Welcome!
Welcome to the first installment of The Leather Report, my column detailing what happened and will happen in New York’s Leather, Bear and Daddy scenes. This column will attempt to do many things: shed light on recent doings in the city, point out some names and faces; discuss topics that I care about and those you suggest; and introduce you to some of the notable and quotable people that make New York, unique, exciting and edgy.
Me, your humble scribe.
But who am I? Well you may ask as I ask myself that everyday. I am Darrell, known around as Darrell BlackandBlue or Darrell the DungeonBoss. I come from a long career of media and photography and have been in the leather scene since 1990. I help found Brothers In Leather, Masters and slaves Together NYC, New York Panthers Leatherclub. I was also an on-air host of WBAI-NY's OutFM and worked in various capacities for New York's all-club charity, Leather Pride Night. I now produce leather-themed play parties and I am building a network of web-based businesses serving the leather and gay communities. Extended versions of this column and other tidbits can be found on my blog: http://notesfromthedungeonboss.blogs.com/newnotes.
NY’s Leather scene.
What is this scene I am discussing? The Leather, Bear, Daddy scene is the hypermasculine, leather-centric, muscle-loving, hairy, shaved, tattooed men that have, over the past 20 years carved out a dark niche in every major city in the world. Having grown out of the Old Guard, formalistic American Leather scene of motorcycle clubs, bars, leatherworkers, contests and conventions, the scene is as much as about art and image, sex and fun, as it is about behaviors and heavy gear. For years, New York was know for its bars (and backrooms), sex shows and peepshows. Now the real estate boom has changed New York and many of its edgier and kinkier places have disappeared. Fewer places are multitasking, serving different segments on different nights. The audience for this scene seems to be shrinking, but in reality it is growing: as evidenced by the millions of men (and women) who join and post to the hundreds of fetish and leather themed sites all over the internet. The web has made sexual imagery, and by extension, fetish subjects, accessible to all Americans, for better or for worse.
The only way a nightlife scene can survive in any city is to find ways to tear these people away from their computers and come out and play. The experts in that field are the promoters, those people that define a scene, name a night, reach out and touch and make a party.
Meet Robert Valin, The Daddy of DADDY & Truck Stop
A born and bred New Yorker and Mr. Eagle NYC 2005, Robert Valin competed at IML that year finishing in the top 10. In the following year, he created Leather Invasion, a way to bringing together those interested in the lifestyle while raising leather visibility to mainstream society. Described by many as a "Kinky Critical Mass," past invasions have included NYC's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), "Black Ice" at Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park, IKEA, the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, to name a few.
A self-proclaimed Leather Bear, Valin runs Truck Stop (truckstopparty.com), the popular monthly party at The Penthouse at The Park, which on that night, caters to the Leather & Bear crowd (featuring a hot tub, yes, a hot tub) as well as the weekly shindig, DADDY on Mondays, upstairs at Vlada. Both nights feature hot DJs and dance floors. While Truck Stop is upbeat and friendly, with a tea dance feel and frat house vibe, DADDY is cool for the loner, or cruiser, with cheap beer, rough-sex porn and a curtained video area. I asked Robert what spurs him on to create these events, he replied, “Friends often complained that there were not many or enough ‘hunky, hairy happenings’ in New York, so I set out to create some,” he continues, “I wanted to make events that were geared to an over-30, beefier crowd, more embracing in terms of body image, that was not so much about fashion but about raw, masculine energy!”
Asked about the response to this growing scene, Valin states, “I met very little negative response, I have been very gratified to get emails from people who have started relationships at my events and from people just thankful that these places exist.” Apparently bars and other promoters are taking notice, he says, “they are seeing that there is a market for this demographic.”
Robert has been active in the community and charity areas fundraising for Teen's Prepared for Life and The Harvey Milk School. He has been a committee member of NYC's Leather Pride Night, an annual charity auction. I asked what he’d like to do in his wildest dreams, and it turns out that he would like to open his own Leather & Bear bar. “I kinda see it as “Cheers meets The Cock!”
With all this on his plate, you may well wonder what Robert Valin does by day. He is a professional voice-over artist for radio, film and television. Samples of that work can be heard on his website, http://robertvalin.com. An accomplished magazine graphic artist, he is developing a graphic arts company to serve the bear and queer communities.
Right now, Valin is starting to work on the Urban Bear Weekend NYC (http://urbanbearweekend.com), which is celebrating its second year this May. He will be busy this May, as he was just asked be one of the judges of International Mr. Leather 2010 (http://imrl.com) in Chicago. Asked for his reaction, he replied, “This is a rare feat, but I am humbled and speechless!”
Where the Wild Things Are:
Truck Stop is Sunday, January 24th, Penthouse at The Park, 10th Ave @ 17th St.
DJ Gustavo, Doors Open 6pm, Free before 7/$5 after http://truckstopparty.com
Daddy is every Monday night, Upstairs at Vlada, 331 W. 51 St. DJ Chauncey D 9pm/Free, Porn, "Backroom" Lounge, Cheap Beer & Vodka, Hot Fuckers
Check it out:
Woof Mondays http://www.viewbarnyc.com
Porno Bingo Wednesdays http://www.piecesbar.com/events.html
CODE Thursdays http://www.eaglenyc.com/
Next Month:
New York’s sex parties, how to prepare for the Saint Black Party, and an interview with Justin Costello, producer of the new leather title: Mr Rawhide NY!
Write to me at: darrell@darrellsdungeon.com
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