New Ritual Press Takes Center Stage In LA's Party Scene

Attending New Ritual Press's Spring Equinox Party

source: @AdemLuz on X

Last Saturday, I attended the launch party in LA for my friends Matt Pegas and Dan Baltics’ New Ritual Press publishing venue. The theme of the party was the Spring Equinox. Authors speaking and entertainers at the event included Matt Pegas, Omar King, Nut Man Dan Baltic, Stephen Pimentel, Gabby Sones, Classy Fred Blassie, who was the equinox queen, and Adem Luz Rienspects, who served as MC. Dan Baltic read a hilarious chapter from the upcoming sequel to his novel NUTCRANKR, which I reviewed a few years ago. Stephen Pimentel told a story about attending a psychedelic retreat in Berkeley.

source: @omarking0924on X

The party had great aesthetic décor, including pagan symbolism in line with the Spring Equinox theme. There was a candle walk, tarot readings by Matt, and they were handing out gardening seeds. A talented organist performed at the beginning of the show, and a great live band performed afterward.

Matt Pegas performing a Tarot reading

photo credit: Adem Luz Rienspects

Omar King said about the party, "As dismal and an emotional whammo as it was for me (for reasons that are well known to the individuals involved) I can't deny the fact that The Midnight Equinox was eventful, crazy, hunky-dory, wild, metaphoric, atmospheric, chaotic, and at the end a party for others. A success, indeed. I am so pleased that they had a swell time. Very pleased. It makes me happy that they are happy and had fun, and celebrated. What a night - indeed-indeed - it was." Rachel, who needs no introduction, said, “I was in attendance and it was lovely to meet some of my mutuals in real life. Blassie made a beautiful equinox queen however, I was waiting to sacrifice her all night, and the opportunity never arose. Perhaps next year.”

source: @AdemLuz on X

Omar’s An Odyssey Of Dingbats! is the first book published by New Ritual Press. It is a collection of short stories that are surreal and filled with dark and off the wall humor. Since Omar comes across as wholesome, the audience may be caught off guard when he reads the more graphic sexual parts of the book. For instance, an anthropomorphized hopelessly romantic crayon who witnesses a femdom/gimp slave relationship, a story of an aging and emotionally broken, albeit coping, former starlet, who recounts the trauma of forced casting couch fellatio, a story about overhearing a man talk about fellatio and eating pussy in a public restroom, and a true story of wandering off from a vocational program at a Costco parking lot and witnessing the horrors of car fellatio, which Omar describes it as if he saw the devil.

Omar Reading

photo credit: Adem Luz Rienspects

However, I would be doing Omar a grave disservice if I said An Odyssey Of Dingbats! was simply just shocking sexual humor, though it is a very funny book, and Omar has a unique sense of humor. When Omar read the story of the aging starlet, Barbie, he empathetically encapsulated her deep emotional pain and vulnerability, and the euphoria, love, and temporary regaining of her lost youth she experienced when a group of young hipsters danced with her at a bar. Omar’s surreal artwork is featured throughout the book, which captures the emotions and vibes of the book.

source: @omarking0924 on X

Omar was recently interviewed on the well known YouTube channel, Soft White Underbelly, in which he talked about his dream about a famous elderly actress, whose name Omar refused to disclose, receiving cunnilingus from a young man who was behaving like a dog. Despite Omar being a Zoomer and a native of Gardena, California, he has the iconic accent of an older southern gentleman.

source: @zuki_2024 on X

The crowd at the party was diverse, including ethnically, with attendees from all walks of life. For instance, I noticed hipsters, people in the entertainment industry, nonbinary people, Dark Enlightenment/Yarvin adjacent types, and a Groyper or two. I also got to meet some of my Twitter mutuals. Ironically, in an era of intense political polarization, there is this vibe shift that is more open and fluid, at least in the cultural sphere. While it is easy for outsiders to hate the normie, Gabby Sones’s talk captures a certain vibe shift where a lot of formerly disaffected people are embracing being normies because normies are much more content. Regardless, a scene based on outsider art is attracting a degree of social status and cultural clout.

Gabby Sones

Photo credit: Adem Luz Rienspects

While the party was not political, I’d estimate it leans disproportionately right by LA standards. Sure, you have the cliché of hipsters and “art hoes” who embraced rightwing symbolism for the ironic value. For instance, the Dime Square crowd that are fans of the Red Scare podcast, which is now sort of a cursed brand. Regardless, I don’t think I heard anyone talk about Trump or electoral politics at the party, as people were having too much fun to be concerned about those matters. However, I did hear people talking about more esoteric topics. Likewise, New Ritual Press is not an ideological publishing company, but is willing to publish transgressive and politically incorrect fiction that couldn’t get published by more liberal and establishment coded publishing companies.

source: @newritualpress on X

I am biased because I am friends with Matt and Dan, who run New Ritual Press, and they will likely publish my work. Regardless, I am very optimistic about their endeavor, and I see its potential to go beyond an independent online publishing company to a cultural institution, as well as a party venue. The event was a cultural breakthrough and lived up to the Spring Equinox’s symbolism of rebirth. Certainly, it feels like LA, which has gotten a lot of negative publicity over the past several years, is a good spot to be in 2025 for this kind of thing.

source: @AdemLuz on X

source: @AdemLuz on X