Inside Intima, Brooklyn’s hottest new rave

"We’re unapologetically loud, fast, high, young and beautiful," says Intima founder Joni, who seeks to elevate trans voices in the scene

By Ella Martin-Gachot

At any hour of any day, the intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Broadway is cacophonous. The elevated J and M trains clunk by overhead. Drivers below verbalize their despair and honk their rage. And hundreds of individuals pass through the space, generating their own heat and noise.

Last Friday night, in the midst of this chaos, a different kind of sensory storm was brewing inside of Market Hotel, the music venue that sits at the crux of the intersection. From 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., the fashionably dilapidated underground hub hosted Intima, a recent addition to Brooklyn’s rave scene.

Inside, around 450 (mostly) young and elaborately-attired crowd members bounced between two rooms — an imposing and airy main stage, with a window view of the trains, and a more intimate and damp back room. Although 50 shades of techno is the expected offering at any Brooklyn rave these days, Intima’s lineup drew in other genres, from Clip’s emo alt-rap game to LustSickPuppy’s possessed noise set. And the untz-untz was never far, with some of the scene’s most influential voices – Goth Jafar, Angel Money, Tama Gucci – serving electronic realness.

Clip grips the mic (Leo Xander Foo)

Outside the venue, Intima-goers milled about, smoking and talking, flirting and networking. It is New York Fashion Week, after all. But the fashion world’s sometimes blasé attitude was nowhere to be seen. When asked what brought them here tonight, most people mentioned friends who’d brought them along or were performing. Sarah, 32, described Intima’s crowd as “very respectful of other people’s spaces.” For Coral, 25, an artist and DJ who was celebrating their best friend starting hormones, Intima reminds them of a school dance. “But the school dance that I never got to have, with a bunch of friends that I get to actually keep in my life.”

“You know you’re doing something right when you start seeing the same faces over and over again at your raves,” said Joni, Intima’s founder and a glitchcore artist and performer. She started the event “to create a space for experimentation within nightlife and as a way to highlight trans voices in the scene.” She described Friday’s rave as “really divine.” “We’re unapologetically loud, fast, high, young and beautiful. Everyone’s artistry is so refined and sharp, it is really impossible to ignore us.”

You can see for yourself at the next Intima, on October 7 at H0L0 in Ridgewood. Joni looks forward to growing the project, which she only launched this past May, while staying true to her mission to rave for, with, and in the community. “Intima is THAT girl. The audience is used to seeing all types of shit, even when it’s really out there. So you know you can really do whatever the fuck you want, and be as free as you can.”

THAT girl, Joni (Leo Xander Foo)

As the clock hit 3:30 and the crowd outside Market Hotel thinned out, Adriel, 23, was still going. “If I didn’t come here, I would be awake anyways, so why not come out and be awake with other crazy bitches.” Long live the night.

With additional reporting by Mariana De Jesus Szendrey. The lineup of Intima’s September 9 event featured Clip, Goth Jafar, LustSickPuppy, Tama Gucci, Angel Money, DJ Trick, Joni, Vice, Mithril, Total XTC, DJ Thank You, Cowboykiller2001, and Cool Artsy Chick.

Here are a few more scenes from the party: