Both mainstays of the Glasgow music scene in their own right, Bonzai Bonner and Anna Gram first joined forces nine years ago to form the rambunctious duo Lezzer Quest – a fun-first cavorting celebration of all corners of dance music. Energy is the word (or, more accurately, NRG) and community is the philosophy. Throwing parties regularly with Bonzai Bonner’s Shoot Your Shot, and playing with grassroots collectives and venues across the map, these two are making their mark as champions of the underground, diversity and inclusion – all done with a cheeky wink. We catch up with them about putting on Sub Club’s first ever Pride party, why Glasgow crowds are the best to play for, and meeting Kelburn’s resident turkey.
You can listen to their exclusive mixtape for our Mixcloud channel while you get to know...
Hi Lezzer Quest! Could you introduce your mix for us?
Anna Gram: Our mix is a Lezzer Quest peak time Kelburn special. We wanted to try and condense what would happen at that time of night into an hour’s mix.
Bonzai Bonner: With our sets, the main thing that we always drive with is energy, and I think this mix has got it. It’s how we both bounce off one another. It’s been great to be doing back-to-backs with Anna and Lezzer Quest for nine years. Every time we play, it keeps getting better. I think it’s a reflection of the excitement we have of playing again at the Landing Stage. I’m very much renowned for doing Italo, Hi-NRG, whilst Anna has that trance element to hers, but we’ve got everything there in the mix. Aye, just pure N-R-G.
Before you came together as Lezzer Quest, how did you become involved in the Glasgow music scene?
Anna Gram: I moved to the city 16 years ago and actually found it really hard to break into the local scene. I was on the verge of packing it all in by the time I met Bonner. I was losing faith that I was ever going to play regularly in Glasgow, and then we met and that changed. I am always really grateful that Bonner saw in me the potential to be a superstar DJ!
Bonzai Bonner: Thanks hen! Since the age of 14, I was going to gigs regularly in Glasgow. I was going to at least two gigs a week. If I didn’t have the money for the ticket, I would be behind listening to the sound checks of the bands, especially if it was venues like King Tuts, The Garage, and then I’d maybe get a guestie from folk. That evolved into going into clubs underage. That was my introduction to the clubbing scene. I was doing door work, etc, but then in 2014, The Poetry Club approached me to ask if I’d be interested in putting a club night on. Because I loved Hi-NRG music, I always had Shoot Your Shot as the idea of what it would be called. It wasn’t always going to be strictly driven by Hi-NRG, and I’m glad that it’s evolved. It’s now just a celebration of all electronic music.
How did you decide to join forces and DJ as Lezzer Quest?
Anna Gram: I had been asked to play a Pride party at the Flying Duck. It was going to be an all-night gig, and I asked Bonner if they wanted to join me for it. At this point, I’d played Shoot Your Shot a handful of times, and I thought it would be fun for us to do something together. We did a back-to-back all night, and our styles of music worked really well together. Then Bonner started having us as Lezzer Quest at Shoot Your Shot. Off the back of that, we started getting booked by other club nights as Lezzer Quest.
What separate energies and sounds do you each bring to the table when you play together?
Bonzai Bonner: I play with the sound of dark and light a lot of the time. I like that vibrancy, and then I bring it back into a crunchier sound – don’t get too comfortable that we’re getting light here. With Anna’s choices of music, it’s more ethereal.
Anna Gram: I’m the light!
Bonzai Bonner: It’s like a yin and yang.
Anna Gram: Bonner loves a vocal. I do as well, but I’m also quite happy to go into the non-vocal, hypnotic proggy stuff. I also really love breaks. In the middle of a set you might go from an Italo tune into a banging old school garage tune, into a trance tune, into something really industrial sounding. When I say it like that, it sounds like it’s going to be an absolute clusterf***, but it works really well, because people don’t know what to expect. I think we’re not afraid to chuck in what I would class as “classy fromage”.
What do you think that playing as a duo brings for the audience that playing solo doesn’t?
Anna Gram: We’re just silly, aren’t we? We don’t take ourselves seriously, and I think it’s fun to watch us. We’ll be banging each other’s bums when we’re dancing and just going mental. We sing to each other. I always feel like, as a DJ, you are a salesperson. If you’re not enjoying what you’re playing, then other people don’t react to it. We love what we play, and we’re selling that to people by being silly, dancing around and being so into it.
You’ve done residencies at Sub Club and La Cheetah – how’s your latest residency at The Berkeley Suite going?
Bonzai Bonner: I’d say it’s one of the best clubs going now in Europe, because of the four point sound system that’s all handmade here in Glasgow. I feel spoiled having a place like that on the doorstep, and we’ve been able to cultivate our sounds because of how discerning a Glasgow audience is. Not just a Glasgow audience, but Scotland in general. If you bring your identity, personality, charisma and uniqueness there, Glasgow and the rest of Scotland really appreciates that – that you do you and the rest will follow.
Anna Gram: There’s nothing better than a Scottish crowd. You can play anything, and they’ll be so on board with it, whereas I find other places sometimes they want more of an obvious selection of tracks. But Glasgow especially is just the best.
You play quite a big role within the queer party scene in Glasgow – what was it like playing Sub Club’s first Pride party in 2019?
Bonzai Bonner: To this day it still remains the one and only Pride party associated with Sub Club. It happened on a rooftop space, where their office is based. To have a unique space like that, to celebrate Pride as a day party with the rare sunny weather in Glasgow, it was such a great vibe. It was a pleasure to host that on the day, and followed by that, that was the first time I had Eris Drew play for Shoot Your Shot. That was on at Room Two after for a sold out event. It was a very, very good day.
Which queer nights in Glasgow are you excited about right now?
Anna Gram: I think it’s really great that Hu-Sane has got a night at The Sub Club – Haram Haram. It’s great to have a South Asian sound represented, especially as a queer DJ. She’s an amazing DJ as well – really phenomenal for me, personally. Not a queer party, but I really like the World of Twist parties as well. World of Twist are playing at Kelburn. They’re really cool. Again, it’s more of a Middle Eastern sound.
You’ve played with people like Erol Alkan and The Blessed Madonna in the past. Do you have a favourite artist or a favourite night where you’ve really had fun playing?
Bonzai Bonner: I have to say, playing for Big Dyke Energy, which is unfortunately no longer a party, that was amazing in London. And when Eris Drew had her Temple of Dreams series at Corsica Studios – she was choosing carefully to curate people that weren’t the headliner DJs. She’s there along with other people who have been doing a lot of parties for years in London, and also giving folks a UK debut. It’s great when you see someone such as Eris. She’s a superstar DJ, but her ethics and music are very aligned with community and the grassroots.
What can we expect from the night you’ve curated at Kelburn? Why have you selected the acts on your bill?
Bonzai Bonner: I have been able to see OK Williams play twice now, and each time it’s incredible and very, very cheeky with her style. When we thought of our act to finish on the stage, she was perfect for it.
Anna Gram: I’ve been listening to their Adonis New Year’s Eve set. When we were trying to find the headliner, she was an easy pick. Everyone was an easy pick, actually.
Bonzai Bonner: The last time I saw her, I was in Prague for a night called DICK. It was such an amazing venue – low ceilings, smoke, great light. Watching that in motion, how it erupted, bringing that tune “Body Rock” in. There were so many magic moments, but it was the cheekiness and the glint in her eye when she did it – she just gives me a wink. Aye, I know what you’re up to. I’m looking forward to that on the scale of the Landing Stage. The other guest’s called faux naïf, who formerly worked for Fabric, and she’s been a big part of the electronic body music movement – very dark wave sound in London.
Anna Gram: She helps us with bookings and stuff, so we really wanted to get her up. I’ve not had the opportunity to see her play yet, but I know faux naïf has got great taste in tunes. And then we’ve got Frankie Elyse doing a back-to-back with Danse Atmos.
Bonzai Bonner: These are people that have been trying to do inclusive parties in Glasgow – Frankie Elyse with Poladot Disco Club, and Stevie Cox and Danse Atmos have been doing that night called Love Cycle. These are all people that know how much it takes in the background to build something and graft for it.
Anna Gram: We’ve got an amazing V/A as well. Veronica. We can’t wait to see what they’ve got in store for us. That’s really important to us as well, the vision. We’re silly. We’ve got a very clear idea of our aesthetic, our vibe. I think it’s going to be quite different to what you normally get for a V/A set at a festival.
Bonzai Bonner: If you’ve seen the reel, that’s given a small idea of what to expect. It was so funny to give that design brief to Veronica.
What have you got planned for Lezzer Quest going forwards?
Anna Gram: We are planning to start producing together. Bonner actually did the vocals on a track of mine a few years back, and is an incredible vocalist. I feel like we’ve hit our stride, and we’re just really enjoying playing. We’re enjoying the Berkeley so much. Every time we play, it’s an absolute hoot.
Can you share a favourite memory from Kelburn?
Bonzai Bonner: I’ve enjoyed every time we’ve played, both solo and as a duo. It’s still very prominent in my mind, getting to play for the very first time.
Anna Gram: It was the longest booking ever, wasn’t it?
Bonzai Bonner: Unfortunately, the 2020 event never occurred. But to come out and see the Landing Stage, how packed it was…
Anna Gram: I was so nervous that first time, do you remember? I was like, I just need you to stop talking a minute. Honestly, I’m quite proud of myself, because we went out on that stage and absolutely nailed it. I don’t know how I did that. If you’d seen me backstage…
Bonzai Bonner: You were hyperventilating, and I’m just scoffing down a packet of salt and vinegar.
Anna Gram: Meeting the ponies last year was great.
Bonzai Bonner: I want to shout out to the turkey.
Anna Gram: I’d not been to Kelburn prior to that, and it was fun exploring the site. I got to play the Beech Plateau last year, which was so fun. It’s hard to pick a favourite thing, because there’s so much going on, and there’s always people up to mischief at Kelburn.
Bonzai Bonner: My answer is all the times we play. Aye, our very first time getting to play the Landing, and the turkey.
Anna Gram: It’s my wife and I’s 10 year wedding anniversary on the Friday this year. We’re going to have a little ceremony on the Saturday. I want to have my vows renewed next to a raging turkey. We were trying to think of where to do it. That’s perfect.
