Collective Spotlight: Polka Dot Disco Club
In this series, we spotlight up-and-coming collectives who are paving their own way while driving underground culture forward.
It’s 2am at Glasgow’s legendary Sub Club and drag queen Bimini Bon Boulash is behind the booth, playing hard, fast, bouncy techno to a sea of ravers. After dropping a track best described as volcanic, Bimini grabs the mic and struts into the center of the crowd. “Who wants to hear my new song?” She asks, to a response of bellows and screams. Bass pounds out the speakers as Bimini launches into their latest musical creation, fists pumping all around as they rap over a 4:4 techno beat.
Photo Credit: indiesleazeforever
This is the second time Bimini has performed for Polka Dot Disco Club, an inclusive, multi-genre event series that aims to empower FLINTA (Female, Lesbian, Intersex, Non-binary, Transgender, and Agender) creatives in Scotland and beyond. Since its inception in 2019, they’ve hosted techno legend Sama’ Abdulhadi, Cici, HAAi, fka.m4a, and given dozens of FLINTA artists their first opportunities to play. They’ve teamed up with HE.SHE.THEY. on two occasions, often sell out The Berkeley Suite and Sub Club, and hold regular takeovers in bars, clubs, and rooftops all over the city.
Because of the sheer volume of events, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was run by a small army. But it’s actually nurtured by just one person – Frankie Elyse, DJ, producer, and 1/2 of DJ duo Kintra.
The idea originated in Frankie’s home town of Dundee, where she and her school friend Hannah Laing, a renowned DJ and producer, would DJ at Dundee University’s Student Union. “Then they asked me if I wanted to play all night long with a few pals,” Frankie says. “I thought it would be fun to make it a girls' night, but Hannah wasn’t available, and that’s when I realized there were no other women DJs in Dundee.”
So she got to work creating some. “I asked the union if I could do a free workshop series, and they let me use their facilities for four weeks,” Frankie remembers. “I ended up teaching six women how to DJ, and we all performed at a big party at the union on International Women’s Day.”
Then lockdown hit, and Frankie moved Polka Dot Disco Club online, inviting FLINTA artists to create mixes. And just as the world emerged from COVID, she moved to Glasgow, where many of the artists she taught to DJ also lived. “I started getting more into the Glasgow scene, and then I got the opportunity to have a residency at the Berkeley Suite, and then a few months later at Sub Club as well.”
Sub Club 1990, Photo Credit: Nick Peacock
She still hosts club nights in Dundee, most recently a venue takeover at Dundee Dance Event, where she performed with her twin sister under their moniker Kintra. “It was a purely Dundee line-up which was great,” she says. “It just shows there’s way more women, Trans, and non-binary folk DJing there now.”
A lot has changed since 2019, but Polka Dot Disco Club’s mission will always be to fight for equality in dance music. “Now, the challenge is to get more LGBTQIA+ folk on the line-ups,” she says. “Polka Dot isn’t a queer night, it’s an inclusive night. In an ideal world, we won’t have labels, and everybody will have the same opportunities, but we’re not there yet, so Polka Dot exists to facilitate that.”
Photo Credit: indiesleazeforever
Although they don’t currently book cis-men, they would be happy to in the future. “We need to make it normal to go into the club and see somebody that you maybe wouldn’t have seen 20 years ago behind the decks,” she says.
Frankie herself warmed up for Bimini tonight, playing the vibrant, upbeat house music she’s become known for in the city. Polka Dot Disco Club doesn’t take itself too seriously, making sure fun and accessibility are front-center of the experience. “Deep cuts and obscure tunes are important, but it's not as headsy as other nights,” Frankie says. “It’s just about having fun –I’ve definitely played Britney Spears edits a few times.”
Fun is a fairly air-tight summary of Polka Dot Disco’s Sub Club takeover tonight, clearly demonstrated by Bimini as they dance amongst the adoring crowd. And this is exactly the energy Frankie hopes to continue in the future. “I’d like to start a record label and release music from FLINTA artists,” she says. “I’d love to run a festival one day, put on events in London, Spain, Manchester, continue to run production and DJ workshops, and just make sure music is accessible to everybody.”
