How does a nightlife brand stay relevant? The answer is simple: you just do it all. Since its creation over 5 years ago, HE.SHE.THEY. has proven to do more than just throw parties. The brand is a record and fashion label, advocating for inclusivity in the nightlife scene through a shared love of music and dance. Its impact has already seen success in 15 countries and 40 cities, with plans to expand its reach even further in 2024, setting out to share its voice through new mediums with an upcoming documentary.
The powerhouse of HE.SHE.THEY. has a track record bigger than many can fathom, with events in Bristol, England; Brooklyn, NY; Oklahoma City, OK; and Buffalo, NY set to take place throughout February, returning to Brooklyn’s Superior Ingredients venue in partnership with Gray Area for a 14-hour event featuring a lineup sure to keep us on our toes all day and night. From highlighting local Brooklyn favorites Madness Of (WTCHCRFT b2b KYRUH) to showcasing edgy sounds from Katie Rex, who pioneered the iconic Bound parties, you’ll have heard and seen these names at some of the world’s biggest electronic music events.
Broke Magazine had the chance to catch up with HE.SHE.THEY. in early January to get a glimpse into its success in navigating the ever-changing nature of nightlife culture, how HE.SHE.THEY. continually curates inclusive environments for all who attend and what to expect at their upcoming Brooklyn bash…
Broke Magazine: First, we want to dig into your North American tour. Tell us how your Chicago and Dallas events went?
HE.SHE.THEY.: Chicago and Dallas both went great, we’ve worked with these clubs / promoters before, they understand the ethos and we’re building something together.
Broke Magazine: How exactly did you decide the cities for the North American tour?
HE.SHE.THEY.: We are keen to visit as many cities as possible as we get a lot of requests from the public. A lot of discussion start with people reaching out to us, and we start from there, or we know they are a respected promoter in the region.
Broke Magazine: What do you hope HE.SHE.THEY can bring to the American dance scene?
HE.SHE.THEY.: We feel HE.SHE.THEY. means something different to everyone, and it’s just about moving the dial a little bit wherever you go and whatever that means to that place / community. We are not here to make things unpleasant for people or tell them what to do, it’s a collaborative growing experience. We still learn new things with every show!
Broke Magazine: Everything seems bigger in New York, so it’s pretty on brand that you are throwing a 14-hour party at Superior Ingredients. What surprises can you spoil for us? What should we expect?
HE.SHE.THEY.: It’s a full spectrum event in terms of day > night / house > techno, and all things in between! We are super excited to visit this iconic venue for the first time and you’re also going to get the serious treat of experiencing our resident SYREETA’s first ever NYC show, which will be a super special moment. She’s been making waves all over Europe and now has her USA visa, so watch out, she’s coming to take over and bringing all the hugs and grooves along with her!
Broke Magazine: How do you go about choosing your selection of talent with an event as big as the one you’re throwing in Brooklyn?
HE.SHE.THEY.: We feel energy starts in the green room, so we love inviting back artists we’ve got along well with in other territories as we feel that buzzy excited to see each other energy carries forth onto the dance floor. Nur Jaber played for us at our sold out Barcelona debut, Chippy Nonstop played last years NYC show, as well as San Francisco for Noisepop. DJ Holographic is a firm family favourite. SYREETA, we are endlessly obsessed with. Lauren Flax us a friend and has played for us in NYC before, Justin Cudmore has released on the label, it’s a family affair! But, we always want to be a family that welcomes in new friends, so we can’t wait to have Shermanology, among others, play for us for the first time, that’s going to be super fun.
Broke Magazine: How’d you go about navigating different spaces and finding venues that align with the ethos of HE.SHE.THEY?
HE.SHE.THEY.: For us it’s about the people, the champions. The original ethos of the brand was to go into spaces who were not traditionally as diverse as they could be, but the people booking / working there had appetites for change. Often in one zoom call you can tell if a festival promoter, club promoter or venue has the same values as us and for what reasons they are doing it. We’ve walked away from relationships that we’ve felt aren’t right before. We’ve grown, learnt together and made great friendships alongside the right partners, some people we’ve worked with since the very beginning, and it’s like visiting family to land in cities round the world and see the same faces and hug all our lovely dancers. It’s a community.
Broke Magazine: The only path forward for progress in any realm is to get your hands dirty because talk is cheap. We know that the creation of HE.SHE.THEY came from feeling like just discussing the lack of inclusion wasn’t enough. Where do you think advocacy and social work in nightlife makes a true difference, and how do you think your events shape communities, even outside of nightlife?
HE.SHE.THEY.: We feel it’s really important to educate ravers coming through on where the roots of the scene they love came from. We also feel it’s important for people from marginalised groups to get the opportunities to play alongside bigger artists and win fans and get to releases records on labels alongside bigger artists which over time makes the scene more open and fair to as many people as possible. Doors have to be held open behind us to allow for more talent to come through. We think it’s impossible to achieve a truly safe space in larger clubbing spaces where different types of people are welcome and where people might be intoxicated. We prefer the term “brave space” and we hope that different types of people coming together under a shared love of music, complementing each others looks in the bathrooms, and just interacting with each other goes even a small way to breaking down the barriers outside of clubbing spaces. We really hope people are open, friendly, kind and complimentary to other party goers.
Broke Magazine: How many people have you brought together through your events over the 6 years since HE.SHE.THEY’s creation?
HE.SHE.THEY.: How many people? Wow, what a great question, we’ve never added it up, that would be a cool stat. It’s got to be in the late tens of thousands, nearing 100k. Wow. That’s wild when you think about it!
Broke Magazine: What has been a top memorable moment?
HE.SHE.THEY.: It’d be impossible to pick a memorable moment. There has been all spectrums of moments and emotions over the years haha. Having an Ibiza residency is a huge deal to us and much needed on the island we feel, to stay true to its origins.
Broke Magazine: On a human level, people desire to feel included and to be seen. HE.SHE.THEY. is doing just that. There seems to be a lot of movement and progress in the realm of nightlife and being more inclusive. So, we are curious to know how you plan to take the HST brand forward in 2024 and beyond?
HE.SHE.THEY.: Could not agree more on the belonging and inclusion, and thank you for saying that, it really means a lot. Yes, we do feel things are moving in the right direction, but there’s still a lot of work to do, even in terms of things like security briefings and more diverse people round the decision tables at nightlife companies. But we do have some really cool plans up our sleeves to work with brands and in the television world, so follow us on socials and sign up to our mailing list for all the latest info!
Broke Magazine: Tell us about your upcoming documentary! What was the creative process like in bringing this to life?
HE.SHE.THEY.: This is so exciting for us, but also for me personally (Sophia), leaves me feeling super vulnerable. I’ve never been so honest about my struggles with body image before, so it’s super scary, so hopefully people are kind. We were fortunate that Beatport, who approached us about commissioning the documentary, gave us full creative control. We would not have signed up to do it otherwise. The Clockwise production team were just fantastic and having a woman who identifies as LGBTQIA+ and also has faced issues with body image and was the same age as me co-directing this was super important to both Steven and I. They followed us on tour to the USA in 2023 and to various other shows and places that mean something to us. We are really proud of the piece and grateful to all the performers of HE.SHE.THEY. and artists who took part. Watching back their interviews made me very emotional. We’ve truly built our own little family that ia ever growing round the world and I couldn’t be more proud of everyone involved. We really hope everyone enjoys it and sees a part of themselves in there somewhere. Keep an eye on our socials as this drops very soon! @he.she.they
Broke Magazine: How can we, an attendee going to your events, contribute to you and your mission?
HE.SHE.THEY.: Buying tickets to events help us keep going for sure, the next event in any territory can never be guaranteed, and costs are so high since covid as well as making sure the dancers get paid a decent fee, too. So please, do tell your friends, share the flyers and encourage people to attend. We need these cultural spaces and events to let loose, dance and make friends, seeking human connection when we are more digitally connected but perhaps a lonelier generation than ever and still reeling emotionally from the effects of the pandemic. If you can’t attend, you can like and share posts on socials that mean something to you, buy / stream the music from our label, or even purchase some clothing. Every little helps to keep us going. We are a tiny team of three people who book and run our events worldwide and run the label and all special projects, so it’s very intense, but we are all very passionate. https://linktr.ee/heshethey