Toronto-based Three O’Clock Press recently released Then and Now, a collection of columns by DJ and writer Denise Benson that originally appeared in The Grid, the city’s now-defunct alt weekly.

Q&Q spoke with Sarah Wayne, publisher of Three O’Clock – a press known for its interest in the stories of women, minority groups, and the LGBTQ community – about Benson’s title.

How did you come to publish Then & Now?

It really just comes down to my own interests and involvement in Toronto’s music scene. In the spring of 2012, I began reading Denise’s column and it struck a nerve. Not just because it tapped into my own nostalgia for this really important time in my own life, when I frequented raves and clubs, but because you could see that people across all demographics were excited to read these stories and share their own memories. The column provided a feeling of recognition that what we had felt, what we had participated in, was important. It was also a feeling of a greater connection to Toronto’s party people across years and genres. It felt obvious to me that this was a part of Toronto’s history that needed to be shared and preserved. I emailed Denise asking if she’d ever thought about turning this project into a book. She said she had, and we began to talk about the project. Three short years – and a heck of a lot of work on Denise’s part – later, Then & Now was released.

This seems like a bit of a deviation from Three O’Clock’s usual books, in terms of subject matter. What drew you to the title?

I can understand why Then & Now seems like a departure, but in a way it’s a fitting compliment to our first release: the re-issue of Daniel Jones’ Toronto punk rock novel, 1978. Both acquisitions stem from my belief that there are many who share my interest in Toronto’s lesser-known and underground cultural histories. It seems like Toronto has gotten more comfortable recognizing and celebrating itself … it’s just a good time to celebrate the city right now and we’re more receptive to it than we were, let’s say, a decade ago. This specific history had not been told, and it was definitely time.

The way in which Denise has written first the column and now the book has always been very much in line with Three O’Clock’s ethos. She has rightly centered the women, LGBTQ folks, and people of colour who were an integral part in building Toronto’s nightlife history and in creating the dance music that was the very foundation of nightlife in Toronto and worldwide. She always looks to represent many voices and perspectives in order to share the most thorough version possible of what is a shared history.

What about the photo-heavy nature of the book?

Though the majority of our backlist are books that are text-based, One Kind Word, a 2014 release of ours which includes women’s abortion stories, was 50 per cent photos, so taking on a photo-heavy project wasn’t out of the question. The biggest difference between this book and our usual releases was that there was a lot more involved in terms of permissions and other production-related duties. When you’re putting out a title that’s very much a community history, and which has drawn from the contributions of literally hundreds of people, there’s a lot of reaching out involved. But people were so generous with their time and so happy to contribute to this project, it confirmed my feeling that this was an important release and that people desire the recognition of important cultural movements of which they were a part.

How has the reader response been?

We’ve been blown away by the response. Our first print run has sold out and we’re working on a reprint right now. As other independent publishers know, this is a great position to be in – and not always where we find ourselves. There’s no better feeling than to put out a book that you totally believe in and to have people connect with it. I’m extremely proud that this essential part of Toronto’s history has been preserved so beautifully, and that this book now exists.

This interview has been edited and condensed.