Rave to the Grave

The literal translation of his Arabic name, Handsome Tiger is the moniker of Vancouver-based producer and DJ Hussein Elnamer. Hussein got his start in metal bands, found dubstep and is currently fusing the genres big low-end and 140 tempos with global club and bass rhythms in an effort to “decolozine the dancfloor.” Hussein talks about growing up mixed-race in Canada – his father is from Libya and his mother is Anishinaabe Métis – and how he’s fusing indigenous sounds of pow-wow drums, chants and more into underground bass. We also talk about his artist journey, the Canadian festival circuit, the importance of dance and ritual rhythms and how connecting with his ethnic background has shaped his sound. Taped live at Bass Coast Festival in Merritt BC! Hosted by Vivian Host (aka DJ Star Eyes). For more info and extras, visit Ravetothegrave.org or Instagram @ravetothe.grave.

We're headed to Perth, Western Australia to catch up with Paul Harding aka El Hornet, one-third of drum 'n' bass group Pendulum, who have reached huge heights with their hard-driving neurofunk bangers that lay bare the group's background in heavy metal and hard rock. Paul is a hilarious storyteller and we talk about CB radio, surfing with sharks, trading beer for mixtapes, losing a dead person at a Pendulum show, being broke in DJ Fresh's London flat making Pendulum's first album and keeping drum 'n' bass punk af. Hosted by Vivian Host (aka DJ Star Eyes). For more info and extras, visit Ravetothegrave.org or follow us on Instagram @ravetothe.grave.

We're headed to the woods of Western Canada to talk to Andrea Graham, a bass music DJ/producer known as The Librarian and the co-founder of British Columbia's music and arts festival Bass Coast, which she established with her friend Liz Thomson in the small coastal town of Squamish in 2009. Ahead of Bass Coast's 16th year this July, we talk running a festival, harm reduction, bass music, environmental awareness, vibe setting, charcuterie plates, what goes on party-wise on the West Coast of Canada and how she had the courage and drive to make an independent festival happen. Hosted by Vivian Host (aka DJ Star Eyes). For more info and extras, visit Ravetothegrave.org or Instagram @ravetothe.grave.

In the last 44 years, Moshe Kasher has been a flyering bear, a sober ecstasy dealer, a sign language interpreter, and a gate monitor at Burning Man. He is now a stand-up comedian living in Los Angeles, and he has a new book out called Subculture Vulture, about the six subcultures that have defined his life. Moshe joins on Rave to the Grave for a funny conversation about Bay Area raves of the '90s, Bonny Doon, PLUR, pacifiers, the Thunderdome, what Katamari Damacy has in common with trauma, and finding himself through raves and comedy. He is currently on a book tour around the United States, followed by some comedy dates. Find out more at MosheKasher.com. Hosted by Vivian Host (aka DJ Star Eyes). For more info and extras, visit Ravetothegrave.org or Instagram @ravetothe.grave.

Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin are DJs, founders of the parties Mister Saturday Night, Mister Sunday, and Planetarium and the Mister Saturday Night record label, as well as New York City nightclub Nowadays. In part two of our interview, we dive deep about opening and running Nowadays, the NYC underground scene at the moment, and how cultural and political shifts impact the underground. If you’re interested in soundsystems, nightclub design, Brooklyn after dark and/or what it takes to run a club, this episode is for you. Hosted by Vivian Host (aka DJ Star Eyes). For more info and extras, visit Ravetothegrave.org or Instagram @ravetothe.grave.

Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin have spent the last 20 years helping shape NYC nightlife but these days, they're best known as the owners of Nowadays in Ridgewood, Queens, which is, in many people's estimation, the best club in New York right now. Justin and Eamon are also DJs, run the record label, and are the hosts and residents of long-running parties Mister Saturday Night, Mister Sunday, and an ambient chill-out affair called Planetarium. In part one of this two-parter, we talk to the duo about Mister Saturday Night's 15-year anniversary, the dos and don'ts of fog, wild times at Motherfucker, DIY spaces, post-9/11 NYC and the parties, locations and music that shaped all their endeavors. Hosted by Vivian Host (aka DJ Star Eyes). For more info and extras, visit Ravetothegrave.org or Instagram @ravetothe.grave.

When 1980s electro and freestyle music from Miami, New York, and Los Angeles touched down in Rio de Janeiro and other Brazilian cities, it ignited a wildfire in the minds of local DJs and soundsystem operators. Out of the hoods – in Brazil known as favelas – emerged the ass-shaking sounds of baile funk. You may have heard baile funk hits by Pablo Vittar, Diplo & MIA, and Karol G, but on this episode we're taking it way way back to the roots. Raised in Fortaleza in Northeast Brazil, Priscilla Cavalcante a.k.a. House of Pris joins me to talk about her experiences in first-wave baile funk and plays us some of the most important samples and beats that started the whole movement. We also talk about her baile funk party in Miami, Florida called Proibidae, the process of saving lost anthems of the 1990s, plus furacão, pancadão, and the wild wonderful world of Brazilian funk parties. Hosted by Vivian Host (aka Star Eyes). For more, follow @ravetothe.grave on Instagram and visit RavetotheGrave.org.

Multiple nights a week for the last four decades, Kevin Carpet has rolled himself up in a body-sized custom carpet and placed himself in bars, clubs, and the streets of NYC for folks to step on, bounce on, take pictures with or... whatever they want really. We talk to Kevin about stepping out at legendary '80s nightspots like Danceteria and the Peppermint Lounge, the ins and outs of his profession/obsession, fashion, kink and consent, how he compares to other human carpets worldwide, and his wildest and most famous encounters. It's everything you wanted to know about being a human carpet but were afraid to ask! Hosted by Vivian Host (aka DJ Star Eyes). For more info and extras, visit Ravetothegrave.org or Instagram @ravetothe.grave.

McKenzie Wark is an Australian born writer, critical theory professor, and trans-femme techno raver currently living in NYC. Her latest book, Raving, thinks deeply about dancing, dissociation, drugs, bodies, and identity as McKenzie, recently transitioned, navigates the queer ravespaces of Bushwick, Brooklyn. On the line from Berlin, we talk about experimenting with language and writing, bodies and the beat, smart vs. stupid drugs, the intersection of transness and techno, Kathy Acker, cultural theory, and McKenzie's extraordinary journey from growing up in an Australian mining town to dancing on the bleeding edge of the NYC underground. Hosted by Vivian Host (aka DJ Star Eyes). For more info and extras, visit Ravetothegrave.org or Instagram @ravetothe.grave.