{"id":1956246,"date":"2025-08-12T16:50:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T16:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1956246"},"modified":"2025-08-12T16:50:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T16:50:28","slug":"from-new-music-to-queer-underground-nightlife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/from-new-music-to-queer-underground-nightlife\/","title":{"rendered":"From New Music to Queer, Underground Nightlife"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>New York City\u2019s DIY underground is home to some of the most innovative artists around. Veterans and younger artists alike have risen to local notoriety without academic or institutional support, and have sustained communal ecosystems for creative expression in the city. Within the queer nightlife and electronic music scenes in particular is a not-insignificant number of musicians who have crossed over from the classical and new music world. Rather than completely abandoning their previous modes of creating, each has found a way to expand their performance practice to encapsulate the full range of their interests and goals.<\/p>\n<p>Coming from a background in classical violin performance, I consistently found myself on the outskirts \u2013 always in search of ways to subvert conventions. Student recitals were monotonous: everyone played the same handful of concerti. It led me to seek out music by composers of marginalized identities across time periods, and later to submerge myself in the new music world, regularly working with living composers. I found myself being drawn further out \u2013 at dingy hardcore house shows, cerebral free improv nights, and freaky performance art showcases. A year ago, I was invited to my first renegade, an illegal outdoor party put together by a group of young DJs and electronic musicians with a generator, some speakers, and a table at an undisclosed location out in the desolate industrial area of Williamsburg.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/2137493223&amp;color=%23ff5599&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As I have joined the brigade of Brooklyn DJs, my performance philosophy has remained unchanged. If given the chance to hold the attention of an audience, and to control the sonic and energetic fields of a space, I see it as an opportunity to give listeners unique experiences that defy expectations. While I generally play uptempo, high-energy sets (160bpm and above), my crate is entirely genrefluid. You might hear a frenetic Tanzanian singeli track supplemented with Rotterdam gabber kickdrums blending into Japanese polyrhythmic percussion. There\u2019s a direct throughline between mixing on the decks and instrumental improvisation, concert programming, archival\/memory preservation, and even orchestral conducting that all conceptually intermingle within my own practice.<\/p>\n<p>My foray into Brooklyn and Ridgewood\u2019s nightlife scenes was struck up by a deep connection with my creative partner, gg200bpm. gg and I perform as <em>medium.<\/em>, an ambient-noise project that transmutes the tension and release of these raw DIY spaces into longform sets, situated between harsh noise walls and glacially-paced ambient drones. But when we perform back-to-back DJ sets, we go all out \u2013 frequently mixing well above 200bpm.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">medium. (gg200bpm and Yaz Lancaster) at Trans-Pecos on 6\/26\/25 \u2014 Photo by Suchi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gg200bpm\/?hl=en\">gg200bpm<\/a> is a classically-trained vocalist and pianist. After graduating from Manhattan School of Music\u2019s contemporary voice program, they found themselves lacking a community outside of academia that shared a sense of curiosity, and a desire to attend shows for the music itself. Everything clicked the first time they visited Bossa Nova Civic Club, the small but iconic techno venue owned by John Barclay on the Myrtle-Broadway strip in Bushwick.<\/p>\n<p>Now, with several years of active participation in the nightlife scene under their belt \u2013 as a listener, dancer, DIY organizer, and hybrid DJ \u2013 they\u2019ve witnessed how solo instrumentalists and DJs have similar responsibilities to their audiences, who are often grasping for connection, belonging, and (material) support. \u201cThe reason I go to shows is to process emotions from day-to-day life,\u201d gg explained to me. \u201cThe energy that\u2019s brought into the room with us when we enter a venue is the same regardless of genre. I feel humanity when sound is blasting the walls off a room. But I can do the same thing with Faur\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Classical\/new music and hardcore techno both facilitate equivalent opportunities for gathering and catharsis among listeners, but gg feels that it\u2019s inherently harder for classical music to connect with audiences. \u201cClassical music and performers have to give people something to relate to because it\u2019s usually much less accessible than just going to the club,\u201d they explained.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/2032162452&amp;color=%23ff5599&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>While New York is home to its own diverse and vibrant electronic\/dance music scene, many people are drawn to Berlin, where techno famously rose to prominence following the reunification of Germany. DJ, pianist, and composer Beef Lounge recently made the move to Berlin from LA, where he completed a doctoral degree in piano performance\/composition at CalArts. Over Zoom, we recently discussed how adventurous musicians and audiences \u2013 regardless of genre \u2013 are always going to dive deeper down the rabbit hole to satisfy that curious itch.<\/p>\n<p>Beef Lounge was driven to new music because \u201c[it] hits all these offbeat emotions that no other music really touches on. It\u2019s not just sadness or happiness. There\u2019s music \u2013 like <em>Cat\u00e9naires<\/em> by Elliot Carter, for example \u2013 that can express things like the overload of information and the hyperspeed at which things move.\u201d The club music that Beef Lounge is now immersed in may not be derived from such heady concepts, but it still provides people with unique physical spaces for heavy feelings to be parsed.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ericumble.com\">Eric Umble<\/a>, a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com\/album\/as-i-write-this-songs-solos-of-aaron-helgeson\">clarinetist<\/a>, DJ, and the founder of <em>FACETIME<\/em> parties, similarly finds resonance between the realms of classical and club. \u201cThrough both mediums, I\u2019m interested in the ability to express myself as truly as possible,\u201d he shared in our recent interview. In their DJ-ing, both gg and Umble deliberately consider orchestration, harmony, texture, and other concepts taught through classical training. \u201cThe proliferation of DJ-ing as a new common musical vernacular and practice makes me happy,\u201d Umble says. \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful way to journal, archive, and share \u2013\u00a0You can DJ for or with friends at a club, or by yourself as a meditation or experiment. I see parallels to this communal and contemporary musicality in the free-improv and jazz communities, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/icareifyoulisten.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/eric-umble-photo-by-ben-dehaan-1200px-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"Eric Umble -- Photo by Ben Dehaan\" class=\"wp-image-35029\" srcset=\"https:\/\/icareifyoulisten.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/eric-umble-photo-by-ben-dehaan-1200px-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/icareifyoulisten.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/eric-umble-photo-by-ben-dehaan-1200px-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/icareifyoulisten.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/eric-umble-photo-by-ben-dehaan-1200px-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/icareifyoulisten.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/eric-umble-photo-by-ben-dehaan-1200px.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Eric Umble \u2014 Photo by Ben Dehaan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Music can provide a refuge to people who need it. Umble lacked the language to express the \u201cincongruences\u201d he felt growing up as a closeted queer child. \u201cMusic was always a practice of self-discovery and healing while being held in community,\u201d he divulged. Beef Lounge also confided, \u201cAs a queer person of color, I needed to be around my people. Nightlife is where I feel the most free.\u201d LGBTQ+ spaces and nightlife offer people safety to explore and express themselves, and are often at the forefront of political and social changes and organizing. According to Beef Lounge, these DIY and communally cared-for spaces are a demonstration of how \u201cpeople are co-creating different ways of interacting and being.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, nightlife can only ever be an approximation of utopia. There are still power dynamics and hierarchies at play, and financial\/social clout is often celebrated over the utility of building community. \u201cYou\u2019re not escaping that \u2013 no matter what genre or field \u2013 when you make art within capitalism,\u201d Beef Lounge warns. But for artists looking to proliferate their practice,\u00a0DJ-ing and participation in nightlife can certainly open up opportunities for individual and communal growth. It can teach us to remain open to exploration, to have humility and respect for the artists and spaces who have built up the communities we\u2019re in and around, and how to incorporate joy into our musical vernacular \u2013 especially for those of us who struggle(d) with breaking or coexisting with traditional conventions. gg reminds us, \u201cYou can always find something new. You\u2019re only doing yourself a disservice by not seeking it out. Go to everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>I CARE IF YOU LISTEN is an editorially-independent program of the American Composers Forum, and is made possible thanks to generous donor and institutional support. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author and may not represent the views of ICIYL or ACF.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>You can support the work of ICIYL with\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/icareifyoulisten.com\/donate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a tax-deductible gift to ACF<\/a>. For more on ACF, visit\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/composersforum.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">composersforum.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source icareifyoulisten.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New York City\u2019s DIY underground is home to some of the most innovative artists around. Veterans and younger artists alike have risen to local notoriety without academic or institutional support, and have sustained communal ecosystems for creative expression in the city. Within the queer nightlife and electronic music scenes in particular is a not-insignificant number [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1956247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1956246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/From-New-Music-to-Queer-Underground-Nightlife.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1956246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1956246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1956246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1956247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1956246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1956246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1956246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}