Daya Ramirez, or “Gorp” as she’s known to her listeners, has spent her disc jockey career building a “safe and cunty space” for trans people to experience the club scene.
Gorp moved to Atlanta in 2021 after completing college. Her foray into the DJ scene began sporadically.
“I was going to parties occasionally, maybe a rave once every two months,” she told Georgia Voice. After attending a Christian college, Gorp was looking for a space where she could party safely during her early transition years. The nature of COVID-19 during this time (late 2021-early 2022) meant most queer club scenes were pop-ups and DIY shows. It was a weird time to party post-COVID and hard to catch a vibe – especially in the queer community.
“It was a once-in-a-while moment for me to go to a queer pop-up,” she said. “Its ephemerality made it more fun to experience.”
The historical lack of brick-and-mortar gay clubs is a key part of the queer nature of the DIY club scene. A bi-monthly pop up is often the only time queer club kids can serve a look and build community with others.
“When I started transitioning, I really started spinning for the T community,” Gorp said. “Not for visibility’s sake, but just a safe space for people to come dance, feel sexy, and feel like a person in a club.” Existing without limitations is at the center of Gorp’s motivation for making music.
TRANSITIONING INTO THE DJ SCENE
Her first major gig came when DJ Esme of Choloteca invited her to play for an hour one night at Mary’s.
“Ree De La Vega had me on after that. She invited me to play at the Wussy Artist Market in the Spring of 2023,” Gorp recalled. “She reached out to me later and said, ‘Hey, I have this paid opportunity that’s perfect for a beginner like you.’ And it blended into the summer.”
Gorp’s gigs ranged from drag shows to random markets, a gauntlet that tested her skills as a DJ, “[Spinning at drag shows is] how you know if you’re boring, killer, or avant-garde,” she said. “[Drag queens] will let you know.”
But Gorp’s presence was really solidified in the Atlanta club scene when she played at Chaka Khan Hacienda (CKH).
“So [Chaka Khan Hacienda was] how I was introduced into the space, but before then I was playing anything,” Gorp said. “Chaka Khan and Sucia were beneficial in getting me into the scene as we know it.”
The two parties were integral for Gorp as a trans Puerto Rican girl. Both CKH and Sucia were created post-COVID to celebrate queer BIPOC who didn’t feel represented by white queer spaces or straight clubs. Gorp enjoyed exploring new sounds in her freestyles at queer BIPOC centered events.
CRAFTING A CUNTY MIX
As an “open format DJ,” Gorp enjoys exploring different ideas and concepts.
“I surround myself with a theme,” she said. “I focus on what’s ‘cunt’: Does this song sound cunt? Do the lyrics of the song make me feel cunt?”
Her selection process is intuitive and deeply personal, aiming to make people feel gorgeous and sexy on the dance floor.
“That’s how I feel through my daily life – so I like my music to reflect that,” she said.
When looking for new tracks, Gorp often envisions the club’s dance floor and will bring people to the venue.
Gorp’s crowd is “sexy, queer… [and] vibrant. There’s a very palpable joyous energy to people who show up to my sets. I think they feel very excited to be there. [My crowd is] trans as fuck. That’s the vibe I’m putting out and I think the trans community is seeing that and responding to it.”
Gorp’s mixes include House and EDM blends borrowing tracks from Missy Elliot, Beyonce, early 2000s hits, and viral Ballroom moments – imagine if Donna Summer was a Y2K girlie who stumbled into a ballroom event replete with her operatic moans and diva-level shade. Her sets are crafted with an emphasis on inclusivity and fluid expression.
When Mary’s first hired Gorp as a resident DJ, she restarted a party called Heatstroke. The Heatstroke event series was about re-engaging a kink-friendly atmosphere.
“One time while I was spinning a person walked in with two men on leashes,” she said. “They were kneeling on the dance floor while their dom was having fun – I live for that.”
Gorp has an appreciation for kink and its role in the club scene: “A lot of ppl in my life work as dominatrixes, I have music to navigate that experience.”
TAKING AN ACTIVE APPROACH TO BUILDING COMMUNITY & ‘FAT PUSS’
As a newcomer to the queer club scene, Mary’s is where Gorp found a way to contribute to the queer community in Atlanta, their close girlfriends of dolls, and their radio collective. This built the foundation for the frequencies they would eventually mix in their sets at Mary’s bimonthly Pura Puti Latin Night – the success of which would convince the owner of Mary’s to launch Gorp’s infamous “FAT PUSS” night series.
Before beginning her transition, Gorp identified as a “bear cub”—a term used in the gay community to describe younger “bears”: hairy, barrel-chested gay men. During this period, Gorp observed how a bear party, known for traveling across the U.S. and establishing themselves in gay spaces for a weekend event, often overlooked the existing local scenes.
“They think they’re pioneering something we don’t have, but Atlanta has one of the few DIY club parties,” she said. “We’re doing a good job of keeping the club scene alive.”
One particular incident inspired Gorp to create her own party. “I had a date at Mary’s already on the calendar, and [bear party organizers] posted their flier for the same night,” she recalls. This led her to spoof the bear party by naming her event FAT PUSS. Gorp pitched the concept to Mary’s owner as a $5 entry event where she could play whatever she wanted. The event’s success was overwhelming.
“It was my most popular party to this day,” she said. “There was a line wrapped around the building—no one could get in. I thought everyone knew the joke I was making, but only my friends knew the inside joke.”
The success of FAT PUSS encouraged Gorp to continue the event as a monthly party.
“You know how in bowling you get a strike and try to repeat your movements? Party planning is the same,” she explained. “Ever since then, I’ve been doing FAT PUSS.” Though not always coinciding with out-of-town events, FAT PUSS has become a staple in her repertoire.
“I’ve cornered myself in the cat market, which aligns with cat imagery and solidifies the vibe of the club,” she said. “My music is very pussy/cunt.”
GIMMICK
When they’re not busy DJing at Atlanta’s hottest queer events, Gorp is busy managing their radio collective, Gimmick.
“My DJ friend TIKE asked me to play a Soundcloud live,” she said. “We started to build up this online community where we would talk to people while we livestreamed.”
Gimmick’s live streams are a way for people to pick DJs’ brains for the type of sound they play and platform their perspectives about music. For Gorp it’s about talking to DJs about what inspires them as artists, while not necessarily revealing their secrets about spinning.
“It’s so easy to get lost in genres that sound the same or be easy, but when you find a selector of music – it’s fascinating how other people think about music,” she said. For Gorp it’s about talking to DJs about what inspires them as artists, while not necessarily revealing their secrets about spinning.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR DJ GORP: PUSHING KINK FORWARD
In the future, Gorp is seeking a kink-friendly space to DJ at. She would love to participate in another kink event by providing kinksters with fun music.
“I want to be able to experience it,” she said. “I want to move the narrative as the night goes on.”
To hear more about their thoughts on the music archival space, kink-friendly spaces, and the lore behind their DJ name, tune into Gimmick Radio in the coming months. Follow DJ Gorp on Instagram @gorpiana.