The release of Party Monster (the motion picture version of the identically named shockumentary and based on former Celebutante/Club Kid James St. James’ tell-all Disco Bloodbath) chronicles the gruesome culmination of Alig’s (Macaulay Culkin) theatre of cruelty. It’s climax didn’t really need a script, because it happened, and the filmmakers, Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato were there, as was Superstar DJ Keoki, who past life as a Club Kid is portrayed by “That ‘70s Show”’s Wilmer Valderrama. Keoki’s supervision on the film, along with his mix CD, Keokiclash, which through narration and beats, not only plays out his own autobiography, but speaks of Alig’s world while providing a figurative through line from Disco 2000, to current home of electroclash, “Berliniamsburg.”

“The movie is the movie,” Keoki says surrounded by his dogs in an increasingly hip section of the Bronx known as Pelham Bay. “I wouldn’t waste my money to go see it, because I lived it, but I thought the LA premiere was fun and I got to hang out with movie stars.” About seeing an actor portray him, Keoki is relatively unattached. “They’re never going to get it fully right, but I like the production company, they have a good track record, and at least they showed me the script and let me put in my two cents so I could be like, ‘No, I would never say that.’” Like Alex Cox’s Sid and Nancy, Party Monster walks the fine line of glamorizing excess and murder, making the drug addled perpetrators nearly sympathetic characters; and both have protagonists that wallow at the Chelsea Hotel. And while the films use creative license (composite characters and other liberties allow for filmic flow) the difference with Party Monster is that there’s no speculation about what happened the night Michael Alig and fellow junkie and clubber Robert “Freeze” Riggs (played by Justin Hagan, practically a body double) killed a disgruntled drug dealer by the name of Andre “Angel” Melendez (portrayed brilliantly by Wilson Cruz). The films depiction is all too real for Keoki as he relays; “I almost had to leave the screening at Sundance because the reenactment of the murder was too fucking much for me!”

Let’s backtrack a bit. Before Alig and Keoki shared the Limelight, they put in time as busboys at Danceteria. Alig wanted to be the next Steve Rubell (while Keoki, with his mere forty records, wanted to be a DJ, but one thing’s for sure - both wanted to be Superstars in the full Warhol sense of the word. Party Monster’s filmmakers were then performing as an electronic duo dubbed the Fabulous Pop Tarts, and Danceteria’s owner Rudolf gave them all a shot. Rudolf let Keoki DJ the side room at Area, while putting little Alig to the test over at The Tunnel. Soon enough Keoki was DJing all around town (Mars, Red Zone, The World) even at the The Tunnel for Alig’s night, who was by now his partner in love, though never in crime. Alig had already learned “fab” lessons from Bailey and St. James, and slowly but surely he was amassing his motley crew of characters that would eventually give Andy and his Factory a run for his money. Keoki was starting to embrace the new sound of techno and acid house, no longer was he relying on the vocals from Depeche Mode or New Order, but the crowd wasn’t always ready for the new sound, so he made sure to mix in some classic disco acapellas over these new beats, “Thus Disco 2000,” he explains.

Enter Peter Gatien (Dylan McDermott, who’s way too pretty for Peter). The pirate looking eye-patched impresario had owned the flailing Limelight for a few years, and he had yet to build his entire empire (which included the Palladium, buying The Tunnel from Rudolf, as well as opening the 8 million dollar, Club USA), and the new wave thing was so done already. It made sense to bring Alig, Keoki and the other Club Kids to his church. Needless to say the early ‘90s saw a total turn around for the club, and with the influx of MDMA, the Disco 2000 experience was literally ecstasy. They had Wednesday’s and on Friday’s Keoki was part of Future Shock (with “Lord” Michael Caruso) a night that totally embraced techno. Alig’s theme parties were developing, and the Limelight became a place of subcultural convergence; characters like Richie Rich (the real St. James notes that Culkin’s mannerisms resemble Rich even more than Alig, but didn’t Culkin already play that cartoon character some years back, when he was still a child actor?), Clara the Chicken, Jonathan Junkie, Jennytalia, and Amanda Lepore (a pre-Sex In The City, Pat Fields make-up counter transsexual and future David LaChapelle muse). It was a pansexual playground, and Kabuki (who was also on board for the film) added some more make-up magic. Looking back at those days Keoki, recreates a real scene not in the film. “I remember Ida Slapter put a whole string of Christmas lights up her booty with the battery pack up there as well, and she tip toed across the stage to the tune of ‘Pop Corn,’ [an early Moog novelty song] as the lights were pulled out.” He lets out a chuckle, “It was too much!”

The life cycle of a club is usually miniscule so it’s amazing that Disco 2000 was lasting this long,, but things were progressively going from to from bad (as in fucking amazing) to worse. Drug dealers have always been quietly welcomed in nightclubs, but Alig made sure they were there. Putting them on the guest list and providing them with drink tickets. Although the Feds would allege that it was Gatien who was running a drug circle in his clubs, it was Alig who made poison peddler Angel Melendez his next superstar. Some say Angel was only in it for the money, and while he must’ve made a bundle conducting open business, he clearly wanted to fit in. He spruced up his wardrobe like the rest of the kids, donning angel wings and all, and he even moved into Alig’s Riverbank West apartment. The drug of choice quickly transitioned from ecstasy to ketamine (an animal tranquilizer known dubbed “Special K”) and this was the beginning of the end. Where “E” or “X” tended to promote communal and caring feelings, “K,” a disassociative, took that all away, Alig became even more detached, numb and prone to hallucinations. Add to that the massive amounts of heroin and crack that was being used, and it’s easy to understand how the themed parties went from decadent to disgusting. There was the “Emergency Room,” in which party goers would be escorted by nurses who would give them enough drugs to kill Seabiscuit, and then there was Alig’s 30th birthday party, prophetically called the “Bloodfeast;” the flyer depicting Alig's head bashed in, a hammer on a blood soaked floor, Jennytalia with a fork full of Alig’s brains and headlines like, “Freeze Skinned Alive,” and “Legs Cut Off!” At face value the Bloodfeast flyer was nothing more than Alig ripping off a B Movie of the same name, but hindsight proves that Alig would no longer be capable of deciphering fantasy from reality, which would only lead to tragedy.

The tension was mounting between Angel and Alig. While the winged one was sure the promoter owed him money for services rendered (sniff, sniff, inhale, exhale) Alig contended that he was just earning his keep; after all, Angel was not only living in his apartment, the majority of his clients were from Alig’s parties. Alig considered Angel’s endless supply of drugs mere commission for the opportunities he provided. Needless to say there was a showcase showdown, and the final confrontation on March 17, 1996, led to hammer blows to Angel’s head, delivered by a fucked up and paranoid Freeze who was thinking he had to rescue his friend. But the nail in Angel’s coffin wasn’t delivered by the hammer, but rather the pillow used to suffocate him, and the toxic dose of Drano that Alig shot through his veins with a syringe.

In Donnie Darko style surrealism, Party Monster uses a giant talking rat, the only witness, to narrate these events; they also show Alig confessing to confidant James St. James (played by Seth Green, who carries the film) how they brought the Bloodfeast flyer to life -- chopping up the week-old body, placing the pieces in a Zenith TV box, dropping the box in the trunk of a cab, only to dump the box into the Hudson River, wishfully disposing of their little problem.

Michael Alig and his then girlfriend, Gitsie (played by Chloe Sevigny) then split town, and on the way to a Colorado rehab he spent some time with Screaming Rachel where he told her the story; of course she didn’t believe him either, and even though the rumors were spreading and the gossip columnists were writing, everyone thought that this was another one of Alig’s ploys. They were waiting for a “Back From The Dead” party to celebrate the return of Angel. And while there was mounting evidence, like Angel’s torso resurfacing on the shores of Staten Island, the Feds were much more interested in busting Gatien and his “drug supermarket,” hoping to get him on the same RICO (racketeering) laws they use to take down mafia kingpins. Their evidence aside from wire-taps, was Gatien’s wild parties at the Four Seasons Hotel, contending they were rewards for to his “business” partners. Drugs, prostitutes, you name it, they were all strung out in heaven’s high, living an all time low. Keoki was at one or two of those parties and he barely even remembers Gatien’s presence, and hardly thinks they were anything past regular old drug parties. “I never really saw him there,” he tries to recall. “I was too interested in the drugs that were going around, and I don’t remember much except crawling around the carpet looking for things.” He racks his brain some more, adding, “I mean I was told they were his parties, so maybe he was in the back room.” On a lighter note, Keoki has a fantastic anecdote about one of their encounters: “One time Gatien came to the DJ booth with Grace Jones, to get her coffee. I was wearing my rubber pants with a black rubber penis attached and she got down on her knees, sucked it, ripped it off, and said ‘I looove it darling!’”

While the authorities tried to work with Alig at first, much more concerned with their Giuliani mission of cleaning up drugs in the clubs then a dead drug dealer, they couldn’t cover it up for much longer, especially when Alig had nothing much to offer their case against his boss. With Freeze’s handwritten confession they were both brought in for good, and Alig’s fifteen minutes of fame landed him a ten-year sentence for manslaughter. “The party’s over,” declared the judge as he smacked down a hammer of his own.

As St. James points out in the film, the real life clubland murder plays out like an after school special; such a funny line when you consider the spot-on casting for Michael Alig’s mother, who’s played by Diana Scarwid (from Desperate Lives, a 1982 after school ditty they’d show in health class hoping to scare us away from pot, acid, and angel dust. Did it work? Of course not.). The real Alig himself feels the film is a total parody, but these real scenesters lived their lives like a fabrication, so you can’t help but feel that the film is dead-on. Then there’s the question of the music, which aside from the fierce art direction is the driving force behind the film. For a film that takes place in the mid ‘80s to late ‘90s there’s an awful lot of electroclash playing in the background and on the original motion picture soundtrack. “C’mon, how can you hear Miss Kitten when you’re entering the Limelight,” Keoki passively scoffs. “The movie was a time capsule but it was frustrating when the songs aren’t there. It surprises me because I’ve been friends with the producers for as long as I’ve been in New York; they were friends with Michael and they were also DJs when I met them.” But Keoki recollects how the filmmakers went back to England, missing the time Limelight was really taking off, and perhaps everyone else was too busy having fun instead of trainspotting the DJ. People today are much more aware of who the DJ is and what they’re playing, and Keoki confirms, “Everyone came to parties but no one really paid attention to the music; I don’t think any of those kids can name you any of the records that was happening at the time,” he says without doubt. “They couldn’t tell you who T99 [duo Patrick DeMeyer and Oliver Abbeloos who made early rave anthems] is or even who Norman Cook is, and just about every big record that I played at Disco 20000 was a Cook record. Bailey and Barbato did manage to get one of their own Pop Tart tracks on the soundtrack, albeit remixed by Felix Da Housecat with a convincing vocal by Culkin, a highlight of the soundtrack. While it may disturb him to hear Ladytron in a Disco 2000 scene, Keoki did manage to get “Crash,” by him and Dave Aude on the soundtrack, and to be fair there’s plenty of untapped classics on the disc. There’s Stacey Q, Tones On Tail (Daniel Ash, a future collaborator of Keoki’s), Arthur Baker, ABC, Shannon, and a quintessential disco-not disco hit, Nina Hagen’s “New York, New York,” a track this writer makes sure is in as many sets as possible. So even if Larry Tee inserted his electroclash brand and his new girl group, W.I.T., somehow it kinda makes sense; after all, Tee was a DJ and host of Disco 2000’s “Hot Body Contest,” and produced “Supermodel,” for one of Clubland’s most famous exports, RuPaul.

So perhaps this period piece is every bit as much a reflection of our times and how those old days contributed to it, and if anyone should know that it’s Keoki. Keokiclash is the old-school DJs take on what’s happening now, an O.G Club Kid building the bridge, taking part in another Larry Tee party, “Changing of the Guard,” from electro to the beginning of rave, into neo-electro and beyond. Even though the Hungry Wives track, “It’s Over,” takes a jaded stance (“I’ve seen it all honey”) the beat is eternal, and Keoki’s sampling of Warhol’s original fallen angel, Edie Sedgwick, illustrates how it makes no difference whether it’s the Factory, Studio 54, Disco 2000, Club Make-up, Berliniamsburg, or Synthetic. Not even “Madam Hollywood,” herself can decide that “sex, drugs, and rock & roll” are over. Party Monster’s instant success in the box office (it is the number one indie in release right now and is bound to be a cult classic) proves that every generation wants a piece of the glitz, and Keoki’s just as involved today as he ever was. “It’s really an exciting time, not only can you pull out your old records,” he relishes, “but this stuff is fresh and contemporary. It’s not just about nostalgia, it’s who I am; whatever I play is who I am, like that old Bowie line, ‘I am the DJ, I am what I play.’” He’s a beat junkie again, and the rush is obvious in his voice, as he concludes, “so what if they call it electroclash, it’s still house to me, and since it’s me playing it, I’ll call it Keokiclash!” The title is the ultimate testament of how Keoki isn’t just content to slump in yesterday’s hangover, this Superstar DJ is ensuring his place in all tomorrows parties.

EPILOGUE: Two weeks before the film’s release, there was a “for sale” sign outside the Limelight, which was removed by the time our photo was taken…who knows what’s in store for the Church’s future.

Keokiclash is out August 12, 2003 on Cleopatra Records.
Party Monster, the soundtrack is out September 2, 2003 on TVT Records.
Party Monster, the movie is out September 5, 2003.

Daniel Siwek was a bridge and The Tunnel kid who went to Disco 2000 and had a clothing line (complete with the first Vic’s Vapor Rub tee’s in the city) named the Fun Dip Generation, which was available at Pat Fields and set to appear in Alig’s (Gatien funded) magazine, Project X just before Gatien’s legal and cash problems stopped the presses.