Every time we speak with Jorkes, it’s really a joy. A sense of steamy love-making is ever-present and always accompanied by great music, be it his own seductive sound or other artists’ via Freeride Millennium, the label he runs with partner, Daniel Rajcsanyi.

This time we are celebrating his wonderful new compilation, Queer Base Vol. 2, in aid of the Vienna-based charity of the same name, offering social and legal counselling to LGBTQI+ refugees in Austria. Not only is the compilation for a fantastic cause but the tracks submitted are pretty gorge too. Taking you on a real journey across 19 tracks, you’ll find a pumping 90s House Vocal moment from Maruwa, a broody banger from Curses’ alias Venice Arms, trancey techno from Massimiliano Pagliara and the anthem, ‘Sissification’ from Jorkes himself.

Queer Base Vol. 2 is out now so we caught up with Jorkes to discuss Viennese saunas, body dysphoria and how ‘the time is always right to make people aware of the things in life that are a matter for a functioning civil society.’

Jorkes, hello, how are you? One day I hope to be doing an interview in person in Vienna!
Hey Loverboy, thanks for having me again. All relaxed here, thank you. I am sitting in front of my desk in Vienna, making plans about what to do with you when you arrive here 🙂

Last time we spoke you were telling me about your HOT series at the Apollo sauna in Vienna. This has become a mythical place for me where my mind escapes when I am feeling blue. Haha…tell me more about it. Are you still playing there?
Love that something we created lets you travel to places of escape. That´s what these things are made for. We had some excursions with HOT to other grounds. HOT actually was never meant to be that public, so if things happen, the people will know 😉 I was just yesterday at Apollo Sauna for other business and things are so steamy there.

This month you are releasing the compilation Queer Base Vol. 2 via your label Freeride Millenium. Why did you decide the time was right for Vol. 2? Was there a moment that instigated the process?
I think the time is always right to make people aware of the things in life that are a matter for a functioning civil society: solidarity, compassion, justice, equality and awareness. These are the values Queer Base is about, and I think they are pretty much universal. This is basically also what I see this project is about. It reminds us of some basic pillars our society is built on: democratic institutions for everyone to participate, liberal values under which we all live freely, and the rule of law based on the idea of equality. Only if we embrace these pillars in a positive way and uphold them with passion and diligence will they survive and thrive to serve everyone. So the idea of a second volume was already there when the first compilation was released, it just took us a bit to come into reality with it, but we were in talks with Queer Base since the first one. I can´t recall the exact happening when we started, but once we reached out to all involved artists, everything came together pretty fast.

This compilation is in aid of Queer Base, the charity in Vienna focused on helping LGBT+ immigrants with legal costs, housing and more. Tell us more about how you came to work with this particular charity.
Queer Base is family to me. After moving to Vienna years ago, I was looking to work together with my peers and found Queer Base along the way, and they welcomed me with open arms. They are situated in the LGBT+ community centre Türkis Rosa Lila Villa, so also pretty easy to find. In the beginning, I was a “buddy” in their programme, meaning I was helping out refugees who arrived in Vienna with connection to the local scene and also helping out with daily life interactions in Vienna (administrative procedures, addresses, networking). As I studied law, after a while, I started working on the legal cases of clients and helped them through the procedure of getting asylum, mostly helping and preparing them for the interviews with immigration officers, collecting data and evidence and communicating the way through Austrian bureaucracy and also interacting with colleagues on court filings, communication, etc. Queer Base is funded through the Fonds Soziales Wien, which is funded by the city council of Vienna. This means that basic needs for the organization are covered, but there are expenses that occur while preparing refugees for their cases that are not in the budget and don´t get funding. So many people try with different acts of solidarity to step in and fill the funding void, be it with a party, a fashion line for Queer Base, a charity Drag show or, in our case, through our network of musicians and friends with a compilation. 

It’s such a beautiful mix of artists, tempos and vibes, curated in such an intentional way to take us on a trip. Tell us more about how you decided who to ask and what the brief was when commissioning the tracks…there’s def a lovely Patrick Cowley vibe to it.
Love how you understand the travel the compilation should bring us through. There was no particular plan or pre-thought process. Everyone on the compilation is either very close family, friends we get to know along the way, artists we admire and humans who I thought share the same vision as we do of a more just, more diverse, more caring and more loving world. The briefing was pretty simple, I just reached out to everyone I thought would be a fit for this, and the feedback was positive along the way. After a while, all the songs flew in, and Daniel and I started going through the songs and compiling what made aesthetically most sense to us. We shared our thoughts with all the artists and everyone was into it, which made me super happy, and this is the result 🙂 I am also super thankful to Sasse at Blackheadstudios in Berlin, who helped us with the mastering and to Mathias Jakob, who helped us with the videos.

We are a sucker for a vocal and love Panooc, Maruwa and especially Mala Ika’s tracks. Can you tell us more about these artists and how these tracks came to be on the album?
Panooc has been on my radar for a while now. I love all their work and the way they progress within our community, e.g. the things they do with Xoxa in New York. I met them while I was playing at Dalston Superstore in London as they were playing after me in the basement, and immediately fell in love with their selection.
Maruwa is also such an amazing and talented DJ and producer. We invited her last year to one of our Freeride Millenium parties at Romantica in Stuttgart and immediately connected. She also made a mix for a takeover we had for Queer Base at Radio 80000 in Munich, so she was aware of the project and supported it immediately.
Mala Ika´s songs are somehow a universal secret weapon for all dancefloors, and I play almost everything she touches and releases. I have been in touch with her through the power of the internet, and she made a remix for my first EP at Permanent Vacation called “Super Fun Lover,” so we were already back and forth the magic of music together.

You’ve also got a track from Curses’ alias Venice Arms, tell us about how it came to be under the alias on the compilation and your friendship with Curses.
Curses has a very special place in my heart. He supported me in a very early stage and I have only respect and admiration for his artistry. And he also happens to be one the most loving and caring persons around. Together with my friend NIKKNAME we have released twice on his imprint Ombra International, and he also remixed a song of mine. Why he picked this alias, I am not fully aware, maybe you could start an interview with him about it 🙂 Venice Arms songs, from my understanding, is a bit more ravy 90s vibe than his Curses alias and we all tend to play them out a lot. Being the supportive person he is, he immediately jumped in when I asked him. He traditionally played our Pride parties at Romantica in the last years and is always delivering iconic and fierce nights.

Then we have the instantly iconic Jorkes track ‘Sissification’. Tell us about this concept and your thoughts on the title and what you wanted to convey.
The song came along as I was thinking a lot about transitioning my body and had some body dysphoria. There was a time when I thought of getting estrogen through a friend and medicating myself in a very guerilla way so I would become more feminine. I just didn´t do it so far because I am a bit afraid of the medical inclinations as I have some conditions that could interact with the transition. I like my butch, hairy, fat and male-read body but also imagine myself a lot and often as a female read with female secondary sexual characteristics. Although having a male read body, I have gynecomastia because of my chubby body. I often see obviously straight cis men reacting to them sexually, and once in a while, I like to play with the interest my breast has for them, sometimes, I also make out with them, depending on how adventurous and open they are. Out of this inner “ping pong” and willing to play with the characteristics of my body, I imagined myself fully dolly and, in a way, submissive to the outside world, full of devotion. I have a wig I put on sometimes to embrace this emotion. So “Sissification” is kind of an artistic digestion of this whole situation.

One of our favourite things about you is you always look to the future with new music but equally you always introduce us to some older tracks we’d forgotten about and never even knew, Fila Brazillia or Club 69. Last time we spoke it was Joyce Sims’ ‘Come Into My Life’ which we played for weeks afterwards. Which classic does Loverboy need to be reminded of this time?
In this period of time we all need Billie Ray Martin to put her ‘Loving Arms’ around us 🙂

We are named after Mariah’s Loverboy and ask everyone for their favourite Mariah song. Last time you told us it was My All. I was wondering which Mariah song you might casually drop during HOT at Apollo? I feel I need a Jorkes remix of this in my life. 
Wow, you gave me a nice idea there. Will work on a bootleg edit of this, but for now HOT most likely will be all about the ‘Dreamlover‘ Remix of Mr. David Morales 🙂