This week, Ralph adheres to his quirky choice of acts, hosting artists from Madrid, Berlin and Dublin, whose music spans cabaret to Hammer horror.

Jesse Evans, a Berlin-based singer and saxophonist, plays music influenced by 80s New York disco in a style making nods to 1940s film noir. Evans is on a UK tour, stopping at Ireland's Electric Picnic Festival and support slots with Iggy & The Stooges.

"A friend of mine rang me up from Berlin and said 'you've got to see this woman,' he says, "I have people all over telling me about bands."

The Things' psychedelic, garage horror rock is likewise a rare find. Travelling from Dublin to play at Razor Stiletto, "they're friends of mine," says Ralph.

The Things' MySpace page shows band members clad in horror costumes, fake blood and laser eyes. The sound is half-spoof horror, half garage with shaky vocals, fast drums and swirls of organ.

Madrid DJs The Tender Maulings play between sets to "make people party," according to Ralph. While Green Man Says Go, which Ralph describes, tongue-in-cheek, as "the best thing to have come out of Barnsley since Saxon," play a set of electro-fused, spiky indie rock.

Ralph keeps his bookings controversial, "I like taking risks. I've booked bands that have made people walk out in disgust," he recalls, "It's all about giving people what they wouldn't normally see. It kind of works."

He is also renowned for staging strange cabaret acts such as Bruce Airhead, who, according to Ralph, "climbs into a giant balloon and has a costume change within it."

Bands to have graced Razor Stiletto's stage include Hot Chip and Cabaret Voltaire's Richard H Kirk, though any time the night is dubbed 'cool' Ralph likes to stir things up.

"I'd like to put on the worst band I can find. I once did a spoof flyer that read 'The headlining act is somebody you have never heard of,' and that night was one of our best-selling ones," he laughs.

Razor Stiletto Festival of International Music and Performance starts at 10.30pm on Saturday at DQ, Fitzwilliam Street.

MORE:
Listings Guide
Arts Guide
Film Guide
Theatre and Events
Music Guide