Gay & Lesbian

You could say that it’s the sheer love of indie music that’s got Sandra D where she is today – a successful DJ who recently left the Popstarz stable to set up seedling new ventures of her own. She can’t help brimming over with child-like enthusiasm. Which is remarkable, considering that she’s an indie kid who’s been around the block a few times.

It all began in ‘effing Wakefield’, from whence she came, then on to Southampton where she ‘studied culture and communication studies and got to analyse Take That videos’. Then London, where she walked into Popstarz around ten years ago, had a revelatory moment and remembers thinking: Oh my God! I’ve found my clubbing home! Feature continues

‘I subscribed to the “No More Hard House” way of looking at the scene,’ she says. ‘Popstarz was a place where people didn’t care about what they were wearing or anyone’s sexuality and loved music like Elastica and Blur. That’s when I started going to Popstarz religiously every Friday.’ She met the Popstarz impresario, Simon Hobart, after a friend had a brief fling with him.

‘From then on, I used to hassle him to be on the guest list’. When he needed a female DJ to head up Miss-Shapes, she jumped at the chance. ‘I told him, “Let me!” But he didn’t mention it for a whole three months. Eventually, he gave me the chance. He let me make mistakes. Even when I became his promotions assistant, I’d come up with dumb ideas – like the Popstarz keyring – and he let me do it. And it worked! He really trusted your enthusiasm.’

Becoming Hobart’s full-time assistant, she watched Popstarz grow and then cross over from being an alternative option to something of an institution in its own right: ‘We used to joke about the people coming over from the Candy Bar or G-A-Y as coming over from the Dark Side.’

Hobart’s sudden death two years ago, at the peak of his success, was a complete shock. ‘He was such an inspiration to work with. He was like a big brother to me. Since his death, I’ve had to ask myself, what do I really care about?’ Although she still promotes Miss-Shapes and played at Popstarz on New Year’s Eve, she has since set up her own `business taking the gay indie scene back to its scratchy grass roots.