Riot Disco Sthlm initially started last year as a DJ club, but now they’ve stepped their game up and have announced that they’re expanding into live bookings. They debut the new concept on March 31 at Slaktkrykan, with True Moon, Lava Bangs, Allvaret and KNASH booked to play. We caught up with Felix, Emma and Johanna, the trio behind the club to get a preview.
Ok, so tell who you are and how the club started?
Felix: We are three friends that go way back. We’ve known each other since we were teenagers. I met Emma at a gig, as she fell down in the mosh pit and I helped her up. All good friendships starts with being plastered at a gig.
Emma: True story… Me and Johanna met in high school. We used to trade mixtapes during gym class, and bonded over the music we loved. And also, Johanna stole my Expressen Fredag every Friday. That’s how we kept up with the latest music before the internet… Last year we all met over a couple of beers in Malmö, where Johanna and I live, and we came up with the idea of starting a club. To be honest, I didn’t really think we would make something of it at the time. But here we are…
Johanna: Since we love riot grrrl-music, we figured: Why not start a riot grrrl-club? But we decided to not be a strictly riot grrrl-club but to focus on all kinds of great alternative female fronted music. There’s so much good music out there we didn’t want to limit ourselves to any strict definitions of what riot grrrl is. But riot grrrl is the foundation.
Felix: I’ve been working with clubs before, mainly with Garageland and Klubb Hymn, so I asked around among people I know and got us a couple of DJ-dates in Stockholm.
Emma: Without Felix’s prior experience this would never happen. This was all new to me. And first of all I had to learn how to DJ.
You started off as a DJ club, why did you switch over to booking live artists?
Emma: We started off as DJ club one year ago in March 2017. At the time we didn’t know if there was an interest in our club and the music we played. This year has been a learning period for us and getting people to know us. The response has been great, and that’s been really encouraging.
Felix: We were very fortunate to get this opportunity thanks to Lisa Jenssen Bünger, who is part of the team that runs Kraken and Slaktkyrkan. She suggested that we should do a number of live clubs for them. She was really enthusiastic about the whole idea. It’s always fun to work with people who are genuinely interested in what you’re doing.
Johanna: We all love live music and we have talked about going in that direction from the beginning. And it feel like such a good way of supporting all the great female acts out there.
Emma: Me and Felix saw L7 in Berlin a few years ago. And I remember thinking that it was insane that they weren’t playing in Sweden on their European tour. So many great bands never come to Sweden when they are touring. That is a shame! We hope that will change.
How important to the club’s ethos is giving space and opportunities to the female artists on Stockholm’s indie/rock/ punk scene?
Johanna: It is very important. We want people, especially women, to feel welcome, not just to the club but also to participate, get involved. That ranges from us having guest DJs, to making posters for our events, collaborating on shows etc. So please feel free to contact us with your ideas!
Emma: As feminists it is always our goal to both create and share the space with other women. Music always has been a place to gather strength for political movements, to come together. Music can be really empowering. I love that.
You first event features only Swedish artists, but you’ve spoken about wanting to book international acts in future. What are you looking for in the bands you book?
Emma: We are looking for female or female-fronted artists and bands from the alternative scene. Artists that share our vision of inclusiveness and that can rock our socks off, hehe.
Johanna: We want to book the bands we want to see…we are so selfish. No but seriously there are so many amazing live acts out there, starting out, eager to play and when touring, Sweden is bit off the radar – we need to get better at booking these new talents.
Emma: But also the bands that we listened to as teenagers. Souls and Fivel – my dream night!
Felix: Ideally it would be a mix between artists that have been around for a long time and new acts. We love the pioneers but we love the new stuff coming out as well. We have an extremely long list of bands that we want to book – there’s so much great music out there.
Finally, tell us about the opening night.
Felix: We booked four of Sweden’s best live bands – they’re all really impressive live acts, some of my absolute favourites. The kind of energy they have onstage is awesome. Musically it’s a mix of different styles. True Moon is pretty classic post punk, that sweet danceable gloom thing.
Emma: And Lava Bangs have this classic riot grrrl-feel with high-energy feminist anthems. KNASH are a bit more pop, it’s feminist punkpop at it’s best.
Felix: And Allvaret is the kind of punk I’ve loved since I was a teenager. And their vocalist Sushila Gautam is such a great stage presence. One of those acts you just got to see live.
Emma: It’s going to be such a great party. Great live acts, great DJs, beer – what more can you ask for?
