Alex Gerry's club kids photo collection will make you want to party forever

Alex Gerry has been documenting club culture and the individuals who make it shine for four decades. His lens has captured the scene's most fabulous characters and he restlessly documents them and tells their tales (as well as many of his own).

He works mainly in London and New York and has contributed to countless music and culture titles. His work has been the subject of a number of exhibitions and he's rolled with all the most legendary club kids, from Leigh Bowery to Tasty Tim. And that's not to mention the night spots: Bagley's, Heaven, Anarchy, Pushca, Madam JoJo's... The list is countless.

Alex has just rebooted his website (check the archives!) so we thought it a good time to catch him for a chat and to pour over a set of his finest photos. Put simply, the images and his love of club culture will make you want to party forever.

How did you first get into clubbing and what inspired you to start documenting it?

The whole world of nightlife attracted me and I loved the mystique, the looks, not to mention the uplifting music. I started taking snaps at The Beat Route, The Wag, The Camden Palace, The Mud Club, Pyramid, The Jungle, Taboo, Cha Cha and so on, simply because I believed it would've been a great shame not to. Naturally, my lens pointed towards the most outlandish and outrageous characters, never the guys in denim and branded shirts, regardless of who they were.

Your work is highly renowned and often pointed to as the definitive document of London's club scene over the past three decades. How does this feel?

Thank you and, yes, recognition is naturally much appreciated. It sort of vindicates your effort, doesn't it? I must say, I always managed to keep my interest and enthusiasm intact, at least on a good night, and my attitude in that respect hasn't changed through the years. I believe that's what it takes to keep you going.

Do you now feel a responsibility to continue showing the world what goes on in these underground subcultures?

I don't look upon it as a responsibility. I was always drawn to underground culture and covering it in the media or showing my work in galleries and museums is what I do and love. The fact that people are interested in seeing my work is icing on the cake.

I look upon clubs as laboratories of talent and they make for a very photogenic environment. Photo opportunities are endless and I feel it would be a pity not to seize them. I'm kicking myself sometimes thinking that, in the early days, I could've snapped so much more. Alas, I was often more interested in having a blast partying rather than thinking of immortalising the experience. I remember travelling and spending time with Leigh Bowery for a gig in Paris, for instance, and never even using a camera. Now, that is criminal! Thankfully, I made up for that on other trips with him.

Clubbing appears to have become more sanitised in recent years as its mainstream appeal has increased, but your images of 2010s Club Kids still depict outrageous moments. How alive is the subculture of 'club freaks' today? What and where are the most prominent parties?

There is striking new talent coming through all the time. However, they need to earn the stripes to feature in my portfolios. Some of these guys come and go quicker than you can ask them for the perennial close-up. Others can effortlessly reinvent themselves for decades on the scene and still manage to keep people interested. The club scene has changed drastically though and never more so than in this Millennium. Most of the best clubs have closed down. Blame the recession and the gentrification of certain areas.

You're completely right though, it has become more sanitised. Also the distinctive feeling that you actually "belong", which prevailed in previous decades, is now quite thin on the ground. If this is what you're looking for when you first show up in clubland, you might be disappointed and I would advise you join an evening sewing circle or a pottery class instead.

Do you think a return to the spectacular heights it experienced in the 80s is likely to happen? Does clubbing today still carry the same social importance as it did back then?

I could write a book heavier than the Holy Bible about these issues. As it happens - surprise, surprise - my illustrative book entitled Club Icons & Disco Pigs, which documents the history of avant-garde clubbing and its social and cultural significance, is already written and only awaits a proper publisher's deal that matches my expectations.

I doubt very much if the 80s' highs can happen again - times have changed - but I do believe the scene will always bring people together. It goes without saying that today's teenagers go out to have a blast regardless of what went on before they were born. They don't know about that and, quite frankly, they don't care.

You went to New York to document the clubs there in the 90s, how did the scene differ across the Atlantic compared to London?

Ironically, as the party monsters across the pond fully thrived, the UK's scene totally turned itself on its head. It'd given way to smiley culture, unleashing blissful Balearic soundscapes that praised the power of love and ecstasy. What the clubs lost in individuality and visual appeal, they gained in spontaneity and friendliness. However, Stateside, the early 90s proved to be an unprecedented phenomenon that has yet to be bettered. Don't forget they were pre-Giuliani days and there was no question of belt-tightening or moral clampdown then. Suddenly, a new crop of scary-looking kids invaded Manhattan after dark. They were fearless, fame-hungry and bent on conquering the world, well at least their local club. They looked an absolute fright to say the least and went out of their way to terrify Joe Public. Most of those kids are still around today and are still ruling, which only proves that we're talking vintage years here. Thankfully, London soon took its cues and the scene exploded again with plenty of talent and more energy than the National Grid. Kinky Gerlinky, the humongous monthly party at The Empire, ruled the roost then.

Are the 80s Club Kids you documented at the time still deeply involved in the scene or have they settled down into more conventional lives?

A club icon friend of mine, who's well documented on the site (and who'll remain nameless), did drop out in order to embrace a textbook suburban, blissful domestic existence with a partner and a nice mortgage. He looks very happy for it too. Don't fret, such instances on the scene are as rare as hen's teeth. The party monsters of the world just won't give up just to settle for more conventional lives, unless it's a matter of life or death. A few veterans who are still kicking around in clubland spring to mind, one being Philip Sallon, but I think Tasty Tim wins hands down. He's undoubtedly London's longest-serving and still very much active club kid. His nightlife journey almost covers the whole spectrum (he only just missed out on The Blitz) and he has consistently played out every week at clubs in the UK and abroad right from the word dot. Amazingly, he doesn't even look a day older for it, at least in full maquillage. I guess his bank manager must be grateful for all the cash he's notoriously stashed for decades.

Alex Gerry's new website is online now

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow him on Twitter now