8 July 11-17, 2024 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | News | letters | coNteNts | “aesthetic” fashion trends on TikTok, has been dabbling in the scene and injecting life into long-running parties across the city. After the pandemic, there has been an in- flux of goth-centered events in Miami, such as Malicia at Domicile and Night Shift at the Corner. While the nights appeal to scene vet- erans, these nights have found a loyal follow- ing in Gen Z. BLACK CELEBRATION Goth’s resurgence is not exclusive to Miami. There’s plenty of evidence that the subcul- ture’s renaissance is occurring nationwide. Netflix’s Wednesday, starring Jenny Ortega as the titular goth icon, was a runaway success for the streamer. Ortega’s fits on the show in- spired a new generation of teenage girls and young women. You only need to peek at the clothing re- selling app Depop to see proof of that. Ac- cording to the Guardian, it reported a 20 percent increase in its users searching for the keywords “goth” and “gothcore” in 2022, with the style tag “whimsygoth” being partic- ularly popular last year. Then there’s the rise of the goth-rock and postpunk Cruel World Festival in Pasadena, California, which hosted its third edition in May. Past lineups have included Siouxsie, Echo & the Bunnymen, Bauhaus, Gary Nu- man, and the Jesus & Mary Chain, alongside the new wave of goth bands such as Boy Harsher, Leathers, and Zanias, among others. Plenty of journalists who attended the festi- val noted the presence of younger patrons. But is Gen Z’s embrace of the goth subcul- ture authentic? In a New York Times article published earlier this year, writer Mireille Sil- coff surmised, “Subcultures in general — once the poles of style and art and politics and mu- sic around which wound so many ribbons of teenage meaning — have largely collapsed. What teenagers today are offered instead is a hyperactive landscape of so-called aesthetics.” Zoomer Dzhuliana Khalilova, whose Ins- tagram bio reads “real-life vampyre,” doesn’t feel the same way. “I consider myself goth be- cause of the music that I listen to, mostly gothic rock, gothic metal, new wave, dark wave,” she shares in a gentle yet assertive voice. “But then also, it ties into a lifestyle when you look past the music as well. I’ve al- ways had a fascination with the darker things in life, and when I found the goth community I felt that I belonged, especially since you have shared interest within the community.” Andrews, who has been involved with South Florida’s goth scene since 1993 in one way or another, welcomes the younger gener- ation’s interest in the subculture. “I think there is a fashion aspect to it and also a musical aspect to it,” she says of the new wave of goths. “DJing at Black Market, it being an alternative party, you have punk, you have goth, you have grunge, you have R&B — so many different artists. Then, as far as perform- ers go, you have burlesque, you have drag. They brought all these different people together un- der one roof, and it’s a party. But I feel that in it all, for some crazy reason, the one fashion aes- thetic that sticks out is goth fashion.” Sporting pale skin and a bleached, almost- white bob, the 49-year-old looks at least a de- cade younger than her actual age. When she talks about the scene, it comes from years of experience. “You have all these kids with their spiked necklaces and their vinyl clothing, and they are half naked — there is Victorian fashion, too. And as goth goes, I think there is also a lot of fetish fashion in it, too.” South Florida’s goth and fetish scenes are close cousins, with a lot of overlap between the two. At a Fetish Factory party, you might see fetish performer Val Vampyre do her leg- endary blood show while dressed in latex as the DJ spins everything from Type O Nega- tive to Bauhaus. NEW RULES Much like their sexuality, Gen Z is pretty flexible as far as music genres go. “I think they learned about the classic bands through their parents, but they are not very concerned about genres,” says Mario Arango, a local concert promoter and founder of Heroes Live Entertainment. “Now, every- thing is mixed. There is darkwave, punk, and emo, all combined.” Arango has been producing shows in South Florida for 13 years and has even booked the Godfather of Goth, Peter Murphy of Bauhaus, to perform on three occasions. “I definitely see a younger crowd,” he says of the demographic of his shows. “I noticed, looking at the patches in their jackets or looking at their T-shirts, that they wear metal bands, goth bands, emo bands, alternative bands — they listen to everything.” A great example of this music genre blender is the band Dead on a Sunday, which combines everything from darkwave to emo. Naturally, they gained national recognition after going viral on TikTok because the lead singer’s voice resembles that of actor H. Jon Benjamin, who voices the titular characters of Bob’s Burgers and Archer. In the digital era, social media plays a crucial part in the spread and survival of the goth sub- culture. Local party promoter Hexed Miami has carried out the task of championing things goth, industrial, EBM, and new wave through its social channels, with its mission statement reading, “We are the dark music scene and cul- ture in South Florida. Tú no eres más darks que Miami-Dade, Broward, y Palm Beach.” When asked how she first stumbled on the subculture, Khalilova is unsurprising. “Mostly from the internet, but I do remember that my older siblings, who are in their thir- ties, would show me Evanescence and Linkin Park, and from there, I went into other kinds of genres in music, so I think that’s how it got started,” she says. “And then having all these sources on the internet available, it helped me to learn more about it.” Much like the goths from the 1980s and ‘90s, Khalilova doesn’t see the subculture as a costume. The gothic vampire aesthetic she’s taken on comes from a long-held fascination with the mythical lore. “I really do like the vampire aesthetic. I also watch so many films with vampires and read so many books,” she explains. “The first time I read Dracula at school, I was fascinated with it, and then I reread it and watched the movies. I think it’s so cool and shows another side of human relations, if that makes sense, although vampires are technically not hu- man. It shows characteristics of people that are not usually displayed in the media.” [email protected] GUIDE TO GOTH EVENTS IN MIAMI Heroes Live Entertainment, instagram.com/heroesliveent Hexed Miami, instagram.com/hexedmiami The Kitchen Club, instagram.com/thekitchenclub_miami Malicia, instagram.com/maliciagothnights Mausoleum, instagram.com/mausoleum_miami Nights in Necropolis, instagram.com/nightsinnecropolis Back in Black from p7 Left: Kimberly Andrews, AKA DJ Rippin Kittin, has been a fixture of South Florida’s goth scene for decades. Right: Gen Z’s interest in the goth subculture is evident in apps like TikTok and Depop.
