Menergy Jubilee Party w/ JON PLEASED

TONIGHT! 

Menergy March flyer

Am loving the new Menergy flyer! Great work by Mutate Design:

Been ripped off (again)

So, somebody called Michael Trombley has started a new night in Detroit called Menergy. Hmm, "Menergy"... that name is familiar. OK, it's a Patrick Cowley song - we don't claim ownership of the name.

So, what is this new night's music policy? Italo disco and Hi-NRG, you say? Well, everyone loves disco! Right? Sure, can't take credit for that, especially when we admit to being influenced by well established club nights like Melting Pot and Horse Meat Disco. Only, we were one of the first clubs to focus strictly on Hi-NRG, a sound that is a huge and under-acknowledged part of Scotland's clubbing history (if you're in doubt about that, ask Optimo's Twitch about Fire Island or Bennets, or check out this Menergy guest mix from Stuart MacLean aka Frenchbloke)

But anyway, this must all be just a simple co-incidence. Oh, wait a minute...

Menergy Detroit poster (FEB 2012):



Menergy Glasgow Poster (JAN 2011):



Hmmm, ok. But that's a popular song lyric.

Sure.

So check this...

Menergy Detroit flyer (FEB 2012):



Menegy Glasgow flyer (NOV 2010):



Yeah, it's pretty obvious there's some direct "inspiration" going on here.

But I'm gonna let you in on a little something - my jaded tone of indifference to all of this (as opposed to fuming anger) has got less to do with a hipsterite archness and more to do with having experienced it before.

Since January of 2011 I have been promoting drag-and-disco parties in Manchester with my partner Joe Spencer. We go by the name of TRANARCHY. You can find out more about us at www.tranarchy.co.uk.

Imagine our surprise when, in December we found out about Sink The Pink presents TRANARCHY.

Here's one of our promo images from last year:



And here is theirs (low quality as it's the only one available):



Any similarities?

Oh well, just another co-incidence, I'm sure.

Just like how this article I wrote for the website Dangerous Minds (in April 2011)

So that makes you a square: In Defense of the Hipster

was absolutely no inspiration whatsoever on this article for Disinformation (from August, 2011)

In Defense of the Hipster

despite DM and Disinfo sharing staff members in the past who left very acrimoniously (including myself).
Yep. No "inspiration" going on there - just pure, blind co-incidence.

So. do you think I should be angry about all of this?
Because, surprisingly, I am not.

Maybe I'm just too jaded by the repeat experience, but I DO take being copied as a compliment. I take what I do very seriously, even if that is not apparent to everyone all of the time. I pride myself on being a writer and musician of intelligence and integrity who is often ahead of the curve (or on a totally different tangent to most other folks). This can work to my detriment sometimes, but I still put a huge amount of effort into all my endevours, because I believe a half-arsed job is not worth doing.

There's nothing I can do to stop people copying me, and conversely there's nothing copyists can do to stop me doing my thing. If someone else comes along and likes what I do enough to want to do it too, or even if they think they can do it better, that's their call. Because at the end of the day, when you bite me, it's a sign that I'm doing something right.

Menergy Mascara Massacre flyer

Featuring the one and only Von Sauvage (also the designer).



It's on Feb 11th - more details here.

Next Menergy - Mascara Massacre Ball Feb 11th!

November Menergy flyer

More sterling work by Mutate Design:

Menergy FIERCE RULING DIVAS BALL 2 pics by Michael James

Some very nice pictures of me MCing and DJing at the 2nd annual Fierce Ruling Divas Ball on Saturday, taken by the ever-excellent Michael James - to see the whole set go here.

Menergy 'Icons' pics

I've put together a series of Menergy 'Icon' pics featuring people involved in the club and some of our fabulous audience and guests. Here's a selection (you can see more over at Menergy.tv):

Fierce Ruling Divas Ball 2 is A WEEK TODAY!

GURLS YOU BETTER WERK IT!!!



Facebook event page is here.

MENERGY Fierce Ruling Divas Ball PROMO

Get your haus in order and COME ON DOWN!

Menergy Sept Pics

Here's a few pics from September's Menergy, as usual by Michael James, but with an additional pic of me and Munter by Susy Paget. You can see more of Michael's pictures here.







Demi Monde performing live:




Chew Disco came down with the LUYD crew:


And Joe Howe (Ben Butler) was there too!

MENERGY Fierce Ruling Divas Ball RETURNS!!

IT'S MOTHERFUCKKING BACK!







The 2nd Annual Fierce Ruling Divas Ball FACEBOOK PAGE

Growler & Niallist Attitude interview

Pics by Lee Baxter

Growler & Niallist is Joe Spencer and Niall O'Conghaile. Joe has been promoting parities in Manchester for a few years and can occasionally be seen performing as "Joyce D'Vision". Niall has been djing and promoting parties in Glasgow for over a decade, as well as releasing music on respected dance labels like Dissident, Tirk and Eskimo.

Niall: I moved here in 2010 from Glasgow and met Joe at a screening of The Human Centipede. We decided to work together to throw a vogue ball (a competitive, drag queen fashion show), inspired by the cult documentary Paris Is Burning and previous vogue balls thrown by Horse Meat Disco in London and our own Menergy night in Glasgow. The first Vogue Brawl was in January of this year and was a roaring success. There is footage shot and edited by the legendary Homocult, and off the back of that we have put together a drag-revue party called Tranarchy. The next night will be a strip along screening of the camp classic Showgirls at Kraak Gallery on Saturday August 27th, featuring the House of Blige, Pumping Iron, Bad Taste Barbies, Menergy's Lady Munter and more.

Joe: There's been an alt queer scene bubbling under in Manchester for a few years now and it feels like it's about to erupt! People are getting sick of the Canal Street mafia and starting to find spaces outside the village, venues like KRAAK and Islington Mill are some throwing killer queer parties. I feel the village is ran by a very cynical and bitter older generation of gay men, what they're offering is pretty outta date and really boring, the village is just so void of diversity. There's all the fuckin' hen parties too which I hate because they're keeping these shitty bars in business. Though as much as i slag the village you'll still always find me at company bar or eagle come 6am! I guess it's a real love/hate relationship we got going.

Niall: Having said that, there's still more diversity and life on the Manc scene than there is compared to Glasgow, or most other cities in the UK. People here bitch about the village a lot, and yeah it's not perfect, but it's still a valuable social centre for a lot of people, with spaces where you can hang out and not feel judged. Too much, anyway!

Joe: With this new queer uprising Bollox kinda got the ball rolling and has really been a melting pot for Manchester's arty alty queers. Rod is a total scene hero for me, Bollox was pretty much the reason I moved here cuz I got to meet so many awesome people there. There's so many awesome creative people in this city and the great thing is that unlike I dunno probably London people aren't fighting and competing, people work together and promote and play at each other nights and generally help each other out. WE'RE ALL FRIENDS!!!!

Niall: Yeah, Bollox is awesome, and Rod is a total unsung hero. I'd also like to praise the sterling work of Bren O'Callaghan who has put on a few different film screening-meets-live performance nights and has done a lot to bring the current scene together. And of course I have to mention the fabulous Zsa Zsa Noir, who has kept the alt-drag flame of David Hoyle alive while being really gorgeous, talented and quite bizarre. Performers like Zsa Zsa (and Kurt Dirt and the Bliges) are the reason we've started Tranarchy, as there is so much untapped talent in this town, and if it wasn't for the work of people like Rod and Bren we wouldn't meet each other!

Oh, and I'd just like to take this moment to plug my new album "AKA" which is coming out later this year. It's got an old school electro-hip-hop vibe, as I think gays in hip-hop are really under represented. There's tonnes of guests - Zsa Zsa Noir is on there, as is the hottest drag queen in the States right now, Christeene Vale and New York's vogue princess Cherie Lily. There's also tracks with gay rap legends Yo! Majesty and Scream Club, and an appearance by a certain Ms Ditto...

LINKS:
www.niallism.com
www.menergy.tv
www.tranarchy.co.uk


In this pic, Niallist, Deb Jump, Growler, Greg Thorpe, Jayne Compton, Reggie Ron Waite and the fabulous Sebastian.

MENERGY vs R-P-Z Sept 24th

For our freshers special we are teaming up with Record Playerz to bring you a "Fresh Meat" bonanza with special guests Demi Monde LIVE! Facebok deets here - be there!

New Menergy Flyer

It's Voodoo Minaj!

Menergy Pride pics

Quite surprisingly, Menergy's debut at Stereo turned out to be one of our best parties ever, thanks in no small part to an influx of actorly-types who seemed to genuinely love the music, invaded the stage a number of times, and even formed a conga line round the club! For a fuller post with more pics see Menergy.tv, this is just a selection of shots featuring me and Joe: