This week, in keeping with the RedHotPie mission charter, Bessie has gone behind the velvet rope in Johannesburg, South Africa, visiting the world renowned, Club Rome. Getting the inside scoop, Bessie chats with owners, Jaco and Lisa on what the scene is really like at one of the planet’s largest and sexiest lifestyle venues.

Club Rome By Bessie Bardot:

Johannesburg: this vibrant electric city is not only the largest and wealthiest city in South Africa, it’s also known for its gold & diamonds: the most sparkling of which is surely Club Rome, the biggest swingers and lifestyle’s club in the southern hemisphere.
Set over 1700 square meters, Club Rome hosts an average of 14 parties monthly with an average of 80 to 300 members attending any given party. New owners Jaco & Lisa share with me their take on the lifestyle and how they welcome all types of play people from the cheeky to the kinky.

(Bessie Bardot) How did you guys get into the lifestyle?

(Jaco & Lisa – Club Rome) We were both already in the lifestyle with previous relationships, after those relationships ended we were both out of the lifestyle and in “Vanilla” relationships for several years. We weren’t expecting to find a new partner in the lifestyle. However not long after these relationships ended a mutual friend Celeste who is also a life coach and spiritual sexologist set us up on a blind date. We were both hooked.
Then when we heard our favourite lifestyles venue was on the market we jumped at the chance.

How do you describe Club Rome?

Most importantly Club Rome is a safe environment where you can come along – no matter how much lifestyle experience you have or have not had – and not be pressured. There’s a full bar and dance floor with a series of DJ’s throughout the night, so even if you just want to come to have a few drinks and socialize in a sexy environment that’s acceptable. The dance floor is quite separate to the play areas, so we find everyone from vanillas, nudists, voyeurs, exhibitionists, soft play, full play and hard play (orgies) beginners and long-term lifestylers love Rome.

Rome is home to all its members. It’s the best value for money, we put on a full buffet meal from 7.30pm till midnight, so you can come early evening for dinner and relax and unwind while you get to know everyone.  We try to be that step above the rest – being in the lifestyle ourselves we knew what we and our members wanted and expect from a lifestyles venue. We are always looking for new ways to better Rome and our members and their experience.

Who comes there?

We’re a really happy-go-lucky club, so we attract a wide range of people from skinny to big, young to old and everyone in between. Our regulars range from a group of 18 year olds to a couple in their 60’s.
Whilst we welcome all types, we work hard to screen & verify everyone who registers a profile, we’re known as the friendly club and we want to keep it that way, so if someone is rude & crude that won’t be a fit for our members. Newcomers love that everyone is very chatty and welcoming.

Tell me about your daytime fun & breakfast events

DTF stands for Day Time Fun. Every Wednesday we open during the day for the mid-week naughty crowd: often business people or entrepreneurs who want some hump day fun in between meetings. It’s a mid-week breakaway, completely out of the norm and really popular.

And we recently added Breakfast on Sat & Sun mornings, both as sustenance for the guests still in the venue from the night before and also an extra time option for people who want to meet up with new potential play partners for the first time. They can break the ice and get to know each other over breakfast here instead of an awkward encounter at a regular café, and if it goes well they can head straight to a play room.

I noticed you make an effort to cater to all the different types of swingers and lifestyles

Yes, because of our extensive bar & dancefloor area this really is like a sexy club with options. Lots of ‘vanilla’ people come knowing they can dance in the club section and enjoy themselves without getting harassed.
Then we have regulars who are nudists and love to hang out at the bar without being judged.

The exhibitionists are happy to be watched in a play by the voyeurs, some do and some don’t play with others. They love our Silhouette room: there’s a white screen with a back light so all people see is the silhouettes and shadows as you play.
The voyeur room is also popular, complete with Jacuzzi and two-way glass so you can watch others in a play (exhibitionists). Then we have our soft swingers who play with their partner and others, minus the penetration.
Full swingers partner swap and we cater to them with a dedicated ‘couples orgy room’. Singles aren’t allowed in unless invited by a couple, then when the couple leave the room so must the single.

Hardcore swingers love the orgy room, BDSM open play and our dark room where it is literally pitch black.
We also have 7 private rooms. If the door is closed you’re not allowed to knock or open the door. Occupants can leave tags on the door: “Single guy welcome”, “Couple welcome”, “anyone welcome” or leave the door open to be watched from the door or be invited in by the members in the private room.

We just want everyone to feel comfortable that they can come and play, at their own comfort level and feel safe.

Tell me about the lady’s rule

The lady’s rule means that men must wait for the women to initiate, making the lady the hunter. So the lady initiates conversations with those she is interested in, and if it’s a couple she starts conversation with the lady of a couple. We advise this as it is respectful to the couples, it also very importantly stops the guys from groping ladies and making them and their partners uncomfortable. It’s all about no one feeling pressured. We feel this is so important because the moment someone feels pressured they’re not going to have a positive experience and come back. Club Rome has been open for 19 years because our members feel and know they are safe here, it’s one of the key points that makes the club work. This rule allows both women and men the option that they can simply decline and they don’t have to explain themselves. We ask you to be clear and firm, don’t say “Maybe later” because they’ll come back later. A simple “Not tonight “or “I’m not interested” is best.

You also have lots of different events to suit all tastes

Yes we have club/party nights with commercial, uplifting house music one night, and a live band the next. If you work nights, come to our Day Time Fun on Wednesdays. If you’re a morning person come for breakfast.
Nudist night, BDSM, Roman Empire, Master & Servant, Revenge of the Nerds, Roman toga night with male strippers and big events like ULP – United Lifestyle Party, where all the clubs come together for a huge night of fun.

Your ‘staff’ are volunteers from the lifestyle, it really is a family, tell me about that

Yes we have our usual staff but then we also have two volunteer couples who host each night and choose a theme. They just love the lifestyle and want to be part of it in a bigger way.  We see all our members as family.  If it’s not safe for them to drive home, we in encourage them to stay go and sleep in a private room, wake up for our breakfast and head home, safe and sound.

Lisa, tell me about your Lifestyle Coaching

I call it “THE DO’S, DONT’S AND ETIQUETTE OF THE LIFESTYLE”
I always advise you start healing your own stuff before you swing. So I work with guys and girls on taking control of their mind, thoughts and feelings so they are ready to swing.
The lifestyle has many awesome benefits but it has to be approached in the right way. It’s not meant to break up couples and marriages. There’s always one partner who is raring to go with his or her foot on the pedal, while the other is trying to slow down and this can cause unnecessary tension. So I work with them both in dealing with emotions, thoughts of inferiority & helping them define their comfort levels. Women learn to express themselves without getting too emotional, and men learn to approach playing with compassion and not just have a ‘wham bam thank you maam’ robotic approach to swinging.

Jaco, tell me what advice you’d give to people starting out

Before you walk in the door and have your first drink, make sure you discuss your personal boundaries with your partner and your boundaries as a couple. Ask “Would you be okay to see me do this…?”  If they say no, set your boundaries below that. There’s always a pusher and a puller, so follow the pace of the slowest person. Often the roles reverse, so be prepared for the shift. I always say never let alcohol or the heat of the moment alter your boundaries. If you put your partner on the spot in the middle of playing they will probably say yes, but guess what happens when the car door closes.  If you’re unsure, stop playing and go into our Gladiator room and talk. When it comes down to it, the club’s not going anywhere so you don’t have to go all the way on one visit.

So how can people get involved?

Feel free to contact Lisa Morganti on Facebook and ask questions.

Then go to www.clubrome.co.za register a profile online and we will send you an email verification. Then you get an invitation to attend one of the events (you can’t turn up without an invite, we won’t allow you in).

You’ll also get access to a secure and safe part of our website, a chat section so you can keep in touch with others without giving your personal details or work email!

What’s your vision for the future?

It’s great to see the lifestyle coming together and supporting each other – I don’t see the other clubs as competition, the market is big enough for all of us and it’s getting bigger by the day.

We personally have big plans to expand and make it more accessible for parents to play without worrying about their kids. We’re also adding luxury rewards to thank our regulars for their loyalty. Watch this space!

Now, with the release of their second long player, No Guts, No Glory, the Aussie pub rock champions seem to be on a good wicket. With the ink on a new international record deal with Roadrunner drying and sell-out crowds waiting for them in several European countries, the band look set to make good on their promising start.

RedHotPie caught up with Airbourne drummer Ryan O’Keefe as he cut through Finnish ice on a ferry en route to another European date, one of many on their current world tour.

(RHP)G’day Ryan, where are you mate?

(Ryan O’Keefe) We’re in Finland, it’s snowing, and we’re on a ferry and we’ve be breaking through ice drifts all night!

It’d be a bit of a shock to the system coming from such a warm climate I guess

Mate if you hear me coughing throughout the interview you’ll know why (coughs and laughs)

So where are you guys in the current tour?

Well in Europe things kicked off on the 22nd of February but prior to that we did two weeks in Canada with Motley Crue but yeah, the official Airbourne No Guts No Glory tour kicked off on the 22nd of Feb, well I guess it kind of kicked off with Motley Crue as well you know.
br> And how are things going, apart from the sniffles

Good yeah, really good, the shows have been packed out every night, We’ve got a semi-trailer out here with us, the shows are getting bigger, we’ve got 6,000 in Paris coming up, we’ve got 5,000 in London so we’re just pushing onwards and upwards and were making sure we can bring the best possible show we can every night.

Do you think you should be doing better in Australia when you consider how well you’re travelling overseas?
br> Well Australia’s picking up now, with No Guts, the radio stations are all playing it, which is great, so it looks like in October we’ll be coming back.

It’s strange, while pub rock is considered overseas to be the classic Australian sound, radio stations back here don’t really play much of it, do you think that’s hindered you guys much?

Well I think maybe it just needed to go to sleep for a little while, to make people realise how loved it actually is, I think it has, but it never went away, not in our lives, not in a lot of people’s live in Australia. Yeah I think it’s coming back and I think a lot more bands are starting to play it again and obviously we love playing it.

You guys see people loving pub rock at every show and it’s obviously still a big part of our culture, but the radio stations and music directors have been off contemporary pub rock for years, is that a bit weird?

Yeah it’s very interesting that isn’t it, especially when we toured Australia night after night and people were just refreshed you know, that fact that they were getting to listen to some good old Aussie pub rock ‘n’ roll. So fingers crossed the trend does turn.

Well having AC/DC out recently helped that some no doubt, do you guys still have the AccaDacca tag thrown at you?

Here and there but at the end of the day it’s an accurate comparison, we all grew up on AC/DC, we are an Aussie Pub rock band and AC/DC and The Angels and Billy Thorpe and Cold Chisel, they’re all the bands that we love and still love.

Have you ever had the chance to play with AC/DC?

No, when they started doing the Black Ice tour we were working on the record so we weren’t able to pitch for that, but yeah man, we’d love to tour with AC/DC.

Have you got the Phil Rudd ciggie in the mouth groove down?

(Laughs) Nah, nah, nah, I think it’d take a helluva long time to get that beat right.

Now did I hear one of your old stomping grounds in your home town of Warrnambool burnt down recently?

Yeah, the Criterion Hotel, yeah I think they said the top floor had been gutted, i think it was some kids playing around in there.

What sort of link did you guys have to the Criterion?

Oh man, that’s where we played our first shows at the Criterion Hotel, it’s also where we spent the first six months of 2009 working on songs for No Guts No Glory. Yeah, we had the keys to the pub

Do you guys get back to the Bool much?

Yeah well, it was really just that writing period, not really I mean we’ll be out on the road for two years with No Guts No Glory and there’ll be pockets of touring out in Australia as well you know.

Are you guys based in Melbourne when you’re in Australia?

Yeah Melbourne, head down to Warni sometimes, just where ever we end up you know, I mean we don’t own houses or anything given the rich budget the band operates on (laughs.) We just find mate’s couches, it’s alright.

Now it wasn’t that long ago you fellas were coming up through the Warrnambool ranks, now on paper you guys look like an overnight success, is that a fair comment or not?

Not really, no, I mean my brother Joel and I started when I was 11, our first show was when I was 13, from when I was about 15 we started taking it seriously, touring a lot. So if we go from when I was fifteen, that’s excluding the four years prior, if I’m 23 that means we’ve been doing it 8 years.

So it’s hardly overnight

Not really, but in the world’s eyes, fair enough you know, it’s obviously pretty hard to get over here and tour so luckily we were embraced when we first came over, the shows have grown organically.

As you said earlier it’s been a slow grind in Australia, but was it different overseas? Were you embraced straight away by those markets?

Yeah, yeah, the show being what it is now helps a lot, I mean we can walk into a venue and not be surprised that’s it’s a 3,500 head room filled to capacity you know. It’s kind of strange when that’s the case when we used to build a whole six months of a 900 capacity show in Australia, we’d be all excited and you know, build a tour around playing at the corner in Melbourne or something.

But now we’re overseas, it’s just a day to day thing, it’s insane but it’s also something we hold very dear to our hearts. That’s why we’ve got a semi trailer with us, it’s why we’re throwing every last cent we have at the show to make it that much better every night and we’ll continue to do so as long as our fans keep coming to the shows.

And to help the business side of things I hear you’ve just inked a new international deal with Roadrunner records.

Yeah Roadrunner will be releasing the first record as well as this one worldwide and when we were leaving Emi they gave us our album back and they sort of said if you could keep one of our smaller brothers in Australia then that would be great, so we did, EMI Australia have been great, they’ve worked really hard building the band, it’s been good.

And what will Roadrunner be bringing to the table?

We basically it’s going to be a huge worldwide release, everything from German vinyl to a lot of tours and a lot of things like that and Roadrunner and just really getting behind it worldwide.

Do you think you’re entering a period of stability on the label side of things?

Yeah I guess so, I mean the more you achieve the more that’s the case I would imagine, yeah I definitely think so. It’s good to be able to work on the second album with the label because as you’d know there’s a lot more understanding of the band.

So on the material front, the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll charter that the band is so well known for, how much do you live it and how much of it is just for show?

Well hence the cough throughout this whole interview mate I’d say I’m bloody well living it (laughs then coughs, and then laughs.) We were on a ferry last night drinking way too much but you know, everything in moderation including moderation itself. We never want to ruin anyone’s show and we’ll never let it ruin an Airbourne show because the shows are so very important but it’s also important to have a good time.

Very Important

So you only get to live once and we make sure we do, so yeah the saying I live by is everything in moderation including moderation itself

Have you come across any bands out on the road that you couldn’t keep up with on the partying front?

Well, probably just the one man, Lemmy, he just outdoes everyone.

When was your last encounter with Lemmy?

I guess it would have been touring in Europe last time, we did some shows over here at the end of 2008 and it’s just always great to be out with the great man and it’s always amazing to see him consistently delivering the Motorhead show.

And I suppose he delivers at the after parties as well does he?

He absolutely does! He’s still got the chicks hanging off him, it’s great.

Well sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, in order, which do you love the most?

Well i always like to say sex, rock ‘n’ roll and alcohol, I mean I don’t mind having a toke on a doobie every now and then as we all do, each to their own, or when in Amsterdam, but basically it’s gotta be rock ‘n’ roll for sure, absolutely.

The others can battle it out for second and third eh?

Yeah, and they definitely do fight it out I can tell ya!

Katie is working her way though a line of writers, sent forth by various publications to get the latest from one of Australia’s premiere vocal talents. The siren is visibly swept up in the process but remains composed and accommodating. She’s mid way through her current press junket promoting her latest record, Blackbird: The Music Of Lennon & McCartney, a selection of Beatles tracks penned by the revered writing duo.

From the get-go Noonan’s demeanour is controlled yet free flowing and it’s clear that things on the whole are pretty good. “Life’s fantastic” says Noonan through a generous smile. “Happily married, two really great children; we’ve just moved to a wonderful mountain community just outside of Brissy, we’ve made a big lifestyle change, you see we’re becoming sustainable living hippies… It’s called Mt Glorious it’s a tiny little community at the summit of a big rainforest about 45 minutes out of Brisbane, and we’ve got about two and a half acres of amazing rainforest. No television, solar powered, rain water so yeah, I’m looking forward to embracing all the changes and challenges that that life brings, you know, chickens, composts and worm farms”.

The sea-change isn’t that amazing when you consider Noonan has always carried herself with a hippie infused cosmopolitan bent – sheik but practical, couture yet grounded. It’s an air that has endeared her to fans throughout the years, but now with two small children to add to the equation, the move makes sense.

“I’ve been wanting to get out of the city for years, it’s just so noisy” sighs Noonan. “Just so much white noise, but mainly now, it’s because of my kids; I want them to grow up with greenery and fresh air and a sense of community, I really think social isolation is a modern illness”.

Noonan’s success has allowed choice, a luxury that isn’t afforded most modern musicians, a fact the singer is well aware of. Since George’s last show, Noonan has engaged several projects including her group collaboration Elixir, she’s toured and recorded with her mother, Maggie Noonan, she’s put out a solo record and then a dance remix of said record. Now, it’s Blackbird: The Music Of Lennon & McCartney, an album of Beatles classics arranged and performed by Noonan and some of the planets most capable jazz musicians.

“So my first memory (of The Beatles) was at the conservatorium of music when I was ten” recalls Noonan. “We sang If I Fell in the choir and I just loved it, I thought it was an incredible song, and I didn’t know what I thought was incredible about it. And then, well I kinda grew up on classical music and pop, I mean The Beatles didn’t come until way later, probably my first year out of school. George had just started and we had Abbey Road on vinyl and that record absolutely changed my life… I just loved how they keep moving through musical styles and kept you guessing about what’s coming next. That was a huge inspiration for me as a musician and a huge inspiration for George because we always wanted to not fit into a category”.

Noonan’s love for the Liverpool lads is apparent and very real; most interestingly it is adorned by a wider love of not only these musicians, but the time in which they created this magical music. Noonan’s fascination with the 1960’s is strong and deep. As she reels off names such as The Doors, Janis Joplin, Hunter Thompson and the like, she beams like a child recounting Christmas.

“It was just a freaky time for creating new stuff” she says. “I wanted to tap into that era, get inspired by it and just really strip it back, because The Beatles were the kings of simplicity, and less is more, and creating songs that could touch people. I mean the music, you could sing along to it, but just under the surface things were incredibly complicated and strange and weird and wonderful, and that’s the greatest trick, making music that crosses over without being inaccessible or highbrow like jazz often is… my only fear was that people would think I was doing one of these concept records that’s just about rehashing the originals… my approach to this was more like the Johnny Cash approach to U2 or Trent Reznor, the stuff he did a few years ago with Rick Rubin, that was more my vibe and I just felt there was a real synergy politically, artistically and musically between jazz and The Beatles”.

Noonan knew that to do such revered material justice, the musicians she would need would be of the highest calibre Luckily, fate assembled for Noonan an amazing cast of all star session legends, guys like Ron Carter (Miles Davis’ long-time double-bass player), drummer Lewis Nash, saxophonist Joe Lovano, guitarist John Scofield and Melbourne-based keyboard player Sam Keevers.

When quizzed on the difficulty of getting such a group together Noonan claims little credit. “Well I met Joe Lovano through all these happy accidents chuckles Noonan. “We had a lot of common ground musically, I thought he’d be perfect for this project so I told him about the record I wanted to make, this intimate free thing I was going for and he totally got it. He suggested this band and I was like “holy shit, that’s pretty much the greatest band in the world” and freakishly, they were all into it, they all loved the idea and they were all available which was just another sign for me that this was all supposed to be”.