THE GASLAMP KILLER with ULTRAGAMMA, MYMANHENRI and DOUGIE BOOM at Wrongbar (1279 Queen West), Friday (May 14). $12.50. rotate.com.
When BBC Radio 1 icon Mary Anne Hobbs came through T.O. last week, she couldn’t stop talking about the scene developing around L.A. club night Low End Theory, co-founded by the Gaslamp Killer (aka Willie Bensussen). Bensussen is quick to point to other amazing parties in his town, but agrees his night serves a special purpose.
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“There are lots of great things happening, but nothing as concentrated on the future of L.A. music as Low End Theory,” Bensussen says slowly but firmly. “We literally have a new kid on the bill each week who’s never performed before. In many cases, they’ve never performed anywhere before.”
Bensussen knows how important it is for promoters to take a chance on emerging talent. His moniker comes from his days playing San Diego’s Gaslamp District, populated mainly by cheesy mainstream clubs catering to douchebags who prefer top 40 to weirdo hip-hop, psych rock oddities and outer space funk.
“I cleared dance floors, got booed, got things thrown at me. Beautiful girls would call me the F-word. All sorts of shit. L.A. didn’t catch on right away either, but growing up in San Diego I was used to that. I wasn’t scared of playing to an empty club.”
Bensussen’s not playing to empty clubs any more, and has slowly moved into production, too. While he’s starting to get attention for his grimy lo-fi productions, it’s his high-energy DJ sets that really shine, where he bangs his head like he’s at a Slayer show and uses the laptop DJ system Serato to drastically rework tunes live.
“I actually just adopted all that shit recently. It’s reallycrazy how long it took me to grab my balls and realize that this is the future. I’m really feeling it. It’s making DJing so exciting again.
“If you’re a vinyl purist, I respect that completely. I still have over 10,000 records, and I’ll go head to head with any DJ who says I’ve lost my shit because of Serato. I will battle that motherfucker in a heartbeat.”
benjaminb@nowtoronto.com
