Lara Groves 

has won over fans worldwide for her brand of slick R&B that avoids gimmicks in favour of silky-smooth vocals and shimmering production. As an artist with roots incorporating Sweden, Iran and the US, Snoh is well-versed in the powers of adopting a hybrid sensibility in both art and life.

We linked up with Snoh on the London leg of her tour to chat travel essentials, reconceptualising the meaning of ‘home’ and how her dual heritage informs her work.

“Headphones on the daily! I get so mad when I forget them in an Uber”

From signing with Sony Music at just 13, Snoh has been busy carving an imprint on the scene, nurturing an R&B-focused but soul-inflected sound – dubbed by Snoh herself as  a ‘cinematic soul’. The transcendence of cinema, as we discover, aptly describes Snoh’s ability to find inspiration from everywhere she’s lived, without settling for any one singular artistic identity.

Born to Persian-Iranian parents in Uppsala, before settling in Stockholm as a teenager, she maintains that her dual heritage inspires her creative vision. She describes growing up in Sweden with Iranian influences as “very cool – it was a meeting of different worlds”

“Iranian culture is ‘more is more’ and very glam but I also love the ‘less is more’ style of Swedish design”

The essence of both countries informs her music. “Iranian culture is ‘more is more’ and very glam” even “superficial”, she notes, but underpinned by the warmth and friendliness akin to “Southern hospitality”. The rich melodies and deeply evocative nature of her music certainly reflects Iran in this regard. “The Iranian language is so poetic” she beams “I’m so lucky to be able to channel part of that and use it in my own writing” Snoh has also won praise for her lyrical candour. On latest offering 

 tracks like ‘You’ confront heartbreak unflinchingly and without embellishment. She puts down to her adoption of Scandi-style minimalism: “I also love the ‘less is more’ style of Swedish design. My simplicity definitely comes from Sweden”.

Not content with staying still, Snoh moved to LA in 2012, to both hone her sound and expand her creative imaginary, having felt stifled in Sweden. She says she felt compelled to “dream big [because] no idea is too crazy or big in the States. That’s what I love about America – the cliché American dream”. A childhood spent watching MTV heavyweights such as Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson light up the small-screen encouraged Snoh to take her music across the pond. Moving to the nation that nurtured her musical influences felt natural.

“No idea is too crazy or big in the States – people don’t dream so big in Sweden”

Owing to her busy schedule, Snoh spends a lot of time on the road, in essence, she “feels like she’s always travelling”. Does touring transience and living in different cities around the world impact her artistry? Snoh is assured: “Absolutely. You are definitely a result of your surroundings and environment” She believes every experience has the potential to be absorbed. “Everything affects you. It’s not just your upbringing, your traumas, it’s also everything you see and take in”. In living and creating with multiplicity in mind, Snoh is able to find home in everywhere she drops her anchor, noting that she is always “made welcome by the fans who show me love when I’m performing”.

She’s confident that she “feels the most at home and the most welcome on stage I love the loud energy [from the fans]. That’s my favourite”.

Her ability to draw from Iranian, Swedish and American cultural elements while still maintaining her trademark sultry sound that is definitively and unapologetically her own is what makes Snoh Aalegra one of the most exciting voices in R&B today.

Snoh Aalegra Talks Cultural Influences, Hybridity and Locating ‘Home’

Nestled in the hills of Kobetamendi (Mount Cobetas) in beautiful Basque country, Bilbao BBK Live festival returned for its 15th edition, with 115,000 partygoers treated to a multigenre lineup across three days from July 7-9. Holding the coveted closing set are CHICA Gang, the Madrid and Bilbao-based femme DJ collective on rapid ascendance. 

Trippin caught up with Rocio and Alba at the festival to unpack their visual and sonic influences, building a sense of community from the ground up and how they champion diversity wherever they play.

Bilbao is a city that resists singular interpretation. A once-titanic port of industry and commerce, later afflicted by economic decline, has given way to a new artistic powerhouse ere you’ll find Brutalist architecture at the banks of the Rio Neviòn; high-rise tower blocks and port-side cranes crowd rolling hills (greener than you might expect – it rains a lot), all vying for space. The famous Guggenheim Museum’s hard titanium finish, said to reflect the modernist movement’s celebration of industrial life, could just as easily be likened to fish scales. The Guggenheim is totemic for how Bilbao sprang ‘rubies from the rubble’: creative culture becoming the city’s beacon after years of stagnation. Arguably no better demonstration of the plurality of this city than 

, which assembles legacy heavyweights (this year: LCD Soundsystem, Pet Shop Boys, M.I.A) with fresher faces (Yu Su, Identified Patient, Kelly Lee Owens) for an eclectic musical offering spanning rock, pop, breaks, rap and beyond.

Here to make a splash on the Beefeater stage are 

. Garnering attention for their high energy parties, heavily influenced by the sounds of perreo, longtime friends Rocio and Alba came together back in 2017 to “carve out dedicated space” for femme and queer DJs in the Spanish underground scene, which, they tell me, at the time was completely male-dominated. “We realised everywhere we went, we didn’t feel comfortable or safe. We loved music but didn’t have space to enjoy it”. Keen to create a 360°, design-led experience, the pair recently hired Creative Director Caesar “for all things visual and aesthetic” to round out the group. While injecting their love of art, design and fashion, the trio are steadfast in their mission to bring inclusivity to dancefloors in both Bilbao and across Spain.

CHICA Gang’s star is definitely on the ascent: a set at last year’s Boiler Room Festival in Barcelona has amassed over a million views on YouTube. Building in everything from Latin pop to trance when they play, the result is a lurid, spiky, but playful, sound. Rattling off a diverse crew of musical influences, Rocio and Alba cite names like Dean Blunt and DJ Coldsteel, alongside “dear friends” Juguete, Chico Blanco and 8kito, as well as TRONIS, Miravalles, Katza and Amaia Yaniz, who makeup some of the latest names in Bilbao talent.

Past projects have seen them work with the likes of Fatima, Bossy Ldn and Princess Nokia. In addition to like-minded female artists, the girls also take inspiration from the women in their lives: “We didn’t even know how to DJ when we started the collective! We learnt thanks to other female DJ friends” CHICA Gang emphasise how important it is to build a community first, as a safe space to express and explore your artistry. Beyond this mission, the girls have worked closely with Caesar to hone their aesthetic vibe, building - as they see it - “the CHICA Universe”, heavily settled around contemporary culture and a club imaginary, favouring exciting “3D elements that we like and that inspire us” and help construct that immersive experience. A vision that feels very at home in a city like Bilbao.

Visitors to Spain have come to expect Madrid and Barcelona as big touchstones for club culture. But Rocio and Alba tell me that people flocking to Bilbao for its art scene, should stay for its nightlife. It may not be fully on the map yet, but Rocio and Alba tell me it has a lively underbelly: “Bilbao has one of the best crowds that we’ve encountered, the energy of the people completely matches ours – it’s pretty unique!”. They note that the city has embraced a “punk, anti-systems” outlook, with the eclecticism of events like BBK Live helping to push that narrative.

Rocio has recently moved to the city, hoping to bring CHICA energy to Spain’s north east corner and offering her praise to longer term residents that have helped blaze the trail for Bilbao by pushing the boundaries of the scene for years. Bilbao, she says, always defies expectations and does things differently: “and there are lots of new artists, DJs and promoters doing great stuff, always underground but always for everybody. I feel very welcome and embraced here”

CHICA Gang are currently touring across Spain, playing seminal events like this year’s Sónar Festival in Barcelona. In May, they put on their own CHICA Festival night at the Teatro Eslava, “including artists like Casual Gabberz, Sentimental Rave and horsegiirL” CHICA Gang’s M.O is fostering a safe, inclusive space for women, marginalised genders and the queer community. “We started doing parties for this reason” they both agree, and have always been “super vocal” on this point. How do they make sure this mission translates wherever they play, including at Bilbao BBK Live? “We’ve always had a strong feminist message and people have related our parties and sets to this beliefs, so now, everywhere we go we take that essence with us and people know what’s up at our sets” Rocio and Alba’s work in this space has shone a light on some of the exclusionary attitudes at the centre of clubbing in Spain, and has helped create space for others to follow: CHICA Gang tell me that many people are starting their own collectives with a similar mission, which has propelled them to keep the party going.

In early Sunday morning at BBK, Caesar shows off the fruits of his labour as CHICA Gang’s signature moving coin graphic looms large over a lively crowd and keeps pace with the girls’ trance-inflected sound. In subversive Bilbao, artists like CHICA Gang are moving the dial toward a new music culture that embraces people at the margins. But, as the girls observe, the work doesn’t stop here:

“We may change our way of DJing, our repertoire, we might even change music styles, but we never change our way of seeing the world, and we will always take that with us.”

Breaking New Ground: CHICA Gang on Inclusive Club Culture

New York, an epicentre of the arts, has long been famed for embracing individuality and creative freedom. As part of our partnership with adidas Originals to mark the launch of their ‘

’ pack, we reflect on the ‘classic’ institutions that make up iconic New York subcultures. By mapping these pillars of the local community, we begin to unpick the cultural mosaic of New York with the creatives that embody it. The Classics on their feet serve to mirror the story of their New York.

First up we ask model, artist and activist Richie Shazam to show us around his favourite Desi destination, nestled within Manhattan’s Lower East Side. He tells us how this spot acts as the intersection of multiple strands of his identity. 

“to be able to connect with your diasporic roots in one institution is really incredible. All of my different vantage points of identity can meet in one place”.

Situated in the East Village, home to a well-established South Asian diaspora, Royal Bangladesh has garnered a cult following via Instagram, famed for its charming decorations, including strings of luminous chilli-pepper lights adorning the ceilings. Yet with roots stretching back to 1978, Royal Bangladesh was a bastion of Bangladeshi culture for its immigrant community long before the social media generation discovered it. New York’s reputation as a melting-pot of myriad cultures and groups highlights the successes and intricacies of inter-community living within a major hub. Ensuring the unique identity of any diasporic community flourishes in a new location, rather than disappearing into the ether, is what restaurants like Royal Bangladesh are all about. Richie says he is so enamoured by this eatery because 

“it’s one of the few places in New York where you can sit down next to a stranger in an intimate setting and everyone’s having a joyous time”.

 “All of my emotional memories are stained on every street, every institution that gets broken down - I lose a part of me”

Acting as a microcosm for South Asian identity, he says Royal Bangladesh really showcases the 

“beauty of Indian culture... they make everyone feel welcome.''

 The importance of maintaining the sanctity of Royal Bangladesh has been amplified as more and more restaurants and other businesses leave the area that was once known as ‘Little India’. In this area, most of the business owners were of Bangladeshi heritage, but chose to tap into American romanticised ideals of mystical India to attract footfall. Preserving the sentiment of classically South Asian landmarks in the East Village has become all the more urgent thanks to the ever-pervading threat of competition, something Richie - as someone with Indian heritage - finds deeply saddening. 

“All of my emotional memories are stained on every street, every institution that gets broken down - I lose a part of me”

 To him, Royal Bangladesh is more than just a restaurant: it represents a spirit and a mentality.

Royal Bangladesh and neighbouring Panna II have experienced a surge in visitors thanks to popularisation from celebrities and influencers, but this attention feels superficial rather than complementary: diners adhering more to the aesthetic than the identity of the restaurant. Businesses, such as Royal Bangladesh, have to fight hard to swim upstream from the current wave of restaurant culture that favours quick bites rather than intimate, community dining spaces. South Asian cuisine, that sees Western takes on street food favourites such as chaat and kati rolls, are increasingly appearing in food outlets in the West Village. Within this context, the importance of Royal Bangladesh’s ability to stand tall above threats of erasure shouldn’t be understated. Allegiances to such treasured community-focused spaces constitutes an act of resistance to the culture of exclusivity: as Richie reaffirms 

United States

New York City 

adidas Originals 

Championing Diasporic Identity

The rapturous energy of New York has a rebirth at night: repackaged in a different form, it waves through the city’s infamous nightlife scene. In our New York series, we shed light on the unique subcultures that emerge after dark. Linking up with adidas Originals to celebrate their new 

 pack, we uncover the stories of some of New York’s young visionaries as they wear their Classics out to play. In our second feature in the city, we joined artist and DJ on-the-rise, 

, at one of her favourite community hangouts - 

“My NYC is a place where diversity, art and culture thrives. You can be who you wanna be and you’ll be alright”

From the queer clubs surfacing in 70s Manhattan that epitomised subversivity, to the Brooklyn basements of the here-and-now where titans of the underground techno and electro scenes revel, clubs and dance music have long been integral to the freewheeling nature of NYC. Dance Dance Dance is one party that aims to keep the spirit of New York alive at night, but with new rules for the modern party contingent. As Quiana tells us, the creatives that party here comprise a tight-knit community that values allegiance to classic venues, while still embodying a carefree attitude.

Residents at Le Bain, on the 18th floor of the New York Standard High Line Hotel in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, Dance Dance Dance packs out the rooftop bar every Wednesday - with the proviso that if you’re coming in, you have to dance. In this sense, Le Bain operates as a revival of the parties of the past.

 as one of her top two DJs in the city. Eli is a house selector through-and-through, but for Dance Dance Dance he favours a multi-genre melting pot including hip-hop, reggae, ballroom and soca to keeps things lively.

Harking back to the heydey of disco in the 60s/70s, Dance Dance Dance - drawing from Chic’s anthem of the same name - works hard to maintain the “

power of clubbing on weeknights for the true heads”

. Going against the grain of many other local parties who consistently draw from the global pool of heavyweight names week-on-week, Dance Dance Dance favours the approach of housing the same community of guests, ensuring the focus is always on the party, not the performance. Quaina says the family-feel of the night is what keeps her and her friends coming back. “I’ve been coming for five years” she tells us “it’s always an amazing experience” DJ Eli agrees, fundamentally believing that a club experience should centre around movement and utilising the space to its full potential, he is adamant there is no space for posers at Dance Dance Dance.

The Manhattan location is significant to the ethos of Dance Dance Dance. Eli and the team ensure us that this night resists notions of exclusivity: accessibility is the key to ensuring everyone is welcome within this space.

“New York literally invented nightlife”

, and events like Dance Dance Dance continually push to maintain a scene that provides a lively escape from everyday life, while always prizing inclusivity at its core. For Quiana, Le Bain is a space where creatives are free to just “

When I come here I get to explore and come outside of my box… whether I’m DJing or on the dancefloor, this night is an inspiration”

The ability to continually broaden your creative horizons is a distinctly New Yorker sensibility. Quiana always feels inspired to keep moving, as New York 

“is always evolving, it’s always becoming something new”

. Dance Dance Dance, for her, is a place that is both comforting while still encouraging guests to expand their imaginaries. This outlook, says Eli, helps continually expand the New York scene, and harks back to its glory days of the late twentieth-century. Ultimately, this event is all about creating a home away from home, a space where classic soulful house tunes and friendly faces are guaranteed.