There’s a new club night in town. Two advocates and networks for music made by female/trans/non-binary artists, the record label Cherish and the producer collective Upfront, have teamed up for CHUP Nights, a new monthly club night at Häktet. The second edition kicks off tonight, with a live performance from pop artist Maydar and DJ sets from Prescott and Dr Echoe. We caught up with Evelina Åslin of Cherish and Affa Alizadeh of Upfront to learn more about the concept.
Ok, so this is the second edition of CHUP nights at Häktet. Where did the idea to have these club nights come from?
Evelina: My friend Love (Krok Attling), the Creative Director at Häktet, reached out and asked if I wanted to host something there with Cherish. By then I had just started working as the Manager of Operations at Upfront, so I thought: Why not merge these two forces? Also some producers from both networks were asking for more occasions to simply hang out, so this is for everyone to meet, network and get to know each other better.
Affa: Evelina reached out to me, and asked if I wanted to help her arrange these club nights from Upfront’s side and it sounded like music to my ears (hehe). We had a think about what name we should go for and came up with a merge of both of our names – CHUP – the best of two worlds basically.
What are you looking for in the artists and DJs you’re booking for these nights?
Affa: We want to present the most interesting DJs and live acts in the scene at the moment. And also be inclusive by showcasing diversity and different types of genres – in other words, the things both Upfront and Cherish stand for.
Evelina: It’s fun booking music that fits the very specific venue that is Häktet. Since the place has a cosy, intimate and cute, yet fine-dine, feeling, it’s nice to highlight that with a somewhat similar mood in music. We love how Häktet feels so chill yet then gets rowdy in the wee hours of the night, hehe. But yes, there will be a diverse range of interesting acts during our nights!
Tell us what we can expect on Thursday.
Affa: We have an amazing line-up for the night! So loads of dancing and good tunes. And a chance to get to know some new faces. Häktet is the perfect place to be on a Thursday!
Evelina: Live music by the bomb producer and songwriter Maydar (who’s a part of Upfront Producer Network) and some fire tunes for the dancefloor from the DJs Dr Echoe (Isabelle Eoka from Cherishs own association board) and Prescott (Hannah Prescott from our DJ-network).
And what’s coming up over the rest of the summer? And are there any plans to expand the Upfront and Cherish collaborations further?
Affa: We will bless your ears with two more club nights this summer (25/7 & 29/8), so there will be more fun times to come!
Evelina: Upfront and Cherish are continually working side by side smashing the patriarchy and other structural oppression in the music industry. Oh and next year both organisations celebrates their 5 year anniversary… So it’s to be continued.
Photo: Maydar by Sandra Thorsson
