January 31st, 2008

Lalla Land

Steve Lalla
slalla@hour.ca


Celebrated production crew Project Mayhem present the second instalment of their infamous Raves R Us series Saturday night, hoping to set new standards of 21st-century raverdom. Following a busy 2007, which included the timeless Time Machine 2 (hands down my favourite party of the year, if not ever), Project Mayhem continue to build upon their underground legacy. Founder Julien Paquin-Saikali shed some light on the inner workings of the secretive organization: "The first rule of Project Mayhem is you have to talk about Project Mayhem. The second rule of Project Mayhem is you have to talk more about Project Mayhem. The third rule of Project Mayhem is if it's your first Project Mayhem event, you have to dance!"

Hour What is Project Mayhem's primary mandate?

Julien The initial idea was to bring the best of the old school and the best of the new school at the same events. I started this because I missed the special vibe that was going on back when I started going to parties and wanted to bring that back, while at the same time throwing safe, legal events that people would enjoy without fear of getting busted by the police or taking unnecessary risks.

Hour Is Project Mayhem subversive and potentially dangerous like the group of the same name from the ill late-'90s book/movie Fight Club?

Julien The name does come from the movie. I chose it because I loved Fight Club and I thought it sounded awesome. Of course it's got meaning too: Project Mayhem
is at the same time everything the production is and everything it isn't. What we're doing goes against the commercial masses. People dress up to go to the events, and the music is always way too hard for the mainstream crowd. I like to say that raves are a way of making a stand against boring everyday life. At the same time our production company stands for peace and respect, and violence is something all of us hate. Basically we're doing the same thing Fight Club's Project Mayhem is doing but through music and dancing instead.

Hour Explain the link, if any, between Raves R Us and evil corporate child poisoner Toys R Us.

Julien The rave scene spawned a trend known as candy ravers. The idea is to dress as colourfully as possible with a childish theme: plastic jewellery, stuffed toys, etc. Back in the days, there used to be candy themed events where most people would dress this way. I started the first Raves R Us as an attempt to bring back this particular vibe, something I felt the scene wanted. It went better than my expectations and all the tickets sold out. I think the extreme concept of the event makes the series so successful. When people go to these events they really feel like they're going to a rave in the true sense of the word. The reference to Toys R Us has to do with yet another trend behind happy hardcore parties, the genre of music promoted at the event, which is taking a big commercial company and only keeping the fun part about it. Everyone has good memories about their parents taking them to Toys R Us when they were kids. Now they grow up and feel the same excitement about going to Raves R Us!

Raves R Us features music from Project Mayhem's Don Louis and Samwise, a live performance by Ottawa HHC act EFM-7, DJ sets from Toronto's Tyrant, Sherbrooke's Tamerax, Ottawa's Dain-Ja and Montreal's own Lonestar, Galaksy, Nitrous, Matricks, Matduke and Metzen (info: 514-749-8894, rave.ca or infoprojectmayhem@gmail.com; $10 pre-sale tickets available at Psychonaut, 154 Prince Arthur E., $15 at the door).

ooo

Sir Charles Iznogood, patron saint of creative DJing and the grand marquis of self-expression through sonic collage, is a special guest at the Psycore-X weekly tonight. Promising to perform a "49 per cent disco, 51 per cent techno set," Iznogood plays alongside Dark Alakazoo, Max Benton and Spooky Pat (at Jello).

In other disco related news, Friday night there's a birthday for the Loose Joints committee: Residents Chris Paré, Dave Shaw and Davey Lahteenmaa celebrate one year of Italo, disco, electro and house-related DJ-oriented events with a throwdown at Le Cagibi (5490 St-Laurent). Vinylists beware as the evening's attractions include free records.

P.L.U.R.


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Source: http://www.hour.ca/music/lallaland.aspx?iIDArticle...