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View Winners → Archive Oct 24, 2019
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Bryan Rabin and Adam XII present Giorgio’s. Photo by Tyler Curtis.
Giorgio’s has been consistently rocking for seven years now, with a whole lot of pomp and circumstance around its inspired era of groove and funk.
This year, however, they’re bringing a new flair to the formidable October holiday with their own spin on the spooky season. Working with L’Affaire Musicale and Orlove Entertainment, this Saturday Giorgio’s takes on Halloween for the first time ever with a twist of “supernatural debauchery.”
“Ominous, substantial, and enormous,” co-founder Bryan Rabin dotes of their newest location, the haunted Hotel Figueroa.
With an overall capacity of 900 costumed attendees, the daunting hot spot will have three distinct dance floors with their own unique flavors: a VIP table-laden poolside, a ghostly dark basement, and the main fanfare in their ballroom. And on par with the variety of the setting is the music, featuring Giorgio’s other iconic co-founder Adam Bravin aka DJ Adam 12 spinning his pure disco club along with other artists and DJs including Prince Poppycock, Bears in Space, Tensnake, Lee Wells Music, and Lindsay Rose, as always with something for everybody.
And that’s how it always has been. The duo describes the concept and its early years as “lighting in a bottle” with their visions aligning perfectly with the inspiration from disco mastermind and mogul Giorgio Moroder. Rabin elaborates, “Adam was like ‘what should we call it?’ and I immediately responded ‘Giorgio’s’ and his mouth dropped open and he said, ‘that’s what I wanted to call it.’”
That vision has attracted the likes of all walks of the art world, from its early days with pop-ins from Mick Jagger and Jackie Collins, to Dita Von Teese and Daphne Guinness, actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Amy Adams, to even Selena Gomez, Beyoncé and Jay-Z more recently.
When asked how they do it, the two joked:
Rabin: “Adam keeps them twirling till the lights come on.”
Bravin: “Bryan lines them up and I knock them down.”
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The two laughed at their rapport throughout our chat, and it’s evident how they’ve had continued success all these years. “It’s just been kismet,” Rabin continues, “we’ve been working together now seven years and we’re still killing it.” And it looks like they can only continue thriving with continued new ventures and visions for the future of Giorgio’s, really tuning into the heart of what first inspired them.
Bravin explores the progression on the musical side of things: “I’ve been moving deeper into 90s house music as the new younger generation starts to come into Giorgio’s the same way we did when we were younger… going to clubs that were playing 60s and 70s stuff.”
Rabin describes the calling and demographic of their Giorgio’s, saying, “Music is like a great democracy.” And it truly is. There is endless diversity in the attendees as much as the music. From age, race, gender, creed, everyone is welcome, is equal at Giorgio’s. The heart of it all being that the music and freedom to dance is what matters. In an oversaturated society inundated with social media and image, Rabin and Bravin are keen on keeping Giorgio’s a safe space. Of the many elements that make their events stand out, the most notable is that they don’t allow cameras, “and that’s why people come.”
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At its core, Giorgio’s is all about the music. And that’s what they’re sticking to, even if they don’t completely see eye to eye in every aspect of it.
Bravin: “We’re just following the timeline of music in general. More 80s and 90s, a little house and hip-hop are starting to come into play now. Using all these genres that will make it relevant for the young and the old. For everybody.”
Rabin: “But no EDM ever! Right Adam?”
Bravin: “Well I wouldn’t go that far…disco is actually EDM technically. What the 80s used to be for us is what the 90s and aughts are now.”
Rabin: “And you’ve been playing a little Depeche Mode which is like EDM!”
It’s a hilarious treat to hear the two’s playful banter on Giorgio’s conception and continued success, but for those that aren’t as lucky, their execution Saturday night and surprise spin on Halloween are sure to evoke the tone. And to gear those ears up, check out Bravin’s latest hit, partnering with Linda Perry for Natasha Bedingfield’s new single, “Kick It,” which you might just hear Saturday inter-spliced with the thumpin’ disco funk that make Giorgio’s so iconic. Only one way to find out.
Get your tickets here!
