Where’s the party? We’ll never get tired of asking the question. Because there’s always going to be a party out there, with a lit-up DJ and a flaming dance floor. A party where music breaks patterns and borders, to take you to that unique place, even back to your homeland, where you learned to take your first dance steps. Here are some that have become our favorites…
No Nazar (Los Angeles)
“A global sound experience.” That’s the motto that reads on the networks of No Nazar, a creative music collective based in Los Angeles that aims to build community and shared learning through music. Their celebrations are carefully curated experiences that promote cultural exchange and diversity on the dance floor – they often invite DJs with immigrant backgrounds, from Southeast Asian Ushka to Palestinian-Armenian Nanoos. Not to mention No Nazar co-founder Bianca Maieli, born and raised in LA, but heavily influenced by her South Indian and Caribbean Colombian heritage. The music collective’s permanent roster is completed by Omar, AKU, DJ Sudi and MTooray.
Faithful to its mission of unifying and empowering communities, always supporting the coming and going of culture, No Nazar is a completely itinerant collective. Of course, they throw the flashiest parties in their hometown LA, but they also seem to be getting more and more local in NYC, Brooklyn, and San Francisco. They’ve even successfully moved their parties to Sacramento, Seattle, Detroit, Washington DC, Toronto, and London.
Rum & Coke (Miami)
It almost needs no introduction, like any good neighbor. Made up of a Miami-based DJ collective, Rum & Coke calls itself “an Afro-Caribbean Latin dance experience.” Close to Tigre Sounds, musically and geographically, they have a monthly residency at Dante’s Hi-Fi. Cumbia, salsa, merengue, rumba, zouk, soukous, Afrobeat and Latin funk, among other genres… This monthly meeting explores the broad sound palette of the Caribbean and Latin America-via-Africa, sticking to the warm vinyl format and focusing on the golden age of this music, between the 1960s and 1980s.
Originally derived from a tropical edition of Southernmost Soul Party, Rum & Coke ended up becoming a permanent monthly party around 2016, when DJ Kumi took the reins and brought in two DJ friends: Harold Fandino and Jesus Rodriguez. Currently, all three are the resident DJs. “The spirit comes from the music and cultures of Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa,” says Kumi, stating that the vintage sound is also tied to those regions they gravitate toward. “It’s about connecting all the cultures and transporting them back to those family jams where you learned to dance,” adds Harold. And that’s not all: Rum And Coke DJs also run Radio Karibe, a monthly archived radio show where they explore music that isn’t necessarily played in a party environment.
Subsuelo (Los Angeles)
A party on Sunday that can last almost 12 hours? This happens at Subsuelo Sundays, a daylong summer-only dance party that normally starts at 3 pm and ends at 9 pm… But why not keep the fun going late into the night, especially on holiday weekends? Based in a small, always-crowded outdoor patio at Caña Rum Bar in downtown Los Angeles. Subsuelo Sundays are Latin parties overflowing with good vibes and infectious beats. Cumbia, salsa, reggaeton, merengue, amapiano, dancehall, dembow, funk carioca, afrobeats, hip-hop turntablism and traditional party anthems with live instrumentation… Everything can sprout from that small stage, where DJs and musicians intermingle.
Subsuelo Sundays has been around for seven years and has taken its party performances to important stages, from Red Bull Soundclash to Coachella and Lightning in a Bottle. “Our thing has always been experimental and evolving,” said co-founder DJ Canyon Cody in an LA Times story. “One week you get samba and another week you get dancehall. [Performing at Caña] gave us that opportunity to get back to what it is that we do best, which is incorporate many different things and provide surprises.” The other co-founder and resident DJ is photographer Farah Sosa, aka DJ Ethos. They usually add G Morales on timbales to the DJ sets. And they constantly have guests, from Vikter Duplaix and KCRW’s Anthony Valadez to bands Son Rompe Pera and Buyepongo.
La Rumba Buena (Toronto)
Afro-Latin music is migrant from its very origins. Take the example of salsa: a perfect synthesis of Cuban rhythms, created on a round trip between the Caribbean and the Big Apple. Hence the spirit of La Rumba Buena, a monthly party in Toronto dedicated to vintage Latin sounds – inspired by the salsatecas or salsa clubs in Cali, Havana and New York. “To get to salsa, you have to go through rumba,” the DJ vinyl crew led by DJs Blancon and Drumspeak announces in Spanish on their Instagram page, to let you know that their nights are a musical and danceable adventure through classic Latin sounds.
At La Rumba Buena parties there’s a lot of pure and old-school salsa dancing, of course, but there’s also a lot of cumbia and boogaloo playing. Every night has its special guest with its special touch… DJ Dmoe, from Medellín, recently stopped by with his 45-inch Afro-Latin rhythms and tropical funk collection. Also taking over the dance floor was La Colocha, from Chicago, with experiences and influences ranging from New York salsa to Mexican cumbia sonidera, including mambo, guaracha and danzón. They also often collaborate and organize shared parties with Miami’s Rum & Coke DJs.
Turntables on the Hudson (New York City)
“We were all dying just to get everyone together and do something outdoors,” said DJ Nickodemus around 2008, for Turntables on the Hudson 10th Anniversary Documentary. Officially, this legendary series of New York parties started in 1998, but a few years before he was already partying at The Frying Pan, a bathtub-shaped boat bar that sails along the Hudson River. “Actually, it’s in the middle of nowhere, on the Hudson River. It’s secluded if you want to check it out, and I went down there and saw it, it was really… there are no neighbors, it was like the only place in New York that didn’t have neighbors.”
Turntables on the Hudson was one of New York’s first late-night outdoor events. Today it continues worldwide, city to city, river to river. Adding to its celebrated compilations, in 2020 it also became a dance floor-oriented record label. Years earlier, Nickodemus had also founded Wonderwheel Recordings to release the music he produces and showcase unique global artists. How does he manage to do everything? “All my different hats as producer, label owner, and traveling DJ have to be interchangeable at any point in time,” he answers. “After years of experience, I’ve gotten good at juggling in this circus.”
Nochenegra (Mexico City)
Latina, mestiza, migrant, tropical, it-began-in-Africa-spirit… Many concepts stick to the vinyl party Nochenegra, an irresistible fixture of Mexico City’s nightlife. It all started in 2015, when the Caracas-born Mariana Maduro, aka Mar, emigrated as part of the diaspora of Venezuelans and settled in Mexico looking for a new home. Around then, she met Carlos Mayoral, aka Pocz, also a Venezuelan who had become a record collector, oriented towards African and Latin rhythms. Together they began to shape Nochenegra.
“I had a ceramics project and I promised to have a party if I met my goal. I did it. So I called the only three DJs I knew. They could play whatever they wanted, the only rule was that it had to be black music.” Mar told Indierocks about the beginnings of Nochenegra. What started as a celebration of Afro-Latin music has mutated into many other formats and explorations over the years. It’s still a party, of course, but it’s also a group of friends, a community of people who love to dance, a DJ set, an event producer, and a musical coordinator. In short, an experiment that changes and continues to grow. Their current party agenda is mainly divided between Noche Sonidera (Mexican cumbia for Saturdays) and Domingo Sin Bajón (Sunday dance to beat the slump).
ZZK (Buenos Aires/ Bogotá/ LA)
You’ve probably heard of ZZK Records. Starting in 2008, this label has released magical music and promoted unique artists for over fifteen years. They even have a sub-label (AYA Records) and venture into film production (ZZK Films). However, before all this, ZZK culture sprouted from nights at Zizek Club, an underground electronic cumbia party in Buenos Aires, around the mid-2000s. Today that festive spirit is still in force in everything they do, whether in Los Angeles to celebrate Cumbia Week or in Mexico City to set up the Reina de Cumbia event – a mobile party with art exhibitions and workshops.
Global Groove (Seattle)
Global Groove is a monthly dance party dedicated to sharing appreciation for global music, honoring diasporas, and celebrating the rich rhythms of Africa and Latin America. It’s hosted by its founder, Rizoma, a Seattle-based Chilean vinyl DJ and music promoter with an unwavering passion that transcends borders and genres. And it happens every first Friday at LoFi Performance Gallery in Seattle. Through eclectic selections, Rizoma and his guest DJs invite audiences to join a cultural phenomenon where music becomes a bridge connecting diverse communities. You can find some of Global Groove’s playlists with music from different countries on Rizoma Radio.