Maachew Bentley

New York City 

Enough fog machines to sin continuously for 48 hours.

5$ for a beer and tequila shot during Happy Hour - ideal for a cheap drink in Chinatown to start your evening.

Ummmmm, if you’re invited there, and looking for some wild memories, just go. I’ll leave the rest up to you.

Another restaurant mainstay with a pretty big club room in the back, with two parties usually going on. Prolly get a free drink if you ask when Elvis Guesthouse II is coming (if you know you know).

Relatively new venue with three rooms, much like the infamous Output sans all the rules. Personal favorite, haven’t really swung a miss since I’ve been going, but do go there on a weekend.

Late night dive bar in Chinatown, where the writers go, hit or miss really just a destination for the late night chill, music played on vinyl only.

Summer vibe for the rave, day time for the outdoor backyard breather.

A plot of land on the cusp of GreenPoint / Williamsburg. The Lot has become a home for every artist and local pit stop passerby. Music is playing live from 12 - midnight in a cargo trailer much like your local NTS or Balamii booth, equipped with hammocks, fire pit and outdoor cafe.

As far as I’m concerned, they have the best programming schedule all year long. From book fairs, to immersive installations, to full day raves every Saturday during the Summer. You can’t really lose going here on an off day or when there’s a line round the block.

Maachew Bentley Trippin in New York

Paulo Saul 

São Paulo

First things first, my chosen family and I are a walking party. If we are training for the balls or just voguing in the middle of the streets, we for sure bring life to the party. You can find us at the coolest places and at your closest function snatching all the grand prizes.

MARSHA! is a festival that celebrates and empowers trans lives. With its latest online version, it gathered many artists with an extensive line-up of talks about issues and demands of the trans community and many shows and performances by various forms of art.

Way more than just a party: it’s a platform for young black queer artists and a one-of-a-kind experience in São Paulo’s nightlife. If at the end of the night - probably morning already - and you’re not exhausted from dancing, it was not Batekoo.

“Queer music by queer people” - an online radio party featuring the best of Brazilian queer talents in the music scene. Not limited by music genre but open to all forms of expression.

Away from the center of the city, in the middle of the southern outskirts of town, Crash Party is an independent party organized by young queer people living in Capão Redondo. The idea is to showcase new local talents and have fun.

From the east side to the world, Helipa LGBT brings you the best of funk music and Brazilian culture.

Amazing visuals and experimental sounds, Vorlat is a party to discover the new and what is yet to be defined (or not).

A reunion of many different versions of queerness with lots of fashion, beauty and personality. Chernobyl is where the outcasts get together to listen to great underground music and have a great time.

It’s a bar, a restaurant and a tiny dance club. The perfect place to meet your friends, have some amazing drinks and vibe to cool music.

One of the biggest and most popular electronic music events in São Paulo. From the sound to the performances (known to be mesmerising) everything from Mamba represents the essence of São Paulo.

Queer Spaces in São Paulo

Ruf Dug

Manchester

It's now the premiere club in Manchester. It’s an old mechanics building in Salford in an absolute Wasteland - uber drivers are scared to go down there! But it’s just this amazing, world famous place now. It’s a great club that goes all the way through til the morning, sometimes the next day. They just champion anything that isn’t normal. Any night is a great night there because it’s all about the venue and the crowd.


It’s the crowd that makes it special for me, and for a while there it was the only spot in Manchester you would go to.


This place was like an atomic bomb that decimated the entire Manchester nightlife scene and that needed to happen. They had signed up all the good DJs so no one else could book them so it forced Manchester’s music scene to look inwards again, not to be booking names but to booking parties, to bringing communities together and developing parties within the local music DJs. 


It‘s not a michelin star yet but it should be. It’s run by a local chef from Manchester called Sam Buckley and they grow all their veg and leaves on top of the car park just next door so they’re sustainable. It’s in an old coffee warehouse and they have about 9 tables, with the kitchen right there, so you’re in and amongst it all. It’s a classic 12 course tasting menu, whichever chef is cooking your food will bring it over and tell you the story about it. It’s just really next level food!

It's the best Chinese pancake. You’ve got the egg, spring onions and the pancake and you just fold it up. It’s right in the middle of the city by the metro link - it’s an old ice cream/hot dog vendor and these guys have just taken it over. 


Ruf Dug's Guide to Manchester 

Varnrable

Addis Ababa

A place for organic homemade Ethiopian food and tella, a traditional brew. Tella is brewed in households, usually in the rural areas, and consumed on a daily basis. But tella's legitimate status has been fading away, losing its place to mass produced beer and imported liquor. In Selo everything is homemade, from the injera to the tella. Ingredients are collected from local communities, creating an authentic and sustainable culture around Selo. The energy is inclusive and warm, the food is fresh and tasty, and there is a variation of tellas to try out!

Shifta offers a wide range of delicious Caribbean, vegan and African food. The food I had there was super tasty! It's vibrant and filled with local creatives. A great place to eat, drink and hang out all night, having good conversations or just listening to the music. 

Fendika Cultural Center is the perfect place to take in traditional music, and at the same time enjoy traditional food and drinks in a chilled environment. There are performances every week and the place is filled with soul and good energy. Everything is traditional and relevant. I went there to soak up some local jazz one night and that was a beautiful trip.

This is a club concept, making electronic parties at different locations and with differenct DJs. They are reimagining rave culture in the modern day Addis Ababa. These parties are some of the highlights in the club scene and are happening once a month. 

A traditional restaurant in Addis Ababa where you can experience cultural performances while you eat local food. From around 7.30pm there are musicians, dancers and singers performing traditional acts from different tribes around Ethiopia, while wearing outfits from the different regions. All your senses are being stimulated while being in a beautifully decorated room with traditional design and art. 

The perfect way to get out of the city, and it is only a short car ride away from the centrum. There is a great view over the city and you're able to take a walk in nature. The park itself is how we know most parks to be, but if you wander more up, in the mountain, there are small villages; more raw and beautiful nature. 

An institute of Ethio jazz in its historical location, owned by the legendary Mulatu Astatke. This place features some of the best jazz musicians live in raw sessions. 

Explore Addis Ababa's Cultural Scene with Varnrable

BAYLI

Le Paris Dakar is an incredibly cozy coffee shop with a super clean and modern design. It is owned by the most beautiful Senegalese family and they have the best homemade cold brew and croissants in all of New York City. I promise you!

Kiki’s is my absolute favorite spot to go for dinner in NYC. Whether I’m going out on a sexy date night or having a girls night out with friends, Kiki is a perfectly lowkey environment with spacious seating and low-lighting. It is very well priced for such an amazing and 1-of-1 menu. It’s a Mediterranean restaurant that is owned by a beautiful and brilliant Greek woman, who the restaurant is named after. The best part about Kiki’s is they have really delicious and inexpensive wine carafes.

GUSH is a party that happens in unique, secret locations all over the city. GUSH parties feel like a safe space for queer-identifying people especially femme-identifying people and that is a rare commodity even in the most “liberal” city in the world! The parties last all night and include incredible DJ sets and performances by all different types of queer artists. It gets super hot and steamy at GUSH parties. If you attend you’ll probably have one of the best nights of your life! 

Cafe Select is the perfect place for a breakfast meeting. The staff is always incredible and it’s just a beautiful restaurant with a great menu and cozy seating. It’s in the heart of Soho so it’s the perfect place to start your day off if you have a busy work day in the city.

I live in the Fort Greene area of Brooklyn and a big part of my morning routine is taking early walks through my neighborhood and into Fort Greene Park. It’s a super peaceful walk and the park is always filled with locals and dog-walkers but it somehow never feels crowded. There is always an empty bench, in Fort Greene Park, to rest on while you eat your breakfast or people watch or meditate.

Pioneer Works is a gallery and artist-space that focuses on empowering community through art and sciences. They have really cool events that include inspiring exhibits that show incredible artists in their mastery and innovation, as well as educational panels that touch on social and environmental awareness and activism.

D70 is my go-to studio whenever I need to get high quality vocals or production. They’re one of the only studio’s in NYC that hold a large live room (called Studio A) that can host a whole orchestra, which I’ve done there with them for my Orchestral Version of “Sushi For Breakfast”! Their staff is incredibly eco-aware and covid-safe, making sure that each guest is temp checked before entering and has their own reusable water bottle while using the studio. If you’re in NYC and looking for a place to record I would most definitely recommend Dimension 70!

A Guide to Brooklyn's Best Spots with Local Musician BAYLI

Lila

Montevideo

At the southernmost city in the Americas, in Montevideo bay, very close to the busy city center, there's this Breakwater structure in which I love to spend time, unplugging myself from everything while watching and sampling sounds from the docks, birds and fishermen around.

I won't lie, I am a huge fan of South American cemeteries, visiting them in each city I play gigs at. In Montevideo, there's one I'm particularly fond of, Cementerio del Buceo. The dichotomy between massive architecture next to decaying graves with plastic flowers, cats always running around. Most of my favourite local musicians and poets from past centuries are buried there.

In the backyard of a fantastic art museum, there's the Japanese garden of Montevideo. A beautiful spot filled with bamboo trees, cherry blossoms and orchids, blended with Uruguayan national trees such as Ceibo. Love to go there with a good book and stare at the koi fishes for hours.

The flea market culture is quite remarkable in Uruguay. Every Sunday, you will find Tirstan Narvaja market right in the city center. I visit it every weekend ever since I can remember, walking kilometres in search of thrift clothes, vinyls, music gear and the most random things you can imagine.

Undoubtfully every Uruguayan has a fond memory of this spot. Right next to the amusement park and the beach, there is a lovely tiny lake with small boats that you can rent, surrounded by native trees, musicians playing around, tiny little islands with rabbits, and a castle (that is actually a library) in the middle.

Located in the oldest neighborhood in town, Cafe Brasilero is a very inspiring artistic bar founded in 1877, with typical art nouveau decorations and incredible food. It's been said that many famous writers from around the globe have started their books there.

Montevideo is known for venues shutting down in the blink of an eye, so most parties are itinerant. But luckily there's Tundra Bar, a place where you can go see the most experimental underground acts around, perhaps a rave here and there, and in the evening you can eat amazing vegan food.

Montevideo with Lila

Stockholm 

In here you can find all you need to look A-M-A-Z-I-N-G for your rave night out. On the first floor they have UV light shining clothes, including the classic rave trousers and tank tops. But the second floor (which is my favourite) is a goth girls dream place, the amount of black PVC clothing is crazy and the shoe rack has it all in so many different sizes.

While you’re at it you should definitely visit this hidden gem Chambers of Love which hides behind the shoe racks of C.U.M Clubwear. They have Scandinavia's biggest collection of fetish and BDSM gear including some really cool outfit’s that you could never find anywhere else.

This is my main spot for studs, I always come here when I’m making a new choker or decorating a new jacket because this is the only place in Stockholm where you can buy them separately at a very good price. Also they have EVERYTHING, jewelry, band t-shirts, lighters, wall decorations you name it! Definitely worth a trip if you’re in the area.

Nothing says crazy shoes as Sko Uno, they have a WIDE collection of platforms and the classic Dr martens. They opened up before I was born and is Stockholms most ICONIC place for shoe shopping.


Explore Stockholm's Best Clubwear with COBRAH

Melodic Distraction

Liverpool

Don’t watch the Trip Advisor reviews, Festival Gardens is still a spot in the summertime. Tucked away off the main trail of Otterspool Promenade, the gardens have gone a bit unloved in the last few years. The trees and plants may be reclaiming the land in parts but it all adds to the slightly mysterious vibe of the place.

It may not be in Liverpool but most in this part of the world visit at least once a year. Hilbre Island is only accessible by foot when the tide’s out and takes around an hour to reach by walking across the sand. There’s always some cool wildlife to run into when you’re out there and you can even spot the seals bobbing their heads up from the sea in the summer months.

Art, film, technology and culture all come together at FACT. It’s an interactive gallery, cinema, cafe and learning space all rolled into one. They support loads of great local artists in the city and there’s always something to get involved with.

Our favourite spot for preloved records in Liverpool. Dig Vinyl is a lovingly curated treasure trove of second hand slabs of wax. Belter rock, new wave and reggae sections, backed up by a load of dancefloor cuts and super friendly staff behind the counter on every visit.

It’s a bar, a coffee spot, a gig venue, a winter garden and a boss record store. Phase One is the latest venue from the folks behind the historic Liverpool club, The Jacaranda. We’re here for three months, thanks to the support of Dr. Martens and the good folks at Phase One, as we fundraise for our brand-new studio space. We’re looking to raise £35,000 to build our new, permanent home out of two shipping containers at The Tapestry in Liverpool’s Fabric District. The pandemic may have slowed things down but there is no doubt that the team at Phase One have big plans for the future!

A small and vibrant club and garden down on the North Docks of Liverpool. Nestled away among derelict warehouses, getting there is a challenge upon a first visit but the reward is worth the cab ride.

A hugely passionate crew runs the place and the club is a real labour of love. Who else can say they’ve hosted Moodymann in a 175 capacity venue, eh!?

A small, intimate club with a great soundsystem and booking policy. What more do you need to know? A go-to for students, locals and older heads alike. Any given week can host everything from jazz bands to house, techno and jungle DJs. 24KS have been fighting their own battle against gentrification for some time now - and we can’t think of any regular folks on the ground who aren’t 100% behind their right to stay!

The best outdoor bar in town during Liverpool’s long winter months. Handmade bric-a-brac furniture, mulled drinks and a tiny but punchy little event space, The Kazimier Gardens and adjoining ‘Stockroom’ gig venue are locally beloved.

The jewel in the crown of Liverpool’s Sefton Park, the Palm House is a Victorian era greenhouse filled with tropical plants from around the world.

It regularly hosts weddings, corporate events and functions but from time-to-time you can see a wicked gig in there the likes of Norman Jay, Slick Rick and even a Boiler Room takeover.

The newest spot on our list, Nomad is a lockdown baby. Opening after the first UK lockdown lifted; its coffee and light bites have proven super popular with the residents of the ever-busy Smithdown Road.

Head down all week for coffee, or book a table for a good Sunday lunch (often in the form of a homemade lasagna!)

Explore

All 19 Results

Filtered Results