In 2011, Folsom Street Events approached me to help them revamp their 2000+ person Sunday after party, Deviants. We rebranded the event with young queer visual artists, designers, filmmakers and performers to great succes–the first year and every 7 subsequent years were consistently sold out affairs. 

Using viral marketing videos, trendy/rare musical headliners, and cutting edge-lighting and decor installations, we captured a fresh cross-section of queer clubbers rarely seen at official Folsom nighttime events. We shaped the Deviants brand around the voice of a new generation of queer artists and activists speaking from evolved perspectives on gender, sexuality, sex work, and race.

Folsom eventually gave the Deviants team their own daytime music stage at the Folsom Street Fair. We broke ground with our gender-queer and generationally-diverse line ups. The stage was a highly sought after slot for international DJ bookers. Headliners could play to hundreds of thousands at the fair in the afternoon and then at Deviants later in the night–it was one-of-a-kind gig. 

︎San Francisco, USA

Deviants: Adult Arcade           
A Nightclub Project

role: creator, overall project lead
︎2011 - 2017

Devaints Adult Arcade

Founders
Jacob Sperber
Jorge Portillo
Timothy Strong

Resident DJs
Jason Kendig
Bézier
Josh Cheon

Director of Operations
Jenn Stokes

Film Promotions
Aron Kantor aka Dirtyglitter
Jorge Portillo 

Decor Team
Phillip Fillastre’s CoreCult


Printed Designs
Ian O’Phelan

Headlining Talent
Paul Parker
The Black Madonna
DJ Harvey
Josey Rebelle
Lena Wilikens
Roi Perez
Jennifer Cardini
Tuff City Kids
DJs Pareja
Boris
Matrixxman
Horse Meat Disco
Stereogamous

A highlight Deviants performance was when the Bay Area singer Paul Parker, famous for his gay anthems from the ‘80s hi-NRG disco days, came to perform. It was the first time he sang his Patrick Cowley-produced 1982 Billboard chart topper, ‘Right on Target’ for a San Francisco audience in decades.

Each year Deviants would find new ways to integrate visual and performing artists that worked in or around the topic of sex work.

CoreCult created ‘video game peep show’ booths where attendees could watch furries and dominatrixes acting out a scene.

We collaborated with St. James Infirmary and had a rotating cast of pole dancers raise money for the clinic.

Kinky-conceptual performance artist Siobhan Aluvalot, ceremoniously opened the Deviants dancefloor each year with a 15-minute piece ruminating on topics of desire, power, and the subconscious.

Vivvyanne Forevermore curated ‘flash drag performances’ in and around the event–centered around questioning the ‘new normal’ of gay party spaces.