When the first celebration of all things camp, glitter, disco, funk and Barbarella space fashion Camposphere happened to us a few months ago we thought all our birthdays and Christmases had come at once. Now we are being further spoiled by Camposphere 2. And this time the lineup is out of this world. Tunes spun by TheMenWhoFell2Earth and live performances from GIRLI, KStewart, JOEY FOURR, Georgia Tasda and the cosmic lovechild of Bootsy Collins and Betty Davis that is Latexxx. Phew. We’re already digging the glitter out of our crevices in preparation. Loverboy’s residential DiscoGlitterKween Fallon Gold managed to nab just a few of the acts who will be shaking their fine things in aid of London Friend this weekend, to ask all of the essential questions in life.  

What does glitter mean to you?
Latexxx: IT IS OUR MORTAR. Literally, it keeps all our clothes together.

Georgia Tasda: Glitter means accidentally washing glitter-soiled clothes with work clothes, and turning up to work sparkling.

JOEY FOURR: U CAN’T JUST LET IT SIT THERE, I ALWAYS RECYCLE.

How important is camp in your everyday life?
Latexxx: Seeing that we often have to physically restrain ourselves from singing ‘Maybe This Time’. I WOULD SAY, ESSENTIAL.

Georgia: Camp is the antidote to violence. A well-aimed dose of camp can disarm or diffuse the most tense of situations.

JOEY FOURR: LAUGHTER IS THE BEST ANTIDOTE 4 POISON.

Donna Summer or Diana Ross?
Georgia: Diana Ross. Summer has some stonkers, but Ross is Boss. ‘Dark Side Of The World’ gets me every time.

Latexxx: Ah it has to go to Diana, for the pure art of survival. Every decade she is there, without fail. The woman has got stamina. Plus, Donna could never quite make up her mind about the gays.

JOEY FOURR: ONLY JUST DIANA ROSS™ BECAUSE ‘MUSCLES’

Your answer to that question or Sylvester?
Georgia: Sylvester is like shots – just for party time. Ross is a fine wine for any occasion.

Joey: ☺ BOTH ☺

Latexxx: SYLVESTER

Funk or disco?
Latexxx: Well our band is all about NU-CAMP-FUNK. Blending funk with nu-disco. So both.

JOEY FOURR:  #FISCONK

Georgia: Disco, although I disagree that they’re separate genres. “Disco” was originally used to describe music that gained popularity by being played in discos rather than through airtime on the radio, which up until 1972 was how records “broke”. This “disco music” included funk records. Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa”, a jazz-funk/Afrofunk track, was the first record to become popular in this way because David Mancuso played it at his Loft parties, and as such is arguably the first ever disco track. It’s also fanfuckingtastic. BONUS FACT: while New York DJs were pioneering mixing techniques to seemlessly blend from one track into the next, under pressure from UK record labels DJs in the UK continued to stop records at the end of the song to read out the name of the next song – how else would people know which records to go out and buy?

We love you for that Disco Lesson. <3 We know that disco was born out of queer folk and people of colour coming together to dance in underground clubs. How important is it for us to have these spaces now?
JOEY FOURR: JUST AS IMPORTANT AS IT WAS THEN #SETTINGUPCAMP

Georgia: Have you ever been to a straight club? It’s terrible. And what’s more, they’re not safe either.

Latexxx: We believe that the CLUB has always been a crucial space where queers have felt free to express themselves. Post-Orlando, the need for queer space has grown. Places where people don’t feel judged, but can just be. We must fight for them!

How political is your music and getting up on stage?
Georgia: Very. Two days after the Brexit referendum I performed a BoJo the Clown routine, in which I fucked a hole in the EU flag with a wonky banana. We then had a Nigel Farage pinata, and you could feel the anger in the crowd being channelled into that little effigy. Everyone was filled with so much anger and sadness at the referendum result and the subsequent spike in racist hate crime – it was collective catharsis, and very much needed.

Latexxx: Well we are not Rage Against The Machine. But our show is aimed to be a liberating theatrical camp experience, where anything goes. In that sense we think the act of being overtly camp in public is a political act. There are many friends I know who have faced homophobic abuse recently, and I think that many people still find camp a threatening concept.

Can activism and fun go hand in hand?
Georgia: Yes, but we have to go beyond as well – fun is only one tool in the activists’ toolbox.

Latexxx: Definitely, if you reject something you have to create something else in its place and building that space is an act of imagination, which is super fun. Everything from Pussy Riot to the early days of Pride.

Benefit gigs are how a lot of our support resources survive. What would you say to other performers and to potential Camposphere punters to encourage them to spend their £££ on a benefit night?
Latexxx: London Friend is run entirely on donations and manages to make a little bit of money go a long way. Maybe there’ll be an end to austerity soon and benefits won’t be the only way organisations like London Friend can survive but I doubt it. So if you’re pissed off that you have a government you didn’t vote for, a referendum result you didn’t vote for, a PM nobody voted for, and the one vote you did place you’re now having to shell out £25 to place again… If you think that democracy is fucked, take direct action to save and build the organisations that help us grow.  Attending benefits is part of that.

JOEY FOURR: NO (BIT)COINS PLZ BUT WE DO ACCEPT PAYPAL

Georgia: Pay what you can and spread the word. Instead of buying £3 artisan coffees, make it at home or work. Use the money you save to support important causes.

OK, fantasy time. Camposphere becomes a massive festival event attracting some of the biggest names. Who would be your dream billing (alongside yourselves, obvs)?
Latexxx: OMG, OMG.  Parliament. Funkdelic. Candy Darling. Rufus Wainwright. Sly Stone. Samantha Mumba. Patti Smith. Kate Bush. Klymaxx. Ezra Furman. Cheryl Lynn. Chaka khan. Michael J (of course). Blood Orange. Mykki Blanco. Big Dipper. Goldfrapp.  Christine and the Queens. Livin Joy. Inner City. Le Tigre. Eurhythmics. Outkast. Mary Clark. Candy Staton. Bootsy Collins. Stevie Wonder. Scissor Sisters. Little Richard. The Time. Cameo. Liza Minnelli. Jungle. Joni Mitchell doing a joint set with Prince. Tina Turner.

Georgia: Marsha P Johnson and the Hot Peaches, The Cockettes, Oscar Wilde, John Grant, The Buzzcocks, Labelle, Prosumer, Knife, Peaches, Joy Division. Round it off with speeches from bell hooks and Bayard Rustin. Diana Ross as well, just for good measure.

JOEY FOURR: I CAN BE RESPONSIBLE 4 DESIGN + DECORATION, MUSA KEITA, PEPPER LABEIJA, LEIGH BOWERY, HOUDINI, MISSY ELLIOTT, VISAGE, NINA SIMONE, MYKKI BLANCO, BRONSKI BEAT, PRINCE, THE SYLVERS, ANNE CLARK

If our goddess Mariah Carey were to cover the funk/disco song of your choosing and perform it alongside you, what would it be?

Georgia: Loose Joints – ‘Is It All Over My Face?’

JOEY FOURR: ♥ EVELYN CHAMPAGNE KING ‘LOVE COME DOWN’ ♥

Latexxx: ‘Tell me something good’ (by Stevie performed by Chaka)

Camposphere 2 is at The Resistance Gallery, London 23^rd July