue, will find the most interesting gift shops ever – places where you can shop for all kinds of crazy things, from plastic Buddha statues to real ninja swords. And also, of course, amazing Asian food markets.

Once located at the famous Rua Augusta, the art gallery Mezzanino has now moved to Liberdade and may soon turn its quiet street into a new place for alternative arts. The gallery is specialized in photography and Modern Art, and features both established and new artists on its cast (me included!).

But the main new attraction is Cine Joia. The place was one of the first cinemas in town, and used to show Japanese movies for the local community. After being closed for years, the venue got in the hands of Facundo Guerra – the King Midas of Sao Paulo’s nightlife and owner of several clubs like Vegas and Lions - who got together with DJ Andre Juliani and music journalist Lucio Ribeiro to turn the place into the coolest concert house ever.

The new Cine Joia had its world debut last Thursday with a DJ set by James Murphy (former LCD Soundsystem) and will start its glorious journey with a concert by Ladytron this week.

The arrival of these new places will shake things around and maybe we’ll be seeing new clubs opening there in a few months. Liberdade is the best proof of how culturally diverse (and cool) Sao Paulo is. Or as the people who live there would say; “tanoshii!!”.

Pet Duo: click for more

Six Berlin residents; Pet Duo, Axel Bartsch, Ralf Gutterslut, Steffa Superheilig, Patrick DSP & Snuff Crew, chatted to Skrufff last week about their experiences moving to the German capital. See below for Brazilian techno heroes Pet Duo’s comments in full.

To read the full feature: click HERE

Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): How much did moving to Berlin march your expectations?

Pet Duo: “We moved to Berlin from Brazil 5 years ago, and the city really is so different from our hometown. There’s cleaner air and streets, better public transport, loads more parks and trees  . . . On the other hand São Paulo has better weather: MUCH better weather: As well as a lot more 24hour shopping options and more choice. When we lived in Sao Paulo we’d usually go to the supermarket at 3am. But for us the food factor is not so important, because here in Berlin we can find many Vegan/Vegetarian options for restaurants and markets.

Berlin matched our expectations in the way that is a very Europe-centred, geographically speaking, because this way we are so much near to any city in the continent. Living in Brazil would take longer to go to any gig, it just made sense to be here, closer to producers, vinyl shops, and the cities where we play.”

Skrufff: How necessary is it to speak German?

Pet Duo: “We took German classes for 11 months and it helps a lot on our everyday endeavours, even though what we know is still very basic. We think it is necessary to study for at least 2 years to properly speak it. But because we have a very international job, and we speak English almost fluently, for us it is not so necessary to learn it. Of course we will return to German classes, we cannot miss this opportunity. After all, where is the best place to learn it?

In Berlin part of the population speaks English, so we kind of find it hard to practice the little that we know and now that we stopped going to classes for 2 years, we have already lost a part of what we knew. It’s a hard language to learn. With English you must have at least a 600 word vocabulary to have a proper conversation, while with German you need 3000 words, but it’s a very exact language.”

Skrufff: How different are Germans from Brazilian culturally?

Pet Duo: “Brazilians are generally much more open for meeting new people, they are really easy-going and laid-back, whereas Germans are more closed and introspective. But in other ways, when the Germans open themselves they can be great fun to be with, and they can certainly party as hard as the Brazilians do, no doubt about that.

Also Germans are some of the most focused and professional people we have ever worked with, matching the Dutch and the Austrians in this matter.

But there’s a lack of improvisation, which is something that we Brazilians have a lot; maybe Brazilians have that quality a little too much.

We have also learned that there are three things that Germans ask from anyone: To be on time, to wear clean clothes, and the third we’ve forgotten because we are Brazilians. Ha ha. No, we think the third thing you must remember is to pay your taxes. Please correct us if we are wrong.” (They’re right- Skrufff).”

Skrufff: What advice do you have for getting into clubs (eg Berghain); have you ever been refused entry?

Pet Duo: “We’ve been lucky because we have never been refused entry at any club. Yes, we heard that some clubs such as Berghain have a strict policy regarding entry. But what we would suggest is to go to the clubs wearing clean clothes, and not so fucked up. Then when inside, get dirty and drink as much as you want.”

Skrufff: How should a DJ coming to Berlin aim to find gigs?

Pet Duo: “Send mixes to promoters via websites dedicated for their nights, find an agency that can arrange your gigs in town beforehand, get in touch with a DJ who has a residency at the club you would like to play and make sure he has the liberty to ask the promoters/club owners to book you.”

Skrufff: What are the most common mistakes incomers make?

Pet Duo: “If someone wants to be in Berlin they need to be aware of the strict policy regarding immigration. The best thing to do would be to arrive in town and try to find a day job straightaway that could justify your stay, or, even better, come with a job already lined up beforehand. Otherwise you’ll be in trouble after your visa expired.”

http://www.petduo.com/ 

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

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The Brazilian Committee for Education, Culture and Sports has just approved a bill that regulates the activities of DJs and producers. This bill will make it mandatory for a DJ to have a professional certificate in order to perform in public places, clubs and events. To get the certificate, the artist must have concluded a professional course in a DJ school.

With this certificate in hands, DJs and producers will be able to get a professional registry at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. This bill also determines that the work load for a DJ must be six daily hours and/or 30 weekly hours.

This bill, however, doesn’t apply for foreign DJs and producers who come to Brazil to perform –  as long as they don’t stay in the country for more than 60 days. Also, every public or private event with international DJs must have at least 70% of their line-up filled with local professionals.

Although sounding extremely beneficial, not all DJs are totally happy with this new law for a number of different reasons. For instance, they complain that DJ courses in Brazil are still very expensive and not available outside big cities like Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. Also, it’s not very clear what DJs who have been performing for decades will have to do to get this certificate – should even they get back to school?

At the same time, most people see this as a great opportunity to stop the current wave of “celebrities pretending to be DJs” that is growing fast in the country, taking jobs from real DJs and, most of the times, ruining the image of their profession.

The bill is needs to be voted by the Committee of Social Affairs and the Chamber of Government before it becomes a law. Let’s see what happens!

(Video: Tranny show @ Nostromondo 1994)

One of Sao Paulo’s most celebrated and important clubs of all times will soon be re-launched with very a promising atmosphere. After being shut down for many years, the old historical building, hidden in a corner of a gloomy street and which was once a slaughterhouse may soon become a meeting place again for clubbers and art freaks galore.

Madame Satã (“Madam Satan” in proper English) can be easily described as the birthplace of alternative music in Sao Paulo.

It was the first club that punks, goths, new wavers and freaks in general chose as their home. Some even say that everybody from the club’s most loyal clientele either formed a band, became a successful DJ, or got into the art world.

You may think about it as a mix of New York’s CGBG and London’s Batcave, but in a country which had just spent several long years living under a strict military dictatorial regime.

Claudia Wonder (R.I.P.) click for more

Some characters who used to parade around the club also became legendary. Like the glorious performance artist only known as “The Cabbage Lady”, a very large woman who used to sit inside a cage at the club’s entrance eating cabbage and drinking vodka. Or the late punk rock tranny Claudia Wonder, who performed Lou Reed’s songs naked, wearing nothing but a devilish mask, inside a bathtub filled with fake blood.

Accordingly to a message on Facebook, the new Madame Satã will celebrate alternative culture and become some sort of a place for theatre, music, concerts, parties, and lots of fun. There isn’t yet any confirmation about when it will be the (re)opening night, but the news has already started a huge buzz on the web, both from the old generation and the newcomers.

The new owners of Madame Satã, DJs Gé Rodriguez and Igor Calmona, are also the same ones who have revitalized the city’s longest running gay club, Nostromondo.

The club first opened its doors more than 40 years ago, and had its pinnacle in the late 70’s/early 80’s, with amazing performances by drags and trannies who now are recognized as “Mothers” for an entire generation of artists.

The new club now features a line-up of assorted parties,  covering musical styles from classic gay anthems to nu-disco and house music. The more hardcore clubbers may enjoy the after-hours party which usually goes on until 2pm on a Sunday afternoon.

This comes to show that maybe a new way for Sao Paulo’s non-stop chaotic and yet delightful nightlife to reinvent itself is to take back a look at its illustrious past and try to reinvent it for the future.”

Alisson Gothz

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Live at the Roxy, Prague, Czech Republic, 2007

As well as writing a bestselling Michael Jackson biography and another book about Michael Jackson fans, Hans Peter Kuenzler is a leading London ‘stringer’ or foreign correspondent/ music journalist, writing about music and the arts for print media and radio in Switzerland, Germany, UK and other countries.

Hans asked Jonty Skrufff a typically imaginative and indeed tough bunch of questions recently for a feature he was doing about dream jobs.

Hans Peter (click for more)

http://www.hanspeterkuenzler.com

Hans Peter Kuenzler: Was being a DJ a dream job for you before you started?

Jonty Skrufff; “Actually, no I’d never considered it and was totally happy being a clubber/ journalist until a sequence of serendipitous events transformed my life in the summer of 2004 (involving, variously, Exit festival, Serbian podium dancing girls, Ibiza, statuesque models, Judge Jules, London’s (then) hipster club du jour Golf Sale, the much missed Alex Silverfish (RIP) and S Express’ Mark Moore.) Not necessarily in that order.”

1st night nerves at London's 333 Club

Hans Peter Kuenzler: Did it become a dream job once you had become one?

Jonty Skrufff; “From the very first moment, yes, I was totally, irrevocably hooked. It was at London’s 333 on a Sunday night, Alex Silverfish was DJing, with a shaking hand I picked up the stylus (in those days DJs still played vinyl) and put it at the beginning Of Justice’s Never Be Alone (still then an obscure Gigolo release). The opening chords rang out, the crowd roared and that was it. I ROCKED it. OH MY GOD!”

Hans Peter Kuenzler: Why did you change from being a journalist to being a DJ?

Jonty Skrufff; “I refer to my last answer; OH MY GOD! Though actually I remain a journalist- the two roles have a fantastic synergy.”

Live at Buddah Club, Mauritius (February 2011)

Hans Peter Kuenzler: Why did you move to Berlin?

Jonty Skrufff; “For love. Plus I was totally fed up with London. Berlin is as good and as artist/ DJ friendly as it’s supposed to be. As the local mayor put it so aptly it’s sexy but poor’.

Hans Peter Kuenzler: Can you describe the way the Skrufff collective operates?

Jonty Skrufff; “Yes, but then I’d have to kill you.”

Hans Peter Kuenzler: How can you afford to produce your incredible newsletter?

Jonty Skrufff; “See above!”

Moscow, Russia, April 2011

Hans Peter Kuenzler: Can you describe a typical day?

Jonty Skrufff; “I have a 7 day cycle that loosely splits between Monday to Friday, writing and business stuff (I’m also a consultant/ moderator for the Amsterdam Dance Event) and weekends travelling and DJing.  Plus producing, working in studios on remixes slotted in-between everything else etc. It varies from season to season, week to week.”

Hans Peter Kuenzler: What’s the best things about what you do?

Jonty Skrufff: “Er the buzz, the euphoria, the occasional) adulation . . . the opportunities for travel, the lovely people I meet, being my own boss, being creative, being able to be myself (ie dressing as I like, doing what I like . . .)

Hans Peter Kuenzler: There aren’t any drawbacks, surely?

Jonty Skrufff; “Of course, all sorts. The exhaustion, the periods when there are no days off, being fucked over by dodgy promoters, rival DJs, the list goes on. This game is not for the faint hearted.”

Live at the Roxy, Prague

Hans Peter Kuenzler: Isn’t the DJ world riddled with drug-addled lunatics?

Jonty Skrufff; “Yes.”

Hans Peter Kuenzler: Are you a drug-addled lunatic?

Jonty Skrufff; “No.”

Hans Peter Kuenzler: How do you deal with drug-addled lunatics?

Jonty Skrufff; “Carefully. And gently. And cautiously. Some can be very sweaty (which isn’t so great when they’re trying to hug you) and some can be relentless) though most are simply up for it, and they prefer to hang out with other drug addled lunatics anyway. On the rare occasions they’re trouble, I stay as far away from them as possible: and avoid mega-late afterhours parties (as a rule).”

Skrufff DJ Fidelity Kastrow

Hans Peter Kuenzler: And how do you deal with all the offers of sex, drugs and Jack Daniels flung at you?

Jonty Skrufff; “Erm, I don’t drink Jack Daniels or spirits in general (apart from when in Russia). Offers of drugs? I decline politely, Loose women? Errrrr, even more carefully! I have a long term girlfriend who’s also now a Skrufff DJ (Fidelity Kastrow) and I believe in karma (we meet AFTER I started DJing).”

Hans Peter Kuenzler: Do people react to your work differently in different countries?

Jonty Skrufff; “Not THAT differently, Actually the same kinds of people tend to come and see me in each city- the freaky, alternative, queer, gothic/ EMO types plus (if I’m not boasting) usually lots of uber-cute sexy girls. And Skrufff-E readers (who also usually fit into one of those categories).”

Hans Peter Kuenzler: How do you cope with the constant jetting around timezones?

Jonty Skrufff; “I try and ignore jetlag with varying degrees of success. I’m generally quite insomniac anyway, so everything gets done: I also work at it, seven days a week, pretty much nonstop: but the line between work and leisure is impossible to separate so it’s OK.”

D-Edge, Sao Paulo Brasil (April 2011)

Hans Peter Kuenzler: How did your reputation as a DJ spread from Prague to Brasil?

Jonty Skrufff; “Through non stop hard work, through help from supporters I’ve picked up along the way and through my e-zine/ blog skrufff-E (available at http://skrufff.com) and a bit more besides.”

Hans Peter Kuenzler: Where do enjoy working the most?

Jonty Skrufff; “Right now my favourite destinations are Mauritius (for obvious reasons) and Russia, both countries I’ve visited for the first time this year. Brazil is also wonderful, I was just there recently for what was my ninth trip. They party hard.”

Hans Peter Kuenzler: How do you use the internet?  Is it essential to your work?

Jonty Skrufff; “Beyond essential.”

Hans Peter Kuenzler

http://www.hanspeterkuenzler.com

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Magal, Renato Cohen, Camilo Rocha, Benjamin Ferreira, Alisson Gothz, Eduardo Corelli

D-edge's Main dance floor

“While our generation took ten years to be able to distinguish house from techno, the next generation that is starting to go out at night has a completely pop background. And today’s pop music is just like mainstream electronic music”. Facundo Guerra (Vegas, Volt, Lions).

Speaking to leading Sao Paulo media figure Claudia Assef recently, nightlife entrepreneur Facundo Guerra, 37, sparked a firestorm of debate when he suggested underground club culture- and international DJs – were no longer viable in the city. Rival club promoter Renato Ratier, who months earlier doubled the size of his landmark club D-Edge, disagreed, though Facundo, a partner in seminal underground nightspot Vegas and new pop centred nightspot Lions was firm.

“Today, if you do not play pop on the dance floor people leave,” he insisted.

“At Lions recently I saw a scene that shocked me: Mau Mau, a DJ we all love, started spinning after Roque Castro, who had just played an extremely pop orientated set. Guess what happened? Mau Mau cleared the floor, something I had never seen in my life!”

Mau Mau (one of Brazil’s most popular and critically acclaimed DJs, overseas as well as at home) was understandably furious and denied Facundo’s claim categorically though given that I’ve just arrived in Sao Paulo for what will be my seventh mini-DJ tour, the tale provokes a touch of concern for me. Not least because both my first and last gigs from five take place at Facundo’s newest club: Lions . . .

Bar de Netao revellers (DJ Jeronimo & friend)

Lions:

Saturday nights at Lions are hosted by leading tech/house DJ agency 3 Plus so I’m optimistic I’ll find a typically receptive crowd though when the dance floor thins noticeably soon after I’ve started I’m a little alarmed. Four tracks later just a small group remain but they’re enthusiastic, flamboyant and totally up for it, with the street style and attitude of international clubbers.

Approaching me with his thumbs up, one promises to drag more people into the room and moments later he’s back with a healthy sized bunch of friends in tow, who in turn attract more clubbers from the disco/ pop floor outside.

One hour later, the same guy approaches and says ‘I’m the promoter, I LOVE what you’re playing, do you want to finish in the (larger) bar room?’ so I finish up the night satisfied: but only just.  With four more gigs to go (D-Edge, A Loca, BAR DO NETÃO then Lions again) this trip looks like it’s going to be trickier than previous tours . . .

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D-Edge (click for more)

D Edge:

“I’m not completely against pop, I genuinely like some pop and I have no problem with playing famous tracks sometimes in my sets. But

It’s one thing surprising your crowd with an unexpected Prince classic and quite another dropping that Lady Gaga track that is heard everywhere else.” Benjamin Ferreira. http://soundcloud.com/benjaminferreira

JT & Benjamin @ Bar De Netao (click for Benjamin's soundcloud)

Disco-house DJ (and Skrufff man) Benjamin Ferreira was selected as one of DJ Magazine’s Breakthrough DJs last year and regularly headlines parties and clubs throughout the city.  He’s also a first choice opener DJ for internationals such as Derrick Carter, Horse Meat Disco’s Luke Howard and Made To Play boss Jesse Rose, opening for him the Friday before me, on the main dance floor of D-Edge.

While Benjamin used his local knowledge to pack out D-Edge’s main space, the nowadays LA based Panorama Bar favourite uncharacteristically struggled, finishing early as the clubbers chopped and changed between the club’s three floors. So tonight I’m taking programming advice from Benjamin, which he sums up with one word- disco.

Like big name Brazilian DJs Renato Cohen and Camilo Rocha, Benjamin spent most of the 90s spinning exclusively techno though like both Renato and Camilo in recent years he’s embraced disco more and more and tonight’s party is an all disco DJ line-up: plus me.

Kicking off with a lower bpm than I’ve EVER played, I mix in house with disco classics from Yazoo (Situation), Lindstrom (I Feel Space) and even Madonna (the dub version of Everybody) gradually splicing in killer tech-house cuts from the likes of Perfect Stranger and (ironically) Made To Play. D-Edge has long rightly been recognised as Brazil’s best underground electronic music venue, due to its sound system, lights and most importantly crowd and tonight it (thankfully) turns out the same.

2 hours in and I’m playing peak time hands-in-the air techno with everybody screaming and dancing and as the club shut the newest floors leaving just mine open I end up spinning for an extra hour again, to a packed house. AMAZING. One of my best ever gigs in Brazil.

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A loca

A Loca

“I think the problem isn’t exactly with pop music, the DJs also have their share of guilt – it’s totally possible to be creative and innovative playing pop, you have four decades full of great hits to choose from. So you don’t have to play the entire Lady Gaga album in one night.”

This is what makes some of these parties so awful. Sometimes they play “I Gotta Feeling” (Black Eyed Peas) four times in just one night. Of course everybody will dance but are you a DJ or a jukebox?” Alisson Gothz

Alisson Gothz

As a former party hostess at pop club Gloria and one of Sao Paulo’s best known performance artists, Alisson Gothz says many on the gay scene currently want only ‘tribal house or radio hits’.

“There’s nothing wrong with pop music parties but I guess this ‘scene’ has become over-saturated,” says Alisson, “There are tons of parties that look alike – and play the exact same tracks over and over again. It’s as if the entire city was playing “Bad Romance” in every corner”.

One such club is once notorious transvestite institution A Loca (where for many years Alisson worked the door) where I’ve been invited to spin tonight by lovely DJ blogger/ man-about town Eduardo Corelli. Like D-Edge, I’ve played here five times previously though tonight I’ve been warned that it’s music policy has changed.

A Loca back in the day (click for more)

To pop it appears when I arrive, as Lady GaGa and Beyonce are blasted out to a young, markedly different crowd from the freaks, hookers and misfits who once defined the basement institution.

Eduardo spins just before me and thankfully replaces Gaga with classic house from the likes of Frankie Knuckles and Inner City though tonight’s crowd for me is simply too pop orientated to reach and apart from 4 minutes of euphoria (when I give in and drop Beyonce’s Crazy in Love) it’s a grim overall experience.

Speaking afterwards Eduardo remains confident about overall club culture, though admits he loathes the auto-tune robo-voices dominating so many hits.

“These tunes featuring those false voices are killing pop music,” he complains. “Remember when you’d hear Chic or Soul 2 Soul,’ he sighs, “ I hope pop productions change in that direction again in the not too distant future.”

“Why do I think pop has become so popular in the clubs here? Well it’s always been so,” he points out.

“So for example we had Abba disco at the same time as Larry Levan, the Smiths and U2, or you had Frankie Knuckles on the one hand and Erick Morillo on the other. The best pop is actually timeless,”

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Bar de Netao (Renato Cohen, 2nd from left)

POSH! @ BAR DO NETÃO

“I think it’s pretty obvious to say that in short term, things will get more and more commercial but in the longer term, there will be always a small group growing up looking for quality music, it’s cyclical. In the last fifteen years, I’ve seen that happen about three times and I always end up being pleasantly surprised.” Renato Cohen (Renato on soundcloud; http://soundcloud.com/renato-cohen )

Opening his first club Vegas in a former strip club some eight years ago, Lions owner Facundo not only helped to gentrify Sao Paulo’s seedy sometimes dangerous transvestite prostitute strip on Rua Augusta but created a landmark club for underground house and techno in the city.

Eight years on, though still trading, Vegas is seen as over by most of the clubbing cognoscenti, though Rua Augusta continues to thrive attracting thousands of clubbers nightly to bars and venues dotted in between the sex clubs and strippers that remain on its lower downtown stretches.

50 metres up the street from Vegas is BAR DO NETÃO, a tiny basement sweatbox bar with a dancefloor the size of Berlin’s Club de Visionaire that’s nevertheless one of the coolest nightspots for underground clubbers. And leading its program is POSH! a predominantly gay affair that attracts a wild and stylish crowd of bears and allsorts.

Shell-shocked from A Loca’s toxic pop, I’m grateful POSH! is just around the corner and even happier when I arrive to hear the DJ (Jeronimo) spinning deep, groovy, pulsating techno. And everyone inside is TOTALLY up for it, screaming, sweating and snogging (Brazilians in every club are VERY big on kissing). POSH is celebrating its 2^nd birthday and Benjamin Ferreira and I do a 30 minute tic-tac set dropping proper Berlin style darker than dark techno which goes down a storm.

Saturday’s been saved, and judging from BAR DO NETÃO, at least, underground dance music is thriving.

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Lions

Lions

“The pop nightlife scene has always existed here, like everywhere else. The only difference now is that the pop clubs are having a greater impact because we have so many clubs here generally. But I don’t believe this will finish our underground scene.” DJ Magal. Magal on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/magalsp )

Magal @ D-edge

As one of Sao Paulo’s most experienced and popular DJs, Magal has seen many trends come and go and he’s impressively insouciant about the impact- or otherwise, of Black Eyed Peas style pop. Though he’s invited me to play an all disco set with him tonight, the techno pioneer points out ‘Sao Paulo has 20 million people, there’s no reason all styles can’t thrive’ and promptly illustrates the point with a well received set of immaculately selected underground disco.

Lions isn’t particularly busy but it’s a Tuesday night and it’s been raining non stop all evening but another factor that’s definitely relevant is cost. Tickets tonight cost 50 REAIS, equivalent to over 20 EURs, a door tax that’s matched at most of the other clubs (except Bar de Netau, which is free).

Camilo Rocha

Camilo Rocha, one of Brazil’s top journalists as well as DJs agrees it’s a problem.

“A lot of clubs in SP now have become too expensive. This is leaving a lot of people out,” he says.

“I reckon the main battle is really not against this or that kind of music but against elitism and overpricing. If you want to gather a solid audience for underground music you have to be open to all walks of life. If you just cater for the upper middle classes upwards you are seriously limiting what you can achieve. Also, it makes for a much poorer and boring vibe in the club,” he points out.

He’s also optimistic about the wider picture for nightlife.

“Although there are many reasons for complaint, with a lot of pop-oriented nights and what seems like a very eager audience for these parties, there are solid underground currents going on,” says Camilo.

“Last weekend, for example, I played at guerilla party Voodoo Hop, after UK DJ Floating Points, and the party was outstanding. There was a perfect vibe, people smiling and going for it until early morning and the most well-known tune I played was probably “Sun”, by Caribou!””

I know, it’s probably the exception that proves the rule but then you also have  events like the Virada Cultural, SP city’s massive street festival, which had people packing and appreciating shows by non-mainstream acts like Skatalites, Fred Wesley & JBs, Deodato, The Misfits, tons of underground DJs.

“It was for free and once the money issue is out of the way you realize how many people can come and get into different kinds of stuff. It definitely lifted my hopes.”

Benjamin Ferreira is equally hopeful.

“Music-wise I feel people are more and more open for different sounds – new and classic, organic and synthetic. São Paulo has embraced me and it feels like home,” the Amazon raised DJ explains.

“You see established clubs such as D-Edge with wonderful line-ups every week, parties such as Ursound and venues such as Bar do Netão and Trackers (a biweekly Sunday afternoon warehouse party in an abandoned downtown tower block) delivering good music for different people.

“The underground is also thriving with the clubs and parties aforementioned and these places, among others, make the São Paulo nightlife the busiest and more exciting in Brazil,” he says.

For me, I’ve ended up having another fantastic trip to Sao Paulo where I’ve enjoyed playing at- and attending parties that have been as good as any from previous years, not least because of Brazilian people’s all round friendliness and love of partying. Sao Paulo rocks!”

Jonty Skrufff

Claudia Wonder

Brazilian civil rights campaigner and transsexual performance artist Claudia Wonder started her nightlife career in Sao Paolo in 1975, performing alongside iconic Brazilian drag queens including Andrea May, Thelma Lipp and Brenda Lee.

Running round Sao Paulo’s then tiny after-hours gay scene, she routinely faced arrest from the police controlled by Brazil’s then notoriously brutal military dictatorship and became an ardent activist in the campaign that lead to democracy in 1985.

Also championing gay rights and later on, HIV and AIDS awareness issues, she became a national celebrity around the same time when she fronted Brazilian punk band Dirty Trick. In Sao Paulo meanwhile, she became even more infamous for her show ‘The Vomit of Myth’, which she regularly staged at the Madam Satan club, stripping off naked in a bathtub full of blood.

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Moving to Europe in 1989 (where she worked as a cabaret artist and make-up stylist) she came back to Sao Paulo in 1999, returning to music in 2007 to record on a number of electro albums. She also became a columnist for GQ magazine the same year and in 2008 was the subject of a documentary “My friend Claudia’ directed by filmmaker Dácio Pinheiro.

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My Friend Claudia

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Continuing to fight for gay rights and AIDS issues, Claudia died of an AIDS related illness of November 26, aged 55. She chatted to Jonty Skrufff and Benjamin Ferreira several months before, in her flat in the centre of Sao Paulo close to Avenue Paulista (Benjamin acted as a translator).

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Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff) How did the film of your life ‘My Friend Claudia come about?

Claudia Wonder: “I wanted to make the film for many years, actually even in the 80s because I had such a long career then before I moved to Europe in December ’88. But I ended up living in Europe for 11 years then when I came back to Brazil it was very difficult to pick up my career here because I wasn’t connected any more. A lot of people I’d known before had died of AIDS including many of my friends. Plus the people that used to go out at night before I moved to Europe weren’t going out any more so I didn’t know anyone on the club scene.

I always wanted to make a documentary because I wanted young people to know about my life and the history of Sao Paulo nightlife since the film I’ve really got back to business, which is great. It’s based on my artistic career since 1975. Das Piniero directed it. We started with a fictional text which became a five minute video then developed from there, it wasn’t made overnight.”

Skrufff: When you first started going out in the 70s were there many transvestites on the streets of Sao Paulo? How was the club scene?

Claudia Wonder: “There were very few transvestites compared to today. At the same time it was more difficult generally because we were living under a military dictatorship. Though having said that, it was also more romantic at the same time because we were all young. There was also a tangible sense of danger which was also exciting. There were just two clubs then around 1975 and ’76 one of which was called Nostro Mundo that still exists today. It’s been there since 1973.”

Skrufff: Were the police very dangerous then?

Claudia Wonder: “I was arrested many, many times. I’d be there at the police station regularly until 4am in the morning then people would come and release us (bail us out) and they’d say ‘let’s go’. The police used to raid the clubs regularly and usually they would arrest absolutely everybody inside. Being gay wasn’t actually illegal then but even so they’d regularly arrest gay people.”

Skrufff: When did you become political?

Claudia Wonder: “I became active in the early 80s, in particular in 1983 and 84 when AIDS first arrived. I decided to do a show because I was really upset that at the time people didn’t even want to come close to gay people, because they were so afraid of being infected. They didn’t know what AIDS was. So I decided to do a show to tackle this prejudice head on, to hit them in the face and show them that it wasn’t the right thing to do. The idea of having a band came up too because Brazilian rock back then was beginning to take shape and was becoming really powerful and strong in our culture. And then I also started doing my performances in the bathtub filled with blood. The blood represented blood infected with HIV.”

Skrufff: Madame Satan is now seen as one of Brazil’s most influential clubs, what was it like in the 80s?

Claudia Wonder: “It was more than just a club, it was a cultural landmark in Brazil. It was full of revolutionary people and those who wanted to express themselves artistically who weren’t happy with the conditions we had to endure then. People there had a certain attitude of being willing to do something different. It was about saying no to all those years we lived through dictatorship and prejudice. The dictatorship ended in 1985 and Madame Satan developed as a reaction to everything we’d lived beforehand.”

Skrufff: How much did your life change when the military dictatorship ended?

Claudia Wonder: “Everything changed (laughing). But we’re still fighting.”

Skrufff: Why did you leave Brazil in 1989?

Claudia Wonder: “Brazil’s economy was ruined, I couldn’t see any chance of maintaining a career in Brazil so I left. I went to Lausanne in Switzerland. I was hired by a manager to work as a cabaret performer (laughing). Before being in a rock star I’d had a long career as a cabaret performer so that’s what I did in Switzerland. I’m back at college now, I used to study theatre at University for two years in the past and now I’ve returned to education to study history. It has a lot more relevance to my social work these days. I’m studying international history focusing on hermaphrodites. There’s no research on it that’s been published in Brazil yet and the field is open just waiting for me.”

Skrufff: Alisson Gothz was advising us to stay away from Sao Paulo’s Gay Pride Street Parade warning us that it’s dangerous, what did you think of the parade last weekend?

Claudia Wonder: “I didn’t go to the parade for two years but this year I decided to go. The police went on TV beforehand to stress that there would be a lot of policemen on the streets ensuring people’s safety so the atmosphere was different.”

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Skrufff; We did go and arrived at 4pm and it was definitely a bit edgy, we saw a street fight later on . . .

Claudia Wonder: “If you’d gone there at noon you’d have had fun, the atmosphere was a lot better. I was on a truck, a float hosted by a gay NGO. Everybody was dressed in those 18th century costumes like Marie Antonette. Everybody was dressed in white.”

Skrufff: How big a problem is homophobia in Brazil today?

Claudia Wonder: “People certainly talk about it a lot more today but the fact people are talking about it may also have opened some wounds. Now that you see more gays in public, for example during Gay Pride on Paulista Avenue you also have a lot of homophobic people becoming more homophobic. Because there’s nothing happening here in Brazil to educate people that being homosexual is normal. It’s not enough to just put on a show and expect that everybody will accept you, there also has to be education to make people aware and to change people’s perceptions. Without that information it can still be dangerous.”

Skrufff: In London many of the transvestites I’ve known have been quite isolated from mainstream gay culture, how much is that the case here in Brazil too?

Claudia Wonder: “It’s the same here too. And I feel like slapping those queers in the face (laughing). Gays here don’t like transvestites, transvestites don’t like gays, nobody likes anybody else. Sometimes the prejudice from gay men towards transsexuals is even worse than from straight people.”

Skrufff: Has it always been like this?

Claudia Wonder: “Yes, I think so. You had the gays and the lesbians, then the transvestites were seen as gays dressing like women: when people started labelling and having so many categories for each other these categories separated people. In general most gays in my experience never really liked transvestites, instead they’d be more like ‘here comes this crazy gay with hormones and fake breasts’.”

Skrufff: What do you think of today’s alternative gay clubs in Sao Paulo such as A Loca and Vegas?

Claudia Wonder: “I like them. They’re underground, the music is good. I like rock music and electro but I don’t like this cheesy commercial house music people usually listen to in gay clubs. That’s why I prefer clubs like A Loca and D-Edge. I never go to those strictly gay clubs with commercial music unless there is a friend who’s going to perform there. Otherwise I don’t go.”

Skrufff: Looking back, do you have any key lessons you’ve learned?

Claudia Wonder: “the best way to fight prejudice is with culture and information.”

Skrufff: What do you mean by culture?

Claudia Wonder: “I mean any kind of culture whether it’s writing, movies, music, anything. You have to somewhere, some way, somehow, touch someone’s mind, so they click and start to understand what prejudice means. Somebody who obeys the law will follow the rules but just because there’s a law, that’s not going to change the way they think and feel inside. Their attitude.”

Skrufff: Did you have any periods when you became frightened of dressing as a woman?

Claudia Wonder: “No. never. Even during the dictatorship I never considered going out dressed as a man. Because it wasn’t prohibited, so I would be arrested anyway, whether I was dressed up or not just from being in the clubs.I learned that I’d be released early in the morning each time I was arrested and after that I’d simply go back home.

My family supported me. They weren’t saying to me ‘we’re really happy you’re living like this’ but they always made me feel welcome at home. I lived with my family for a long time so I always knew I could say ‘fuck off’ to people. I knew I wasn’t alone. Whatever it is, you can get it if you really want. It may be a cliche but I really believe it (chuckling).”

Skrufff: What advice would you have for a young transvestite starting out going out in drag?

Claudia Wonder: “Believe in your goals, go ahead and focus. And don’t try and run away from your problems using drugs and alcohol because you’re going to run away so much that you won’t come back. You have to face things and fight with your heart and most importantly accept yourself. You have to firstly fight the that’s inside of you. Once you do that everything else is possible.”

Jonty Skrufff (translation by Benjamin Ferreira)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_military_government