So magazines are dead are they? Don't tell that to Luis Venegas, founder, Editor and Creative Director of two of the most exciting and beautiful magazines to have emerged in the last few years. Coming out of Madrid, Fanzine137 and Electric Youth! clearly demonstrate that the art of the magazine, or magateen (in the case of EY) publishing is far from dead. If anything its getting hotter and cuter.

Anyhow, don't take it from us let Luis explain.

Richard: Please describe yourself in 137 words.

Luis Venegas: Wow! Love this question! I’ll try the best I can in my not-too-good English.

I’m a Spanish guy who lives in Madrid. Everybody tells me I look like a child when I shave, but I’m 32 years old. I’m not too tall, not too fat, not too thin. As many other gay guys in the world, I studied fashion. Later I became freelance Art Director, and in 2004 I started my own magazine, Fanzine137. Recently I’ve launched a new magateen called Electric Youth! I love magazines in general. I contribute with texts and photographs to some of my favorites around the world. I guess the things I like are the ones that better describe me: tv series, handsome boys, my family and friends, Christopher, singing, kissing, movies, New York City, laughing, Marvel comics, haute couture, Jake Gyllenhaal, biographies, orange juice. I would like to live with the guy I love.

R: When did you start Fanzine 137, what was your initial inspiration and how did you come up with the name?

LV: My endless love of magazines since I was a child. I've collected special magazines since I was twelve years old. From Vanity Fair to rare issues of Avant Garde, for example - so it was my dream to make my own special magazine, and hopefully earn money doing it! I’m almost obsessed with numbers, and 137 is a number that's always brought me luck. I use it often everyday. I mean, for example, if I’m waiting for someone who’s delayed I think “I’ll count to 137 and if he doesn’t come I’ll leave”. I also love to look at the clock and see that is 1:37 - I take it as a good sign. Those kind of stupid things have become very important to me. So I thought it was nice to try to bring that extra luck to my magazine.

R: Editor, Creative Director and Publisher - it must be an extremely hectic life being Luis Venegas. What do you do to relax, unwind and escape?

LV: Well, lately my life is pretty busy, yes, but I enjoy what I do a lot, so I don’t 'need' to do anything specifically to relax. Anyway, I love to do the same things that everybody does to relax: watch tv, go out at night, dance, sex, travel, music...

R: So tell us what you did last Saturday night?

LV: I received the visit of a nice, handsome friend at home. After he left I watched episode 12 of Lost season 4 that I downloaded from the internet. I can’t wait to see episode 13 next week - the end of the season!

R: You have an amazing roll-call of contributors for the magazine - how do you select them, or do they pursue you?

LV: Usually I contact them. I show them copies of past issues and they usually like them. Most times that’s what convinces them to get involved.

R: You have published six issues. Which has been the most rewarding, personally?

LV: Always the next one. At this moment I’m finishing it. It will be called 'Ladies & Gentlemen' and it will be about people with long-time careers. I prefer to look forward, and rewind as little as possible. That’s why I always like the 'next' issue.

R: A little bird tells me you are a huge Barbra Streisand fan. What are your favorite Streisand tracks, and why are they so special to you?

LV: I love 'Guilty', 'Putting it Together' and 'The Way We Were'. I love Barbra! I know it’s a cliché, being gay, but what can I say? I simply adore her, how great she makes me feel, all she does - but I really can’t explain why exactly. Love comes from the most unexpected places.

R: Do you have a dream?

LV: I have too many to tell you here. The good thing is, little by little all them are coming true. If you ask about an impossible dream, I would like to have Spiderman’s superpowers.

R: You have recently added a new super hot title to to house of Venegas - EY, Electric Youth! Tell us about it, and why you started it.

LV: Because I felt I needed to take a step forward, and do a magazine very different to Fanzine137. I wanted it to be lighter, even more funny and as sexy as possible. I love young guys and all the excitement around them, so I decided to put it all together.

R: You describe EY as the new cult magateen. Who or what is this cult celebrating?

LV: Maybe I’m not the most appropiate person to say, but if we agree youth is one of the greatest times of our lives, well, I guess that’s enough reason to celebrate, don’t you think?


R: Where did you find all the super cute boys?

LV: Most of them are friends of mine. I wanted “real” pretty boys, not the usual models. The ones that I didn’t know I found on MySpace.

R: EY is essentially about the YouTube generation. How do you think the internet is effecting what you do how we communicate and relate with one another?

LV: The internet is absolutely effecting all levels of communication. Luckily. I have no fear of this amazing change - it’s exciting. You and I are talking because of internet. I think in a 100 years someone will refer to the human story as pre-internet or post-internet.

R: I'd now like you to answer some of the questions you asked the 23 hot Spanish boys in the interviews you did for EY.

LV: Cool! I’m enjoying this interview very much! You should do the questions for the US issue of EY!

R: It's a deal. So, what do you like to drink when you go out at night?

LV: Rum with Coca-Cola.

R: Do you smoke?

LV: No, almost never.

R: What’s the farthest place you’ve ever traveled?

LV: I don’t know which is farthest from Spain. New York or Buenos Aires? I’ve been to both places.

R: Definitely Buenos Aires. According to you who is the world’s best dressed person?

LV: How difficult. I hate that all the celeb men and women these days have a stylist, so it’s difficult to find real taste or originals. I guess Diane Keaton is a true original, and I also like the black simplicity of Grace Coddington.

R: What’s the most incredible nightclub you have ever been to?

LV: In Versailles, for the celebration of Dior’s 60th Birthday. It wasn't a nightclub exactly, I know, but the night was unforgettable.

R: In what music video would you want to live?

LV: Any of the videos that Bruce Weber has done for Pet Shop Boys: 'Being Boring', 'Se a Vida é' or 'I Get Along'.

R: And finally, what is your tip for the future?

LV: To have as much fun as possible. To keep the joy.

There are many grossly overrated DJs who jet from one continent to the other lugging their 'anthemic' tunes with them, and then there are those DJs who are more interested in developing a style, reputation and atmosphere in front of a weekly audience. Luke Howard is one such DJ. He began DJing in the late 80s and was the resident at London’s infamous Brixton-based QUEER NATION for over ten sweaty years. We caught up with him on his return from a long, hot trip to Rio De Janeiro...

Richard: Hey Luke, what have you been up to tonight?

Filthy Luka: I went to The Joiners Arms for a night called Macho City, a night of Hi-NRG. It was a lot of fun, just like being in a gay bar in 1985.

R: How did you come by the name Filthy Luka and when did she hit the scene?

FL: Well, I was working at another gay night on a Sunday and then Horse Meat Disco started and the other club didn't want me to play at two gay things on the same night so I decided to have an alias and came up with Filthy Luka. So she's been around since Horse Meat Disco began really.

R: How long have you been DJing? How did you get into it?

FL: I have been DJing since 1989. I started doing squat parties in London and then I got a warm up slot at a night at Dingwalls, and then Patrick Lilley gave me a try out when he opened Queer Nation in December 1990. He liked me, so I got the job and was resident there for 14 years.

R: Describe your DJ style in five words.

FL: Jumping groovy disco dancing songs.

R: And you also produce music and perform?

FL: I've done a few tunes over the years, mostly for Afro Art which used to be Ashely Beedle's label, I had an electro pop project with Princess Julia called The Most, and we did a ton of stuff and had a record out on German label Beauty Case - one of our songs was used on the soundtrack of John Maybury's feature film The Jacket. I haven't been in the studio for ages but I'm just about to start a new project with Foolish Felix of Cynic records, so I'm looking forward to that.

R: You play at London's Horse Meat Disco, which is at a boozer called The Eagle in Vauxhall. Over the last few years Vauxhall has become a new gay ghetto in London. What's that all about, and how do you find it?

FL: Vauxhall is really a massive after hours scene, which I'm not really into. Currently most of the clubs down there are quite generic and I can't do that up all night thing. However, boozers like The Eagle and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern are a lot of fun and add a bit of variety to things.

R: We hear you have spent the last six months in Brazil (lucky Luka!). Why Brazil?

FL: I just love it. I first went in 2003 and I've been back every year for a month but this time I decided to stay longer so I could improve my Portuguese. I really like the way things are down there. People are super friendly and know how to live in the moment and just enjoy life. I love samba and carnival and of course the weather is wonderful compared to winter in London.

R: Where were you? What did you do?

FL: I was living in Rio and I worked for a while making outfits for a children's samba school. I had to make 120 outfits for the bateria (the drummers) of the school which took about ten weeks to finish. When they paraded there was a mighty thunderstorm and all the outfits were ruined in about ten seconds - feathers don't like rain!

R: Tell us your finest daytime story and nighttime story from your Rio adventures.

FL: Daytime: One day I was jogging on Flamengo Beach and I met a Brazilian man who was my physical ideal - older, broad shoulders, salt and pepper hair, rugged-looking. We struck up a conversation and learned that we had the same taste in American female soul singers. He started singing songs by Alcione - this female Brazilian singer with a deep voice - which was very romantic. I was just about ready to marry him. I gave him my number but sadly never heard from him. His name was Eros, so if you're out there reading this, I've got my wedding dress out of the dry cleaners...

Nighttime: After I had watched the carnival parade all night I walked down to this place called Elite which is a samba gafiera dancehall that goes gay at carnival. On the way there, down a darkened street, I could see a large group of guys standing at the side of the road. As I got closer I realized it was about forty guys, all having sex. Even I was stunned, as it was just a regular street with quite a lot of cars and people passing by. Needless to say I didn't join in as I had a lot of money in my pocket, but it was quite a thrill stumbling across and outdoor group sex scene like that.

R: Nice! Very different than your home in London. How does gay culture differ in Brazil from the rest of Europe?

FL: Rio doesn't have as much gay nightlife as São Paolo as it's more of a beach culture. There are quite a lot of saunas though. In some areas of life gay people are very integrated into the mainstream, like samba, carnival and Candomblé (Afro-Brazilian religion). In samba school rehearsals there will be quite a lot of gay people and some trannies - they belong there as much as anyone else. In Candomblé most of the priests are gay, the participants are a mixture of straight and gay, and everyone is given equal respect.

R: what clubs or bars do you think an east village boy might find... rewarding?

FL: Unidos da Tijuca samba school have rehearsals every Saturday in the months leading up to carnival and it's very gay there. Dama de Ferro, a club in Ipanema, is good for afterhours on Saturdays. And there's a bear party called Encontro dos Ursos (Bear Meet Up) twice a month at Espaço Marun in Catete which is quite fun.

R: I hear Rio is all about the cruising - any hot tips?

FL: Parque do Flamengo at Flamengo Beach is quite cruisy once the sun has gone down, but I hear it can be dangerous. Rio can be quite cruisy everywhere and there are love motels where you can rent rooms by the hour if you get lucky - they're better, and safer, than taking someone back to your apartment.

R: Name your three all time favorite tracks and why they mean so much to you?

FL: Not wanting to sound morbid, but I'd like these three played at my funeral:

1. Chaka Khan, 'Love Has Fallen On Me'. I listen to this everyday and it always gives me a lift. Her vocal performance is stunning and the production by Arif Mardin is gorgeous.

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2. First Choice, 'I've Got A Feeling'. This is pure Philly Disco perfection. It has quite a melancholy feel, but is uplifting at the same time.

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3. Labelle, 'I Believe That I Finally Made It Home'. Nona Hendrix wrote the lyrics - they're really powerful. It's one of Labelle's finest moments as they all take turns with the lead vocals.

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R: Any tips for the future?

FL: Don't try too hard to be anything in this over-competitive world. We all end up as dust anyway.

R: Are you a Speedo or short shorts boy?

FL: I love Speedos. I have a bit of a fetish for them. It's great in Rio as all the men wear them at the beach so I'm in heaven.

R: Prove it! ->

Hey boys, our first t-shirt is almost sold out! We're sold out of large (thank you Germany, Sweden, Australia, London, LA, San Francisco and of course New York - everywhere really, xox), and extra small (thank you twinks all over the country, Tokyo, and the rest of the Pacific rim, extra special xox), but we have a few mediums and smalls left. Get one - when they're gone they're gone, but NOBODY PANIC we have a new design coming for the summer - though maybe not as cum-rag friendly.

And hey, nothing says love like a load on your chest.

EVB has never before had to issue an apology, but apologies in advance for the multiple equestrian references you're about to endure.

Riding into town on their super-hung stallion James and Jim from London's Horsemeat Disco bring their wonderful nosebag of disco delights to Club 205 on Tuesday night.

This will be the boys' final gig in NYC (they were support DJs for Hercules and Love Affair on Saturday night at Studio B) before jumping back into the saddle and galloping (or should that be cantering) back to London.

Here at the EVB stud ranch we are all waxing our chaps and slipping on our stirrups for a right royal hoedown.

Come join us and the wonderful Horsemeat boys tomorrow night, May 20 at Club 205, 205 Chrystie St (at Stanton), NYC. If you bring a sugar lump, wear a rosette and impersonate a horny stallion at the door, who knows what might happen...