WEEKEND MUSIC TIP PT 100 LOLLAPALOOZA
Lollapalooza Berlin is back next weekend for another celebration of music, culture and…
WEEKEND MUSIC PT 101 BASHKKA
BASHKKA ON WHOLE FESTIVAL, QUEER JOY AND THE POWER OF THE DANCEFLOOR
Munich-born DJ and producer BASHKKA has carved out a singular place within contemporary club culture. Of Turkish descent, she spent a decade in New York, where she became immersed in the city’s ballroom and trans communities. That influence continues to shape her sets, which move fluidly between house, ghetto tech and ballroom, while informing her belief in the dancefloor as a space for care, connection and community.
This weekend, she returns to WHOLE Festival, one of the world’s leading queer festivals. The appearance comes just ahead of the launch of INVIGORATE AM., her first party series at Amsterdam’s Club RAUM, an extension of the ideas around intimacy, connection and community that increasingly define her work.
We spoke with BASHKKA about WHOLE Festival, queer joy in challenging times, the importance of protecting dancefloors, and why creating spaces built on care, connection and community have become central to everything she does.
BILLY BURRELL: Much more than a music festival, WHOLE feels like a queer utopia. What makes it so unique?
BASHKKA: There’s no mental negotiation. You’re not adjusting or holding back. You just are, and that’s enough.
“You just are, and that’s enough”
BB: You’re playing a 4am Monday slot, one of the last of the weekend. What kind of energy does a closing set call for, and does it give you more freedom to take risks?
B: By then it’s more internal than external. You’re not chasing reactions. You’re guiding a shared headspace. That’s where risk feels natural.
BB: In an increasingly hostile world for queer and trans people, WHOLE feels unapologetically joyful. Does that make spaces like this feel more necessary than ever?
B: More than ever. There’s a gap between being welcomed and being centered and you can feel it. It matters when that joy is real, not just aesthetic.
BB: People often talk about dancefloors as spaces of freedom, but freedom doesn’t happen by accident. What makes a dancefloor feel safe enough for people to truly let go?
B: A real dancefloor works because people protect it. That’s what makes freedom possible.
“A real dancefloor works because people protect it”
BB: You play some of the world’s most influential clubs, while remaining deeply connected to grassroots queer communities. How do you stay connected to those communities as your career continues to grow?
B: Spaces are/can be a chapter, but even more so they’re the core. So I stay close by being intentional, who’s in the room, who’s shaping it. Because sometimes the narrative is smoother than the reality.
BB: You’re launching your first party, INVIGORATE A.M., at Club RAUM in Amsterdam. You say it’s about creating “a recalibration of energy that connects rather than consumes.” Is that something you’ve been searching for on dancefloors yourself?
B: Yes, and I think a lot of us have. There’s been this shift where dancefloors can feel a bit transactional and parties feel performative. INVIGORATE A.M. is my way of reintroducing intimacy into that space slowing things down emotionally, even if the music still moves. It’s about depth, not just intensity.
BB: And finally, if your WHOLE set had one intention, what would it be?
B: Less Hype. More Hips.
