MAY 2020 (UPDATED OCTOBER 2023)

Tora: So, here we are doing a Karmaklubb* session with ↗︎ MARICAS in Barcelona. I’m Tora representing ↗︎ Konsept X in Bergen, Norway and I’m very happy to have ↗︎ Eloisa (Elo) Blitzer, ↗︎ Gina Guasch, and ↗︎ ISAbella (Isa) with me today. We are here on a digital platform, like everything else is nowadays. So, let’s start off with a small introduction round — starting with Isa!

ISAbella: So, I’m Isa from Colombia. DJ, Producer, and co-founder of MARICAS and ‘Mistress’, which is another club night in Barcelona.

Elo: Elo, one of the co-founders of MARICAS, from Uruguay. My role in MARICAS is to deal with communication, PR, and those parts of the project.

Gina: I’m Gina from Barcelona, and I’m the art director and ↗︎ graphic designer of MARICAS.

Tora: So, you are the founders and the core group of MARICAS. So, tell us, what is MARICAS beyond the three of you?

Elo: So, MARICAS started 3 years ago. We were discussing how Barcelona was lacking a night of electronic music for the Queer community. All the existing nights with the kind of electronic music that we liked were straight. And they were usually hosted by straight, cis men. We went there sometimes anyways, because we liked the music but the environment apart from the music was not what we wanted. Isa had her club night ‘Mistress’ going already, so she had a bit of experience doing events and parties. But still, we started out not quite knowing what we were doing, but we had a dream of creating something.
Gina had the idea of doing a campaign to promote the party where people were invited to send us videos, like random videos recorded on your phone with you and your friends. Since we were based in the queer community, through the videos people sent us you got a lot of hints of what kind of environment, people, and profiles you would encounter at this party. We started out with just ourselves and our friends, and then random people started sending us videos which we liked. Isa added music to them to show the vibe that the party was going to have. So, without even knowing it, really, we started generating all this content in the scene itself. People kept sending and sending videos, which was really cool! Also, the word maricas means ‘faggot’ in English. In Colombia it means like ‘dude’ or ‘tio’, so Isa, who is from Colombia, was saying it a lot. But then we realized it was also like taking this super bad connotation that the word had here in Spain, where it is used as an insult, and transforming it into something beautiful — what we are. Now in our community everyone who comes to the parties call themselves ‘marica’, like it is something cute and, in the end, it means a family now.

Tora: So, when you did the video thing, what were the instructions to people? What did you ask from them, since you didn’t really know what this was becoming?

Gina: The idea was to send us a private video that you have in your gallery, and that you like for some reason, or that communicates something in particular. We started first ourselves, then asked friends, and later people that we knew from Instagram to contribute.

Tora: And did you tell them that you were going to start up a club night, so that they knew that they were part of this creative process?

Elo: Yes. Our close friends knew. It was more like when we started putting up the videos on Instagram and the instruction was to submit your video to this email, it was like basically anything. It could be a video of two people making out, or someone with their best outfit, or like grannies dancing, it was really random! But with the music and the people who were present in the videos, people got the message. And especially since our name was ‘MARICAS’ as well. So that made people share the videos, and queer people who were following each other found out. We generated this little hype around the party.

ISAbella: Yes, we attracted the right kind of people that were meant to be at the party.

Tora: Yes, even before starting it!

Gina: It was like snowballing, rolling down the mountain, each round it got bigger.

Elo: And what was very cute and cool was that we were super nervous at the beginning. I think we did this campaign for about two months before the party really, and even before the party happened, we had managed to articulate our idea. People were, like, “this is the party Barcelona needed!” And it hadn’t even happened yet.

Tora: That’s fascinating and very interesting as well. The way you were building that base before even having the party and attracting the right people, and kind of also built yourself a support network at the same time as building something for your community.

Elo: Yeah, we didn’t even know, and this is like also part of the whole process of MARICAS. Like when we started, we weren’t that involved in the queer scene. We have learned so much through doing this and meeting the people involved. And that has really been what generated this community, because there wasn’t any place where this big queer community could come and feel like they were among peers. So, that was also super special from the beginning. And now it’s more like a collective. It started as a party but has evolved very naturally into a collective, I think.

Tora: Yeah, and that also really links back to the queer community in general where parties have played that essential role. Right?

Elo: Totally. And we didn’t really know in the beginning, but really just wanted to dance in a place where there were people ‘like us’, to put it simply. Where no creepy men were throwing themselves all over you. With the right music. And now, literally all our best friends — most of them we met at the parties — are part of it. Now we’re just this really huge group of people from different places, different backgrounds, different sexual orientations, all genders, or none. Everything! We are all now part of this big community which is really special.

Tora: I want to go there! That’s amazing.

Elo: We also want to go there! Ha ha.

Tora: Tell me about the first night then, bring me back to that first night!

Elo: Oh, wow …

ISAbella: At first, we were super nervous, it was our first night and it was held in this super small club, Red 58, which is a super straight club. Elo and Gina were like “no one is going to come; this is going to fail”. It was raining a lot. I was like, let’s get a drink at the corner and then we’ll go to the club. And from the bare we could see this huge line in front of the club at 11 PM, like an hour before even opening! A massive line in the rain with umbrellas and all!

Tora: Wow!

ISAbella: So basically, this was the first night, there was like how many people there?

Elo: The club was full instantly, like 700 people came the first night. But the club was only for a couple of hundred, so most people had to stay outside that night. But it was super, super night with all the different queer people together. I mean, I had never seen something like it in Barcelona. And it was our place! So, it was like, really special. We had decorated everything; it was super cute. We had decorated all the toilets with lesbian porn all over. We bought a huge disco ball that we call Larry and we put it in the middle of this very dark club. And we made visuals with all the videos people sent that were played in a loop.

Tora: Wow! It became bigger than you even dreamed of, probably?

Elo: Yeah. We were like: “Are we going to have even 200 people? Are we going to break even?” We were super nervous, but it was really, really nice.

Tora: And the day after, what did you think?

Elo: We were probably a bit hung over but, ha ha.

Tora: Of course, maybe the day after the day after, then.

Elo: Yeah, we kind of realized it but we didn’t see the proper dimensions of it until after a few months. At the beginning it was like “OK, this was a successful party”, but we didn’t realize the deeper emotional importance of it.

ISAbella: It was just a party at the beginning, and then it transformed into this big community and collective because everyone started knowing each other, helping each other and being part of it, and getting involved in the party. Making a community, collective, and a family in the end.

Tora: Family, I think that is an important word here. It sounds like you managed to create something big in a short time, that also quickly became something very important to other people.

ISAbella: Yeah, totally. I think it was also like, it needed to be created, you know? Because there wasn’t anything like this here in Barcelona.

Elo: Yes, and I think like the term family — the most important thing you can take from it, is that a lot of the people, and most of the people in the queer community are usually marginalized people or outcasts, or, you know … People who don’t have the support from family or close people that one should, like from people that understand you. So that’s why it’s so important to create these little families and spaces, the kind we have in MARICAS, to support and create these like ‘care groups’ or ‘support groups’ that are kind of like the family you choose in the end. The family that takes care, understands, and doesn’t judge you. It was so important for us, and when you see that it is also so important to the rest of the people, that’s when you are like: “Wow, this is really something!”

Tora: That is powerful. Beyond you, and beyond what you could plan and hope for. So, what do people that are involved in MARICAS say about it? What does it mean to them?

Elo: It kind of means a lot. The same way it means a lot to us, I think. A lot of us have found a place where we could kiss someone, or flirt with someone without feeling that we were out of place. Like, that happens a lot, especially to trans or non-binary folks. We could all find a place where we felt wanted, or desired, respected, and understood. And for instance, people were also finding a place that could be their home, finding partners, lovers, friends. It was like that for us, so when you are starting to see others surrounding you finding all of that, it is super powerful.

Gina: It is a meeting point.

Tora: Yeah, that is really powerful. I’m curious, because I think that from where I’m standing, and probably other places in the world, we see Barcelona as this really liberal, artistic place. So, could you tell us a little bit about the scene there? As you said, something like MARICAS didn’t exist, and you are saying something about what people were missing. This place where they could feel free, safe, wanted, be themselves. How is the club scene in Barcelona in general and why was MARICAS needed.

ISAbella: I mean the club scene, like the underground electronic scene it still is very straight-oriented, and it is controlled by cis, white men. And like the gay scene was very commercial. So, we didn’t have access to a queer place with good music, because it was like mostly gay places with terrible music.

Elo: And also, like gay, not queer, you know? They either had like a lesbian night, or gay clubs, it was nothing like what a gathering of a diverse queer community is really about. So, when we started nothing like our party existed, but after we started MARICAS we do see a lot of new things emerging. They started to open these queer kiosks, there are proposals for queer bars.

ISAbella: And also, the clubs and venues are being more conscious about how to manage a safe space, working with security and things like that. So, I think MARICAS brought a change in how people look at many aspects of nightlife and parties, like in how they work.

Elo: I also think there is a global need for these spaces to exist now, but like here in Barcelona we were the first ones who did this, but without even knowing that we were doing it. It was not something that we were conscious about at all. But it is also why MARICAS got so important because it did create a safe space and a community of care — it is important to say, though, it is impossible to have a space that’s completely safe, always — but we created this space where you could be naked, you could kiss whoever and do whatever and no one would judge you. And that kind of space did not exist at all here. For us, for example, if we went out somewhere and were kissing a girl … You could expect comments, or a guy coming up to you saying like “ahh, you’re missing a dick”, or, “you’re missing a guy”, you know? I’m like … “My sexuality has nothing to do with you.” So, in our space, what we tried to create was the safest space possible, that was harassment and phobia-free. Basically, a space where you could do whatever, and no one would judge you.

Tora: Yeah. And now you are tapping into this term of a safe space. It’s complicated, and it is also full of this implicit stuff that makes you feel safe or not, and like you said, is it even possible to create a space where everyone feels safe? And if they don’t, how do you deal with it? How have you worked with this? For example, when you choose a venue, do you go in actively and work with all the staff? How do you approach this theme since it seems like you said that Barcelona didn’t have this, it was something new? And at the same time, you were like creating it as you went by, it was a process, but how has that been for you? How did you work with creating that safe space?

Elo: In the beginning I think we just like ‘rolled with it’. Because we weren’t experienced at all. So, we tried to talk to the security and stuff, but we didn’t even know we were doing a safe space in the beginning. It was more like after. Most of our experiences were good, I think. But yeah, when we chose a venue, we had to look for a lot of things. Like, for example the last place was not managed by queer people or anything, but it is a venue that doesn’t have a specific crowd associated with it. For example, this venue will do a heavy rock concert one night, and then the next night throw a reggae party. So, people don’t go out there randomly. They come there for something specific. It’s a really good venue to do an event like ours, because the people that come are really there for your party.
And then the staff, at the beginning they had no idea and no experience with a queer crowd. They kind of like looked a little bit, and if people didn’t respect the gendered toilet we might had to instruct them that “tonight the toilets are unisex, this is MARICAS — you can go to whichever toilet you want!” We were teaching the staff, basically. And the security, they have changed so much since we started. That’s also a really beautiful part of these parties, because you see all these people that might never in their lives would have been in contact with the queer community. And now they respect it a lot. They are super polite, they take care — they know about the toilets, they know everything and try to adjust everything they do to it. We never have problems with security or with anyone there.

Gina: If there were problems, the persons responsible for the space would speak to the security and they would talk to them to make sure they understood, so that the space can stay how it is meant to be.

Elo: And also, we talk about a ‘safe space’. There are a lot of things you can’t control, so it is important to also admit that. Although, we honestly have not had many bad experiences. We have been really lucky. We have experienced choosing a venue that maybe wasn’t the most adequate for our party, but nothing bad happened there either. We have been lucky with this. But I think it is important to also mention that there are a lot of things that are completely out of your control. But you can control talking to staff, you can control who comes in, and you can control a lot of things, but there can be something minor, or just that one person who gets in who was not meant to be there and it’s already like … You can do everything you can to make it safe.

Tora: Yeah, I think, like … When it comes down to it that’s really a shared responsibility between everyone who's there. I mean, you as hosts can do your part, but then it is also something that is up to the community as well. And there is this fine line between being responsible, and being kind of controlling or directive and kind of losing that special vibe or special environment that you create with the freedom that comes with the way you are working. I think for collectives that are working with these events, it is a dilemma, kind of, because you want to be responsible but at the same time it is a shared responsibility.

Elo: Absolutely.

Tora: And also, the bridging — the work of bridging the cultural scene, the security, the bartenders and staff at the venues with a ‘new world’ or different kinds of perspectives, or ways of doing events with care — that is also a big part of the work. And you can do parts of the work, but it is also something that people must be open to contribute to as well.

Elo: Yes, completely. And not everyone is … Like, they want it, but they don’t really know what it takes to be mindful of all these aspects. But, yeah. I think it's constant work, and for us when we started, we didn’t really know that the work we were doing was really important.

Tora: Yeah, it kind of just developed along the way.

Elo: Yes! And we were like: “Oh, fuck! We’re doing this.”

*

Tora: It is kind of impossible not to talk about the situation that we’re all in now, with an ongoing global pandemic, and also the work that you’ve actually done in association to what is happening. You have managed to create something new out of this situation. I wanted to ask you to tell us a little bit about the ‘the art of staying at home’-project and the things you have been doing. Now you have told us a bit about your community, and an evident question might be what happens with the community when it is not possible to create events like this? How can one stay connected, stay creative, and keep a community like yours alive and well? How did you do that? Tell me a little bit about that process.

Elo: When the quarantine started here, as you know I think it’s been a really hard thing and still is. And the thing with Spain is that the night life is not at all considered culture, as it is in a lot of other countries such as the Nordic countries. In Spain you get zero funding, zero help, basically nothing for the nightlife. It’s really sad. Basically, I think that when it all started, we understood that it was going to take a longer time than we thought. And we started seeing that a lot of our friends and people from our community were lacking jobs, income, help from the government and things like that. Spain started giving help about 4–5 months after the quarantine started. Many were really like without money, income, anything, so we started thinking about a way that we could help and still create the content from our homes. I mean, kind of inspire, or teach, or entertain people at least.

Gina: Yes. Initially we were going to start with two weeks of quarantine, but it continued to be prolonged two weeks more and then two weeks more. And people then entered a state where they began thinking that we have to do something. Because we were all locked in our houses with a need to kill time, right? Besides, a big part of our community does things related to the art world, you know. Photos, music, drawing, dance. Everything. So, the platform we created kind of started there, with us wanting to show the world that apart from the parties — we are a community of really creative people with lots of talent. And we wanted to make a platform where this could be shared.

Elo: Yeah, and when we got started it was really cool! Everyone wanted to participate, it was really, really fun.

Gina: Yes! We had new content almost daily, with maybe five different things to do each day. We also collaborated with lots of people who weren’t from Spain.

Elo: The idea initially was to help those in the greatest need. So, we sent out a call to all the artists we had collaborated with, asking if they needed help or were in a vulnerable situation. Then all donations were divided between the most vulnerable people that participated on the platform. We started with the people that were around in Barcelona, but after a while we started seeing a lot of proposals from people that we didn’t know who were really cool and connected us to new people which was really cool. And also, we had this idea about collaborating with queer collectives around the world, ↗︎ like with Karmaklubb*. We did this online project for about 3 months, and when everything started to go back to normal, we kind of left it a little bit. It was a lot of work for us, so at this point we started to try finding ways to make things work better. The digital format didn’t feel as relevant when people could go out again.

Tora: I see. But then again it grew organically out of the situation.

Elo: Yeah

Tora: So, it started first with just the Barcelona-based community, and then it kind of escalated fast to other countries as well?

Elo: Yes, like we knew people from around. First, it was mostly DJs that did mixes, and then artists and collectives and all this. We started thinking about how we were all in the same boat, although Spain was really, really bad, there was this moment where everyone was in their house doing nothing, you know. And it was like a moment with zero inspiration, like attractive in any way. It was kind of uninspiring. We wanted to have something to look forward to seeing, or learning, or doing.

Tora: Yeah, it’s interesting, like you say, of course the situations have been very different in the different countries, but you building this platform was like some kind of ‘first aid’ for creative people in the queer scene around the world. On a deeper level I really wonder how this pandemic affects us, our mental health. One thing is being really isolated, another is thinking about how difficult it can be to keep creating in these times. And I think that many people have, like for example in my collective Konsept X, we were very unsure about whether we were going to do something digital. The digital format is really challenging, but I think you’ve really shown us that it can lead to so much. Both connecting people, and sharing creative processes, and like you said you probably created a lot of work for yourselves as well.

Elo: Yes, yes. And for us too it was super challenging. I mean, only the campaigns that we did that were digitally made for Instagram and stuff, in the end what we really know how to do is events where we put on music, create decorations and installations, things like that, things that are very physical.

Tora: Yeah, very physical and concrete.

Elo: Yes, a creative place where a lot comes from us and other times from other artists that we were collaborating with. But yeah, it was super challenging for us to create all this content in a way we had never done before, but it was good too. I think we have learned a lot and it was super inspiring although we complain that it was a lot of work. Ha ha.

Tora: Yeah, but that’s fair. It is obvious that it has taken a lot of work, and I mean you all doing this in the midst of a pandemic where we all have our challenges, it is super impressive. And generous. I think it is necessary to acknowledge that as well.

Elo: Yes, and also it is kind of depressing and very difficult to stay inspired or creative, or anything right now.

Tora: Yeah. It is tough. But have you experienced any new advantages by doing all this online content?

Elo: Yes, we got to meet a bunch of new queer friends in Spain and all over the world and got to connect and share creative paths with a lot of amazing human beings. We loved the content created and all that this brought to us, we reached new audiences and created lifelong bonds.

Tora: Amazing. You have mentioned earlier that you would like to bring MARICAS parties to other places. Until now we’ve been talking about the Barcelona scene, and Isa and Elo know the scenes in Uruguay and Colombia. How do you think your concept translates to other contexts? You said you have been traveling a little bit with the content and that it was a little different. How so?

Elo: Well, after working with the same community in Barcelona for years, you get used to seeing familiar faces at the parties — and the ones you don’t know, you get to know during the night. Abroad I think you need some more time to reach that point, but I am sure that it’s possible to achieve it. For example, in Stockholm we already have done a few parties and have definitely established a bit of a family over there.

Tora: That’s so nice. So, now in the near future, what are your plans? I mean, you say now things are a little bit back to normal but then again you still have a lot of restrictions. So what are you doing nowadays?

Elo: I mean, during the quarantine we have done a couple of things, for example ↗︎ we did Boiler Room, we did streamings for others apart from our platform. And then we also worked on our record during this time.

Tora: Yeah! Let’s talk a little bit about that. Because it all started with a party, and then you have grown as a collective, you’ve been doing a lot of digital content, and then you also have the music, the record label.

ISAbella: So, the ↗︎ label we had been talking about for a long time, I mean we were dreaming about having a label as the next step. Something that represented the MARICAS sound. We do have like a very specific sound at our parties that we kind of feel connected with, which is going through like 90s sound, ravey, more housy stuff, which is not that common in queer clubs here. Usually, they focus much more on Techno, but our sound is a little bit more bright or happy.

Elo: Yes, not like 160 BPM.

ISAbella: Ha ha, yeah. And we were talking about that maybe it was a good time to move forward with the label as our next step. So, we made an agreement with a distribution company based here who liked the project and could finance it for us.

Elo: Then Isa started producing, and it [↗︎ Audio Exotica, MARICAS 001] was born!

↗︎ Tora: Cool! Tell me a little bit about your production process, Isa. How do you work? What are your inspirations?

ISAbella: It started like two years ago when I put my first record out, and it was obvious to me that it should be under the MARICAS label. And it was like a process where the sound is like the music that I feel very connected with, and that represents me in a way. You have to hear it!

Tora: Yes, of course we’ll listen to it! I also wondered how you started producing? How did you learn? You are mentioning your previous album, but tell us a little bit more about yourself and your music.

ISAbella: I started taking classes with a good friend of mine from Uruguay, and going to the studio a lot. I also did music when I was a kid at a conservatory for a year, so I do have a basis of composing and stuff. But I never got into studio production, so my friend basically taught me all about it. The creative process comes from my side. It took like two years to create my EP, and I actually finished it during quarantine. And I was a little nervous because I wasn’t feeling so confident about if it was good enough or not, so I was thinking maybe I shouldn’t put this out, it’s not good enough, it doesn’t sound good. But then everybody was like yes you should do it! You know, nobody is going to buy this record, it’s terrible, but here it is!

Tora: And then I guess it didn’t go like that right?

ISAbella: No, not at all. Ha ha.

Tora: I guess your community probably missed the sound of the MARICAS parties?

ISAbella: Yeah, totally. Actually, with the label, we wanted to give it another vibe, like something that represented MARICAS but had an elegance to it. So, Gina created a new campaign for the label.

Gina: Yes, we wanted to give it a style that was a bit distinctive from MARICAS but that still reminded people where it all came from. The style is more fantasy-like, more imaginative, and surrealistic. We collaborated with various artists that paint, make photos, videos, and things in 3D. And we made this colorful fantasy world for the campaign. Additionally, we chose a distinct logo for MARICAS records where we have added these ladybugs (ladybugs are called mariquitas in Spanish which translates to “tiny maricas”). And this way you can understand that we are more in this imagined world, more inside of a fantasy.

Tora: Yeah, interesting. And talking about the aesthetics of the label, let’s talk a little bit about the aesthetics of MARICAS. And also, I just have to say I’m just fascinated because you are such a great team!

Elo: Yes!

ISAbella: Actually, yes!

Elo: We didn’t know that before we started and discovered that clearly each of us had a function that was needed in this thing. We complement each other.

Tora: Yes, really! So, Gina, you are the visual artist, and designer. Can you tell us a bit about the aesthetics of MARICAS?

Gina: Yes! One good thing about the aesthetics of MARICAS is that the three of us have the same humour. And we have played a lot with humour in our campaigns. For example, with the aesthetics of memes. At the same time, we all like the Techno rave music style, which already has an aesthetic that comes along with the music. Like very analogue, with dark contrasts. And, it has a sexual undertone without being obvious, which includes different gender identities, sexual orientations, you know.

Tora: And why do you think that part is important?

Gina: Because it is a way that we can tell the world what we stand for, where our activism is positioned and what you can expect to happen freely inside of our parties. For us it is very important to show photos from the parties on social media. People in the queer community have been so used to hiding themselves. And that leads to a lack of representation which in the long run is really harmful. For example, a simple photo of two queer people kissing can help someone to realize that they are not alone, and that safe spaces where they can express themselves and find love, do exist. We have to remember that not everyone has access to a queer community, and that through social media we can reach these people and make different identities more visible.

Tora: Exactly. Wow, I’m so impressed with your work and the beautiful community you have been able to build. And I really, really hope we can come experience a MARICAS party in not too long. Or that you bring the party to us!

All photos courtesy of MARICAS.

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During the next years a series of essays, interviews, and other written encounters on hybrid spaces — from art institutions to club spheres — crossing communities, and gender in flux will be published as an extension of the Karmaklubb* ‘Talks & screenings (on various forms of queerness)’ programme launched fall 2018, aiming to create a platform for an open feminist, queer discourse. These texts will later be assembled in an anthology published by Karmaklubb* and IGWTLI publishing, in chapters over a few years, hopefully on paper due 2023. The Book of Karma*. This text will be part, and the first edit is here available online.