DOOMSCROLL on the Dance Floor: BDSM Gardener talks queer nature, nightlife and debauchery
Scene Report: DOOMSCROLL on the Dance Floor
On Saturday 6th April, SoundSight Mag covered the glorious DOOMSCROLL’s return to London with ECO SLAG at The Yard in Hackney Wick (check out the review here). SoundSight writer Cameron Evans recently caught up with the BDSM Gardener from DOOMSCROLL to discuss their views on London nightlife, the queerness of nature, and how all of this translates to the dance floor.
Cameron: Thanks for taking the time to chat again. As we wrote in the original article, the event went amazingly, and it’s such a welcoming space with the energy and intention you guys bring. How did the collaboration with [Hackney based venue] The Yard come about originally?
BDSM Gardener: THE YARD HAVE BEEN MASSIVE FANS OF US FOR AGES. THEY LOVE IN BED WITH MY BROTHER, AND THE KIND OF CRAZY F***IN THEATRE THEM LOT MAKE, THOSE F***’IN TRAGICOMEDY MASK LITTLE SLAAAGS! THEY JUST LOVE US, THEY THINK WE ARE REALLY COOL AND SAID CAN YOU COME IN, PLEASE!
In our exchanges, BDSM Gardner wrote about how their act is addressing “OUR COLLECTIVE FUTURE IN THE FACE OF CLIMATE DESTRUCTION” and exploring “THE INHERENT QUEERNESS AND SEXINESS OF NATURE (THOUGH THE ENDURING POWER OF PERFORMANCE AND HIGH BPM BANGERS)”.
I’m interested to hear more about the idea of the queerness of nature, and how that intersects with the gardener’s own experience and identity of queerness.
WELL, I THINK NATURE IS INHERENTLY QUEER. I THINK ONE BEAUTIFUL THING ABOUT NATURE IS THAT IT DOES NOT PROCLAIM, IT DOES NOT TELL US WHERE THE BOUNDARIES ARE. IF YOU SPEND LONG ENOUGH AT THE RIVER BANK YOU WILL SEE THAT THERE IS NO RIVER, THERE IS NO BANK. THERE IS A SPACE WHERE THE RIVER MEETS THE LAND AND THEY HAVE A BEAUTIFUL SEXY LITTLE SMOOCH, AND IT ACTUALLY CREATES SOME INHABITANTS AND ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THAT ARE TRANSIENT, THAT ARE ALWAYS IN FLUX.
YOU KNOW IF YOU SPEND TIME IN A FOREST YOU MIGHT THINK THERE ARE JUST TREES, AND THERE ARE LITTLE WEEDS UNDER THE TREES, BUT YOU’LL REALISE ACTUALLY IT’S THE MYCELIUM, IT’S ACTUALLY THE FUNGUS, IT’S THE F**KIN’ MICROBIAL LITTLE SLAAAGS IN THE COMPOST THAT ACTUALLY POWERS EVERYTHING, THAT BRINGS EVERYTHING TOGETHER.
I THINK THAT’S AN INHERENTLY QUEEER EXPERIENCE, WHEN YOU LOOK AROUND AND YOU THINK ACTUALLY THAT’S NOT POINT A, AND THAT’S NOT POINT B. WE DO NOT LIVE ON A F**KING TRACK!! WE’RE NOT ON A ROAD!! WE ARE EXPERIENCING MOMENTS AND FRAGMENTS AS THEY HAPPEN TO US IN OUR LITTLE MINDS! US LITTLE FUTILE LITTLE F**KING MORTAL LITTLE SLAAAGS!!!
There’s a lot of very powerful and beautiful ideas being explored within DOOMSCROLL, and a lot more fertile ground for ecoslaggery. Where do you want DOOMSCROLL to go in the future?
I WANT DOOMSCROLL TO JUST GO F**KING MASSIVE! I WOULD LIKE TO DO PACHA, I’D LIKE TO DO TROXY, I’D LIKE TO DO MINISTRY OF SAAAAAHND, I WOULD LOVE TO DO SPOILER ROOM. I’D LIKE TO DO A GIG AT MY NAN’S CAFE.
And what do you think it is specifically about the queer experience that allows DOOMSCROLL to foster this unique, insightful, fun approach and perspective to such a daunting issue as radical climate change?
WELL…I JUST THINK OF TAKING BIG IDEAS AND MAKIN EM’ LESS F**KING CRAZY IN A DOOMSCROLL KINDA WAY. IT’S JUST SAYIN’ IF YOU’RE FEELIN INNATE, YOU MAY AS WELL FEEL IT ON THE DANCEFLOOR. DON’T FEEL IT ALONE MATE. OK?!? IF YOU’RE WORRIED ABOUT THE IMMINENT ECOLOGICAL COLLAPSE OF EVERYTHING WE KNOW AND LOVE IN THIS F**KIN’ OZONE LAYER…WELL, DON’T DO IT ON YOUR OWN! DON’T DO THAT THING THAT I USED TO DO WHERE I MASTURBATE LIKE 8 TIMES A DAY. DON’T DO THAT! JUST GO OUT AND ‘AVE A F**KIN’ RAGER WITH YA MATES!!, MATE.
How do you feel DOOMSCROLL fits into the wider nightlife space around Hackney and London in general, and what’s your thoughts on the state of queer nightlife in London at the moment?
I THINK THE REST OF THE NIGHTLIFE SPACE AROUND HACKNEY AND LONDON IN GENERAL IS SHIIIIT! AND THAT’S WHY DOOMSCROLL IS HERE TO SAVE EVERYONE AND GIVE ‘EM AN ACTUAL FUN THING TO DO. SO I WILL JUST SAY THAT ONE MORE TIME, THE REST OF THE F**KIN NIGHTLIFE IN LONDON IS SHITT!
BUT WE KIND OF LIKE ‘EM ANYWAY COZ IT’S NOT A COMPETITION REALLY, IT’S A COMMUNITY. EVERYONE LOVES MAKIN MUSIC, AND EVERYBODY JUST LOVES SHARIN’, SO UM, SO ACTUALLY THAT WAS JUST BEING A BIT FLIPPANT!! AND I WOULD SAY WE NEED TO SUPPORT MORE GRASSROOTS QUEER PRODUCERS AND DJS AND REALLY MAKE A MASSIVE F**KING THING, YEH YOU KNOW? COOL. GOODBYE. LOVE YOU XXXX
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