- Tender, fun-loving house and disco straight from the heart.
- A spark of light erupting from a naked, crouched body adorns the cover of Sodomy, the new EP from Jorkes on their label Freeride Millenium. The image, serious yet playful, seems to represent an outburst of ideas and emotions from a person's inner core, literally. It's the perfect metaphor for Jorkes, whose palette of rugged house music, slick disco, '80s synth-pop and booming acid always feels unapologetically earnest.
Their sonic identity, built around their queerness and self-described empathetic nature, is both cheeky and deeply thoughtful, washing listeners over with feelings of love and human connection (and lots of, lots of catchy vocal hooks). Anyone who's attended their resident nights at Stuttgart club Romantica or listened to their shows on Munich's Radio 80000 can attest to Jorkes' sense of unbridled enthusiasm, sweetness and passion for their queer community.
All of that is tangible on their RA mix, a lively and poignant journey through exuberant house and emotive nu disco with plenty of classics like Club 69's "Let Me Be Your Underwear" thrown in for pure, feel-good energy.
What have you been up to recently?
I've been navigating through life and having fun. Enjoying time with my mum and sister, with my partner Daniel and my dog and also spending time in the clubs, at my residency at Club Romantica and in the studio and with friends. Making plans with Freeride Millenium. Educating myself, listening and learning. Pleasuring myself and others. All very cosy and nice.
How and where was the mix recorded? And can you tell us the idea behind it?
Ultimately it was recorded in our flat in Vienna, Austria. Our setup consists of two Pioneer XDJ-700s, two Technics 1200s, an Allen & Heath X:ONE 23C, Rokit 6 Monitors and headphones. As with all mixes I do at home, Victor is always a loyal assistant, trying to distract me for treats and play.
Mixes usually happen spontaneously, or I plan them longhand with no particular purpose, where I put songs that fit a certain vibe and aesthetic into different folders or shelves. I always record mixes live and as a "one-shot"—imperfections included. It's like lightning that hits you from somewhere, and you just start. So it was with the mix with you. The feeling took over. I am reminiscing a lot about the days of the first post-AIDS crisis social setting and the emotions in the community. Although I am too young to have witnessed it, through research and educating myself, the horror that made so many fine humans (even a whole generation of people) go way too early was overcome by a feeling of liberation, of strong self-confidence in the community, of joy and lust in life, the easiness of existence, the egalitarian attitude within our peers and the romance and celebration of togetherness and intercourse.
So the feeling I tried to capture with the mix is the apex or the turning point in the common perception of society at specific events with such power to change the culture for the better. Simply put, when horror is happening, bold actions and symbols of freedom and love follow. Sometimes we just need someone to put their loving arms around us. Just enjoying existence with fun and easiness. The songs that came together here hopefully match all the mentioned emotions after a period of crisis and can bring comfort and liberation to people.
What's one party or club that had a major impact on you as an artist?
There is no specific event or club that shaped me ultimately or had a major impact. It is more like an onion with different layers of impact and different stages of my evolution and emotional maturity. Taking bits and bites from everything and putting together the mosaic of my understanding of who I am as an artist along the journey. Absorbing curiously every happening like a sponge.
You're a passionate member of and advocate for the queer community. How do you practice, get across or embody these values when it comes to playing, making and releasing dance music?
With making and releasing music, the topics are pretty much everything that surrounds my life. I don't know if you can make the category "queer values" out of it—I wouldn't even know what that is in conclusion, except for non-normative. They are all just topics that deeply touch and surround me. That is why I have the urge to digest them through music. It just feels and is natural. Be it with gender fluidity, as I often switch my feminine and masculine sides. Be it also experimenting with bodies in different social settings (crossdressing), exploring structures of power (sex working, sissification), asking about why non-heterosexual intercourse is so stigmatised (HIV/AIDS, Catholic church) educating myself about the new possibilities of medicinal bio-politics (PrEP and safe sex). All these topics play a role in the lyrics or the lines I write. In my opinion, by talking about, performing, or highlighting them, it starts a discussion about, which is a win-win for society. Because when you talk about an issue, you erase the stigma and the taboo and elevate emancipation.
When it comes to playing music, I have the luck to have been socialised with a gay male friend who is 20 years older than me and has lived through the different eras of music that appealed to the community. So from a very young age, when we were hanging out, he always had the best music and knew the best radio stations. He introduced me to people like Denny Tenaglia, Frankie Knuckles, Club 69, Junior Vasquez, David Morales and Divine. All artists that I regularly play. He was cross-dressing and working the streets of Athens as a sex worker. While he was dressing up, we would listen to all the music his DJ friends would give him, dance, have fun and enjoy our existence. He is also the topic of one of my songs—maybe you will find which one and surprise me with a message :-)
His coming of age, for example, happened in a time when young people got kicked out of their homes for being gay, lesbian, transgender, non-binary et al. But his positivity and lust for life made him even stronger and more compassionate with his fellow humans. These are the stories we want to hear and see. Stories of overcoming fear, stories of empowering marginalised bodies, stories of acceptance, liberation and hope, stories of love and compassion for every sexuality and gender identity.
On a political level, we have a tool to speak directly to the heart and soul through music. Sometimes you may find yourself in a weaker position in an argument with someone who doesn't hold your opinion and is against how we live. It happens due to anxiety, fear and insecurity. It is okay because brains and minds are different—some are sharper than others, and some are more rational than others. But suppose you have the possibility and the ability to communicate directly to the heart and to the soul through music. In that case, you can take everyone on your journey for a better and more inclusive society. Lines of a song can become a mantra and change someone's mind. Melodies can melt down barriers and open people up. I think we are fortunate to have the tool of music to communicate for our cause.
You're a resident at Romantica in Stuttgart, which is kind of an underappreciated city in Germany when it comes to dance music. What is it about the party, and the city, that feels special or unique to you?
First, everything feels like home to me as I grew up in the suburbs of Stuttgart and had a 25-minute subway connection to Downtown. Home always feels special. Being a migrant working-class child, you have to try even harder to adapt to mainstream society, as people always try to make a stranger out of you. A typical and frequent question I heard from others in my childhood and teen years was: "Where are you really / originally from?"
Of course, as a child or a young teenager, you don't think about the magnitude and the impact of such questions, but it did something to me, and I am pretty sure it gave me the curiosity and resilience to find fellow humans, that always have the feeling to belong everywhere in the world, that have the urge to be part of something else, more than just what our eyes see and our hands can touch. Adaption and resilience become your superpower. This feeling (and the freedom my parents gave me to explore the world) brought me to people in town, that were outside the "norm"—sex workers, musicians, drug users, nomads and closeted cops looking for a nice fuck. All kinds of people who were left of the mainstream.
As a young non-straight, non-conformist person growing up in a town like Stuttgart, the nightlife is always a safe haven, as you meet people who don't ask "Where are you originally from," but rather, "What are you looking for?" There were people like Stuttgart natives Soulphiction or Tiefschwarz that attracted me with their music, especially Soulphiction, connecting me to house music. Later, we became good friends, and I got a lot of education from him.
In my adventures through the city, I also met Femke Bürkle. She was always a fascinating figure, knowing exactly what she wanted and where she wanted to go, having a big heart, a personality to help and always being straightforward with you. I met her when I was an underage young rave girl, and we instantly had a powerful bond. It felt like she somehow would take care of me, and I always felt safe with her. 10-plus years later, she took over the Romantica club, and when my partner Daniel and I started releasing music on Freeride Millenium, we felt the urge to invite friends of the label to parties. As we had just moved to Vienna back then and didn't know many people around club culture, Stuttgart felt better for starting something and the first thing I thought was to call Femke and ask her if she'd be up for hosting our label nights in her club Romantica. She immediately agreed, and we can call Romantica our home for six years now. The Freeride Millenium label nights we host also attract precisely the people that I feel such a strong connection to, and I am thankful to everyone who enjoys it and is there. Every night there feels so special.
A big part is the visual concept that Daniel communicates through the artwork. He shoots all photography and is a human diary of what happens in our lives and what surrounds us. I sense that people also feel this very personal and playful approach and can open up and let go, experiment with their bodies and needs and just enjoy themselves and be curious while at our parties. What is very helpful is the intimate size of the club. It fits 100 people at once. It used to be a strip club back in the day, so there is some erotic tension attached to the building.
Also, the whole crew and staff there feel like a big family. Everyone gives room to others to be themselves, no one is judgmental, everyone is supportive, and the room always feels like there is lots of love and understanding between the guests and the staff. I am incredibly thankful for the diverse, vibrant and unique mix of people we have at our parties, all coming together to celebrate life, respecting and accepting one another regardless of background, enjoy their bodies and melt together into something special. This is also reflected in the musicians we invite. They all come from different and diverse backgrounds of electronic music and always reflect exactly this feeling I mentioned above with their music. All of this makes every night very unique and special to me.
What's one social or political cause you want the world to pay more attention to?
If I might, I'll expand on this answer. Existence is so multi-layered, and many things intertwine with each other, so it never is "one cause" for me. Furthermore, issues are often intersectional. We are in a transformational process as a society, like the post-AIDS-crisis era when antiretrovirals were introduced or the post-cold war era with the fall of the Berlin Wall. It happens in relatively small bubbles and the broader spectrum of society. We realise that resources and time are limited. We have authoritarians, racists, fascists and reactionists who endanger our freedom to live as we want, that destroy our living grounds, wage war and despair upon innocent humans and animals. We have corporations that burn our forests and kill our fellow mammals. We are hurting mother earth so severely she will pass away at some point and take everyone with her to the abyss.
We, humans, have become the ultimate virus on this planet. With our gadgets, we become increasingly annoyed, reactionist and grieving cyborgs with the attention span of a goldfish, losing compassion, softness and the will to interact in real life. To overcome this, we need to revolutionise the perception of our surroundings.
First of all, we must protect vulnerable members of our family who are constantly under attack and at the very core of a transformation towards a better tomorrow. We should make our trans and non-binary siblings the role models of society as they are the spearhead of a shift towards the good. They are divine.
All legislation and executive action should have their future and well-being as a legitimate goal. The constantly escalating discrimination our trans siblings are exposed to is proof of the mass grieving and fear of the existing norms that we all live under in our society. It is easier for society to demonise than to reckon with its heartbreak. Let's liberate ourselves from that and break the chains. We should allow ourselves softness and tenderness and practice this daily. We should unite to heal and realise we are part of something greater than our ego. We need to give ourselves and others room to discuss, listen, create, forgive and grow instead of being reactionary and authoritarian towards our fellow humans.
On the same page, we must stay vigilant for the threats coming our way. Through this, we can one day wake up in the real egalitarian and sustainable utopia we all dream of. And never forget to have fun—alone or with each other. I dream of a society with more babes and fewer bros. This bro culture, especially in the music sector, nurtures a culture of competition and bitterness, where elbows are felt to the max. This is toxic towards art and towards well-being in general. On the other hand, babes accelerate their fellow humans' power. Babes enjoy, protect, heal and are there for each other. Be a babe.
What are you looking forward into the near future?
I am happy and looking forward to spending time with my mum, sister, Daniel, our dog and my friends. I'm delighted and thankful to all the great artists who have trusted us with their music coming on Freeride Millenium. Also grateful that I can continue my residency at Romantica in Stuttgart, which has such an easy-going, caring and open crowd. I appreciate the trust of Radio 80000, who give Paris Böhm (Daniel Rajcsanyi) and me two hours of their monthly airtime to play around. And I am incredibly thankful to everyone I meet throughout the journey. To more adventures and more tenderness. Xoxo
TracklistBASHKKA - C-quence Of Calamities
Pretty Girl - Sun Phase (Human Movement Remix)
Nelly Furtado - Say It Right (Protean Remix)
Leila K - Ca plane pur moi (Felix Remix)
Benjamin Fröhlich - Do You Wanna Dance (Rosa Red Remix)
Divine - Psychedelic Shack
John Noseda - Used Future (DJ City Remix)
Jorkes - Super Fun Lover (Alinka Remix)
George Feely - Don Johnson
Club 69 - Let Me Be Your Underwear (Vocal Club Remix)
Super Drama & Kuntessa - Kuntessa's Workout Plan (House Version)
FELIX - Stars
Billie Ray Martin - Your Loving Arms (Junior Vasquez Soundfactory Mix)
Raphael Schön - Energy