Odyssey | Horse Meat Disco + Ellie Stokes

Odyssey is our once-a-month function by the sea, in partnership with Plissken, bringing together musicians, artists and wellness experts at Ace Hotel & Swim Club Athens for a day-long celebration of renegade creativity.

This August, the musical journey features legendary British DJs Horse Meat Disco and Bristol’s own Ellie Stokes.  She’s Lost Control brings us conscious experiences, alongside an art workshop led by local artists.

From afternoon light to evening stars, Odyssey is your monthly escape into the mythic and the modern.

Space is limited.

ホテル概要

Horse Meat Disco

Initially established in 2004 at The Eagle, an innocuous gay bar in London’s Vauxhall, Horse
Meat Disco (HMD) has evolved into a powerful force in queer and club culture as a whole,
while staying local to its original home, each and every Sunday. Co-founded by James
Hillard and Jim Stanton, and encompassing residents Severino and Luke Howard, the crew
continue to maintain not only the weekly Sunday party, but a number of residencies in cities
across the world, alongside a kaleidoscope of club appearances, festival dates and specially
curated mixes.

Taking inspiration from a diverse, counter-cultural history of clubs and DJs, as well as from
the sprawling, ever-expanding musical collections of its resident crew, the sound of HMD is
impossible to place. Nonetheless their style is undeniable, as is a popper-scented air of
sheer authenticity which has helped propel the group to international fame. Rooted in
hedonism, rhythm, freedom and emotion, a Horse Meat Disco set reinforces everything
invigorating about disco, as comfortable as shattering old-school mirror ball cliches as
basking in their light.

A typical HMD set blends classics, italo disco, house, oddities and punk funk, to conjure their
initial spirit of “a queer party for everyone”, including, but not limited to, “Homos and Heteros,
club kids, bears, fashionistas, naturists, guerilla drag queens and ladies who munch.” They
have made appearances on every notable club scene in the modern world, as well as those
beyond, and have long been a key fixture at festivals including Glastonbury, Boomtown and
Love International.

They previously held a weekly residency on Rinse FM; where the Horse Meat Disco train
rolled across the airwaves to serve as a pre- and post-club Sunday lunch accompaniment. A
series of expertly curated and acclaimed compilations for reissue label Strut helped further
cement HMD’s formidable but communal reputation as disco masterminds, spreading their
sound and many enviable obscurities into front rooms and record bags across the world.

Their 2020 album “Love and Dancing” marked their first full-length studio release, featuring a
mix of original tracks and collaborations which received widespread acclaim for capturing the
true essence of disco, whilst also pushing its boundaries. The album was the culmination of
seven years’ work, fashioned from demoes the four had been working on simply for the love
of making music. Free of cover versions and lazy samples, it is documentary evidence that
disco has a present and future every bit the platinum-grade equal of its storied past.

After decades of crate digging, globetrotting and partying; the HMD story continues apace.
With brand new original music on the skyline as well as a brand new compilation coming in
2025 – watch out as HMD have no intention of slowing down with their release schedule…

Ellie Stokes

With individuality and experimentation at her core, Ellie Stokes is very much her own DJ. Having immersed herself in Bristol’s music scene since arriving in the late 00s, she could reasonably be considered a product of the city’s unique creative culture. Let’s sidestep tired ideas about trip hop and D&B for a second and focus on the West Country capital as a hotbed of broadminded experimentation, with a community ethos and supportive framework that encourages talent to shine through.

Stokes was already working within the music industry when she started to channel her passion into DJing – she was working at vital independent venue The Love Inn, one of the hubs of Bristol’s underground music culture, where she’s now the booking agent and venue manager. When the female / non-binary Mix Nights DJ course began (helmed by leading lights such as Danielle and Daisy Moon), Stokes found the right nurturing environment to discover her instinct for selecting and spinning, initiating a career which has grown exponentially ever since. In 2018 she became a resident at Bristol’s leading club space Motion, and played life-affirming slots at premier league events and spaces such as Glastonbury, Love International, Warehouse Project, Love Saves The Day, Corsica Studios and Simple Things.

As well as her dancefloor presence, where she’s likely to be plying leftfield house and techno tinged with industrial and 90s motifs, Stokes has a regular radio outlet via Bristol’s leading station, Noods. It’s on these shows her tastes truly open up, touching on ambient techno and electronica, all manner of wave-related sonics, EBM and much more besides. It’s a non-conformist style that favours individual expression over generic consistency, championing the omnivorous spirit of the times and presenting selections that feel honest, heartfelt and constantly surprising.

Stokes’ musical endeavours reach beyond her DJing too – she also helps steer the city’s much-loved queer dance party Bitch, Please! and came on board as a partner in Futureboogie, which will soon branch out into a new label project in the near future. Her keen ear for the unusual and distinctive shine through in these ventures as much as when she’s on the decks, rounding out her positive contributions to all corners of the music scene in Bristol and beyond. She may be representative of the city as it stands right now, but Ellie Stokes is just as much her own vital energy in a tangled network of scenes, communities, parties and platforms that stretches out internationally.

Plissken

Since 2010, Plisskën Festival has redefined the urban music scene in Athens. Launched originally as a festival, known for its effortless ability to blend diverse musical styles and genres without ever losing coherence or focus, Plisskën has played a key role in shaping the direction of modern Greek festival lineups. Apart from the 2 day Festival in the center of Athens,  it also hosts numerous concerts & events throughout the year.