I first heard about Meatball Magic (not the meatball-making infomercial gadget) through a couple friends. I don't quite remember what my first thoughts were when I heard the name "Meatball Magic," but I vaguely recall thinking about huge gross-looking greasy meatballs. And on the meatballs there were splashes of spaghetti sauce; no Parmesan. I think Chef Boyardee was somewhere in the mix too. But let's not get too off topic.

It seemed odd that a group of three new wave/'80s/electro-loving DJs - Heinz, Cuddles and Princess Cuckoo - from Fresno would name their twice-monthly (first and third Friday) dance party at the Red Lantern on Belmont, Meatball Magic.

(Note: Heinz, Cuddles and Princess Cuckoo have real names, but in this context we'll just refer to them as "DJs." Please respect their anonymity. Also, I use quotations around DJ because they don't consider themselves true DJs; just music lovers playing CDs and having fun.)

"For me, I'm really into making mix CDs for people," Princess Cuckoo said. "Bringing that into a club atmosphere - no matter how fucked up it is - is fun. When people are drunk, they'll dance to anything."

By the way, one interesting aspect of these "DJs" is that they chose their names based on characters from John Waters films. Heinz and Cuddles came from "Polyester" and Princess Cuckoo came from "Desperate Living." The plan is to make future guest "DJs" adopt similar monikers.

Getting back to the Meatball Magic name, I thought, 'What the hell were they thinking? Why would they name it that?' During an interview/DJ lesson at the Red Lantern, Heinz told me he had an actual Meatball Magic (Google it, you'll see what I'm talking about) sitting on the top of this fridge and that's where it came from. "I couldn't think of a name," he said. "How sad, they know our secret now."

But that question of why they named it what they did ... blah blah blah ... soon faded into, 'Wow, there are people in this town playing my kind of music': Chicks on Speed, The Cramps, ADULT., Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Raveonettes, Ladytron, New Order, M.I.A., Interpol, Goldfrapp, Death From Above 1979, The Faint, Le Tigre, Fannypack and more. (Set lists can be viewed at www.myspace.com/meatballmagic.) They also welcome requests.

"People come up to the booth saying, 'Do you have this, do you have that?'" Cuddles said. "For the most part, we get all [requests] in."

And not only are they playing good, booty-shakin' music, but the event is free, which works out well for those who don't want to pay $5 to $10 dollars to get into a bar/club just to dance.

"We make no money," Princess Cuckoo said. "We actually lose money sometimes, which is all fine because it's all just fun.

"There are those clubs in town - that shall not be named - that are totally in it for the money. It's a testament to how willing we are to make Fresno a little more cool."

How awesome is that? People who want to make Fresno fun without exploiting all the broke Fresno goths, indie rockers, hipsters, Stacies, etc., etc. The only thing that sucks is that caters to only those who are 21 years of age and over. All-ages would be nice, Princess Cuckoo says, but they're taking things one step at a time at this point.

One thing all three "DJs" pointed out is that Meatball Magic is in no way affiliated with Futureshock. "We're not Futureshock part two," Princess Cuckoo said. "People tend to think it's sort of like a popularity contest, which it's not at all."

As far as the venue goes, the Red Lantern doesn't seem like to most ideal place to hold an electroclash dance party, but it suites them just fine. Cuddles and Heinz had discussed doing it at a "little Mexican or gay bar," finally settling on the desolate Belmont location. "It has the hole-in-the-wall appeal," Heinz said. There's been talking of moving Meatball Magic to the Circle, but for now, it's staying right where it is.

Meatball Magic's Threesome Gleesome will go up against special guest DJs (Sweet Baby G-Sus, Norbius and Mitch on Speed) Friday, September 16th at the Red Lantern (21+), located on 4618 E. Belmont. For more info visit myspace.com/meatballmagic.

Mitch on Speed recently moved outside of Fresno. Famous will miss him!