Let Loose: LSDXOXO’s Floorgasm party turns dancefloors into fantasy worlds

Crack Magazine is marking Pride season with a series of specialist mixes and playlists dedicated to LGBTQ+ club nights and promoters. From the iconic parties of bygone eras through to the emerging events breaking through in 2022, we’ll be highlighting the sounds of these parties and the artists that shape them.

LSDXOXO isn’t content with staying still. The Philadelphia-born artist (otherwise known as RJ Glasgow) first broke through while living in New York and sharing raunchy edits to SoundCloud. His mischievous brand of fun and sexy club music soon caught the ear of Venus X – the founder of famed NYC club night and brand GHE20G0TH1K, where Glasgow fast became a regular.

A smattering of releases landed during this period, including Voodoo Pussy and Fuck Marry Kill. Glasgow also began work on his own debaucherous party series, entitled Floorgasm. Glasgow brought the event – which he now hosts alongside a group of residents and contributors including Wallis, DJ Hyperdrive and New World Dysorder collective co-founder Yha Yha – with him to Berlin when he relocated in 2018.

The move was inspired, once more, by a desire to branch out and think bigger – something Glasgow continues to do. Take his Dedicated 2 Disrespect EP for XL Recordings, which features his vocals for the very first time. Its remix project, released via his own Floorgasm label, as well as recent festival shows and his forthcoming debut album, also attest to this.

In many ways, Floorgasm is a reflection of who Glasgow is as an artist and what the LSDXOXO project represents. Much like his own music, the party prioritises high production value and a strong visual aesthetic, as well a spread of sounds both accessible and experimental; hard and pummelling and sweet and seductive. This is Berlin, of course, so techno is also on the menu – but largely from a roster of queer, femme, trans or non-binary producers and DJs, as well as artists of colour.

Floorgasm has been an overwhelming success in Berlin and beyond, with events also thrown at venues such as Bossa Nova Civic Club in New York and FOLD in London. Here, we speak to resident DJ Yha Yha, who also supplies us with a special Floorgasm mix. Tune in below and scroll down to check out the interview.

What is your name and where are you based?
I go by Yha Yha, but my name is Alyha Love. I’m based in Berlin, Germany. I’ve been here for about five years now.

How did you connect with LSDXOXO and Floorgasm initially?
So I had been following RJ’s music for a few years. We were friends on Facebook and he posted a status saying that he was moving to Berlin. I sent him a message like, “Hey babe, I see that you’re moving to Berlin! Let’s hang out”. That’s how we became friends, the rest is history. I think he hosted his first Floorgasm event in Berlin in his first or second year here, and he asked me to be resident DJ after that first party. So that was very exciting for me.

Are you affiliated with any other parties or collectives?
I’m actually a co-founder of a collective myself. It’s called New World Dysorder. It started in 2014 in San Francisco, in the Bay Area. I co-founded it with Jasmine Infiniti and Cali Rose, and a few loose members as well. We’re a little all over the place right now. We have parties in Berlin and we actually rebooted the party in Amsterdam earlier this month, on 24 July.

Speaking from your own experience, what does Floorgasm offer to those who attend?
I think Floorgasm as a party is kind of a political statement. It’s a space where all the freaks and outsiders can commune and let loose; have fun and share in the joys of life.

Is there a specific focus when it comes to musical direction?
Well RJ likes to mix a lot of genres together, I feel like that’s his DJ style. So that’s how his party runs, too. There’s a lot of techno, club edits and 2000s bangers up in there. It can be hard and sexy at the same time. Floorgasm also gives a voice to trans, POC and femme DJs [and provides a place to] showcase their work.

Who else is involved in the event?
We have RJ who is the founder, booker and curator. Then we have Leanne Mark, who is on the production side. She runs MOTHER.LOADING here in Berlin, which is a production company. Then, of course, the resident DJs: myself, Wallis and DJ Hyperdrive.

Let’s discuss the production and visuals of the party. What could we expect to see at an event?
At Floorgasm, we like to pull you into a fantasy world. A place where you can become whoever you want and observe other people’s fantasies. There’s a lot of homemade sculptures and floral arrangements, as well as pretty lights and sexy music.

Can you describe a Floorgasm in three words?
Freaky, sexy and rambunctious.

Why are nights like Floorgasm important?
For some people, going to the clubs is like going to church. It’s where you go and let loose, and also process things in your life and experience new things. I think club culture is very important, especially for queer people, because that’s where we congregate. That’s where we become ourselves – at least it is for me.

Also, a lot of the parties here in Berlin, or in Germany, are run by cis white men, so having a queer Black producer running the show gives us space to have a slice of that cake. We also need to remind everyone that techno – which is very renowned in Berlin – came from Black and brown people in Detroit. 

Tell us a little about your mix?
Like RJ, I am a cross-genre DJ so I like to throw everything in there. Most of the tracks are by my friends – I love their music. I suppose I enjoy taking you on a journey and making you feel something, because people are so numb nowadays. So I just want people to feel something.