FINAL RUBBER CULT: JANUARY COVER

“So in the coming year I’ll be stepping on the gas with my art performances and seeing where that can go with a fuller focus and freer schedule.”

One other thing Synth intimated was that she would not be completely relinquishing all party promoting activities. And sure enough, a couple of weeks after we chatted, she hosted an edition of her own occasional club night, Psycho Ward, at Resistance Gallery.

Rubber Cult: Kim’s view

When I asked Rubber Cult founder and co-host Kim if she would expand on the circumstances around the decision to make October 6 the final Rubber Cult, she began by confirming the reaction she’d described in her original statement:

“I was floored when Synth told me — didn’t see that coming. Can’t blame her. I hijacked her when she had just left university aged 20, and she joined my dream. 

“Luckily for me she shared the same passion for rubber and vision for the event. I’m 100 percent behind her pursuing her art career. Blessed to have had the time together.”

But faced with Synth’s departure, why was Kim not considering forming a new partnership that would enable the event to carry on?

“I’ve been a fetish club promoter for 23 years, and in 22 of those years [20 of them hosting Club RUB] I operated a monthly club, never missing a month,” was her reply. 

“I’m quite enjoying the monthly freedom. Synth was the first partner I’d had since the Rubber Nipple. I’m not interested in another partnership. What could they bring to the table except energy?”

Mirroring my question to Synth, I asked if Kim had considered offering the brand up for takeover by someone else who would continue the events in a similar spirit?

“No one could replicate what Synth and I have done with RC, as it was a combination of our personalities, expertise, long standing within the scene, drive and cultural passions,” she replied. 

“We actually shared a lot of the same visions. We would agree on almost everything visual and cultural. I chose Synth for a reason. I saw something in her — excitement, joy and love of fetish latex — that reminded me of me! Me, but 20 years ago…

“I loved the way Synth danced to the beat of her own drum. She didn’t hang out with a clique, she was a social butterfly. She had friends of all types, as she’s a little bit of a goth, artist, anime, rubberist, hippy… and that all appealed to me. 

“I couldn’t find another Synth if I tried. We both agreed we don’t want to sell it. Of course, there are now a few very small events up and down the country, run by enthusiasts. So at least folk can meet up with their pals.”

On hearing that the final Rubber Cult had already happened, some scenesters speculated that venue problems — something that had often beset the club in the past — might have been another unspoken factor in the decision to knock it on the head. 

So I asked Kim if there were any problems of this kind that made Amy’s quitting more ‘the last straw’ than the sole reason for finishing.

“There are always venue issues!” she responded. “There have been for the last 23 years. Would I still be a fetish club promoter now, if there were no venue issues? Yes! 

“But am I bothered? No! I’ve had the best fetish career ever. Fuck, I’m in a library [with a Club RUB exhibit in the Bishopsgate Institute Library Archive], and my BDSM/fetish story goes on with my Mistress Workshop events and Miss Kim Rub activities.”

So it’s unlikely the final Rubber Cult means Kim will be hanging up her fetish-eventing boots.