VooDoo Guey: A Love Letter to the Dance Floor

VooDoo Guey exists because of one song, played at the right volume, at the right time, on a night I still think about.

The title's a play on "Voodoo Ray," the A Guy Called Gerald track that's been a house music staple since long before I ever heard it. But this piece isn't really about that one song. It's about every night like the one where I heard it, the kind where the bassline takes over your whole body before your brain catches up, and everyone around you has their eyes closed for the same reason you do.

That's why the figures in this piece all have their eyes shut. It's not that they're not paying attention. It's the opposite. Eyes closed on a dance floor means you're paying attention to something you can't see, the rhythm, the crowd, the feeling of being somewhere that only exists for as long as the song does.

I went hot pink for the background because subtlety was never the point. House music at 2am isn't subtle. The patterned clothes on the dancers, the checkered orange shape between them, all of it is meant to feel like the moment right before a drop, when everything on the floor is still moving but the whole room is holding its breath.

This one's for anyone who's ever found a version of home on a dance floor, even for just one song.

VooDoo Guey is available now as a print, and yes, it holds up just as well on a hoodie.