Max HeyraudWe sat down with Andrew, co-founder of Tender, a Dublin-based LGBTQ+ party collective, ahead of our collaborative event this Saturday at Tengu, featuring UK legend Midland. He discusses Tender’s roots in underground and DIY Pride parties, and how it has evolved into a platform for both musical exploration and social engagement.
Tender, a Dublin-based dance party for queers and allies, was founded with a shared vision of creating spaces where people can freely dance and express themselves. The goal was to foster an environment that feels like home for those who often exist on the fringes of “the scene” or culture in general—where they can be themselves and feel at ease. Drawing inspiration from underground parties like DIP, Club Comfort, and Radiant Love in Berlin, as well as years of hosting DIY Pride events, the four founders—Bill, Andrew, Megan, and James—set out to carve a radically new nightlife experience.
Since its inception, Tender has evolved into more than just a party—it’s a platform that blends music, community, and activism. With a sound that takes listeners on a journey from 90s trance to modern house, Tender creates an atmosphere of celebration and inclusivity. At its core, Tender’s commitment to campaigning for trans and queer rights is vital, and their parties offer more than just an escape—they’re events with a political backbone. From their renowned Tender Block Party to their nomadic, ever-evolving club nights, Tender remains a beacon for anyone seeking a safe and, most importantly, freeing space to connect, dance, and make a difference.
We sat down with Andrew from Tender to discuss how the collective blends music, activism, and inclusivity into a powerful club culture movement.
You can purchase final tickets to Four Four X Tender Present: Midland here.
What other parties or scenes have inspired Tender?
The four of us have been partying together for years; parties like DIP, Club Comfort and Radiant Love in Berlin were early inspirations for us. Bill and I (Andrew) held Pride parties with help from Megan and James in an old building at Bill’s family home for a couple of years and I think this is where we really got a love for throwing diy parties. Our pride parties were really special and we knew we had to keep it going and make it a more regular thing. At the same time, Megan had asked Bill if he was interested in starting a party so we decided to all work together and so Tender was born. As time has passed we have become connected with parties and promoters across Europe like Macadam in Nantes, Maricas In Barcelona, Group Therapy in Copenhagen and Adonis in London who also inspire what we do.
Tender has always been an essentially DIY club night. Why is it important for you to carve out a space that is radically unique to Tender?
I think it’s important as those spaces were the thing that inspired us to get involved in throwing parties. Our main aspiration for any party is to create a space where people can be comfortable to dance and express themselves. We have used a variety of spaces since we started in the Racket Space such as Tengu, the Tara buildings, Daylight, Think Punk, The Complex and other warehouse spaces. We are nomadic by necessity but the uniqueness of each space definitely adds a lot to the events.
Staying on that note, why is it important to use unusual and nuanced club spaces?
Using more unusual spaces allows us to push the boundaries of a club in areas like set design, lighting a more relaxed security presence and opening hours. We also feel that using DIY spaces is more fun for us as organisers and for the attendees and can give us a glimpse at a future where there is less restriction on licencing and the use of space
The party has a clear set of policies, especially the “Comfort Policies.” How have you managed to foster and enforce these policies, and what role do they play in shaping Tender’s atmosphere?
The policies are basically how we have set our intentions for how we want the parties to feel like, what we expect from the people who enter our space and what they can expect from us.. We made it clear that we won’t tolerate any form of discrimination or aggression and so far have been lucky that people have been respectful of our policies and space. As well as our policies we make sure that the four of us are visible at the parties and that if anyone needs anything we are there to help I think this helps to create an atmosphere where people feel welcome and fosters a sense of care.
Is there a quintessential Tender sound? If so, can you describe it?
The main thing about Tender is that it’s a party, we can’t create a celebratory atmosphere with music that’s too dark or serious sounding and we generally don’t take ourselves that seriously either. The sound we began with as individual DJs was mostly trance from the 90s but it’s evolved from that over time into a party that’s more rooted somewhere in between trance and house music. There’s a big drive in Dublin lately where most parties have hardgroove or dub as the focus, although we’ve nothing against that, those sounds just seem to fit into the current conditions for nightlife in the city. We prefer house and trance at our parties because we want it to be a long-form journey that’s able to keep you in this trance on the dance floor, and we’re also inspired by these almost mythic-sounding parties that used to happen in Dublin in the 90s, so the music reflects that in a modern way.
Tender and its members have been actively involved in advocating for human rights within Ireland’s trans and queer communities. Do you feel that music and politics are inherently connected, and if so, how does this relationship influence your work?
It’s undeniable that dance music and politics are strongly linked if we look at the origins of dance music if it came from queer black and Latino communities making space for themselves to experiment with music and gather together in underground scenes. In Ireland, at a time when homosexuality was still illegal, queer people danced in places like the Hirschfield Centre in Temple Bar which was at the forefront of the music scene in Ireland.
In recent years at home and around the world we have seen LGBTQI people attacked and rights being rolled back. When we look at the area of trans rights we see the far right and others including some Irish politicians are weaponising Trans identities. Trans healthcare in Ireland is the worst in Europe, so as a queer collective, we can’t stand by and say nothing when our friends and community are under attack. In the midst of all of this having a space where queer people and their allies can come together is so important and essentially that’s what we want tender to be. We have a platform and we feel it’s important to be vocal on things that matter be that LGBTQI rights, or speaking out on the genocide of the people of Palestine dancefloors are political spaces where we should not be silent.
Importantly, if we want to advance nightlife and culture we need to realise that the politicians we vote for are the ones that will shape licensing law reform. Make sure to follow the Give Us The Night Campaign and make this an election issue.
Can you tell us a bit about the annual Tender Block Party? Where did the idea stem from, and what importance does it hold for Tender?
Being a queer collective we knew our pride party had to be a special one. After a long search, we decided on The Complex in Smithfield which has been so supportive and trusting with their incredible space. One of our favourite elements of pride at The Complex is being able to run for 12 hours from day into night having a stage outside on the terrace and warehouse space inside at night, where we can showcase emerging and established artists from home and abroad. The complex is such a great blank slate so we can really put our stamp on it in terms of lighting, sound, set and stage design. It means a lot to us that so many people choose to celebrate pride with us, life as a queer person can be tough at times so it’s important to celebrate our queerness too.
Do you have a defining moment etched in your mind from a Tender party that could sum up the atmosphere for someone who’s never been?
Bennet closing our pride party in 2024. It’s a dark room packed with sweaty bodies, and people dancing in a state of euphoria lasers and strobe lights cut through the smoke. We’re all consumed by the music. The final track plays out and lights come up. It feels like everyone in the room is connected after this shared experience.
You can purchase final tickets to Four Four X Tender Present: Midland here.
