Blue Blood sponsored an awful lot of events this Halloween, but the one I was saddest to miss personally, because I had to work, was the Release the Bats 10 Year Anniversary party. In addition to limited edition RTB 10 anniversary commemorative Blue Blood pins, the goodie bags for the event included limited edition RTB 10 anniversary commemorative pins and all sorts of fiendish goodies, including some Sisters of Mercy tickets.

When Release the Bats started in 1998, Shane Talada wrote in his Anorexic Press zine, “It is with complete and utter disregard for all that is established, and with murderous intent we seek to tear down and rebuild a part of the underground movement that became institutionalized by greed.”

He was talking about what was being called goth or gothic by flavor du jour club promoters in the Los Angeles club scene at the time. It was a situation where something, which had seemed like the dark part of punk, had diverged into this wussy netgoth scenario with prissy clothing and a playlist limited to corporate pop dark bands only.

So Jenn Bats, Dave Bats, Shane Taleda, and Jeremy Meza set out to participate in reclaiming deathrock for the scene. I’m not sure whether Jeremy Meza is still involved. I haven’t seen him there when I’ve gone in recent years and, liking everyone involved, I’ve never asked, for fear of the answer. The rest of Element was on hand for the anniversary festivities to perform air guitar in the video featured above.

All of this, I guess, just goes to show that sometimes the more things change, the more they stay the same. In every cool scene, there are always good guys, always bad guys, always dramas, always pretenders, and always annoying dicks who care more about a dollar than they do about what they are involved in. While it all goes in cycles, the cool stuff hasn’t been wiped out entirely yet, not even with cool new internet astroturf technology. So keep your hopeful hats on.

As I mentioned earlier, Blue Blood has been doing a number of media sponsorships as we move into our fifteenth year and Blue Blood was the media sponsor for the Release the Bats Nine Year Anniversary. It was an amazing evening.

Dave and Jenn Bats were the hosts with the most. DJ Shane Taleda, of Element and STG fame, celebrated his birthday. The band Fangs on Fur did their deathrock meets Burning Man performance. And a good time was had by all.

Luminaries in attendance included Forrest Black, Dahlia Dark, Domiana aka Vita Voodoo, Michelle Aston, Thistle Harlequin, Eva O, Kettle Cadaver, Dave Grave of Frankenstein, and of course yours truly and many many more.

So, of course, Forrest Black and I shot a ton of artistic portraits of a bunch of the fiends who came out to help celebrate. You can see photo galleries at the following links:

**Release the Bats Nine Year Anniversary
Deathrock Photo Gallery #1
by Forrest Black & Amelia G

**Release the Bats Nine Year Anniversary
Deathrock Photo Gallery #2 Extended Remix
by Forrest Black & Amelia G

As Blue Blood comes up on our fifteen year anniversary — wait a second, wtf? Did I just say fifteen year anniversary? It feels like it was only yesterday that I was sitting on the floor of my punk rock group house, folding issues of Black Leather Times with my unsavory pals, and talking about how I was thinking about trying something glossier and maybe more erotically-oriented.

Doing Blue Blood in print plunged me headlong into a world which included so much which fascinated and intrigued me. One of my favorite things was trading publications with like-minded zinesters all over the world, showing them what I made and getting to see what they created. I think it was trading zines with the late great Ghastly magazine which eventually led me to meet up with the multi-talented deathrock crew from Release the Bats.

Some of how the world has turned out is certainly not what I envisioned when I took the road less traveled, but I guess fifteen years and going strong means I chose okay. I hope. A funny thing about being a lean independent but workaholic organization like Blue Blood is that we always have a ridiculous number of projects going on at once and sometimes some projects happen bizarrely fast, while others get completed on a timeline that only seems natural to vampires.

Speaking of the undead, I have really enjoyed the photographic work Forrest Black and I have created shooting at nightclubs over the years. In current internet business terms, I guess Blue Blood is technically the media sponsor for the upcoming Nine Year Anniversary of Release the Bats. But really the Blue Blood crew is just going to be kicking it old skool with our longtime pals at RTB and photographing them for posterity. Right now, we’re posting the photos Forrest Black and I shot at the Release the Bats Deathrock Prom to give you all an idea of how spectacular it is going to be. If you are anywhere in Southern California, I recommend you come on out to Release the Bats at Que Sera in Long Beach this Friday. We’ll be shooting a few of the most over-the-top deathrockers there and there will be a whole lot of drinking and rejoicing, if you are into dressing up or drinking or celebrating. Dress to be caught dead!

Release the Bats Deathrock Prom Gallery
Photography by Forrest Black and Amelia G

Release the Bats Deathrock Prom Extended Gallery
Photography by Forrest Black and Amelia G

Since a bunch of folks really enjoyed the fun Hex Hollywood gallery we recently released, I thought it would be enjoyable to catch up with Xian and give everybody a bit of insight into the mind and motivations of the creative force behind these events. Xian is dedicated and involved in the Los Angeles underground scene as an active and energetic promoter, DJ, coder, community host, and much more. In addition to the Hex events, she is also involved in or responsible for an impressive array of cool clubs and projects, including Malediction Society, Disko Nekro, The Darkroom, Perversion, and even the monthly goth industrial deathrock skating excursion that is Wumpskate. And when there is some spare time, she even runs the LADead.com community website for the Los Angeles underground scene.

She took some time out to share her thoughts and perspective on Los Angeles club life with us.

1. Given just how many clubs and events you are involved with, we get the impression that you don’t sleep much. Tell us what an average week schedule is like for Xian?

Ugh, this could get complicated, so I’ll try to keep it simple:

Summed up, I am DJing 3-4 nights a week these days, meanwhile holding down a full time web development job (40-50 hours). Non club nights I clock in about 2-3 hours of web work, promotions, and graphics design, and during the day on weekends this jumps to about 4-5 hours. Unless there is a special event coming up, then it jumps up significantly. As far as sleep goes, I probably get anywhere from 4-5 hours of sleep on week nights and 7-8 hours of sleep on weekend nights.

A bit crazy I realize, but I got more tired of sleeping my life away than actually being tired (chronic fatigue). And there’s this pressing sense that I am running out of time to do the things I want to do and make something of myself.

2. What do you find most rewarding for keeping such a hectic schedule?

I could say something cliche like personal satisfaction, or that sense of vindication for overcoming odds and obstacles. Or that I like to keep busy so I don’t have much time to dwell, or that I like to give people with talents and wares a place to showcase them. And it would all true. But at the heart of it all I am chasing a dragon.

I firmly believe that our experiences in life are precious, particularly those key moments where one feels truly and completely alive. For myself, I have discovered that I am particularly fond of this moment in the nightclubs and events. It is the kind of experience that I can involve other people in, and enable them towards. And in my own personal philosophy, because this experience requires the presence and perception of other people.

As a DJ, it is that moment of establishing resonance with the dancers, and the story that unfolds. As a dancer, it is the experience of getting lost entirely in music, and being allowed to move how you really feel. And as a promoter, it is that feeling of having taken a concept and breathed life into it, paired with the audience that partakes of it. These are all addicting, cathartic, and simply without compare for me. Each moment is rewarding.

3. You have been doing all this work for a while now, what are some of your goals with it? What future would you like to see?

WORLD DOMINATION!!! Actually, I have no idea.

My sense of time is fairly awful, and so traditionally I have just kept moving forward and would stop and consider opportunities as they pop up. The HEX HOLLYWOOD events, on the otherhand, force me to think about the concept, plan, and execution months in advance. Which pretty much taps my mana until the round is over.

As far as the future is concerned, I would just really like to see the darker underground scenes and communities continue to evolve, grow, and thrive. We have become one of the oldest of the (post)modern subcultural legacies, and we’re perhaps one of the most internally diverse. People from all walks of life, for all sorts of reasons come to the clubs, read the literature, listen to the music, and participate in the scenes and communities. This is something I find endlessly fascinating.

4. What are the top aspects of of the sort of spooky goth-industrial darkwave punk rock nightlife scene that you would like to change?

It is my opinion that the clubs contribute heavily to the longevity of these scenes. We bring the people together, encourage the aesthetic, and showcase the music and goods. So the biggest problem that I see is that so few of the involved people are sincerely committed to the concept. DJs and promoters looking for fame, money, and popularity are a dime a dozen, and they inevitably are the main source of drama and jaded patrons. Jaded patrons who in turn are unreliable in situations where a dozen people could make or break a club,

So the obvious answer for me is that I would just like to see more people get involved out of a love of the scene, the experience, and the music. Sincerity and dedication is where quality begins…along with the obvious prerequisite business competency (see, not a total idealist). Here in Los Angeles alone there has already been four “eras” where our scene has thrived, that I am aware of, and we are on our way to a fifth. Elsewhere, I get the impression that a lot of people are still waiting on someone else to do something. Which is too bad. Apathy begets inaction, and inaction depreciates everyone’s life.

5. Given how notoriously political the Los Angeles club scene has a reputation for being, how do you manage to get along with everybody?

Heh, I don’t.

My biggest personal problem has always been that I have about as much tact as a sledgehammer, and no qualms about telling people what I think of them or what they are doing when set off. Normally I am quite aloof, so the contrast just makes it all the more jarring. So having worked with over half the DJs and promoters, and a good number of the fetish performers here in Los Angeles, I have been privy to a fair amount of arguments and falling outs.

More often than not it is a behaviour or circumstance that I get upset over, or them with me, but most are quickly resolved. I am just not one to condemn a person as an entire whole because of a little part, and I get the impression that this is a relief to people. Individuals who walk around pinning everyone’s faults and fuck-ups on them will obviously have issues with getting along with them. People change and grow and mature. So should your concept of them.

I only met Rozz Williams once.

A bunch of the Blue Blood crew were in Los Angeles, celebrating the release of Blue Blood #5. That was the first full color issue of the magazine. I’d used a comic book printer who did high quality art repro and had no problem printing depictions of nude women. Heck, they actually also printed tons of publications involving sexualized eviscerations of women. (Yes, we were doing cross-promo with Glenn Danzig’s extreme Verotik at the time and he used the same printer.)

But the printer had had some concerns about Blue Blood’s content. First, they were very concerned that there was bestiality. I was like, WTF? They are holding up printing my magazine because they are concerned about the bestiality? Where do they think I have bestiality? Then I realized that I had written a fiction piece about the drummer in a dykey industrial band who gets with a werewolf. I was proud of the story and it was illustrated with elegant photographs by the famous Gunter Blum. I was thrilled that someone as huge as Gunter Blum wanted to be in Blue Blood. I really didn’t want to remove the werewolf piece and I really wanted to get my magazine printed. So I call the printer ready to do battle.

It turned out that the werewolf erotic fiction was not the problem at all. NOFX had sent Blue Blood a blow-up sheep. At the time, NOFX was unpopular with a lot of music journalists because they didn’t like to do interviews. I thought sending me a Love Ewe (get it?) was a billion times cooler than any interview could be, so I thought they were totally cool. Forrest Black shot me using a strap-on on the NOFX Love Ewe and we ran a picture of it, as part of a piece on NOFX, in Blue Blood’s bits and pieces entertainment section. Just looking at the film, the printer had thought this was actual bestiality. After the magazine was printed and shipped, the printer told me they were very concerned that I had male nudity in the magazine. That was undeniable and not about to change, so I only printed one issue there.

The issue came out, despite the printer’s reservations, and it looked great. So the Blue Blood crew headed out to Los Angeles to celebrate. On Rozz Williams night at the Probe on Highland in Hollywood, California, we were all feeling really good about having gotten the magazine hot off the presses, against so many obstacles. We were meeting so many interesting new people. We were thrilled to be among our own, among people who wouldn’t be pussies about something as funny as fucking what was essentially a punk rock balloon animal.

I went over to where Rozz Williams was holding court and gave him a copy of the new issue. He was shy and sweet. He thanked me. He told me he had enjoyed the earlier issues and did not have this one yet. Maybe he was just being polite, but the thing which sticks in my mind is that he took a moment to be kind. But, when I walked around the club, there were all these people saying the most terrible things about Rozz Williams. I don’t mean they were criticizing him for being a little too into Charles Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer or something. I mean, people were just tearing the man down, saying he was past it, he was old, he looked ugly, his music didn’t matter, and on and on.

In point of fact, as an unbiased visitor from out of town, I feel qualified to say that Rozz Williams looked ethereally beautiful. I don’t recall what he was wearing. My attention was drawn to his face and the encounter was brief, but his makeup was deft and creative for a man to be wearing. He looked timeless, not old. His music had made a difference to a large percentage of the people in the room. Even to people who were not big fans of Christian Death or Shadow Project, Rozz Williams was an important creative driving force in the West Coast deathrock scene and his influence helped launch so many bands and so many cool creative people.

Fast forward a few years. Rozz Williams has committed suicide. Nightclubs in Los Angeles throw mournfests for him and they get good turnout. People speak his name reverently, they press fist to chest and say, “mi hermano.” I’m probably spelling the Spanish incorrectly, but you get the idea. (They might not be pronouncing the Spanish either.) I remembered the crush of people running Rozz Williams down. Although the Probe was one of the biggest nightclubs I had ever been to and they thought the man was worth throwing a night for, while he was still alive, most of their patrons couldn’t support someone who’d made such a difference . . . not while he was still drawing breath.

People often ask me to pin down precisely who Blue Blood is for. Gothic, body modification, deathrock, punk, fandom, glam, rivethead, ad infinitum. Really, Blue Blood is for people who have moved through a lot of subcultures. For people who have that maverick something different. Who feel a certain attraction in a lot of those scenes, but who do not feel wholly satisfied in any particular one. Blue Blood is for people who enjoy exploring and experiencing the creative fringes, and the cultures which thrive there, but don’t want to cram themselves into some cookie-cutter mold.

In the deathrock scene, it is rare that the people who have accomplished a lot get very much credit for it. The thing which made me think of Rozz Williams was noting that a link to BlueBlood.net was removed from Wikipedia’s woefully incomplete and slanted entry on deathrock. Someone had complained that Blue Blood was porn and thus did not belong. First of all, if deathrock is supposed to be for gothic folks with balls, what is anyone doing whining about smut practically designed for them personally? The multitalented Jeremy Meza’s late lamented deathrock mag Ghastly described Blue Blood as “It’s the one you’ve been waiting for! Death rock porn! Punk smut!” (For years, I used to run that quote with an ellipses in place of the word porn because I am troubled by the semantics, but that is a subject for another article.) Secondly, BlueBlood.com is where the naughty pictures are. BlueBlood.net is where we run lots of free articles and free forums and free promo tools for the scene. Blue Blood magazine in print had both deathrock music press and erotic photo sets in the same place. Glad I could clear that up for anyone that all was not patently obvious to. A bizarre percentage of the Wikipedia entry is on the Long Beach club Release the Bats. Blue Blood were huge early boosters of that club night. We shot tons of photos there. At great personal cost, I might add, as we were using film. We hyped Release the Bats both online and in print. Release the Bats was kind enough to host the re-launch of BlueBlood.net party. Whether someone thinks Blue Blood is the best thing to happen to deathrock since Sex Gang Children and 45 Grave or not, the deathrock connection is undeniable. At some point, perhaps I may attempt to list all of the luminaries, of the deathrock world, Blue Blood has done something with. I’ll include Jeremy Meza and Ghastly, although neither is mentioned in the Wikipedia entry for deathrock. Viva Britannica.

There are a lot of appealing things about the deathrock scene. I love a non-wussified gothic look with yummy torn fishnet and leather and Alien Sex Fiend has smacked me from the stage with an obscene balloon. (Recurring motif. I guess there is something about me which makes bands want to press lewd balloons against my flesh.) The appeal of deathrock is why so many of us have spent time figuring out the hair products needed to create a devil lock or ordering expensive import CDs. But the problem with that scene, like many others which remain subculture, is that the nail which sticks out gets hammered down.

Blue Blood is for the nails which stick out.