Nag Nag Nag's Jonny Slut: Poxy Style Mags Can Piss Off

"Maybe we should introduce a waistline gage because all those guys have beer guts. Anyone with a waistline over 32 inches can f*ck off."

Laughing as he outlines one possible strategy for discouraging British music journalists, Jonny Slut can afford to be amused about the hype surrounding his club Nag Nag Nag. Locking out more and more people every Wednesday night, the tiny Soho weekly is both London's most hyped and genuinely best new clubs in years, drawing gays, straights, transsexuals and downright weirdoes in a mix not seen since the pre-acid house club days of the 80s. Which is no surprise, given that Jonny virtually invented the original Goth image through his role as Specimen's keyboardist and more importantly, the club's musical mix of punk, rock and electroclash.

Spun by Jonny, his Atomizer colleague Fil OK and star DJ JoJo De Freq (a 24 year old bleached blonde Canadian girl, soon to spin at Dior's Paris fashion party) the musical mix has catapulted Nag Nag Nag into the growing void, created by the decline of mainstream clubland.

"Jodie, Fil and I first talked about setting up the club last New Year's Eve. We really wanted to do something because we were hearing all this great electro music and there was nowhere that was playing it," Jonny told Skrufff's Jonty Adderley.

"We were hearing all this great electro music and there was nowhere that was playing it. We weren't going out clubbing anywhere regularly and we were thinking 'My God, we've got to start something, no-one else is doing it.'


Skrufff (Jonty Adderley): How much did you expect Nag to take off like it has-

Jonny Slut: "I'm surprised that everyone seems interested, but I'm not surprised it's doing well, I can see why it is. And obviously that's great for me. We were aware stuff was happening in New York and in Berlin so we were passionate about getting something started here in London. And we kind of expected it to be successful because we felt so passionately about it ourselves."

Skrufff: What were the key elements you envisaged for the club-

Jonny Slut: "The music was the key thing. As well as the electro, I've always been a fan of late punk, early new wave, art-school punk like Cabaret Voltaire, Delta Five, Gang of Four and Wire, that kind of stuff. That's been the music I've always returned to so I also wanted to start a club where I could play that sort of music alongside the new electro. I could see a lineage between the two styles, the new electro music is more thoughtful and arty."

Skrufff: When did you first come across electro-

Jonny Slut: "The first time was when I heard (Fischerspooner') Emerge 18 months ago when Pete Tong played it. He played it alongside Adult's Hand to Phone track and I was completely blown away. I always listen to Pete Tong on Friday nights and it was one of those moments I had to write down the track's name after hearing it. It sounded like nothing else around; I couldn't believe it. Maybe the reason I liked it, on reflection, was because it sounded a bit retro, but at the time I just thought it sounded fantastic. I'd been making electronic music for years and it seemed like the track was in a vacuum. I had this conversation with Adamski, this time last year; we were thinking 'Is it just us who feel like this-' You couldn't buy the records, certainly not here in London. I couldn't get hold of the track for ages."

Skrufff: Is it right that for the first few nights of Nag, virtually no-one came-

Jonny Slut: "We were getting thirty or so people a night for the first few months. Actually, maybe fifty or sixty."

Skrufff: Was your 80s club the Batcave an influence at all, given that it also used to be on Wednesdays in tiny Soho clubs-

Jonny Slut: "Yeah, I think all the best clubs have been on Wednesdays or midweek anyway, I'm thinking about clubs like Taboo, Kinky Gerlinki and Smashing for example. A lot of the older regulars have said Nag's vibe remi Tags