A love letter to Fluffy, Brisbane’s legendary gay party – Red Bull
Not many club nights make it to their 20th birthday, but Fluffy has.
2021 marks two decades in the game for what is arguably Brisbane’s most legendary gay party. At the helm from day dot has been Harry Katsanevas, Fluffy’s mastermind, who’s been at just about every single party for the past twenty years. He still remembers that debut event.
“It wasn’t very big, the first party, it was a lot of invites and stuff like that. It was me DJing, and a girl called Natalie. I think no one really knew what we were trying to do,” he recalls.
“Because the stage was such a big stage, we could use it to our advantage. We could have heaps of dancers on there, all the queens. So when people walked in there they were just like, ‘what the hell is happening in here?’ It was like this wonderland that no one had ever seen, especially in the gay scene.”
It was like this wonderland that no one had ever seen, especially in the gay scene
It didn’t take long for Fluffy to pick up steam. “The reason why it exploded was word of mouth — every time people would come, they would be there the next week and they’d bring their friends,” Katsanevas says.
Fluffy was designed as a gay night but as a Sunday night party, it’s always pulled a strong hospitality crowd as well. “It was definitely more a gay night. That was the heart of it. But my thing was always inclusivity — everyone was invited as long as you respected everyone that was there. That was the mantra that I had.”
To mark 20 years of Fluffy, we got Katsanevas on the phone to hear his favourite memories from an incredible two decades — and discuss what’s still to come.
Ricki Lee Coulter at Fluffy in 2014.
© Supplied by Fluffy
The origin story
The turn of the century saw a new club set up shop in the Queensland capital.
“Family was being built, which was going to be the first ‘superclub’, maybe, in Brisbane,” Katsanevas says. “It changed the whole landscape of clubbing in the city. So we wanted to create almost like a gay-slash-hospitality space in it.”
“The owners came up with the name Fluffy. The whole idea of it was that there was this cat in New York City that used to play in the streets with all these other animals. It didn’t matter who they were — it could be a dog, pig. They all came together and played. So that was the vision board we had, [to bring different sorts of people together]. From there, we were just off.”
Fluffy in 2008.
© Supplied by Fluffy
The concept quickly found a following: “I used to DJ the final set, which usually finished at midnight. Then it went to 12.30 and then after a few months it went to 1am, right up until we were closing at 5am. So it was almost this slow burn and then after the first couple of years it became a bit of an institution.”
Family’s opening shook up the city: “There was nothing big in Brisbane. Everything was small. No one was really investing in venues then; venues were like a couple hundred people. So this was almost like the next evolution, to create a space that would fit 2000 people. It was just unheard of, to do that kind of space. There was nothing like it for LGBQTI+ people. And it worked. It just worked.”
“Fluffy music”
In those days, Katsanevas was also running Central Station Records and helping to curate the rest of Family’s weekend line-up.
“It was almost this very distinctive sound — Friday was that clubby trance, hard house, Nick Skitz kind of vibe; Saturday was house music, and then I was also doing the Sunday, which was for the gay kids and hospitality. There were these three different genres that still complemented in a way but were quite distinct. That was the heart of the club.”
Bianca Del Rio at Fluffy in 2014.
© Supplied by Fluffy
In a golden era for clubbing and dance music, Fluffy quickly carved out its own musical niche. Katsanevas describes the party’s sound as “commercial with a twist”.
“People would know all the songs that we would play, but we’d always find different bootlegs and remixes and stuff like that. I think that’s what made it quite accessible — because anyone could come into that night and would love what we’d be playing.”
“It’s almost like we established this sound like ‘Fluffy music’, which was just things that you would know, either old songs or new songs, but just done in our kind of way. And that’s something we still keep to this day.”
Absolutely Fabulous guests
Plenty of big names have passed through Fluffy over the years. The likes of Jessica Mauboy and ex-Spice Girl Mel B have performed at the party, while everyone from The Black Eyed Peas to Delta Goodrem have graced the event as punters.
“Family used to attract a lot of that stuff, simply because it was the place to go,” Katsanevas says. “We used to have a VIP room that was totally away from everyone as well so that was used by them.”
Jessica Mauboy performs at Fluffy in 2012.
© Supplied by Fluffy
Fluffy also regularly hosted Stereosonic after parties, which saw the festival’s A-list headliners come through the club. “Sunday used to be the night that they’d do it here in Brisbane, so we’ve had Above & Beyond, Armin van Buuren and all these people play. It used to work so well.”
But Katsanevas biggest pinch-me moment? “My highlight was having Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders there, from Ab Fab. They were doing their show on the Sundy and both came to Fluffy afterwards. So that was awesome.”
One night in Paris
Perhaps the biggest celebrity to ever pass through Family’s doors, though, was Paris Hilton.
It was 2016 and Hilton was embarking on a DJ tour of Australia in support of a perfume she was promoting. Fluffy was one of only three gigs she’d play Down Under. “It was one of our biggest nights ever,” Katsanevas recalls. “So that was weird and wonderful all in one.”
Katsanevas remembers the night well. “She was really nice. It’s quite funny — you know how people say she has a persona, you can kind of tell when she’s backstage. It’s like, Paris Hilton the performer and Paris Hilton the person. She was just normal out the back, taking photos with everyone. She was really pleasant, really nice — not a diva.”
Paris Hilton plays at Fluffy in 2016.
© Supplied by Fluffy
“And then she went on and DJed. She was only supposed to DJ for about an hour and she just kept going and going, right until we had to close. Halfway through her set she sang her songs and everyone was singing along.”
And yes, Hilton was really mixing. “I’ve been DJing forever and I was looking and yeah, she was mixing!” Katsanevas laughs. “A lot of people think it’s all pre-programmed but she mixed everything in. But at the end of the day, no one would have given a fuck what she did. People were loving all her songs. She created this great atmosphere and vibe. She used to go from dance music to hip-hop and then she’d take it right down and do her own tracks; get out in the crowd and start singing.”
It was the sort of booking that doesn’t come around twice. “She’ll never do that again,” Katsanevas says. “It was almost like this one off thing that we were lucky to be part of.”
Now and what’s next
Eventually, Fluffy moved on from Family and over to Cloudland, in search of a more intimate vibe. Then the last 18 months forced Fluffy to reinvent itself: when dancing was off the table due to covid restrictions, Katsanevas did something different.
“We’ve been able to do shows while people were seated. So I just upped our drag and dance shows and did four big shows, people would come and socialise without the dancing and stuff,” he says. He cites keeping the party alive when punters had to be seated as one of its biggest achievements.
While restrictions scuppered Fluffy’s planned 20th birthday bash in June, Katsanevas says that instead, “we’re just going to keep celebrating until the end of the year”.
Havana Brown at Fluffy in 2016.
© Supplied by Fluffy
He believes part of the secret to Fluffy’s longevity is his being out there on the dancefloor every week. “I’m there every Sunday night, my team’s always there, we’re always drinking with everyone and talking to people,” he says. “There’s an accessibility that works there with the crowd. That way you can hear if something’s bothering them or not working, because you’re there with everyone.”
Katsanevas believes the future of his hometown’s gay club scene looks bright. “Brisbane has one of the most diverse and supportive gay scenes in Australia,” he says. “So many unique events have been popping up that cater to all of our community, regardless of colour, gender and sexuality. It’s really nice to see and with so many people migrating here from down south, it’s only going to get bigger and more fabulous.”
Katsanevas says Fluffy isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The goal is to keep providing a safe space for queer kids to come and express themselves and continue raising the bar with his events.
“As long as people keep coming, we’ll keep doing what we’re doing,” he laughs. “We’ll just keep on going until people don’t come anymore. And hopefully that’s not for a while.”