Carol Ferraz | Terry Gotham

(I was honored to sit down with one of the majordomos in DiSORIENT, NYC’s premier Burner camp & underground party cohort. If you’ve enjoyed yourself at a DiSORIENT event in the last couple of years, you probably have Lady S. to thank for it. Been a fan of their work since 2006 when I hung out in their party dome, while searching for the DiS art car in the deep playa. They’ll be making Glamtech happen again, and as I’ve said before, this is not a party to miss. See everyone on the 13th!)

1. What is your favorite thing about the NYC underground/burner dance music culture? What is your least favorite thing about it? The unspoken and unconsummated relationships. No matter the kind of parties fit your taste in NYC, you will always see the same people. These are the people that love the same music as you and are in it with you for every show and every set. You may not know them or their names or their stories, but you know their faces and you see them every time you are out. You share with them a nod, a smile, a wink, something to let them know that you know they are there and that you are there for the same reasons. That moment, those relationships, that is my favorite thing.

My least favorite would be the posers, the people in it for the money and nothing pure, but parading themselves around as something more. Underground culture was developed to get away from that. I find it a shame to see so many production companies using that culture and what we have created to line their pockets.2. How do you juggle your day-time responsibilities with the “bad bitch corralling Burners” night-time persona that you’re known for? Ha, I didn’t know that I had a persona I was known for, but I can dig it. The short answer is coffee, a lot of it. But in reality, I really have no idea, none of us do. I spend most, if not all of my time, multi-tasking and working as a unit with the rest of our production crew (for Burning Man and parties) to make sure it all gets done.

Most, if not all, of what I do and what Disorient does could not be done without all of us working together, even if it looks like only one or two people are doing things. Disorient is volunteer run, which means that we are all doing this for the party and for that indescribable Disorient feeling. That’s not a big motivator for some, but it is for us, and somehow we all find a way to make it all work, just for that feeling. But, ask any of us how we do it and all we can say is, “I don’t know, we just do.” Continue reading →

It’s that time again folks. After melting my face last year, DiSORIENT is back at it and they’ve moved out of the new hotness that is Brooklyn, to return to the possibly new-new hotness that is Manhattan (also, Not the Warsaw. This is huge). I’m going to get right into the meat of this, because there’s a gigantic amount of talent to tell you about and I know I’m racing your ADD/Facebook notifications. The best way to describe GlamTech is to imagine a tuxedo made out of a disco ball, with light Pornj (Pink + Orange, for the uninitiated) running lights. This event is where the stops are pulled out, and you just might see an el wire dragon-frame corset, if that’s even a thing. But enough about what you’ll see, which has been described this year as the Dichroic Delusions. The ancient Kykeon of Eleusis comes to mind, the colors between spectrum & spaces in between heart beats, if you can be mindful of them.