Interview by Sebastian Chan
DJ Gemma has been one of the stalwarts of the Sydney underground. Since the 80s she has continually pushed boundaries in pursuit of “dark, edgy, unacceptable” music and a drive to introduce this music to others. Most Cyclic Defrost readers will be most familiar with her role alongside Seymour Butz in Club Kooky, a long running weekly Sydney institution that began in 1995. Club Kooky was a welcome alternative to “mainstream gay culture” and became a haven for queers who didn’t fit with the Darlinghurst stereotypes. Kooky was as much about community as music, and over its long run it offered space for performance artists and emerging electronic acts, some of whom are collected on the five Club Kooky compilations (so far!)
Here she talks about some of her favourite music.
Nina Hagen – Nunsexmonkrock (Columbia)
The very first time I laid eyes on Nina Hagen I knew it was going to change my life. It was the early 80s and there was an amazing new wave night on Thursdays at a lezzo bar called Ruby’s. They used to play everything from Bowie to Nina Hagen and the Thursday nights became a place for a real underground lezzo music and performance community to thrive in. Hagen was a massive rebel and had no fear in expressing herself – so much so she was kicked out of East Germany. She quickly became my revolution.
Diamanda Galas – La Serpenta Canta (Mute)
No other artist has ever made me so scared and in complete awe at the same time. Diamanda is possessed and in turn I become possessed by her. Her stubborn refusal to live inside the music industry and still keep producing music is inspiring and it is this along with her musical output that has been a huge influence on my musical journey right from the start.
The Orb – Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld (Big Life)
In the late 80s I was working at Disco City in their sound and lighting hire store. This was when the record store was in Pitt Street, before it moved to Crown Street in the early 90s. I became really familiar with most of the clubs and venues around the inner city, setting up and fixing systems for them – which built strong connections for the next decade. At the time I was in the Oxford St gay scene, the dance party scene was disintegrating because of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the community and changes in venues. Local electronic music was pretty much represented by the Volition label (Boxcar, Single Gun Theory, Severed Heads) – and it was then that I heard The Orb. I used to play this album a lot on Pluto Beat, my radio show on 2SER and I’d always get callers ringing up to find out what it was. It was around this time I realised that the non-gay music scene offered more edge and it was through exploring this. I got involved in Jellyheads, an anarcho-punk collective and warehouse project in Chippendale where I met a lot of new people and then when it dissolved into the Vibe Tribe I got invited to play at those amazing free parties in Sydney Park.
B(if)tek – Sub Vocal Theme Park (Geekgirl)
Biftek have a very special place in my heart. I’m their biggest fan and they are my heroes – they’ve been with me since the inception of Club Kooky in 1995 and Kooky hosted many of their live shows over the years. They, along with Clan Analogue demonstrated that electronic music and ‘warmth’ could live side by side with technology – along with a great live show.
Laurie Anderson – Big Science (Warners)
For the past 30 years Laurie Anderson has been one of the quiet achievers in the electronic/pop music world. I’ve always been fascinated with her sound inventions and it is important to understand that Kraftwerk weren’t the only ones inventing electronic instruments. Her famous ‘O Superman’ is still so apt today – it could be the September 11 theme song.
Fairuz – Fairuz (EMI)
This legendary singer from Lebanon has been in my life since I was a baby. Her voice became like an AM radio in the background while I was growing up and it became the backing soundtrack to my and many others lives. Perhaps best described as “Arabic jazz’, Fairuz reminds me that music need not be discarded after a few listens like it is in the West – I’ve been listening to the same songs of hers for decades and each time make the connection to my roots even stronger. I ended up sampling her voice on the Club Arak album/mix which meant a lot to me. Run by three women, more by chance than design, Club Arak has grown so much in the last four years from 300 people to well over 1000. There have been ten parties in this time and I think Arak is the kind of event that couldn’t happen anywhere else but Australia – despite playing only Arabic music. Club Arak is a very positive and inclusive party and its about sharing the beautiful parts of a culture from a very queer point of view – creating a space where both Arabic and queer culture could come together in a safe environment, especially after September 11. It has taken a lot from Club Kooky in attitude (but not in sound or style) – we also have queer Arab performances and film.
