Nick Bond interviews CLOSET founders Anna Whitelaw and Mason Browne for Issue #64 of Southern Star,  a Melbourne gay and lesbian newspaper and community voice.

“Meeting Closet organisers Mason Browne and Anna Whitelaw for a coffee in the city on a sunny summer day, it’s immediately clear the pair have the easy, affectionate rapport of old friends. Surprisingly, Browneand Whitelaw have known each other for little more than a year — only a touch longer than the Closet parties themselves have been running.

Browne, 27, is a Sydneysider who moved to Melbourne in October 2008 and soon grew restless with the scene down south.

“When I arrived, I was reluctant to go out to anything, because at that time there really wasn’t a lot that interested me,” said Browne, dapperly dressed in a bow tie and check shirt.

“I didn’t know the scene that well, and I mentioned to a few friends that I wanted to investigate doing a party — one that would bring characters out of the woodwork, with different theming for each event.”

“Then a mutual friend introduced us on Facebook and said, ‘You want to do a party, hewants to do a party… so do a party!’ ” continued Whitelaw, 25.

“So we met up and went on a few trashy nights out just to make sure we were on the same page,” laughed Browne. While Browne, a self-confessed voracious networker, had already helped organise a few events in his home town, Whitelaw had no experience putting together a club night.

“I had never thrown anything bigger than a housewarming. It was a steep learning curve. I threw it out to my friends at first. ‘Hey, we’re throwing a party for you, what do you want it to be like?’ ”

Their method worked. Closet quickly found its niche amongst Melbourne’s queer onenighters this year: not as out-there as Gay Shame, but less sexed-up than John. Browne has fond memories of Closet’s debut, or Coming Out party, on February 27. Anyone who attended will remember the sense of organised chaos on the night.

“I remember the number we expected was 450, tops. We had the top level of the venue open and ready for 450 people. We had this freakout a week before — which we do beforeevery event — where we think, oh my God, no one’s coming. In the end, about 1100-1200 people turned up,” Browne said.

“There was this moment where we were running around trying to find each other, pushing through sweaty bodies, and I was screaming at Anna ‘The venue wants to openanother level, we need to get DJs!’. We ended up throwing our friends on deck to entertain people downstairs.”

Whitelaw laughed as she recalled the madness of the night. “My brother played the opening set and then went out for a ciggie. He went down three flights of stairs that were packed with people, then walked outside and there were still another 300 lined up in the street! It was incredible.”

Since then, the pair have held parties every few months, each one with a distinct theme to encourage people to get into the spirit of the night.

“The themes have been great,” Whitelaw said. “We had a lot of ’90s beachwear for Gaywatch, then a lot of ’80s high school gear for Ferris Bueller’s Gay Off. Then there was my favourite, Full Metal Faggot. Even the DJs came in camouflage gear.

“But for our New Year’s party, there isn’t really a theme, because we wanted it to just be ‘come as you are’ — you can come after a house party, or before a New Year’s Day festival.”

While the parties have attracted a diverse crowd since their inception, Whitelaw said they’d maintained a queer mix.

“It’s a very gay party, actually. You often get these fashionable gay parties that have a whole lot of trendy straight people in them. We have a few straighties, but not a huge amount. We get a good mix of lesbians and gay guys — it’s very inclusive.”

Browne agreed.

“I think it helps that it’s a male and a female organising it. I often think Anna’s a gay man in a lesbian’s body, but she’s very good at bringing both the lesbian crowd and gay men along.”

“I have lots of gay male friends. I got sick of going to lesbian parties where they wouldn’t feel very welcome, and I was tired of going to their parties and being the token lesbian in the place,” Whitelaw said.

“There can be a lot of segregation, with boys and girls nights going to VCAT and getting exemptions to be able to keep the other sex out. I wanted to create something more inclusive.

“And we’ve made sure to cater for everyone with the New Year’s party —we’ve got a house room for the boys with pumping music they can dance to and take their tops off. Then we’ve got a girls room with a bunch of great lesbian DJs playing.”

So inclusivity is in, as is great music — the pair have scored a few coups this year, including sets from Scissor Sisters’ tour DJ Sammy Jo and Van She Tech.

“We’re pretty serious about our music, which I think has helped. We get pretty serious about investigating good acts and DJs. They don’t even necessarily have to be DJs in the gay scene, they just have to be good,” Whitelaw said.

“It helps to make each event great. When we had Van She Tech come down,and the room was just, I can’t describe it, there was nothing like it. It was electric. There were boys there who had no idea who Van She Tech were, or Van She for that matter, but it went off. They finished their set and they wanted to play more, they loved it so much.”

With the New Year’s Eve party taking over Roxanne Parlour for a seven-hourmix of 12 house, electro, hiphop and disco DJs, the duo will be ringing in a very busy 2010.

“We’ve got the Sam Sparro party coming up on January 9. We’ve moved venues to Roxanne Parlour, which has been a big change, but we’re very happy with it. The venue really fits with Closet well, I think,” Whitelaw said.

Browne said there was more in the pipeline. “The next one after New Year’s is the Australia Day party, on Friday January 22, as part of Midsumma. And we’ve got a plan for a party in March which hopefully will get people talking, with a big headliner in the works, which we can’t reveal just yet.“Let’s just say there’s a lotplanned for next year.”

This New Year’s Eve, CLOSET is throwing the biggest gay disco inferno Melbourne has ever seen.

It’s been a big year for us. After four epic parties, CLOSET is going to celebrate the end of 2009, and the dawning of the second decade of the millennium in style.

Over three massive rooms, CLOSET NYE brings you 7 hours of Electro / Disco / House / Hip Hop with more than 12 Djs.

For the uninitiated, CLOSET NYE is a night of debauchery and dancing for homosexuals and those who love them. Here, art fags, twinks, marys, straight-acting homos, lipstick lesbians, baby dykes, bisexuals gender-benders, and curious straighties from both sides of the river will mix it up in a multi-orientational paradise.

For those who love their sexy electro and dirty disco, we’ve got ANDEE FROST + OOH EE with our residents BROMANCE/MANDATE DJS + MEGAPHONE…

For the boys who love their big house anthems, we’ve got an all new house room with MIKE EVANS, ADAM LOVE, DJ HAYLENISE & JIMI HARRISON…

For the ladies who love ladies, we’ve got the one and only DJ M.A.F.I.A. + the legendary GROUSE DJS to get the party started in the VIP ROOM…

ELECTRO ROOM

ANDEE FROST
OOH EE
BROMANCE / MANDATE DJS
MEGAPHONE

HOUSE ROOM

MIKE EVANS
DJ HAYLENISE
ADAM LOVE
JIMI HARRISON

LADIES ROOM / HIP HOP / 80s / 90s

DJ M.A.F.I.A.
GROUSE DJS
MISS BEATS
LOWBROW DJS
LEZBELLAH vs MAISON de MASON

WHERE: Roxanne Parlour (NEW VENUE!)

WHEN: New Year’s Eve Thursday 31st DECEMBER 2009

DOORS OPEN: 10PM Till Late

Tickets available through MOSHTIX and SELECTED OUTLETS.

EARLY BIRDS/PROMOTER TICKETS: $25.00 (SOLD OUT!!!)

FIRST RELEASE: $35.00 + bf

ON THE DOOR: $50.00 (If not sold out prior)

Tickets are also on sale now from:

Hares & Hyenas Bookshop
(63 Johnston St, Fitzroy)

Bang Clothing
(41 Cato St, Prahran, just off Commercial)
*On sale from 15 December 2009

CLOSET and STREETPARTY are proud to present SAMMY JO SCISSOR SISTERS TOUR DJ for this one and only Melbourne show.

Back in 1997, SAMMY JO started his Djing career at the legendary New York City nightclub MOTHER. He was soon recruited to play at cyberfetish party Click + Drag, where he met and collaborated with Jake Shears, the frontman of the soon-to-be-formed Scissor Sisters.

In 2004, SAMMY JO joined the Scissor Sisters on their Crevice Canyon Tour, a pairing that was such a success he joined the band as their Offical Tour Dj and the rest is history.

Since then, SAMMY JO has become an internationally renowned DJ, playing in clubs and festivals all across Europe and the globe from London’s O2 Arena, to Barcelona’s Club RAZZAMATAZZ, from Paris Fashion Week to warehouse parties in Antwerp, and to crowds of more than 60,000 people at V Festival.

Before he headlines Sydney’s SLEAZE BALL – GAME ON this year, SAMMY JO is bringing his unique style blending electro, house and dark disco to Melbourne, so don’t miss your chance to see the man himself.

With support from Special Guests
OOH EE
SUNSHINE
BROMANCE
TOKYO JOKE
+ MANY MORE including Soccer Mom Djs, Streetparty Djs, Surprise Junkies and Closet Djs.

WHO: CLOSET & STREETPARTY PRESENT: SAMMY JO! SCISSOR SISTERS TOUR DJ

WHEN: Friday 25 September 2009

TIME: 10pm till late

WHERE: Brown Alley (Cnr of Lonsdale & King Streets, City. Entrance off Lonsdale)

TICKETS: $20 presale available from www.iwannaticket.com.au / $25 on the door

CLOSET’s ‘FULL METAL FAGGOT’ PARTY with SPECIAL GUESTS HOOPS

“Only steers and queers come from Texas… and you don’t look much like a steer to me.”

Hold on to your bootstraps and your jockstraps, because we separated the men from the boys, the butch from the femme, the gay from the straight with our manliest party yet.

Get ready to see blood on the dancefloor for another night of debauchery and disco … CLOSET went FULL METAL FAGGOT.

Don’t Ask. Don’t Tell.

SPECIAL GUEST DJS

HOOPS   OOH EE   M.A.F.I.A.   BROMANCE

TOKYO JOKE   VIVA L’AMOUR   CHAIRMAN MEOW   LEMONPARTY

LEZBELLAH   MAISONdeMASON   CAMPFIRE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JESSIE FRENCH

CLOSET with SPECIAL GUESTS VAN SHE TECH

“Oh, he’s very popular, Ed… The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads – they all adore him. They think he’s a righteous dude.”

That’s right homos. It’s FERRIS BUELLER’s GAY OFF.

CLOSET came back. We know you missed us. We missed you too. We thought it was time to see you again. So we chucked sickie, and got footloose for our biggest gay disco inferno yet.

Over TWO FLOORS and FOUR ROOMS, CLOSET once again brought you electro, disco, house, hip hop, and breaks from a rotation of fresh Djs, and favourites like SPECIAL GUEST Djs VAN SHE TECH, GLOVES, M.A.F.I.A., BROMANCE, VIVA L’AMOUR, PEARL, VIYO! + LEZBELLAH & MAISONdeMASON.

CLASS OF ‘86. Boys and girls, it’s back to school, and back to the ’80s. Think big hair and bigger shoulder pads. Think ruffled tuxedo shirts, and taffeta dresses. Think legwarmers, headbands and leotards. Cheerleaders, virgins, nerds, heathers, jocks, Brat Packers, dropkicks, Homocoming kings and queens. An homage to the decade we were born in, when John Hughes ruled the school.

]]> http://www.closetparty.com.au/archives/23/feed 0 http://www.closetparty.com.au/archives/202 http://www.closetparty.com.au/archives/202#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2009 03:29:24 +0000 closetparty http://www.closetparty.com.au/?p=202

CLOSET ‘GAYWATCH’ WITH SPECIAL GUEST DJ ANNA LUNOE

After our HUGE “Coming Out” Party, CLOSET decided to give you an encore, by throwing a “GAYWATCH” Party. Now we’ve popped our cherry, we got down got f#%@ed.

For the uninitiated, CLOSET is a gay disco inferno for discerning gay boys and girls who’ve been looking for an excuse to party…

Here, art fags, twinks, marys, straight-acting homos, smoking hot lipstick lesbians, baby dykes, bisexuals, hags, curious straighties, closetcases and scene queens, from both sides of the river mix it up in a multi-orientational paradise to some of Australia’s finest Djs.

For those who missed our epic “Coming Out” Party, this is was a chance to redeem yourself.

For those who were there, CLOSET’s “GAYWATCH” was BIGGER and BETTER than ever…

Over TWO floors, and FOUR rooms, CLOSET is brought you dirty electro, disco, house, hip hop and breaks from some of Australia’s finest and most in-demand DJs including

SPECIAL GUEST DJs:

ANNA LUNOE (Hoops/Syd)

ANDEE FROST (Witness Protection Program, Trough Faggot Party)

DJ M.A.F.I.A. (Hoochie Mama @ Alia, Revolver)

OOH EE

TOKYO JOKE

PADDYWHACK

And don’t forget your hosts, LEZBELLAH and MAISONdeMASON.

THEME: GAYWATCH

Think ’90’s beach culture. Think the Hoff in all his hairy-chested glory. Think Pammy. Think hot boys in boardies, and hot girls in one-pieces.