Why is the story of Rev. Robert Spike's life and death important today? Why do I - his son - want to bring it to the screen now, sixty years after his murder? That crime has never been solved. And his life story has never been told to the millions of people around the world who might take some hope from it at a time when the lessons of history - vital lessons of freedom, justice, equality - too often seem to be lost causes. Robert Spike was a Baptist farmboy from upstate New

Queer Nation. A one-two punch that set out its stall with no apology. Started in December of 1990 by Patrick Lilley, its offering on a Sunday night of soulful black US house in Covent Garden’s Gardening Club quickly established itself as the place to end the weekend for discerning devotees. Early 90s London offered an increasingly wide range of LGBTQ nights, many of whom like Trade took more of the limelight, but it was this small basement club that bridged the gap between wh

In 1992 Smokin Jo was the first woman to win DJ Magazine’s DJ of the Year Award. Shockingly, she remains the sole female recipient in 2026. I’m not one for awards and the top down competitive environment it fosters, not to mention the cultivation for external validation that it would be beneficial for us to counter in ourselves and others, but if we are going to have awards let’s try and say something important with them. In a sense Jo’s autobiography, You Don’t Need A Dick

Sometimes I get asked to interview wonderful people for Faith, the London zine that has chronicled house culture since 1999. I'm reposting some of those pieces here and as Robert Owens is performing at Handsome this week here's the first focused on peak Chicago. For this one I spoke with Terry Martin, to talk about the seminal zine Thing and the subsequent House magazine he edited Crossfade. Honey Dijon, a reader of Thing, kindly added an introduction: "Zines are a form of c

We spoke to the lovely and legendary Robert Owens ahead of his set at Handsome.