GIDEÖN and Rush Davis have collaborated on a new EP, ‘The Two Houses’, landing later this week. Have an exclusive first listen to ‘The Two Houses (House Mix)’ and watch the video below.
Landing tomorrow (Friday, 29th May) on HOMO-CENTRIC, the three-tracker is a vibrant homage to the lesser-known heroes of New York’s ballroom community. ‘The Two Houses’ EP focuses particularly on key members of The House of LaBeija and House of Xtravaganza — two of the foremost houses to emerge from the New York City underground ballroom scene — many of whom have passed away since their founding in 1977 and 1982 respectively.
London-born DJ, producer and co-founder of Glastonbury’s Block9 area, GIDEÖN (real name Gideon Berger), teamed up with House of Xtravaganza’s Rush Davis on the release, which encompasses three mixes of 'The Two Houses'. The duo have previously worked together on 2024’s ‘Fall Of Rome’ EP, written just one day after GIDEÖN and Rush first met at a New York club.
Berger originally started work on ‘The Two Houses’ in 2023, pitched as a celebration of the life and career of Pepper LaBeija (1948-2003) — who considered herself ‘the last remaining queen of the Harlem drag ball scene’. During the process, he connected with ballroom icon and Bushwig co-founder Simone LaBeija, who loved the track and offered her invaluable insight into the legacy of the House.
Simone sadly passed away the day before Berger was set to meet up with her to run through release plans, and ‘The Two Houses’ project subsequently transformed into a wider celebration of New York ballroom’s lesser-known heroes.
“The EP has been such a shapeshifting journey...”, Berger told DJ Mag ahead of the release. “It started as one thing and ended in another... the most exciting thing has been seeing and feeling how collaborating with Rush, the more times we do it, just keeps getting better, deeper and more creatively rewarding. We share the same goals and a lot of the same hopes for our people, our communities, for our culture and our music.
“Producing music that actually means something, I call it ‘Conscious House’, is incredibly rewarding... this musical project is both about the value and heritage of House itself but also about mainstream treatment of the trans community and the worsening global situation for trans human rights today.”
Rush Davis added: “Erasure. Colonisation. Murder. Silence. Alienation. I can remember a time when being a member of a house was frowned upon. We were looked at as the absolute bottom of the string of alphabets applied to our community.
“Ballroom is an institution for Queer creative expression. A place where the marginalised reshape and contort reality to make room for their authentic identity in a world that celebrates homogeneity. Becoming an Xtravaganza was like finding the family that could hold my spirit and amplify my magic.
“To all the elders and babies we have lost to lack of resources, self-medication, mental illness, or all out murder... this is for you, and we will forever tell your stories and create monuments where the envy and violence of the unXpressed/unXplored darkness can never reach. You live on. To the families with the blessing of being born with Queer or Trans children. Educate yourself! No belief should make you shrink their light or shun the love of your child.”
The EP lands on GIDEÖN’s HOMO-CENTRIC imprint, founded in 2022 as a platform to showcase the label head’s own productions and to amplify the work of queer artists in underground dance music. ‘The Two Houses’ arrives alongside a music video directed by Beyonce’s creative director, Andrew Makadsi, which you can watch exclusively below.
‘The Two Houses’ lands on 29th May via HOMO-CENTRIC. Pre-save the EP here, and have an exclusive first listen to ‘The Two Houses (House Mix)’ below.
Block9 announced its full Glastonbury 2025 line-up earlier this month. Key artists performing across its four stages — IICON, Genosys, The NYC Downlow and The Meat Rack — include Fatboy Slim, Seth Troxler, NIKS, Nabihah Iqbal, Two Shell, Jayda G, Pearson Sound, and many more. Check out the full Block9 bill here.
Revisit Glastonbury’s Block9 in photos here.
‘The Two Houses’ is dedicated to the memory of Simone LaBeija (1980 - 2023), Crystal LaBeija (1930-1982), Angie Xtravaganza (1964 - 1993), Carmen Xtravaganza (1961 - 2023), Hector Xtrava (1965 - 2018), Lorena Xtravaganza (1986 - 2012), Pepper LaBeija (1948 - 2003), Venus Xtravaganza (1965 - 1988), Layleen Xtravaganza (1992 - 2019) and Devine Gorgeous Gucci (1977 - 2025).