Honey Soundsystem's mission state gets right to the point: "We are a collective of disc jockeys, musicians, performers and designers. We bond over our shared love of timeless sound, iconic imagery, the complete look, indulgent behavior, and most of all, attractive men." Over sevenyears, their weekly party at the Holy Cow become absolutely legendary. Jason Kendig, one of the resident DJs joining us tonight, hails from Detroit and cut his teeth as a DJ at the same parties Derek Plaslaiko and Mike Servito back in the day. Honey has been instrumental in the formation of three high quality record labels: Dark Entries, Discaire, and HNYTRX - their in-house label for special one off releases. This will be their third time appearing at The Bunker, and they are all around masters of good vibes who know how to bring it behind the decks, and we couldn't be more excited to bring them back into the fold.

Carlos Souffront is a music gourmet, a true DJ's DJ. His taste is rich and vast and he has the unique ability to create deeply rhythmic narratives that offer unexpected and exotic spices. He mastered his deep mixing skills with a cassette deck and a belt drive turntable in his father's den in Troy, home of contemporaries such as Mike Servito, Tadd Mullinex and Matt Dear. Equally entrenched in indie rock, post punk, experimental music, ambient, rock, house, and techno, Carlos was always a man of many worlds - with an ability to traverse though them with an unique imagination. There is a mood to his search within sound, something that is heavy, deep yet gritty. Like many Caribbean transplants that ends up in northern colder climates, he wonders where our rhythmic complexity is. For him it is effortless and endlessly surprising to the listener.

Carlos is an important component of the Interdimensional Transmissions parties, bringing a loose yet tight moody deepness and an ever unexpected edge. At the original No Way Back party, he demanded truth in advertising, pushing us to and then past the 12 hour mark. He has participated in the studio with Ectomorph, and also performed alongside some of their live performances.

It is all too rare to find someone within the electronic music spectrum that can be called an original, that you can only really explain to someone who experienced them on the dance floor, usually just by saying "that's so" and saying their name. Carlos is one of those rarities. (bio by BMG)

While shopping for vinyl at a record store, Ryan Smith met Ron Like Hell, a veteran DJ of 19 years. Both excited to meet another like-minded gay individual appreciative of timeless music, they were inspired to work on a project together. They really came into their own when they launched Wrecked as a monthly doors open at midnight party at National Underground, which was an immediate success. They've made it their mission to book solid underground talent to express the changing tides in the gay underground. Their sound has taken them to the dance floors of Berlin to San Francisco and The Black Party to 718 Sessions. On their own, Ron works for Academy Records and produces Classic Album Sundays NYC and Ryan works as an agent at the Windish Agency. For the past couple of years, Wrecked has become a regular part of the lineups at The Bunker, shining bright as both openers and in prime time slots.

“…[A]n increasingly respected DJ, known for uplifting sets that balance established anthems with idiosyncratic selections. She’s an accomplished producer, too, with a string of irresistible tracks—‘Exodus’ and ‘A Jealous Heart Never Rests’ among them—that still get plenty of airtime two years later. And then there’s her position as the talent buyer at Chicago’s Smart Bar, one of the best clubs in North America, which has arguably become even more noteworthy under her direction.” – Andrew Ryce for Resident Advisor, October 2014

In December of 2012, North America’s oldest independent venue, Smart Bar announced the The Black Madonna as a new resident, along with Derrick Carter and Frankie Knuckles. Within a year, she became the club’s first ever Creative Director in its three decade history, bringing a decidedly anti-establishment philosophy to her curatorial style. Her retooled residency program reflects a distinct set of values, adding Honey Soundsystem, DVS1, Regis, Honey Dijon and transgressive events such as Men’s Room to an already diverse offering.

Of her philosophy she said, “Dance music needs riot grrrls. Dance music needs Patti Smith. It needs DJ Sprinkles. Dance music needs some discomfort with its euphoria. Dance music needs salt in its wounds. Dance music needs women over the age of 40. Dance needs breastfeeding DJs trying to get their kids to sleep before they have to play. Dance needs cranky queers and teenagers who are really tired of this shit. Dance music needs writers and critics and academics and historians. Dance music needs poor people and people who don’t have the right shoes to get into the club. Dance music needs shirts without collars. Dance music needs people who struggled all week. Dance music needs people that had to come before midnight because they couldn’t afford full admission. Dance music does not need more of the status quo.”

A sublime technician behind the decks, The Black Madonna is known for fluent and dynamic vinyl sets, which span from disco to techno. And then of course, there’s her inimitable energy, an infectious joy and ability to connect with the room, which along with her skill has cemented her as a beloved regular and crowd favorite at revered venues such as Panorama Bar. Her DJ mixes for Little White Earbuds and of course Beats In Space remain highly regarded. The latter was named #4 of Resident Advisor’s Top 10 Online Mixes for 2014 and described as, “a kaleidoscopic look on the genre that shows her taste and technical skill in equal measure. She glides through soulful strains, Italo-influenced bangers and some straight-up house…with a touch so light it sounds like the records are playing themselves.”

The Black Madonna’s catalog of releases/remixes includes labels such as Argot, Stripped & Chewed, Classic, Freerange and Home Taping is Killing Music. Crosstalk International described her “Lady Of Sorrows EP” on Argot, as “her most fully realized work to date—A great leap forward from the sample-clad disco house of her records for Home Taping Is Killing Music and Stripped & Chewed. Weaving live orchestration and irresistible synth lines through tough percussive frames, both tracks bare their souls to listeners with enough muscle to command dancers’ attention.” In 2014, she followed up the Argot release with two back to back EP’s. Both sold out immediately and remain highly sought after on the vinyl market.

In 2015, along with Steve Mizek of Argot, she will launch Smart Bar’s vinyl imprint, showcasing the work of Smart Bar’s considerable pool of residents, while continuing to tour and helm the club.

Mike Servito is from a very special yet temporary and partially lost fertile crescent of techno / house / party DJing. It was a time when raves were still a fresh idea, almost felt like a revolution, and DJs like Claude Young, D Wynn, Derrick Carter and Mike Huckaby were informing an upcoming generation. If you look directly to that inspired generation you will find the lost threads of Detroit Techno, House and beyond, you will find a group of DJs with insanely deep mixing skills, the ability to rock almost any kind of party with an improvisational approach that is so skilled it makes everything seem so well thought out that even they don't know where their set will go. But, it will take you there! In the future, this special generation of deep midwest mixers will be remembered and revered as the wizards they are, long after the trendy players have lost their luster.

Detroit never forgot about Mike Servito, his upfront dirty deep and bitchy taste has had an impact on Detroit nightlife for over a decade. From debuting in 1995 at Dat's Poorboy parties, to being a resident at blackbx and Ghostly's Untitled (along with Derek Plaslaiko, Tadd Mullinix, Matthew Dear, and Ryan Elliott), contributing to the bizarrely popular, wild and free Dorkwave, and progressing that concept into Sass (the hippest queer party in Detroit at the time), to blowing minds at Interdimensional Transmissions' No Way Back parties, Servito has made his impression. Moving to Brooklyn, Detroit's loss has been their gain, as he has found a proper home with a residency at The Bunker, and representation by Beyond Booking in North America and Odd Fantastic in Europe.

Based in Pittsburgh, Honcho is programmed in the spirit of today's pioneering parties such as San Francisco's Honey Soundsystem, London's Horse Meat Disco and WRECKEDnyc. Providing an environment that sheds your inhibitions, Honcho helps to revive the role of the queer party as a keystone of dance music culture. Aaron Clark Price is the new duo of Aaron Clark, who is the co-founder of the Humanaut and Honcho DJ collectives/event production crews, and the weekly 'Hot Mass' afterhours club in Pittsburgh, and Clark Price, an up and coming DJ who has been cutting his teeth with appearances at Honcho.

Leisure Muffin’s modern take on kosmische music is not easy to pin down. Influences and reference points are extraordinarily wide-ranged, but include early Warp (Seefeel, Autechre, and Aphex), Drexciya, Skinny Puppy, Meat Beat Manifesto, Coil, and Perrey and Kingsley. He was also deeply influenced by the sound of The Bunker (and other) dancefloors. A former audio engineering educator, Hopkins has a mastery of both Ableton Live and modular synthesizers. After drooling over, and even borrowing some key pieces of gear from Sarah Lawrence College and Charles Cohen’s studio over the years, the recent advent of more affordable modular equipment meant that he finally has a dream setup of his own.

“The fact that modular synths have become affordable now has really helped,” he says. “I always wanted to be writing using that stuff and after waiting for a really long time, I finally have the kind of setup I always dreamed of.”

It makes sense that someone with Leisure Muffin’s broad tastes makes music that is hard to classify. When most people tell you that they love all forms of music, further examination of their claim usually leads to disappointment. This isn't the case for Leisure Muffin. If you join him for tea, you could end up listening to an accordion record as easily as you might hear electronic music. He spent most of his life working in some of the best and worst record stores in the USA, for the pure joy of being able to hear new sounds every day (before the internet put all music at everyone’s fingertips). If you talk to him you might hear about the pleasures of attending the symphony after eating a pot brownie or how you should listen to African Juju records from the 1930s. .

"I don't know what to call it--I really just make the kind of stuff that I want to hear,” he says. “And honestly, if I didn't love dancing and playing at dance parties so much, I'd probably just be locked in a room somewhere torturing synthesizers or playing boring whale sound guitar solos for hours. Actually, I suppose I do a fair amount of that anyway. Maybe that's why it's taken me almost 20 years to actually release something that anybody is interested in putting out."

In the mid-90's, he was playing shows in clubs in the Lower East Side (Den of Thieves, Unity Gain, Tonic) when he was too young to drink. He pulled off a lot of great sets over the following years and built a reputation as a live electronic performer during an era when that was far less common. Live recordings of both his solo sets and his duos with Charles Cohen made the rounds among good friends (including The Bunker New York bossman Bryan Kasenic), but finishing a studio record had, until now, eluded him.

With the encouragement of Kasenic and The Bunker New York family, Leisure Muffin finally managed to finish an EP in the studio, and we couldn’t be happier with the results.

Kroba is one third of the Archie Pelago trio, who have released on Mister Saturday Night, Well Rounded Individuals, Car Crash Set, End Fence. A regular at The Bunker for years, we're sure he's going to nail the vibe in Stilton House.