Name: Malin Linnéa
Nationality: Swedish
Occupation: DJ, producer, vocalist

If you enjoyed this Malin Linnéa interview and would like to stay up to date on her music and live dates, visit her official website. She is also on Instagram, Facebook, and Soundcloud. Her event series Lúcido is also on Instagram.

For a deeper dive, read our earlier Malin Linnéa interview.

It would seem from your description of Lúcido that for you personally, electronic music is still a way of life. Can you talk about this a bit and in which way this event series is an expansion of ideas and ideals that are also about more than “just” music?

I think electronic music has always meant to be about togetherness and inclusion. It’s about creating a space where different kinds of people can come together and where you don’t need to “belong” to a scene to feel part of it. That feeling has been lost a bit in certain environments with tables, very expensive vip tickets and the ‘bro-club’ of constantly booking the same names.

Lúcido is really an attempt to bring back a relaxed way of going out: a space that feels open, social, and human, where the music connects people. I think there are a lot of options for someone who wants to go to a big club, but there are definitely way less options when it comes to intimate parties with quality music.

For me, clubbing in the UK with their midnight curfew was a great introduction to the idea. Did you have any personal experiences with this kind of early partying prior to Lúcido?

I love Berlin for this reason. You can go to Berghain or Heidegluhen in the morning or daytime, party all day if you feel like it and still feel ok the next day as you get your sleep.

Now that I’ve been spending time in Miami I’ve actually been doing that here too, at Space which is really cool. Still, in many cities it’s hard to find good early options.

What were your earliest clubbing experiences like and how do those experiences factor into what you want out of a night out today?

I guess the care-free technicolor way of experiencing life and clubbing as a teenager or young adult is unique as everything is new and exciting. That can be a bit hard to recreate when you’re older and have already been to a lot of clubs and concerts but creating a non-pretentious environment definitely helps.

When we started out Lúcido had a no phone policy but we realized quite quickly that it wasn’t an issue so now if someone wants to take a photo or two it doesn’t really matter - we don’t need to put a sticker on people's phones which we also like.

As a young adult going to Ibiza I remember tickets being pricy but not excruciatingly expensive as they are now. I also remember the digi cams and how people were much more in the moment without looking at their phones.

Lúcido was founded during a stay in Mexico. What were these first events in Mexico City as well as that magical night at Miami Beach Botanical Garden of South Beach like?

I actually lived in Mexico City for four years and still have an apartment there as I go back and forth. The first events were organic and we were testing the concept and the music.

The Botanical Garden in Miami was a really cool setting with guests walking past koi ponds and scents from the jasmine trees as they walked in. But as you can imagine the organisation and the costs associated with doing an event like that are another beast.

It’s obviously much easier to do an event in a space that already has a sound system, bar etc and you can keep ticket prices lower.

I've seen an increase in events where music is played more quietly or which reinforce the health and wellness aspect of dancing. Do you see Lúcido as part of these developments?

We actually don’t want to be at an alcohol-free wellness rave or a coffee shop party. I like the idea that everyone is free to choose if they feel like having a nice cocktail or being sober.

I think the earlier hours definitely help. I find that a lot of people drink just to handle staying up late when their favorite DJ comes on at 4 am.

You speak about wanting to spin more music with a “more feminine energy.” What does that mean concretely?

It’s not so much the music itself, but more a feeling when you walk into a space.

Having balanced line ups definitely helps with creating a different ambience.

Ae you finding that the earlier hours allow you to spin different music as well?

Yes of course, you can play more groovy, rolling tunes and it’s less drop focused which is trickier to avoid if you play in a club where people expect the more big room energy. I love my old school tech house records from the early 2000s which are more like this.

I think about this a lot when I play old records and I wonder if it’s the ‘adhd-fication’ of our minds and shorter attention span that requires DJs to play shorter tracks and with more drops now.

Is there still a warm-up phase during the Lúcido events?

I think every DJ adapts to the room and the circumstances at each event but usually the first hour is a time to explore more chilled, groovy sounds.

Why is the vinyl component of your approach of some importance to you?

I think it’s more that I appreciate the digging aspect of DJ-ing, I want to be surprised when I book or listen to a DJ.

I have discovered a lot of unusual records thanks to collecting vinyl but it’s of course possible to do that with only digital tracks as well.

Lúcido feels like something that's been in the air, as it were, for a long time. Why do you think the current club scene is not exactly open to the idea?

The system is built around late hours, alcohol sales, and a certain type of high-intensity experience.

Whilst a few clubs and promoters may be driven by the wrong motives (which is what we saw with the recent Live Nation scandal), I think most are just trying to survive in a climate with crazy high rents and running costs.

I don’t think there is an obvious solution.