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Members Only AV throws loud electro parties, and they want you to come.
Don’t let the name fool you. The electro-loving DJ collective known as Members Only AV is a lot more inclusive than its moniker suggests. Judging by the performance schedule of its principal members—DJs Graham Cody, Louis Kha and Mikul Wing, a.k.a. Midnight Conspiracy—it’s clear that clubgoers of every stripe are invited to the party. During a single three-night stretch last month, the trio bounced from Level to Angels & Kings to Spy Bar to Vision (pulling double duty one of those nights).
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that electro’s popularity has seen a significant spike in the past 12 months. Some of pop’s biggest acts have been clamoring for grinding bass and four-on-the-floor treatments from producers like Steve Aoki and Crookers. Locally, the craze has sparked demand from the hipster haunts of Wicker Park to the ultra clubs of River North.
With Members Only’s own contribution to the craze, Delorean Nites, launching at Lincoln Hall Saturday 6, we sat down with Kha and Wing to ask where they hope to take the electro scene. We found that, while they appreciate electro’s recent trendiness, they’re working hard to maintain its underground authenticity.
Lining up less mainstream indie-electro acts such as New York duo Designer Drugs, which headlines the party’s debut, and Atlanta’s Le Castle Vania, Members Only “hope that, by having an awesome party, it won’t matter how big the name of [the guest] artist is,” Kha says. “People will just know we’re bringing in someone good.” The Members Only plan of attack is to educate its fans on cutting-edge artists in a proper venue while maintaining its loft-party roots.
Kha, the most business minded of the three; Wing, the art-and-design frontman; and Cody, the musical director, all got their DJ start on the loft-party circuit. Native Chicagoan Wing has thrown underground parties since 2005, booking Virginia transplant Kha in 2008. Working closely together since, they’ve collaborated on four loft spaces, the first earning them the name Members Only. “We found this space and there was a sign on the door that said MEMBERS ONLY,” Wing explains. “It just named itself.”
While the illicit loft spaces come and go, Members Only has grown into an eight-person collective of DJs, writers, photographers and promoters who operate a design house (complete with T-shirt line), electronic-music blog and party-throwing apparatus. One of their weekly parties, Disappear Here at Angels & Kings, led to Kha and Wing’s first collaborations with Cody, also a resident there.
To distinguish their production, remix and DJ efforts from everything else going on, the trio created Midnight Conspiracy. “We’re trying to gig a lot less in Chicago and work on touring,” Kha says. “But before the touring happens, we need to work on new material.” As Midnight Conspiracy, the three just released a gritty, Italo disco–inflected remix of Chromeo’s “Night by Night” and have mixes for Editors and MSTRKRFT in the pipeline. One of their remixes will be featured on Crystal Castles’ upcoming remix album.
This multifaceted approach to club culture has caught the eyes and ears of Chicago’s college-age masses—no small feat. “It doesn’t take long to lose touch with young kids,” Kha says. “Back when we were doing more loft parties, we felt we had a pretty good hold on that scene.” But their increasingly 21-and-over club gigs alienated much of that crowd. Being able to do 18-and-up nights was a crucial factor in choosing Lincoln Hall for Delorean Nites. “Now we have a lot of kids that are really excited to be a part of the night. In three years, those kids will be the bulk of the nightlife market.”
Designer Drugs joins Midnight Conspiracy at Lincoln Hall Saturday 6.
