Jonas

“From a young age I’ve been fascinated by club culture. As a teenager in the 2000’s I’d follow celebrity blogs about the nightlife adventures of the Hollywood bad girls like Lindsay, Paris and Britney. Later I would read Bret East Ellis’ books on rich and bored party people or watch a movie like Cabaret about wild Berlin in the early 1930’s.

My first encounter with techno was at New Years Eve in my early twenties, when a friend took me to legendary club Trouw in Amsterdam. I danced until sunrise and felt like I discovered this new, secret world.

My grandparents from my mothers side were Arabic Jews from Yemen, so at home I was raised with music from their culture. During family parties everyone dances to this festive music with a repetitive beat – just like techno it can bring you into a trance after a while. I guess that’s what I like so much about techno, that it can hypnotize the crowd and brings everyone together.

What I like about nightlife is the fact that different rules apply. We live in neoliberal times where everything is about self-optimalization, competition and being productive 24/7. Techno parties offer a temporary escape. When I go out I love to meet new people and get a peek into their world: from nightlife freaks to creatives, from clubbing yuppies to fellow queers. While my own party outfits are quite minimalistic in terms of shape and colour I’m always inspired by what I see around me and see a lot of fashion trends that derive from what clubbers wore first – for example men wearing earrings now.

When I go out I prefer to go to queer techno parties. The vibe is just more tolerant, respectful, open – and don’t forget: wild! At a party like Spielraum I can dance next to a topless woman, a guy in a BDSM-outfit and someone who looks like they were teleported from a 90s rave, and no one bothers eachter. At mainstream parties the vibe can feel more agressive. It’s important to educate yourself on the history of electronic music, which started within the communities of gay people of color. I think that without queer people nightlife would just be a snoozefest”

🗣@jonaskooy
📸 @hedonsonance / Annelies Kietselaer