With the original concept just over a year old, Rock’n’Roll Safari is Stockholm’s new garage-rock club, a lo-fi trip that books local and international acts and brings them to the city’s best small venues. The show rolls in to Riche Lilla Baren, and we caught up with Samuel Hahn, the man behind the club, to learn all about it.

Ok, so how did the Rock’n’Roll Safari get started?

Well to be honest, I had just been on a Safari (no joke), and I was trying to figure out a fun concept for a club. Literally the first thing I thought of was ‘Rock’n’Roll Safari’. My second thought after that was, “that sounds absolutely ridiculous”, and that’s when I realised it was a good idea. I had a lot of friends, either from or with heritage from different parts of the world, who were also music nerds and that’s when I came up with the idea that it should be a DJ night where we explore music from the guests’ native countries. I ran it by Mackan at Riche and he liked the idea and it kinda just spun from there.

What makes the Rock’n’Roll Safari different from a standard live club?

Well the goal is to try and get international acts here, who in this current [live music] climate don’t make the trip up to Stockholm. There’s loads of good stuff that just doesn’t come up north, but that’s something I wanna change. And then also the Safari theme, I’ve never heard of a live club having a Safari theme.UNIQUE.

What are you looking for in the bands you book for Rock’n’Roll Safari?

I’m pretty open to anything but I guess I have this fetish for this kinda analogue raw stuff. It can be everything from garage to dance music as long as it has the right vibe.

Ok, tell us about the November shows.

Well tonight (Nov 16) I’m putting on Midnight Sister at Riche Lilla Baren, they’re this really cool, kinda retro pop outfit from Los Angeles. We had to organise it as a secret gig, due to various different reasons, so I’ve been dying to say who it is and now I can! I am super excited about the show tonight, you’d be a fool to miss it! They’re on stage at 21:30.

Then next Friday there’s Moon Diagrams at Cantina Real, it’s Moses from Deerhunter‘s solo project and It’s really really good. I gotta say I’m really looking forward to this one. Birthday Girl and Farida are opening and they are both sooo good, kinda amazed how incredible that line-up is, gonna be a spectacular night in the basement.

After the November shows, what’s next? How are you looking to develop the club into the future?

Well the plan is really just to keep on booking more great bands. The dream would of course be to book a safari-themed band but it’s just to hard to find. One day though…

Rock’n’Roll Safari Presents: Midnight Sister, Riche Lilla Baren, Nov 16