Twice a month, one of the country’s finest queer dance troupes strut into club-cum-music venue Omeara. Wearing suspenders, bondage and knee-high disco boots, the Little Gay Brother crew fill the space with hedonistic fun and uninhibited sensuality.
Charged by a soundtrack of banging disco, techno and house, they saunter around the venue, voguing in unison, prancing on treadmills and bursting into spontaneous drag routines – leaving the crowd beaming, covered in sweat and reluctant to leave the club once the clock strikes 5am.
Ahead of their first Pride party takeover at Omeara, we catch up with LGB’s Clayton and Chester.
Why did you create LGB?
Clayton: Little Gay Brother was born in the mud pits of Secret Garden Party in 2012, with the express purpose of creating a sexy and safe space for LGBTQ+ revellers to party without prejudice. It proved so popular, we started regular nights at Dalston Superstore and them, as we grew, we moved to Heaven. We now run bi-monthly parties now at Omeara.
What is the underlying ethos behind your night?
Clayton: In a word: FUN. Unapologetic, queer fun! At our core we are a gay festival collective, but we don’t solely perform for the LGBTQ+ community; we want all their friends to come too. It’s inclusive, not exclusive. We firmly believe that everyone has the right to party without inhibition, unified by their love of music. LGB is a joyful celebration where everyone is welcome: a place where you can be yourself. We just want to have a good time.
Tell us a little about the Little Gay Brother crew.
Clayton: At Secret Garden Party we have a 100+ strong crew, made up of performers, dancers, drag artists, show-offs, DJs, set designers, lighting specialists, production managers and more. A wonderful mix of gay, straight, queer, trans and gender non-conforming, 100% authentic humans.
At Omeara, there are eight performers plus DJs from our extended creative family. We’re all very good friends, and love partying together. Chester is head girl; he brings the performance together. I met him at Circo Loco festival. I was dressed as a unicorn, lying on a bed that was also my stage, making boys pillow fight. He came up to me and asked; “who do you think you are, and what are you doing?”
Chester: I remember this like it was yesterday! The Little Gay Brother family are all my best mates. Some, I went to dance school with, others we met at festivals or a clubs. I feel so lucky that I’m able to share this beautiful performative experience with my favourite people on the planet.
Music policy?
Clayton: It’s simple: be it house, disco or techno, it’s all about bangers. We love to go hard in one room, and keep things fun and cute in the other.
What do you want people to take away from a night with Little Gay Bro (apart from a lover or two)?
Clayton: Yes, apart from lovers, we want people to have a lovely time. It’s always been really difficult for us to try and replicate what we do in a festival field in a club. At a festival, we’re wild and feral. We don’t want boundaries. We want people to walk away and say, “fuck, what the fuck happened? That was mental!”
Chester: People feel a real sense of freedom at festivals; it’s almost a lawless little village that you visit for a weekend to let yourself go. We try to bring those vibes to our party, making them wild, sexy and expressive. Like many festival organisers, we hope that people can transfer the energy of our parties into their daily life.
What’s the most enjoyable thing about being in LGB?
Chester: If I didn’t perform with Little Gay Brother, I would attend every single party without fail. The most enjoyable thing is that I get to attend them all, if I weren’t on stage, I would be in the audience pumping my fist and shaking my ass.
What’s the best thing you’ve experienced at a LGB?
Clayton: The final Secret Garden Party (July last year) was one of the best moments of my life. Our venue was filled with love from start to finish. The crowd were totally behind us, and the vibe was electric. SGP is where it all started for us, we didn’t want it to end, but we went out on a high.
Favourite venue in London?
Clayton: We love Omeara. It’s relatively new so still evolving but it gets better every time we go there. The guys are great, they really support us and encourage us to be total nutbags.
Other queer parties to keep our eyes peeled for?
Chester: We have recently started working with another night called He.She.They. We LOVE them. They make banging techno parties that attract a super diverse and energetic crowd. We have performed for them at Ministry of Sound in London and Pacha in Ibiza. It feels amazing queering those massive superclubs which are often too hetero and male-dominated.
Can you give us a few clues as to what to expect for Little Gay Brother x Pride?
Clayton: We’re going to go mental. It’s our first Pride party, so we’re not going to hold back. We have a massive headliner in the shape of DJ duo Dungeon Meat and are so excited to have them play for us. We’ve also got our resident babes Maze & Masters who we love with all our hearts.
Chester: It’s Pride! It’s going to be very camp and very messy. We’ve got brand new looks for this one (designed by Felippe Johann) and new routines on the way. We’re going to pop into Soho in the daytime so you might catch us there as well as at Omeara.
Main image: Thomas Dhanens
