Organizer and resident DJ Deftly-D. photo: Observationpost

By Deftly-D

ORDNANCE! is the only multimedia club night of it’s kind. On the first Friday of the month at 234 Main St. in Everett, MA, DJs conduct live drummers that in turn trigger lights, lasers and video to a bed of hard dance music including industrial, rhythmic noise, speedcore, gabber, techstep, idm, and more without caving in to pop music that is played far too often at other industrial related club nights.

Each ORDNANCE! features live guests that range from idm to power electronics to industrial to performance art. The resident DJs, VJs and Drummers include myself: DJ Deftly-D, DJ Jenova Complex, VJ Jennifer McClain, and drummers Mike D, Roland Adams the interactive Space Suite and DJ Pet on hand drums, lighting and sound.

234 Main St. has been especially receptive towards our technical needs. Our team, including DJ Pet of A Curious Production and Tommy from Mos Eisley Productions set up an excellent sound system, built a stage and helped renovate the layout of the venue for multimedia shows.

Pine Tree State Mind Control live @ ORDNANCE! photo: Observationpost.

We are trying to make something new happen. We want to deliver a night of uncompromising music and art for uncompromising people. To create a new experience that blends the worlds of the dance club and live improvisational multimedia show. We want to make a home for aggressive and eclectic dance music that does not sell out to pop mainstream pressure and showcase quality live acts that cover the spectrum from power electronics and noise to idm to speedcore to performance art to real industrial music and onward. I hope ORDNANCE! can build a new creative movement and inspire others to raise the bar and perhaps create other innovative club nights that don’t rely on recycling the same DJs spinning the same over played music in a new building falsely hyped as something new. Of course we also want to make people sweat their asses off on the dance floor and have a great experience.

ORDNANCE! provides something that has been needed for a very long time. As someone that loves to dance and comes from an industrial music background I have been dissatisfied with Boston’s industrial club culture and found that I’m not alone. To me, most of the goth scene’s clubs are prudish, unimaginative and overly focused on fashion culture while the music that’s played has been watered down to Lady Gaga, VNV Nation, Depeche Mode and terrible 80s pop music mash-ups. There’s hardly any industrial music being played at most of these nights, let alone anything more current with a spine. When industrial music is played it’s usually Wax Trax related standards from the late 80s and early 90s.

}HEXDUMP{ live @ ORDNANCE!. photo:Observationpost.

Why is goth and industrial always paired up at club nights? Why not other genres that share more aspects of the original industrial culture of performance art, innovation, experimentation, information, shock and individuality? I mean, how can anyone with an ounce of intelligence get excited about another fucking steam punk, pirate, ninja, burlesque, night with the same djs who seem to be incapable of taking risks. Any time one of these themes is used to promote a night you know it’s run by people that are famished for new ideas. The multimedia shows that the Vermin St. crew throw are far more in the spirit of industrial culture than anything that I’ve seen come out of a goth club in the last 10 years. Just look at the Hansel & Gretel RE:Imagined show they did at Mass College of Art for the Together Festival or what they did to the otherwise unused pool table area at Machine during No Tomorrow.

Interactive Space Suit drumming @ ORDNANCE! photo: Observationpost.

I picked resident DJs that I could learn from who make me sound like an easy listening DJ in comparison. DJ Jenova Complex does an
excellent mix of drum and bass, breakcore, and badass Mochipet style mashup sets. I also picked drummers who beyond having good musical chemistry, enjoy being challenged when I throw down Venetian Snares, Autechre or Disciples of Annihilation. Sometimes they just throw their hands in the air from the challenges but over all they are able to keep up to some challenging music and drumming to cross genre DJs is like drumming in a different type of band every couple minutes. ORDNANCE! drummers have to be top notch. ORDNANCE! DJs can’t be copy cats or lack their own research into the music they love. When it comes to DJs at ORDNANCE! popularity is irrelevant next to taste and talent.I would like to expand the guests so that you would be as likely to see a performance of an Iannis Xenakis piece as you would a contortionist as you would a turntablist.

Without the foundation of noise, industrial music would never have existed. There are no other dance club nights that I have been to that features noise acts. Noise performers allow a new experience due to the contrast and the mixed crowd that we are building. I think a high quality live power electronics performance contributes far more to an industrial club night than a tame bump and grind so-called fetish or burlesque skit that offers nothing more shocking than a strip club.

For more information check out the ORDNANCE! website or visit ORDNANCE! on Facebook.