Joycelyn Longdon

Ecuadorian music producer Nicola Cruz’s creative process involves an attentive, careful search for the living roots and rituals that are part of South American identity—its Andean and African origins in particular—valuing its rhythms, its oral traditions, its instruments and the energy they transmit.

 for a candid conversation on his small town upbringing in the mountains, its influence on his music career and being stranded, naked with nothing but a pair of binoculars, a flute and a recorder.

So I come from a small town in Ecuador called Quito. It is the capital, but it's still a small town. The belief here is that whatever you do is for the growth of the town. It’s been like that forever. So that's that's my background. I'd say everything here has taught me patience.

Being from a place like Quito, you are very high up in the mountains where there are springs and volcanoes. You have the jungle which is five hours from the capital and the coast is five hours in the other direction. It's kind of like this midpoint in the world where you have a pretty balanced environment. It has always been very inspiring for me.

What's the scene like there? Are there other artists to come out of your town and on to the international stage.

I'm not sure if it's on the international level. But on a local level, yeah of course there are. I have a techno party back at home with a friend I travel with, who performs the visuals and DJs when I play. The party is called 

 - it's a synonym for sacred. The party came from the amount of oppression we felt in Quito from the Church which is a big thing in Latin America. It's deep rooted in tradition and we try to keep independent from that. I also have a mate, who makes really interesting San Juanito which is one of the traditional genres from Ecuador.

What does the traditional genre from Ecuador sound like?

San Juanito is like a drunken snare player that sings! Lots of our music does not follow the traditional band format of a drummer, guitarist etc - that's a Western thing. In South America, we are a bit more minimalistic. For example, when you go to Chile there's a guy that has a kick drum on his back and a cowbell up here [gestures upwards] and has some you know cymbals here [gestures downwards] and he practically does it all as a one man band.

Do you think that's inspired you as an artist, in terms of how you make music and perform?

So I come from a percussive background, drums are my voice, and I feel that Latin America in general has a particular cadence. It leans towards towards a groove, which is quite different from the West. So I try to keep this idea of keeping a rootsy sound from my origins but at the same time, creating something that really is contemporary and modern yet still South American in terms of electronic music.

How is your sound received when you travel out of South America?

I feel music is universal you know, it might sound cliche, but it's a universal language where you don't need to speak English or Japanese or Spanish to communicate. People can identify with the more rootsy sound, something I think has sort of been ‘waking up’ in people all over the world.

Are there are places that like you really enjoy playing out your music?

Yeah of course. Number one is always Japan. I really like to have no bias, no prejudice or stereotypes when I’m playing. When you play in Japan, the guy before you has just played like a four hour noise set so you can go after him and play pretty much whatever you want. I love that freedom. As a performer the nicest thing is to have the freedom to express - it's refreshing.

If you were trippin with nothing but three items (save your passport and absolute essentials) what would they be?

I'd take a pair of binoculars. I think that would be my special piece. There are tons of weird birds around and I just like magnifying stuff!


I’d also pack a quena, a flute common of the Andes. It's nice to sketch ideas with and whenever I travel around or go camping, I always take the quena with me. Lastly, I would take something to document my experiences with. So that would be either a voice recorder or my Yashika fx 7 film camera.

What tracks would you put in a usb we gave you?

That’s a very hard question. Of course something by Matthew Herbert. I might also put a mantra on it, some meditation to keep me sane. Man, I'm gonna be naked with some binoculars, a quena, a recorder and Matthew Herbert!

Nicolá Cruz on San Juanito, Japan and his Travel Essentials

“Music is what we love. Summer is when we meet. Hï Ibiza is where we connect.”

These are the powerful words that define the young but exceptional and now iconic club Hï Ibiza. Opening its doors in 2017, the club has played host to an array of Electronic music giants and this time we went Trippin with Glitterbox at Hï Ibiza to find out more about the beautiful island, the changing face of Ibiza’s party landscape and the impact of a space like Glitterbox on the Island.

The island has a long history of gay culture having one of the 

first organised gay scenes in Spain in the 60's

, and the queer disco seen has been ever present all over the world but more and more the segregation of gay and straight parties is becoming prevalent in the Ibiza scene. 

“In London there’s a real separation with the queer scene and the straight scene. There’s this kind of antagonism between the two because everyones fighting for equality but here in Ibiza it’s more relaxed and there’s more fluidity between the two. Going up and down the strip it isn’t as separated, everyone goes into anywhere”.

What makes Ibiza special is that its inclusivity reaches further than just the night life and over time, more and more safe spaces for the queer community have cemented themselves into the Island’s ecosystem. Every night has a morning after and what would on of Europe’s Gay capitals be without a stream of glamorous and safe gay beaches to take refuge on after a heavy night. Lucy reflects on the tension she senses in London and compares it to the chill vibe in Ibiza. 

“Maybe that’s because everyone’s on holiday here and they’re forgetting all the politics of nightlife in a way. It makes it easier for everyone to just be together. I don’t know. I'm really lucky but I also don’t see the rest of the dancers having trouble with anyone either”.

“Glitterbox is one of the more inclusive parties on the island for sure. I think by the type of music that’s played and how they market the night with the drag queens as the hero of the brand it kind of shows you what the brand is about, with queer people at the forefront”.

 Since 2014 Glitterbox has united music lovers from the UK, to Ibiza, to New York - it is the 21st century disco renowned for moving the mind, body and soul by bringing dancers, fierce performers, drag queens and music together to make truly unforgettable moments on dancefloors worldwide. 

“This year's party tagline was “express yourself”. They’re spreading the vibe and energy for people to be themselves - if you’re a human be yourself and don’t stop other people from being themselves. It’s important because there are parties in Ibiza that are really “laddy” where a lot of people wouldn’t feel invited or safe”.

 This is one of the many reasons that parties like Glitterbox need to exist. The world is changing and the party landscape must change with it, especially in locations as iconic as Ibiza. Each year the island attracts around 

, most of whom are out to party and it is important that every single visitor feels like they can enjoy themselves in a safe, inclusive and accepting space!

An important part of the Trippin experience is connecting with the locals, respecting their home and endeavouring to learn more about their culture. For Lucy, it was also a welcome break from her experiences with her fellow UK nationals. 

“The locals are super lovely. Especially when the first impressions you get coming from the UK is that everyone’s getting on it. I was having a lovely flight, then, at sometime around 7am, everyone on my flight was drinking and the guy next to me had ten miniature bottles of gin. Why are you drinking that much at 7.45 in the morning?! Once they’re at the airport they’re already on their way”.

 This years personal experience for Lucy couldn’t be more different. “

I’ve been sober since the end of my last season...I wanted to experience what I’m doing and being so busy with work...I can’t keep up with getting trashed.”

Growing up, model, dancer and face of Glitterbox Ibiza (and UK), Lucy Fizz always wanted to travel for work, but never figured out how it could happen. With holidays abroad being few and far between, usually at Haven, Pontoons, or sometimes Costa del Sol, Lucy didn’t have the opportunity to see a wide range of foreign lands. It took falling into dancing to make what seemed like only a dream come true. 

“All these opportunities to work around the world cropped up quite naturally as a result. It feels so amazing. When I have a gig somewhere around the world, I always try to extend my stay by a couple days to experience the city I’m in”.

 We got a chance to catch up with Lucy and dive deeper into her experiences trippin around the world as a Glitterbox ambassador.

Lucy’s Glitterbox journey began while she was working at 

, the LGBTQ+ Collective changing UK club culture. 

“Glynn Russel came onboard as a Creative Director which was how I was put onto Glitterbox. I did two or three parties over two weeks at the end of season. We became an integral part of the brand and after that I was working in a club night called Savage - we hosted the wild corner maybe four or five times and so that kind of became our naughty little rave space and it was a really wild”.

 Her experiences show just how important inclusive spaces are, how often is it that we could feel safe 

“running around the crowd with a thong sequined beaded leotard. It's just real funny and welcoming and inviting”.

 One of the main aspects of the Glitterbox experience is their ambassadors who the crowd have really come to know and be familiar with. 

”It honestly feels like we’re their friends and it's even more inviting for them to say hello.”

 This dynamic of having both a talented team of ambassadors as well as a crazy line-up if DJs brings a welcome change to the Ibiza party circuit, creating an atmosphere of friends and family whatever the location. What’s more, the Glitterbox team is inherently mixed, built from individuals from a wide range of backgrounds! 

“There’s a lot of people from London, but we’re expanding and there are always people getting added from different tours, just recently a girl from Germany joined us on the tour to Croatia - there’s a good amount of variation and representation of people within the dance routine”.

 The diversity of the Glitterbox ambassadors is not just seen in their location based differences but also their personas and roles within the party.

The team is comprised of around 8-10 drag queens and 8 female dancers. The dancers are trained professional dancers whereas the drag queens are more like wild creatures with a 

“It's nice to have that balance of amazing people who know how to use their bodies and move really beautifully.”

Having visited the island for the first time only 4 years ago, Lucy had some concerns around what her Ibiza experience would be like. 

“I was always put off by the tv programmes like Ibiza uncovered. It was never what I wanted to surround myself with. I was really shy and studious so Ibiza was the opposite of the world I grew up around when I was a teenager”.

 However, her first experience exceeded her expectations and blew the preconceptions out of the water

. “It was nothing like I supposed. I really don’t see that side. I’m always staying in old town - it's so peaceful and chilled there”.

Spain

Ibiza

The Face of Glitterbox Hï Ibiza: Lucy Fizz

Located in New Delhi and with the mission of creating community through music, Boxout.fm is a radio station and platform pushing forward the alternative music scene across India.

Conceived only three years ago, the brand filled the urgent need for a community-led platform championing alternative music and culture in India. In that time they have achieved incredible success, supported a plethora of talented artists and creators and inspired a nation. Reaching over 9.3 Million people on social media and streaming over 7.7 Million minutes on Mixcloud, it is safe to say that Boxout.fm are feeding a hunger for alternative music in India and beyond.

, India presents itself as a unique frontier for musicians. Unfortunately, of all the FM radio stations live right now the representation of alternative music is dismal, leaving online radio to do the heavy lifting. 

 in the biggest Indian cities is dominated either by popular western acts such as Katy Perry or popular Bollywood artists such as Ankit Tiwari - seldom will the music of local alternative musicians be spotlighted. The largest station, Red FM actually implemented a strict ‘Bollywood only’ policy [correct as of 2015], ruling out indie music completely which has had a knock on effect on the optimism of indie artists who ‘

doubt that huge radio stations... will start supporting the indie scene'.

Branded as one of the world’s most reliable music discovery platforms and an A&R breeding ground for India’s music industry, Boxout.fm’s ecosystem provides direct access to alternative music communities in India. The organisation creates memorable experiences on and offline producing life-long content that champions human curation over algorithm generation. They are the only Indian community focused on showcasing alternative sounds in culture and are strengthening the community by doing so through their events, shows, workshops, record label and print magazine.

Speaking to co founder Mohammed Abood and Shama Anwar, we learned more about the impact Boxout.fm is having throughout India as well as the challenges they faced in bringing their dream to life.


What has been the process in creating Boxout.fm? Where did it all start?

The blueprint for Boxout.fm was written on a flight I took from Rome to Berlin in 2016. After a particularly terrible gig in Delhi that year, I had been giving serious thought to the problem of how to engage people in India with music outside of club culture and build a genuine community around music. I already had my show, Motellacast, which had given me my first, encouraging taste of success in the independent broadcasting space. I shared the initial blueprint with my friend and co-founder Sahej Bakshi aka Dualist Inquiry and by November 2016, we were hard at work figuring out the inner workings of online radio. Despite multiple major roadblocks like limited upload speeds and major last minute changes to our back-end, and helped in no small part by an inhuman intake of coffee, Boxout.fm launched in April 2017, with our weekly club night in New Delhi, Boxout Wednesdays preceding the launch of the station by a month.

Tell us about the social implications of Boxout.fm in a nation that has as of yet, paid little attention to the alternative music scene.

Indian radio is extremely conservative, with stations in the country all playing similar, mainstream music, whether it’s Bollywood or American Top 40 charts. For the young Indian interested in anything beyond that, there’s really not much on offer. While radio has really paid no attention to the alternative music scene, the Internet has been instrumental in causing an explosion of bedroom producers, kids from all over the country, making anything from rap and rock to techno and bass. We want to be the platform for all this music to be heard and to help artists reach and grow new audiences and on the other side, provide listeners with fresh sounds from across India and the rest of the world. The implications of Boxout.fm are potentially vast in a country like India with our massive young population, much of which remains underexposed to diversity in music.

How do you use your platform to support the hosts and musicians within your platform?

Boxout.fm provides a platform for hosts to express themselves in a freeform, ad-free radio format – each host is in full control of what they play. The community that we have built over the last two and a half years of boxout.fm is a source of support and help to many of our hosts and musicians, who are able to connect their peers across the country, as well as our team. A year after the radio launched, we started our record label boxout.fm Recordings, with the mission of providing an infrastructure to enable Indian artists’ music to reach a wider cross section of listeners and extending support to artists who get little or none of it. Our yearly birthday celebration, 

, unusually for a festival in India, always has an all-local lineup, comprising a selection of our show hosts. Our latest project is Boxout Showcase, our first traveling event property which explores new sounds, visuals and mixed-media with the intent of shining a light on varied mediums of creative expression. The first one just took place on July 12 in Kolkata with members of New Delhi’s new-age bass champions, the Sub-Z crew and local production crew Littlei. We are continually looking for new, varied and better ways to support our constantly evolving community.

How can the wider community of alternative music lovers engage with the Boxout platform?

The best way is to tune in to the radio! With over 120+ shows that span the length and breadth of contemporary music, there’s always something new to discover. We are always on the look-out for interesting pitches for new show concepts. You can also get involved by coming down to our weekly night, Boxout Wednesdays, if you’re in New Delhi, or keeping an eye out for the traveling showcases and pop-up events we do in other cities in India. We love to meet people passionate about music and hear feedback about what your favourite shows are and what you’ve discovered on the radio. We’re also open to new ideas and collaborations, so feel free to hit us up if you’ve got any of those brewing. 

The number of platforms and spaces for the alternative community is fortunately expanding across the country and Boxout is joined by a grouping of highly successful and culturally refreshing events and publications, all with the aim of giving creatives a platform to share their music and alternative culture. 

is one of the few and is an annual festival thrown in Goa, celebrating Reggae music in India. Boxout has just recently completed their fourth year with the festival and are currently planning the 5th. Joining the group is online publication 

 which was set up 8 years ago. Founders, Munbir and Sarah relocated from London to India to embark on this journey and have since moved into a fully functioning office and have assumed position as the only reliable publication in India dedicated to alternative music. Akin to Shoreditch’s ‘Sneakers and Stuff’, VegNonVeg also known as “VNV” is India’s first multi-brand sneaker store, based in Delhi. Along with their sister brand named 

. They are one of the few brands in the city introducing and pioneering streetwear culture in India. Last but not least, 

 is a brewery based in three locations around Delhi. Inspired mostly by Melbourne, the former home of founder Narendra Sukla, it acts as a great spot for young freelancers to spend the day and work from.

With a growing scene of highly successful independent brands leading the way for alternative scene and carving a path for young musicians, there is hope yet for the diversification of the Indian music scene. The community is gaining independence from the old system and creating its own space with Boxout.fm providing the light through it all.

Check out Boxout.fm's Guide to New Delhi. 

India

New Delhi

Boxout.fm - The Platform Championing India’s Alternative Music Scene

Creative Direction & Design of Space: O.G Studios

Provocateurs involved: Azeema Mag, BBZ, Church of Sound, Digi Gxl, Home Team Project, Muslim Sisterhood, Native Mag, Pxssy Palace and Save Latin Village.

Sounds by: Bossy LDN, The Native, BBZ and Odunsi (live PA)

Visual Projections (live): Finbar Marcel & Luke Greig

Exploring the Past, Present, and Future of London's Heritage

Heritage of Tomorrow departs from the past and looks to the evolving future of

 As travel becomes more accessible than ever to young people, an understanding of heritage is fundamental in ensuring we participate in a positive cultural exchange when we move around the world. At Trippin we believe 

 shapes who we are and how we experience and impact the world around us. It allows us to open our minds to other people's realities, which in turn has the power to reconstruct our own. This transformative experience is what inspired us to start Trippin and help celebrate and platform a different type of travel.

Saturday the 21st September saw a cultural collision of heritage viewed through the lens of the past, present and future. Presented by Nike Shox and Trippin the day saw everything from immersive films curated by BBZ, Pxssy Palace, Church of Sound and Azeema Mag to a photo display communicating the legal action being taken to Save Latin Village. The series of initiatives presented blended technology, visuals and sound creating a 360 immersive experience.

We collaborated with who we believe are London’s most progressive thought leaders, those who are challenging the cultural dialogues of the status quo. The event was powered by Nike Shox - a daring shoe from the beginning of its existence and a style for innovators and those pushing the boundaries of culture forward.

The venue, an empty Mail Centre in Vauxhall, was transformed into a heritage hub. It was an intentional space for young people and communities to come together and learn about heritage from 9 of London’s most progressive thought leaders within the Trippin community - Azeema Mag, BBZ, Church of Sound, Digi Gxl, Home Team Project, Muslim Sisterhood, Native Mag, Pxssy Palace and Save Latin Village.

Welcomed into this futuristic space, guests were never without a doubt that heritage stood as the foundational pillar to the day’s proceedings. Learning about other people’s heritage is important and we at Trippin believe it to be the basis of socially sustainable travel. It encourages us to be more conscious of our actions and cultural exchanges whilst abroad, considering both the past and present. We want to inspire more people to adopt this understanding and attitude, whether home or away.

We took a deeper dive into the musings of Muslim Sisterhood and Home Team Project's workshops on sustainability, heritage and their relevance and impact to the world we live in now.

“Heritage will continue to become the meeting of different intersections of our identities. Heritage is no longer about bloodlines and lineage but it’s about the meaningful and impactful connections we make and want to pass on."

Muslim Sisterhood are capturing all the identity intersections for womxn and non-binary Muslims in London. By embracing the sense of race, religion and community it meant Muslim Sisterhood were the perfect members to project their output and host a workshop that focusing on cultural heritage.

Their workshop included zine making centred around London heritage, using polaroids and London maps, allowing guests to make their own Trippin style guides. They also allowed the customisation of a Nike hijab at their workshop, and held an intentional moment with attendees from their community.

“Understanding heritage is important when traveling the world because the people make the place, show respect to it by taking public transport, talking to local people and taking every experience and opportunity to learn.”

Home Team Project is a grass roots project offering a series of free creative workshops for young people in Grenada and Carriacou with aims to push a culture of collaboration, ignite a DIY spirit and encourage creative play.

You haven't visited a destination until you've got on the public transport. Not only is it a method of sustainable travel, but it's where you see the city in its realest form. Home Team Project’s workshop invited guests to personalise their Passport Holders and Nike Shox with playful fonts and phrases inspired by those that individualise the primary Grenadian transport, buses.

, the founder of Home Team Project, pays homage to her Grenadian heritage offering a series of free and sustainable creative workshops in the Grenadines. These free creative workshops provide young kids the necessary skills to develop opportunities and dictate their own narratives and despite only being annual, their legacy project ensures there’s aftercare and legacy for young people.

Home Team Project For ‘Heritage of Tomorrow’ invited guests to a 2 part workshop where they were able to customise Nike Shox and Trippin x Nike passport holders with materials, techniques and imagery inspired by Grenada. Guests personalised their Trippin x Nike Passport Holders or Nike Shox with playful fonts and phrases inspired by the sticker art used to individualise Grenadian buses. spray paint and stencils inspired by the slogans and artwork across Grenadian transport were used.

We spoke to each provocateur to understand what heritage means to them and it’s importance when travelling before we got the celebration party started.

“The future of heritage is more sustainable, understood and shared…. understanding heritage is important when travelling to recognise and respect other cultures”

“Heritage to us is all the things we have inherited from the communities, ancestors, resistance and resilience that came before us. We have explored the theme of heritage in this visual film with archive footage and collaborating with Digi Gxl to counteract feelings of loss as a result of colonialism and diasporic displacement. With the use of celebratory and spiritual imagery we want to remind you of whence we came.”

“We think that when travelling, it’s incredibly important to have heritage on your mind. To be aware of the ground you're walking on and who came before you, how it stands today and who it belongs to."

“The future of heritage is diverse and inclusive. We believe it’s going to be a mixture of different traditions as the world becomes a smaller place and we have a global market”

The Latin Village is a community formed in Seven Sisters Market, Tottenham to cater to a diaspora of Latinx people who wanted a sense of home. Latin Village is predominantly a Latin American and ethnic minority-run market which houses the largest concentration of Latin American business in London. Paying homage to their culture and community through the arts and food made Latin Village important contributors to an event surrounding heritage. Save Latin Village describes the on-going campaign raising awareness and fighting the demolition of the UK’s second largest Latin community space. Support their campaign 