Hardcore Crew bare all!

>> Promoters J.C. and Driss settle the score on strippers at Sona

by MIREILLE SILCOTT

You can dislike club promoters. The same way you can dislike, say, a breed of dogs. Club promoters! They shave their heads, they deck themselves out in chunky silver jewelry, they wear--oh yes--sunglasses at night, they eat breakfast at Cafeteria every day, they brandish needlessly fancy lighters (that match their jewelry), they drive yellow cars, they think facial hair is an art and Lycra(R) a good shirt fabric for men. They date strippers. They even cheat on strippers. And then they brag about it.

They expect blowjobs--or at least a write-up--when they include you in their round of shots, even though the offering is usually 90 per cent lime cordial. They never dance at their own night.

People say clubland has changed lots since the dawn of the ol' Chicago jack. It has, true. But club promoters? Not so much. So yes, you can dislike them as a group--it's a classic reaction by now. But somehow, you just can't feel the same way about the Hardcore Crew. Even if they do have fancy lighters. And date strippers. And brag about it.

It's lame to say it, but it's because they're nice guys, and they seem to genuinely enjoy what they do. They always dance at their own nights. So, I for one, forgive Driss B (no last name, if you please), the Moroccan-born half of the Crew, 26, for thinking sticking his tongue in my ear and sloshing it around is a fair way to say, "Hey! How's it going?" at Crew stomping-ground, Sona. And I forgive J.C. (no last name--no first name, really), the Haitian half, 28, for suggesting we do our interview at Cafeteria, where I suspect he eats brekkie every day.

"Yo! Meeeer-aye," says J.C., "you know us! We started all this for a party. We thought promoting? Yeah, get the girls, you know, have no real work, just fun! And get paid to do that! And make people have good nights in the process."

Da roof is on fiyah!

Simple formula. Worked a treat for a while. When J.C. set up Hardcore Crew in 1993 with Driss and his since-departed-to-do-other-stuff pal Yaki, rave was draining the life out of more clubby house clubbing. At DiSalvio's, and then at various other venues, the Crew plugged the leak, bringing in a more multi-cultural crowd and filling rooms with drunken chants like their favourite "da roof! da roof! da roof is on fiyaaaahhh!"

When afterhours Sona opened up in 1996, and was doing less than well with an earnest-white-kid playlist and insufferably cool attitude, the Crew were brought in for Saturdays. The called the night Tease and stuck a '70s Penthouse photo on the flyer. Sona--and Montreal flyer design--has been a lot more boobtastic ever since.

"Yo, check it," says Driss. "We like the hot chicks. Hot chicks are going to get into the club before six guys trying to get in together. If guys wanna get in quick, they have a better chance if a chick's with them. People say 'aw, Sona lets in the strippers before it lets in the gays.' But strippers have beautiful breasts! They dress sexy, everybody likes to look at them, they make a good vibe, so what's the problem? And anyway, all those chicks aren't strippers. I mean, yo, Mee-ray, when you come to the club, sometimes the way you dress, I could look at you and think you be a stripper too, right?"

Eh, yeah. Anyhoo. The Crew--who now make up the powerhouse of 514 Productions along with Ricardo and Daniel Cordeiro from Spectro--say that promotion today is far more jobby than it was in the early days. "We've started bringing hip hop into Sona, which has been revolutionary for the scene, but takes a lot more energy," says J.C. "Plus, we have to start planning all the annual events, like Cream and Celebrations--the New Year's event--six months before they happen." For Celebrations 2000, 514 have snagged Armand Van Helden for an exclusive DJ set. Van Helden could have asked 50,000 pounds to play in Britain. "We're at the office at ten every day. It's work now."

But they still have time for some play. "When we want a quiet time," says J.C., "the best place is Wanda's, you get your own little space, it's not so out-in-the-open, the dancers are more fancy. But sometimes Chez Paree better, the vibe there is much more party-animal. We know some of the girls. They come to the club."

The Hardcore Crew's 6th Anniversary happens Saturday, November 27 at Sona. Special guests DJs Disciple, Terry Lee Brown and Cut Killer, $25