What inspired (or catalyzed) the No Party Here series?
Audrey: We’ve always talked about partnering up for years but timing wasn’t on our side; I was at Zirca then Avalon while he was at Zouk, Butter Factory, Lo & Behold and helming his own creative consultancy. Then when i left Avalon late last year we decided to get serious! We work well together because we’re both a little retarded, brainless, ugly, lazily ambitious… We believe the best parties, more often than not, happen spontaneously. No serious planners here, not in it for the big bucks, and also, I like that if you read it too fast it looks like No Panty Here.
Louis: Remember a time when partying meant you could be who you want to be? A time everyone was accepted regardless. Think of our parties as an emancipation of oneself, a time to lose self-consciousness (or your underwear). That’s our inspiration and our goal.
Are you tired of the mainstream clubbing scene? What do you hope to offer as an alternative?
A: I love mainstream clubbing. It makes me feel like I belong—the blind leading the blind. I did leave my ex-companies, not exactly because I was tired of the scene, it was just that putting bottle service over music is just not right for me. (To each its own though! Sparklers are pretty and money never an enemy!) No Party Here emphasizes all-nonsense fun but always, always, always good music.
L: While being serious on the music front, our affairs appear subnormal on all other levels. [One of their previous parties had Djedjotronic spinning against a backdrop of 70’s workout videos.]
What does it take to organize and run your own parties? Give us a crash course on how it works.
A: Source a venue and alcohol sponsors, write many proposals for the above, book your DJ/acts with their respective agencies (this could get tough), get a good designer and market the event well… And prepare for a logistics nightmare! As long as there’s passion as the basis, everything else tends to fall in place naturally. I also believe in working hard and not being dodgy.
L: It helps to know people in the club scene and have lots of contacts of course. But if you have a solid party concept, it’s easy to get people to help.
Any trends in the worldwide music/party scene that you want to bring to Singapore?
L: There are tons, but a lot of these tend to happen due to relaxed government restrictions. Roving parties in the trains, secret parties and all can happen, but not without the support of the authorities.
A: We’re very Berlin/UK-influenced and are constantly in contact with our counterparts there. We’re big on collaborations. There are too many great collectives that we’d love to bring here—Sound Pellegrino, Rinse FM, Hyperdub, Dirtybird, Bromance, Young Turks, Visionquest…
What (and which guests!) do you have planned next for the series?
A: Other than Loefah, we’ll also Get Physical with Catz ‘N Dogz from Berlin in January next year, as we continue to prepare a panty-losing slew of No-Parties in 2014! Get up to date with us through our inner circle list at our website.
