PRIDE 2023 — A conversation with King James Lee
Where as our Pride 2022 event was about celebrating Season 3, we’ve decided to make Pride 2023 a bit forward looking! This month marks the start of our goal to build bridges between our UltraMaroon community and other cities/crews making queer house music spaces.
To kick us off, we have invited King James Lee, co-founder of London’s ROAST party and creative director at London’s oldest place to rave, Eletrowerkz to help us ring in the queerest time of the year. What do we have in common with our UK siblings? Read DavidxDaisy’s feature to find out!
Hello UltraMaroonians. What a beautiful Season 4 we all shared together. Thank you for all you brought to our house and also for reading along as we had the opportunity to formally introduce you to Someone From Berlin’s guests. As we shift gears into our summer programming, it is my pleasure to chat with our Pride Edition guest headliner from London, King James Lee. Upon receiving this assignment from Someone From Berlin and diving into sets by KJL, I instantly recognized why SFB asked him to join us at Musica on Thursday, June 22. When you read our conversation below, it becomes even more clear what a great fit he is with what we do at UltraMaroon.
From The Cambridge Club Festival to Soho House and The Ned, from Feel It! and Hustlaball to Heaven nightclub, King James Lee has been bringing his energy full-force across the UK. Now he is ready to bring all of that to New York City for Pride in a time when it is imperative to continue joining forces and raising our hands together fiercely.
DXD: What first drew you to King James Lee and how did this special Pride booking come to be?
SFB: I’m in London quite frequently and always keep an eye on what gay shenanigans are happening across the pond. Over the past few months I had been hearing a lot of positive things about ROAST from friends, and after one thing led to another, James and I connected over Instagram and started sharing our backgrounds and details about our projects. I think we both realized an alignment around what we do as event producers quite quickly. During my last trip we met at his venue, Electrowerkz, for a chat and a site tour, and the vibe was absolutely there.
For me, this season has been all about conscious curation. We have introduced the UltraMaroon crowd to artists from different facets of house music, we have brought in community icons to give people intimate opportunities to connect, and we have explored our community’s history via our episode focusing on Detroit. For me the next step was going to be to shift focus from the past to the present and reach out to peers in other cities with the goal of connecting our queer nightlife communities.
I happened to be working through the need to change our Pride lineup when James and I met in person, and leaned into an “everything happens for a reason vibe” and suggested to him that he come through.
DXD: Where do you see the intersection of London’s ROAST and NYC’s UltraMaroon?
SFB: Later in this feature, James provides an introduction to and overview of Roast. There are tons of parallels, so rather than front-run his bit, I’ll just say that from how UltraMaroon was founded, through the type of music we want to highlight, and ultimately to the guest experience we want to curate, we talk about things exactly the same way.
DXD: What inspires you in the London queer scene? Is there something specific you think NYC could learn from London?
SFB: I don’t think I know enough about the queer scene in London to make a prognosis. I’d actually venture to say that the scenes are probably more alike than different. I see this year’s UltraMaroon Pride as an opportunity to start building the bridges that could help us figure out what we all could learn from each other. With that said, They-dies and Gentle-they’s, I didn’t book him because he’s hot: King James Lee!
DXD: How did you get your start in London nightlife?
KJL: It all started eight years ago in Amnesia nightclub in Ibiza. I was having myself a lovely time and came out of those legendary steps from the toilets, which look out to the whole club, and in that moment time stood still, and I realized this is what I am meant to be doing with my life – so deep, but so true. I rushed back in excitement to tell my friends and they laughed. Ouch!
I got back to London, got my credit card out, bought my first setup, and practiced every day – the struggle was real at first. After a year or two, I found the courage to play at a friend’s house parties and underground raves. Then my DJ dad booked me a gig at the legendary Soho club and bar, Freedom, and said it was time for me to go for it, so I did. That one-off gig turned into my first residency, and the rest is history.
DXD: How would you best describe your sound?
KJL: My sound has two sides to it – my light side, which is all about those uplifting vocal rhythms that feed those emotions, usually tracks center around breakups to be honest, as we’ve all had our fair share of those; and my dark side, which drives high-energy house and tech house, usually with a kickass vocal to bring the energy.
DXD: You released your first single, “SHADE,” with QSQUARED last December. Tell us how that came about. Can we expect more productions coming from you?
KJL: I’ve been in the studio for the past two years working on my first body of work. The tracks weren’t just one tone in terms of energy; they really did become a full body of work, from light side to dark side, all with telling my story, from childhood traumas to adult life, up to my decision to go sober, all wrapped up in a house music blanket.
Upon first launching my DJ career and rising quite quickly, I experienced a lot of shade from people around me that were either gatekeepers or other artists I massively looked up to, which I couldn’t get my head around. I mean, I could if I was a shady person or had a poor attitude, it would make sense, but I am a very happy-go-lucky, positive person. Positivity, energy, and kindness are my drivers. So it soon became my understanding that there is just a character profile within our queer community, which I now understand.
“Shade,” was my response to these people. I never bitched or moaned, I kept myself true to my energy and got myself into the studio, and put those feelings out in a dirty tech house track.
I love the idea of the underdog that was overlooked or dismissed having their time through hard work and talent. If people block you, you build a bridge, go over the top, and do it all with a giant smile. That’s shade to me. My first body of work, which is programmed to be released on various labels this year, takes listeners into my world through my art form, which is house music – I love it!
DXD: You launched ROAST a year ago with Lerone Clarke-Oliver and Andrew Harris at Electrowerkz London. How would you best describe ROAST?
KJL: ROAST is pretty major, it’s become so much more than we could have expected. To me, it’s the home of good energy! Five rooms, three different sounds, and up to nine DJs per event – we really do have something for all in our house.
DXD: What led you to start your own event? Do you have a mission statement in mind when you are creating queer space?
KJL: I am a club kid and racked up a fair few years in my tank shall we say. The past couple of years, I felt London was missing something like ROAST. Musically, I had been sitting on this idea that I felt one day needed a space. Along came ROAST.
DXD: When you have to put your event producer hat on for ROAST, what is your approach to creating queer space? What feels most important to you for an authentic, safe queer nightlife event?
KJL: The main thing here is making sure that everyone feels seen and has a positive experience. That is a hard task on the level we now operate, but all of the ROAST team are on the same page with this objective.
The team and I focus on every detail you can imagine. We don’t just open the doors and go. The entire event is produced right up until we close the doors to ensure our community leaves with that positive energy we all love so dearly when we have a good night out. I want ravers to leave with good new memories of their time with their friends or newly made friends in the cigarette area. (We’ve all made new best mates having a fag!)
There is this old school way that's been told for decades of the way that men or those that define themselves as a man are meant to be, which to me and the team is rather toxic. Nothing makes me happier than to see a 6.5ft rugby-looking man in a tiny little kitten heel, crop top, and over the shoulder Prada handbag standing next to a leather daddy dancing away to pop classics in our Pop & RnB room. Our party on the surface may seem like one thing, as that’s the beauty and curse of perception, but inside those walls something magic comes together. One of our first landing posts just before our first party was a very bold and clear statement: HEELS ARE WELCOME IN OUR HOUSE. I think that speaks volume about who we are as a collective.
DXD: There are some differences between ROAST and UltraMaroon, but much of the intention feels similar – bringing good house music to queer crowds in great venues. Do you feel that is something that is not fully served for queer audiences in London/NYC/Beyond?
KJL: Upon creating ROAST, musically I did feel like the sound was missing from our scene. We have decades of classic vocal house music that is so rich and beautiful. It’s both uplifting and high energy. The spectrum of this genre is a beautiful thing and I felt like London was missing a trick not giving this sound a big room moment. It naturally brings a lighter energy which is infectious, and brings people together. This was the starting point for our team, but people generally on a night out want to feel different energies, so we brought a kinky techno room into the mix and a seriously feel-good pop & RnB room too. The energy that flows between these three rooms is nothing short of electric and brings in a real diverse vibe!
DXD: You, along with Rob Ryan, hosted the podcast series, “You Alright Babes,” originally intended to spotlight the queer nightlife industry in London during the pandemic, which recently aired its final episode. Tell us a bit about what that podcast meant to you.
KJL: YABs was my lil love! When the pandemic hit, there was a lot of fuss and noise around what the government was doing for companies and the corporate world, and it felt like my creative/artist siblings who were mostly self-employed were overlooked. Creative people are precious, they are sensitive, and they need a supportive and loving platform to flourish. Those dark moments were so hard-hitting for many of us, so I wanted to create a platform for creatives, artists, DJs, and performers to share their story.
It was a keyhole piece for fans and ravers to get to know those they follow in a true light, and in return, through sharing, the podcast became a supportive tool for these creatives as we gave them a safe space to talk things out. From pop and dance music legends, promoters and drag kings and queens, we chatted to them all!
DXD: For your first time in NYC, do you have any expectations of the nightlife here or anything you’re most interested to experience?
KJL: I know NYC is gonna turn it out and bring through all the big energy, because that’s exactly what I'll be bringing over from LDN. I am an energy man and since I went sober, I feel everything so acutely, so the thing I am looking forward to most is feeling NYC’s energy behind the decks with UltraMaroon.
DXD: This is our special Pride edition of UltraMaroon. What does Pride mean for you this year?
KJL: Pride is three things to me: 1.) It’s a pure celebration of everything we are. 2.) It’s a reminder of what we still need to do together, not just for us, but for future generations. 3.) Lastly, it’s a reminder of those that came before us – we owe them everything, and we must not forget how hard they fought for progress.
DXD: What’s a track/artist/set that’s especially been inspiring you lately?
KJL: Glasgow Underground and Kevin McKay’s team are killing it this year. I’ve always been a big fan, but this last year has been next level. And an UltraMaroon exclusive here: I have an upcoming release coming out on Glasgow Underground later this year (which is a pinch me moment) and for the month of June, I will be featuring a special Pride mix in partnership with Apple Music, just in time for my headline set with UltraMaroon. Very exciting hot girl summer incoming!
DXD: Top 3 things you love seeing at parties?
KJL: 1.) People's hands in the air on a dirty drop or breakdown – so good! 2. ) Self expression – topless with tits out or jocks and harness, I love to see ravers feeling themselves in their own way. 3.) Super sappy moment, but I love it when I see two ravers connect and share a cheeky lil kiss. In my head, they just met and are gonna go on to get married and have puppies or babies. The joys of clubbing bringing people together just makes me so happy!
DXD: It’s Saturday night, and you’re not working. Where are you at to have a good time?
KJL: At home with my puppy and boyfriend. I’m on the road a lot or in clubs living my best life, so when I'm not working, I love my home time to help keep me grounded.
DXD: What are you most looking forward to for your upcoming Pride set at UltraMaroon?
KJL: Meeting the team and as many ravers as I can. I really wanna get immersed in NYC energy.
DXD: Any last words for us all on the dancefloor?
KJL: I’m known for my energy behind the decks and unexpected vocal cuts. I’ll just leave that there and you’ll have to come rave with us to see what I mean!
Thank you King James Lee! We look forward to you joining us on Thursday, June 22, at MUSICA NYC with Someone From Berlin and Sainte Francis.
Keep up with KJL on Insta and Soundcloud, and get your tickets to UltaMaroon: Pride Edition here! Use Host Code: DAISY or any other Host Code you may fancy to snag a discount.
Xx,
DavidXDaisy