PAUL NEESHAM

Once every blue moon someone totally unique turns up on London's club scene and makes every one go 'Aaargggh'! or 'Wow'! Paul is one such rare treat. His early appearances at Pyramid, Kit Kat, the Mud Club and Taboo proved pretty subdued in comparison to what was to come. The ripped leather look/short blond hair/full-on face make-up '70s look soon made way to more elaborate attire inspired by notorious clubbers like Trojan, Leigh Bowery and David Cabaret. However, the all-round artist (painter, prop-maker, film-maker, DJ and performer) was quite bored just looking 'normal', so he taught himself the art of prosthetic mask-making. That took him to the next step from just experimenting with make-up. Neesham came into his own at Kinky Gerlinky, in the early '90s, first by painting himself with gold latex and wearing a matching lame dress. His displaying more grotesque and quite frightening looks earned him cult status within the scene. Strangely, Paul always claimed being non-scene, only making exception for occasional dressy parties run by the likes of Philip Sallon or Matthew Glamorre. His intense dislike of the current dance music explains his penchant for a good old knees-up at Bethnal Green's Working Men's club. Still, he remains optimistic about the future. "As long as people carry on dressing up to party, the scene will carry on," he hopes. At least, it provides him with a platform to showcase his band, The Bearded Mothers. The music policy could be likened to a Brechtian/Kurt Weil-ish cinematic soundtrack. If the government had any sense, Paul Neesham would get a life subsidy.