A year after their explosive first party, we revisit the supersexy gay clubbing brand to see what’s next
TROUGH has taken London by storm since they jetted over from Melbourne a mere twelve months ago. They’ve filled out some of the capital’s coolest venues with pounding beats and a gloriously uninhibited crowd, all while putting out s inventively, sexy poster art!
They’re celebrating their first anniversary this Saturday with not just one, but two hunk-heavy parties. They start off in the graffiti-daubed arches of The Vaults, before making the jog over to Fire for a dark, hands-wandering after-party! We caught up with head TROUGHers, Sergio and Nik, to see what special surprises they’ve got tucked in their jocks this time round.
Hey guys, TROUGH’s back this January for the first birthday. How has the first year been?
The first year has been a hell of a journey, full of steep learning curves – blood, sweat, tears and a lot of hot, sweaty rears. We believe TROUGH has given London something quite unique, even though we have had to jump a few hurdles to get there. But after a year, we can safely say the brand has gotten a lot tighter and sexier… just like those sweaty rears. (winks)
Sadly, The Coronet’s gone for good now. Was it hard to find somewhere to live up to it?
In short – fuck yes! There are now so few gay friendly venues that allow us to host our party with the level of production and eccentricities we like to unleash, PLUS ones that give our crowd the freedom to dance, play and drop their inhibitions, so to speak, onto the floor. So we had to get clever and take the party to the few existing venues that still have a license to party and play, but re-invent the space and experience in order to keep the integrity of the parties we hosted at Coronet. So far, so good!
This is going to be the first TROUGH two-parter, isn’t it?
Indeed! We’ve been meaning to experiment with this idea for a while and decided this party was the one to trial. The Vaults is a spectacular space that we are very fortunate to have been granted to host TROUGH for a second time. The only thing is, this venue does not offer a deluxe cruise/play-space that our crowd has become accustomed to. So after the gaymazing play-area that was set up for our last TROUGH at FIRE, we thought ‘why not host an actual after party inside this space and add a DJ and dance floor to the mix?’. We are excited to see if this TROUGH After Party goes beyond our expectations. At the main party though, we suggest just getting down and dirty on the dance floor or any other tight dark spaces you may find.
The artwork, as usual, is AMAZING. Talk us through the oat-based inspiration behind it.
Ha. We also love our artwork and the hot talent we expose in it. The latest artwork is inspired by the actual literal meaning of the party’s name. A trough is a long vessel or container that farm animals eat and drink out of, so we decided to feature a selection of hot party animals from our parties – from here and abroad – and get them to eat and drink in true party animal style – on all fours!
Out of interest, what is your favourite cereal?
Special K. Don’t judge.
Who’s providing the beats this time round?
On the local front, we bring back some of the TROUGH faves to return their tricks on the decks, including Massimo Paramour, who will send us all to sleaze; Zola St, who will be the light in the darkroom; and introducing to the TROUGH, Two Kinds of Evil, London-based ‘evil’ duo Marco Gee and Adam Watts, who will unleash their darker side to a sweaty pit of fists. Finally Pistolpete, the main resident DJ for the legendary MY PLEASURE parties in Madrid, returns to the decks, simply because he blew our minds at the last TROUGH. Is there a better reason?
Can you tease us with any more surprises?
It wouldn’t be a proper tease if we gave away the surprises, no?
So you’ve done Melbourne, you’ve done London. Where next for TROUGH?
We’ve also done Sydney and are just about to do Brisbane…and that’s all for Australia. More locally, we are looking into Manchester and maybe Brighton. For Europe, we have our sights on Barcelona, Koln, Rome, Athens, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, and for USA we are flirting with San Fran, LA and New York. The rumours are strong: TROUGH will take over the homosphere!
TROUGH 1st Birthday is on Saturday 27th January at The Vaults, Leake Street, SE1 7NN, 10.30pm-4am, tickets £20 from troughlondon.com. Afterparty with darkroom arch at Fire, South Lambeth Road, SW8 1SP, from 4.30am, wristband available at The Vaults, giving you access to both Afterparty and Beyond.
