DJ Delicious. "A friend to everyone."
(Nicola Betts)
It's another Saturday night, which means another edition of The S Word at Slack's. The hotties shaking it in front of me don't know it yet, but they have good reason to celebrate. DJ Delicious, aka Anushki Bodhinayake, the event's resident DJ and cofounder, has just won the Xtra Best 2008 award for best local DJ and The S Word has been voted best club event for women.
Before you ask, Bodhinayake is indeed delicious. Not only does she spin divinely, but she's got the look of an angel and a luscious Brit accent to boot.
"In terms of the best DJ nomination I feel so grateful because I've been DJing in this community for eight years," she says, adding that for the moment S Word is her primary focus.
One of Bodhinayake's biggest fans is S Word cofounder Andrea Franklin. "[Delicious is] the most incredibly talented DJ that I have ever met in my entire life," says Franklin. "She's a friend to everyone."
The duo barely knew each other when Slack's approached them about doing an event. "From the moment we got together, ideas bounced off each other and we were just in synch," says Bodhinayake. "We had an incredible chemistry."
When they launched the popular party in March Franklin and Bodhinayake say they were aiming to put on the kind of event they'd want to attend.
"It just turns out that everyone wants to go to the same party that we want to go to," says Franklin wryly. Most weeks there's a lineup to get in, and tonight is no exception.
Every week a different pair of women perform. "We wanted something with The S Word where people would say, 'I don't want to miss it this week because I don't want to miss out on anything,'" says Bodhinayake. Tonight there are two guest DJs, but on other nights it may be any combination of DJs, musicians or dancers.
A glance around the dancefloor finds femmes and butches, mohawks and long locks, dresses and bondage pants. There's even a few boys and boy-girl couples. "Everyone's welcome," says Bodhinayake. "As long as people are there with a positive attitude, are there to enjoy music and enjoy talent, I really don't care."