BTS
Community was never the goal. It was the weapon.
The narrative around community building in nightlife is almost always sentimental. We are building a family. We are creating a...
Tag
tone-confrontational
Scene
The queer scene’s hypocrisy problem
The queer community built large parts of the music scene’s infrastructure — clubs, safe spaces, bookings, entire genres of dance...
BTS
Controversy as fuel: the anti-fragile brand
SLIST has survived five cancel wars. Three in Mexico City, two in New York. Not survived in the sense of...
Scene
The scene is a meat grinder
The rave scene chews people up and spits them out. Not the audience — the operators. The DJs, the promoters,...
Guides
How to survive 5 cancel campaigns
Five cancel campaigns in two years. Discord servers dedicated to destroying the brand. Memes of the founder on the floor...
Scene
Meritocracy vs identity lineups
The question that splits the NYC underground in half: should DJ lineups reflect the demographics of the scene, or should...
Scene
4am hard stops are killing techno
New York City forces most nightlife venues to close at 4am. Some close at 3am. A handful have permits that...
Scene
The rave scene is quietly conservative
The rave scene markets itself as radically progressive. Open-minded. Inclusive. A space where all backgrounds converge on the dancefloor. The...
Scene
Why promoters who cosplay as socialist idealists are about to get eaten
Almost every promoter in the NYC underground tries to cosplay as a socialist idealist. They adopt the language, post the...
Guides
Why Thursday events are worth losing money on
Thursday events do not make money. That is by design. We run them at a loss because the strategic value...