We’re excited to host Adele Bertei for a conversation with journalist Peter Murphy on her memoir NO NEW YORK: A Memoir of No Wave and the Women Who Shaped the Scene. Adele Bertei didn’t just witness the No Wave explosion, she ignited it. She was at the epicenter when punk collided with post-punk, birthing a counterculture that fused music, art, cinema, fashion and outlaw literature into an uncompromising explosion of creativity. This promises to be a fascinating evening far from the mainstream…
Attendance is free but booking is essential.
PRAISE FOR NO NEW YORK
‘Elegant and incisive’ - Viv Albertine
‘A taut, streetwise memoir of the downtown New York music and art scene that wealth and gentrification destroyed’ - Neil Tennant
‘Utterly compulsive and passionate’ - Thurston Moore
‘Reveals a lost Manhattan full of creativity, space and danger’ - Jon Savage
ABOUT
Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1955, ADELE BERTEI was a founding member of musical insurrectionists the Contortions and lead singer for the Bloods, which is considered the first out, queer, all women-rock band. Her film credits include Lizzie Borden’s Born in Flames. She has toured with, written songs for, and recorded with artists as diverse as Tears for Fears, Thomas Dolby, Sandra Bernhard, Culture Club, Scritti Politti, and Whitney Houston. She is the author of Peter and the Wolves (2020) and Why Labelle Matters (2021), Twist (2023) and Universal Mother (2025). She lives in Los Angeles. [Photo: Monica Orozco]
PETER MURPHY, also known as Cursed Murphy, is a journalist, author, musician and performer, known for his contributions to Hot Press magazine, Rolling Stone, The Irish Times , and more. He has published two novels, John the Revelator and Shall We Gather at the River; hosted the Cursed Murphy Podcast: In-depth encounters with intense people ; and released albums The Hands of Franky Machine and Cursed Murphy versus The Resistance .