Magazine

We Visit You: MARY GO WILD

Photos shot by Marina Henao

In a less than likely turn of events, the folks behind MARY GO WILD have turned their pet project from a book into a publishing agency, from a merch line designed for ADE into a carefully curated store at Zeedijk 44, showcasing products of the city’s nightlife scene. Always brimming with new ideas and initiatives, we’ve asked them to tell us about five things they like and know how to do best.

1.Vinyl Club
Remember when you used to be able to sign up for a book club at your local library? The MARY GO WILD Vinyl Club is pretty much the same thing, but provides you with canonical listening material instead. Every month, club members receive an exclusive vinyl release, a must-have techno or house imprint, featuring both local talent and international artists. What you get is always a surprise, but the unique design (every sleeve is designed by hand!) and the quality of music are never left to chance. Our favourite so far is definitely the Frits Wentink EP, of which you can still grab a copy.

2.Books
With the growing influence of electronic music and club culture, manifested in lifestyle trends and reflected in society, there’s also a growing number of (photography) books, magazines, compilations and even encyclopaedias dedicated to the subject. MARY GO WILD has read it all and has a tight selection of 80+ titles in store, available in English, Dutch and German. Comprised of recently published items, must-read classics and their very own publications, this collection is a great access point into the history of electronic music and nightlife. Compulsory reading: Nachtleben Berlin, Energy Flash and The Hacienda.

3.Publishing house
Following the wild success of MARY GO WILD, a 592-page volume covering 25 years of dance music in the Netherlands, it was clear to the editors that they shouldn’t stop there. In the basement of the store, plans were made for publishing several anthologies of intriguing journalism and historical photography based on pivotal events and key people in the history of Dutch electronic music. Keep your eyes peeled for new titles published in-house at MARY GO WILD: This Is My Church, a photo book by Rutger Geerling, and Multigroove, a chronicle of the pioneering dance organisation and its illegal underground events.

4.Photo exhibitions
Photography and graphic design have always had a big impact on electronic music and vice versa. For every event, release or artist, a creative mind is brought into the process to design a flyer, logo or a visual style that tells a story. Photography, although not always widely appreciated on the dance floor, can have a unique way of capturing the energy of a producer or a crowd. Through a monthly series of exhibitions in collaboration with Fotolab Kiekie, the store highlights some of the most talented photographers and designers at work in the electronic scene.

5.Dedicated to dance
It’s not by accident that the phrase-turned-poster ‘My House Is Your House And Your House Is Mine’ has become a staple in the MARY GO WILD collection. It sums up one of their core principles: everyone is welcome in the house community. It’s a safe space that values freedom of expression, and this is also the gold standard for the store on Zeedijk – a physical manifestation of house music, where all those intrigued by electronic music can come in and feel at home, enjoying everything house music and culture have to offer.