PULOTU UNDERWORLD
Pulotu Underworld is London's first club night that celebrates Pacific Island culture, music and artists. Named after Polynesia's underworld 'Pulotu' the event is about paying homage to Pacific Islands ancestors and ultimately decolonising the space by re-writing the western historical narrative and image of the exotic savage in a grass skirt.
The event began as an idea to create events for and by the UK's Pacific Island community as a way of connecting Pacific people with the intention of also creating safe spaces for queer, trans and intersex people of colour.
Shakaiah Perez aka DJ Lady Shaka who is the director and curator of Pulotu Underworld, said she thinks events like these are very important for the Pacific community. "Being that we are a minority in the UK, our community in London need to have spaces where we are able to connect with each other and learn and grow together" she said. "We had our first event nearly 3 weeks ago and it was a great success for not only our collective but also our community."
At this stage Pulotu Underworld will be a monthly event with resident Pacific Island DJ's Lady Shaka, Thomas Rose and AllyXpress who bring the sounds of the Pacific diaspora blended with multiple genres adding a new spice to the London scene.
Shakaiah aka Lady Shaka is currently living in London and has been touring around the UK with the Hive City Legacy theatre show directed by Hot Brown Honeys since June. She is also apart of 'Inter*is*land Collective' which is a Pacific Islands Arts Collective in London and is currently working on an up and coming art exhibition that explores mixed race Afro Pacific identities through photography and film. She also works in the visual and performing arts sectors and has played across the United Kingdom, France, Thailand and New Zealand. She is a versatile DJ who plays music from all genres and is known for her upbeat sets that will make you rage, twerk, vogue and wine.
Thomas Rose is a DJ / Producer / Artist / Composer / Instrumentalist / Performer / Singer / Writer / Dancer / Choreographer and Film Maker.
Born in New Zealand of Maori, Tongan and European Blood, Thomas is an Artist in all facets of the word. Having spent half his life dancing throughout stages of the world, a strong sense of Rhythm and groove is now strongly embedded in everything he does. Thomas has performed at some of the biggest music festivals in NZ (Rhythm and Vines / Sounds Of The Underground) and opened for acts across New Zealand and Australia like Raiza Biza, Six60 and Stan Walker. Don’t get caught off guard though, you will find him in the dark basement of your favourite club smashing tunes together like a mad-man selector; Any tune, any genre, any colour, any shape!
AllyXpress was born in New Zealand and grew up in Australia. AllyXpress moved to London 7 years ago and is Samoan, Chinese, Irish and proud. AllyXpress started djing about a year and a half ago and hasn’t looked back.
“I love to play a lot of fast paced, intense, high bpm music, I call them emotional beats - beats that run through your body when you hear them, make you feel something.” AllyXpress has played at a lot of places and been lucky enough to travel overseas too. “I’m still young in the game though, have so much to learn and experience still, but I’m super blessed and excited for my future.”
Pulotu Underworld is currently raising funds to go towards providing urgent aid for families & children in Samoa that have been affected by the outbreak of measles. They are currently running a crowdfunding page and will also be running an event ‘Pulotu Underworld presents Suga Claus’ on December 13th at VFD, N16 7XB, London from 10:00pm till late.
Event Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/442385839813719/
Ticket Link: https://www.outsavvy.com/event/3824/pulotu-underworld-presents-suga-claus-tickets
Crowdfund Link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/fightagainstmeasles-samoa-fund
