Split Personality

MW: How old are you now?

VAN HORN: I am 44. I started doing all of this kind of stuff when I was 35, as far as doing it professionally here in D.C. Creating a career out of it. So it’s almost 10 years. And it’s been super-rewarding and super-fulfilling. And I’ve definitely made a lot of amazing friends from it. But I don’t know. I’m tired a lot of the time. On a Monday after a weekend where maybe I worked at Number Nine with Friday Night Videos, and then had a Mixtape on Saturday, and then Guil-Tea on Sunday — Monday at the office I’m really, really tired. So there’s definitely a level of energy I don’t know if I can sustain. There’s a certain level of temporary quality to nightlife, so at any moment it could disappear or go away. But also, benefits don’t come from DJ’ing. I know that people do do it, and I imagine if I put my mind to it, I could do it. And I’ve got Andy as well. He’s supportive of everything that I’m doing.

Andy and I both have an interest in international stuff — in living in a different place, and working in a different country. I’ve done that once before, in Greece, and I would definitely do it again. DJ’ing is a skill I can take anywhere. Summer Camp might not be as popular in some places as she is here. Summer Camp goes to Dubai! [Laughs.]

MW: Do you want to have kids?

VAN HORN: I think so, yeah. I’ve talked about two. Andy’s talked about three. He’ll be 35 this year, so he’s nine years younger than I am. I feel like age is very relative. It’s not like you hit a certain age, you have to stop doing certain things. But I don’t want to be so old that I can’t enjoy or keep up with raising kids. Or I don’t want to be so far ahead of them in age that I can’t experience — I want to experience as much of their lives as possible too.

The other thing is, I don’t think of myself as a typical 44-year-old. I feel like I have a lot of energy, I feel like I do a lot. And I also think I’d be a really good dad. I have a lot of fun with kids. I didn’t always think I wanted to have kids. I think that that came around later in life. For a long time I didn’t trust that I would be a good dad. I think it scared me, that level of responsibility. But for now, it’s just dogs. We have two French bulldog puppies that are 10 months old. They’re sisters. I never also thought that I would ever consider myself a dog person. I love cats. I have a cat that I’ve had for 15 years.

MW: What are your thoughts about the state of nightlife in D.C.?

VAN HORN: I think it’s pretty good right now. It’s full, it’s interesting. One of the challenges is venues. There aren’t a lot of venues in this city. It would be great if there were more mid-size, dance party-ready venues. But because there aren’t a lot of venues, sometimes promoters are at the whim of schedules of other venues. So there have been times when our parties have landed on the same nights.

There’s so much happening now, and so much variety of parties. I’d rather there be too many things — more things to chose from — than not enough. It’s great to see such a diversity in nightlife. All these boutique parties that are happening. It’s just great to see so much happening on all the nights of the week. And it’s cool that everyone gets along. At least I’m not aware of it being a cutthroat, bitchy city.

One thing I would like to do is something that combines everything that I do. So, there’s Crack, a big theater production. And then there’s Mixtape and Guil-Tea dance parties. But I also enjoy DJ’ing as Summer Camp. And I think it’d be kind of fun to combine them. I’ve always wanted to have a party called Summer’s Eve, where it’s Summer Camp hosting and DJ’ing a party. In a way, it would almost feel like Taint. Which for me is where everything all began in D.C. Because when I went to Taint for the first time, that’s when I saw a party that was unlike anything else in D.C., and it reminded me a lot of what I liked about Seattle. And that’s the snowball that started everything that I do here now. I like the idea of having some fun dance music, having guest DJs, but also being Summer Camp, playing some music, and then doing a number. Not as much production as a Crack show, but still a chance to mix it all together. So that’s probably the next thing I want to try to figure out a way to do.

MW: That would be another way for you to keep music front and center in your life too.

VAN HORN: I’ve had this deep interest in music since I was a little kid. I spent a lot of time, just as kid in the ’80s, with cassette tapes in my room. And the sounds I think that I heard in the ’80s really crystalized my interest in music, and my interest in music has really always been down the path of synthesizer-driven electronic music. And it’s always just moved along the edge of what’s been happening in that scene — late ’70s disco, early ’80s new wave, late ’80s gothic/industrial music, early ’90s house music. It’s funny, the ’90s, for me, I really disliked ’90s pop music. It really was one of the low periods in music. But the ’90s for me was all about Britpop — bands like Pulp and Blur. The synthesizer/rock sound.

I just tend to like things on the moodier side. I always feel like the kinds of sounds I like are minor keys, kind of depressing stuff, on some level. My favorite bands are The Smiths, Pet Shop Boys, LCD Soundsystem.

I’m a little bit discouraged where dance music is right now. I can play whatever current, Zedd-produced or Calvin Harris-produced song, but it’s discouraging to me that I feel like all of the dance music and pop music is kind of merging into one sound. It seems overly formulaic now. Like Duck Sauce, and it was refreshing to hear their take on dance music, not going down the path of everything kind of sounding the same. But I hate David Guetta — he’s kind of disgusting to me.

MW: Did you ever want to pursue music as a career?

VAN HORN: A little bit. When I was in my 20s, I liked the idea of music production. I’ve never really taken the leap of understanding how to do that. But it’s certainly something that I’d still be very, very interested in learning how to do, create my own remixes.

MW: Can you sing?

VAN HORN: No. There were times when I liked to think that I could. I studied voice when I studied theater. And I’ve sung before as Summer Camp at some of our shows. But I don’t have a career in singing ahead of me. So, for example, if I ever made it on to RuPaul’s Drag Race, I would not be one of the drag queens that puts out an album. I recognize the fact that even with auto-tune and all of that, I’d rather play to my strengths, and singing is not one of them.

Guil-Tea happens every Sunday from 3 to 8 p.m. through Sunday, September 7. The next Mixtape is Friday, July 25, at 11 p.m., at the 9:30 Club.

Upcoming performances by Summer Camp include CTRL and Otter Crossing’s “Get Wet!” pool party this Saturday, July 19, at Capitol Skyline Hotel; Gay Bash! Saturday, July 26, at The Black Cat; and during the main drag show on Saturday, Aug. 16, at Town Danceboutique.