At FUNZINE we were excited to hear about a new “straight-friendly” gay party series, which the organizers, the !szkafander crew, believe is going to be as special (and almost as queer) as space travel.
We decided we would find out more about their first party called OutsideAir, so we sat down with two of their crew members, Aendroid and LeGars, to inundate them with all our burning questions. (They weren’t wearing space suits – this time.)
How did the idea of organizing a „straight-friendly” gay party first emerge?
In fact, the four of us, Aendroid, LeGars, Punpa and Űrfi, who form !szkafander have been friends for a while, going out and organizing various events together. We’ve always talked about creating a party place or some other venue with far-reaching goals that do not only spring forth from our friendship but that also serve our community. With time, as we’ve brainstormed about this more and more, our goals and ideas have become more specific and refined. It is as a result of this process that we’re organizing OutsideAir, the first event of what we hope will eventually become a party series.
Why is the party called OutsideAir?
With this name we’re trying to express that our goal is to reach gays and lesbians who don’t go to Budapest’s current gay bars, because they can’t identify with them. At this beginning stage we are trying to achieve all this by offering high-quality electronic music for our audience. As far as we can tell, gay people are generally open to electronic music but they only have some surface knowledge about it – or at least that’s our perception based on the experience we’ve had attending gay bars in Budapest. With OutsideAir we’d like to prove that there’s much more to this type of music.
Don’t you think that in the current socio-cultural climate, it’d make more sense to organize a gay-friendly straight party than a straight-friendly gay one?
Calling the party “straight-friendly” is a bit tongue-in-cheek, as it is the term “gay-friendly” that is usually applied to different places and events. At the same time the gay bars we usually go to are not frequented by straight people, not because they wouldn’t be welcome, but because these are completely different platforms than what they would like or where they would feel comfortable to go. By calling the party „straight-friendly”, we’re actually extending an invitation to straight people as well, as we want to make our events interesting for both straights and gays. We also see that in this city there are many different underground cliques and subcultures that function in total separation from each other. We want to bring all these “creative forces” together so that they will have a chance to get to know one another and socialize.
So you have a social mission with this party as well?
Originally, our idea was to make a party, but with time as the ideas started to accumulate, we became a creative workshop with the aim of trying to integrate gays into society in ways different from what has been done before. We would like to show that gays are regular people and not as out of the ordinary as the media likes to project us. This is what we’re having as our long-term goal, but at the same time we’re also at the beginning of this project now. At this point we’re trying to take it step by step and we’re only focusing on organizing parties. The first stop of this whole process is OutsideAir at Pántlika in Városliget.
Pántlika seems like an intersting choice of venue for your first event. Why did you pick this place?
Built according to Stalinist design, Pántlika is shaped as a five-point star, covered with concrete and it is only around 30 square-meters. Earlier, Városliget used to host EXPO in Budapest and back then this site was an information desk. A couple of years ago it was renovated in a retro style and now the place just looks like it was left there from space to orient all the partying crowds. When we were searching for places our main priority was that it should be an open place, as we had enough of all the underground places we currently go partying in and we decided we want to party beneath the stars this time! When we went to check out Pántlika we instantly thought it would be the most ideal place for us.
Who are you expecting at the party?
Gays and lesbians who don’t like current gay places and parties and everybody who likes electronic music. We’re trying to create a special atmosphere and setting by expressing our inner world visually as well. Besides this, our selection of DJs and VJ – Jerome Andrieux, Minek (La Cuisine crew), Naga (Hairy) and VJ 14,5% – is a guarantee of success in itself!
Find them on Facebook (!szkafander/OutsideAir by !szkafander) as well!
Tickets: 500-1,500 HUF (as you like)