Lock up your dads and put your sons on the next train to Devon, because it’s the last Debbie on Saturday and things are gonna get feral! We spoke to hosts Stella Meltdown and Cassandra to find out more.
DEBBIE is the queer dance party that we all love. It’s truly one of the best nights out in London, getting the balance just right between fun, welcoming vibes and completely insane debauchery. It specialises in only playing music with female vocals. Let’s face it, that’s all any of us want anyway – except a bit of George Michael, love you George. It minces into Vauxhall’s Eagle every first Saturday of the month.
Proceedings are overseen by delicate nightlife bird Sina Sparrow, who heads up the DJ booth and promo – part of Sina’s job is also making sure all the boys get out alive, free from the clutches of drag hosts STELLA MELTDOWN and CASSANDRA.
Stella’s got a douche and a can of hairspray in her handbag – Cassandra doesn’t have a handbag, but she has got a large twig that she picked up on Hackney Marshes. Let’s just say, they’re no strangers to a good time.
We asked them to give us some parting shots as DEBBIE moves to her next chapter. We couldn’t be bothered to think of different questions for them so we just asked them the same questions.
STELLA MELTDOWN
If you could meet any lady of pop, who would it be?
I’d quite like to pop round Sarah Harding’s with a pack of fags and a bottle of wine and make sure she’s okay – meltdown to meltdown.
Tell us your favourite Debbie memory.
Cassandra and I being lesbians to Tatu’s All The Things She Said behind a wire fence from Poundland is a highlight for sure. Shame the bitch hogged all the spotlight.
What do you want for Christmas?
For Christmas to just naff off. Hate it. Boring. Cancel it.
Where were you when you first heard Paris Hilton’s “Stars Are Blind”?
Monging out in front of the telly and being brought back to life by the most classic anthem summer has ever known. Immediately made it my MySpace page song. Probs still is.
The election’s coming up! What would be your policies if you were running?
Where to start. I’d want to see lie detector tests introduced for all politicians. I’d make it so a billionaire can’t own more than one media outlet. More funding for sexual health services. Scrap tuition fees. Rent caps across London. A better Living Wage. And to have my Uber ban lifted please.
Which three fictional ladies would you have over for dinner and why?
Jill Tyrell, Tanya Turner and Barb Wire. They’re my fave blondes.
What’s your favourite op video ever and why?
“Pass This On” by The Knife. It’s basically me and Cassandra at Debbie coming onto all the rough South London lads.
Madonna or Cher?
Nadya Ginsberg
What is, definitively, your favourite pop culture moment ever?
Paris Hilton being sent to prison, getting released after three days, and then being sent right back kicking and screaming. I was in LA at the time and the whole thing was too iconic.
CASSANDRA
If you could meet any lady of pop, who would it be?
I’d love to visit Kate Bush in her reclusive abode. I’ve heard she puts bonemeal on her piano to give her inspiration. I imagine her pottering around…I’d love to potter around with her. I’ve seen a video of her making tea and all the cups are overflowing but she’s still pouring them! Or a hedonistic night out with Grace Jones!
Tell us your favourite Debbie memory.
Me and Stella singing Shampoo “uh oh we’re in trouble” but we didn’t really know the words and were shouting and screaming it like naughty big girls and Stella heard someone said “that was the worst thing I’ve ever seen” Only the true avant-garde is met with such disdain and horror!
What do you want for Christmas?
For a clinical giant to be my lover so I can feel like a petite Asian girl
Where were you when you first heard Paris Hilton’s “Stars Are Blind”?
In my bed I think. I remember them playing it on T4 and when I was 13 or 14. I loved the sand texture on her body. I remember reading a review by Cosmo Landesman where it said her album is just porno moaning but I thought actually no, she’s got a great catchy voice.
The election’s coming up! What would be your policies if you were running?
Make a bohemian town for poor artists and musicians to live cheaply and thrive! Maybe a town of decadence— cars driving around and topless women in windows. A sin city. T-girls roaming around the sidewalks in fabulous thigh-high boots, neon lights everywhere. Men from outside this secret city – from Lewisham or random places like Kent – drive in but they have to go through a barrier of Amazonian guards, like when you pay that motorway charge. I would call it ELECTRIC LADYLAND after the Jimi Hendrix song.
Which three fictional ladies would you have over for dinner and why?
Milla Jovovich as the ginger hair alien woman in the Fifth Element, as when you first see her eating she’s using her hands and it’s all falling out her gob and she’s breathing heavy smacking her chops like a savage. Also Uma Thurman in Kill Bill cos she goes to eat with her hands too, as she can’t use the chopsticks and he calls her a dog and smacks the rice out of her hands. And The Little Mermaid as she does not know the human customs and brushes her hair with the fork at the dinner table. I feel like that’s me.
What’s your favourite pop video ever and why?
Like A Virgin playing the “Madonna-whore” complex out in the canals of Venice: on the gondola she is in her street-urchin garb and all black, representing the whore, and then she is the pure Virgin in white bridal wear. The lion (which is the symbol of Venice) and the man in the lion mask add the bestial and sexual element that ruminate beneath the pomp and circumstance of romantic ceremonies and woman’s purported purity all in white. Of course it was a perfect video for a Catholic woman named “Madonna” (aka The Virgin Mary!)
Madonna or Cher?
I love the bold irreverence of Cher and her passionate voice, there is an honesty and rawness to her expression and her trailblazing — but yes my passion for Madonna’s transgressive cultural contributions and the Mediterranean sensuality in her looks & voice runs deep.
What is, definitively, your favourite pop culture moment ever?
Darren and Heather Trott’s secret affair on Eastenders!
The Final Deb is this Saturday 7th December at Eagle, 349 Kennington Lane, SE11 5QY. 9pm – 4am.
