The devil herself

DJ Afistaface will host a Halloween dance party at Soundpony on October 29

On Saturday, October 29, Soundpony will be set aflame as DJ Afistaface takes the stage and Chernabogs her way through her own “Night On Bald Mountain,” beckoning to all ghouls, goblins, and the inevitable Hillarys and Trumps on the dance floor. 

“I’ll obviously be dressed as the devil,” said Afistaface, whose human name is Andey Delesdernier. “He has all the fun ideas. And I’m all about temptation.” 

Unless there’s a Bacardi 151 mishap, the Pony will not actually be on fire, but Delesdernier assures me the bar will look hellish enough. 

“I’m gonna be making flames to fill the window behind me and set up red lights and a smoke machine,” she said. “So it will basically looks like I’m engulfed in flames.” 

Consistent turnouts for her weekend gigs at Soundpony have granted her a transformative license over her home bar, but the devilish DJ had an angelic beginning. 

“I started making mixtapes when I was 9, but, like, obsessively,” she told me. She carried that obsession with her to college where she would make mixtapes for her studio art class. 

“It was so rad that they kept an old jam box in the print studios.”

Friends began asking her for her mixes, and she obliged, posting them online for easy dissemination. She eventually took the leap from studio boombox to turntable and began DJ’ing her own “insane” house parties. 

“I never thought I could muster up the courage to try and actually play in public and make money,” she said. 

After several successful weekday gigs at the Pony, owner Josh Gifford pushed her to DJ a weekend. 

“It scared the shit out of me,” she said. “Champagne and bodies flying everywhere like they do and my precious tonearms in such close proximity to the madness.” 

Limbs and champagne were kept to themselves, and Delesdernier became a monthly fixture of Pony, while also assuming the weekly host role of Vinyl Brunch at Chimera. 

Every Sunday at Chimera, someone, whether DJ or civilian, brings in their favorite wax and spins for the brunch crowd. Delesdernier keeps the wheels of steel on track.

“I come in every Sunday and set up my own gear, be there to run sound, keep up with social media, and book people,” she said. “It’s so great to meet new people every week, or even get to know friends better based on their private record collections.” 

Delesdernier, a record fanatic, keeps her sets 98 percent vinyl.

“Using a computer and having my music on it scares me, like, if it breaks, then what? But if my house burns down, I’m fucked.”

Apart from her own sets, Afistaface has teamed with DJ Kylie (aka Kylie Wells) under the duo name Femme Fatale, who have hosted a series of “kikis.” 

“A kiki is essentially a party where you can come and be yourself without fear,” Delesdernier said. 

Kikis originate from gay ballroom culture, and flourished in a hostile climate that necessitated discretion in the face of arrest or violence. A recent documentary, simply titled “Kiki,” and the Scissor Sisters’ song, “Let’s Have A Kiki,” have ushered the term into mainstream lexicons. 

“We do this as a way to bring more people in this great city together, to love and embrace our differences and to just dance it out.” 

That element of inclusivity will be present at Afistaface’s “Up In Flames” event at Soundpony, and love will be love, whether it be between Wolfman and Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and Banshee, or Trump mask and Trump mask. 

As for what one will hear at “Up In Flames,” it’ll be a mixture of Halloween classics of all genres, certainly including the “Ghostbusters” theme and, of course, the song Delesdernier considers to be the greatest Halloween song of all time. 

“Dude, ‘Thriller.’ I won’t even let myself listen to it outside of October.”

For more from Mitch, read his profile of local comedian, Andrew Deacon.