Cultural Influence: Kerfew's impact on Australia's club culture

Kerfew, a multi-disciplinary collective of South-Asian musicians, artists and creative professionals of many kinds, is the definition of community.

Starting a little over a year ago, the collective has set itself apart from other events as a home for South Asian music, food, art and culture. With events in Sydney/Eora, Melbourne/Naarm, Meanjin/Brisbane and Boorloo/Perth already under their belt, the collective has become a platform for creative expression, forging a deep connection between South Asian cultures and club culture.

Ahead of their next appearance at Melbourne’s QQQ ST. KITCHEN, we caught up with Munasib (she/her) and Brown Suga Princess (they/them), two founding members of the collective, to get an update on all things Kerfew.

Kerfew had an incredible & meteoric rise to popularity. What does it feel like getting to this point in your popularity after immediately being recognised by so many people?

MUNASIB: Honestly it isn't so much about the popularity, more so a place to finally feel accepted and exist in a community that was so clearly hungry for representation. It’s nice to also then be recognised by Western establishments because we can’t do much without people opening doors for us. We are not entirely there yet but there is good momentum.

BROWN SUGA PRINCESS: I don't know if popularity is how I view it. To me it seems like we started building this at a point when our community needed the space Kerfew provides. There hadn't been many South Asian focussed collectives/spaces in Aus that allow for us to be more than surface level perceptions of our culture, to just be young, brown people with lots of different musical and creative interests. I think we exploded because there was a need for it, so I'm really grateful to be able to be part of it.

We’ve seen a massive representation in South Asian artists touring here in the last year. Do you feel that Kerfew has been a part of a movement towards South Asian representation? How does this feel?

MUNASIB: Seeing as I work at Astral People and my boss is Sri Lankan, I think on a bigger scale we have definitely played a hand in opening up the doors for artists like Yung Singh and Jyoty coming through. I think Kerfew has worked hand in hand with the rise as well from a community point of view and adding to the atmospheric hype. It’s shown us that the community is ready to come out and support and people are really looking for a place to call home.

BROWN SUGA PRINCESS: I think Kerfew has definitely played a role pushing South Asian talent into more mainstream spaces. Being solely dedicated to spotlighting South Asian excellence and gaining as much awareness as we have really allowed for our artists to be appreciated by wider audiences. Genuinely fills me with so much joy to see us all succeeding and being appreciated.

Kerfew is made up of a number of different creatives, each assumedly with their own ideas of how things should run. How is it working as part of such a huge collective, especially now that such a large amount of time has passed?

MUNASIB: I think we are still learning the ropes but we have a very interesting model which is that we are city-based. We have the broader collective but we also have smaller teams in each city. It’s so beautiful because we get to learn how to operate in each individual city and tailor shows and events to those people and create beautiful manifestations of Kerfew around the country in different ways.

BROWN SUGA PRINCESS: It's honestly soooo interesting. Like we didn't know each other at all when we started doing this thing. It can definitely be tricky to try to navigate everybody's different ideals and experiences, but I feel like that's representative of the fact that our communities are so rich and diverse. Personally, it's been so great to learn from people I never would have connected with and to see us all show up and put on for our communities in our unique, individual ways.

What are some of the most interesting connections you’ve formed as a result of Kerfew?

MUNASIB: Honestly just having someone I now know in each city, perhaps I may not have had that many friends in Brisbane or Perth but because of our bond through Kerfew now there's always someone I can ask questions to or ask for music recommendationsartists from that area! The brown community network prospers.

BROWN SUGA PRINCESS: Since Kerfew launched, especially in Naarm (where I'm based) I have connected with soooo many South Asian people around me. It was like everybody needed a signal to emerge and suddenly we're everywhere. I love throwing our parties because I know that I get to see everyone there. Feels like this very special third space that we're all connected in.

Food has been a really important part of the events that you’ve run. It’s not something often associated with the clubbing experience, but why do you feel this has been so important to include in what Kerfew does?

MUNASIB: It is a fundamental part of being South Asian, we connect and communicate through our tummies. It’s our love language. Even if you're fighting at home, for example, you will still come down to eat a home cooked meal together. It’s also so interesting, everyone has their own relationship with their 'brown-ness' and even if someone is not that connected to it, I always ask them what they grew up eating and more often than not that will always remain the same across the board. Daal, rice, roti whatever it might be. You just can’t escape it. It also affords us so much creativity when it comes to creating new drinks with traditional flavours at our events, it’s a perfect place to express ourselves by blending our two worlds together.

BROWN SUGA PRINCESS: Food is SO important in our cultures. It's how we celebrate and connect and honestly feel. Food and cooking is not often recognised as a creative cultural practice, but it really is and it would feel unnatural to not include it in our events.

My partner said of the last Kerfew that the best part about it for her was hearing people speaking in their mother tongue languages. What’s your favourite thing about a Kerfew party?

MUNASIB: Seeing peoples outfits hands down. I'm very very into fashion and finding ways to tie all parts of my identity together, so being able to see others experiment at our parties has always been something I've loved!

BROWN SUGA PRINCESS: I have sooo many favourite things, but I think it's watching everyone connect and become friends. Seeing people show up in their version of their cultural clothes, and getting excited hyping each other up, loving each other up. It's emotional and amazing.

Club and rave fashion has headed into a clearly cut direction, for the most part. How do you think the dress code at a Kerfew event fits into that?

MUNASIB: It doesn't fit into it at all and that's what I love! Love seeing how everyone from all different parts of South Asia interpret the code and make it 12+ hour dance friendly

What do you know of reactions that have happened to Kerfew across the country?

MUNASIB: Just interesting to see lots of other groups popping up around the place across the country and people discovering their sounds, whether they’re music or theatre focussed doesn't really matter people are starting to build their own worlds!

BROWN SUGA PRINCESS: We see people asking for more and more and more, and I'm hoping this translates into others developing their own collectives. I've already seen some start to pop up, and can't wait to watch it grow.

What do you both hope for Kerfew in the future?

MUNASIB: I personally want to create a web for the South Asian diaspora worldwide that we can move across fluidly and share our individual manifestations of South Asian culture in the West with everyone around the world.

BROWN SUGA PRINCESS: I just want our community to flourish in this unique space. I want more collectives, more parties, more music and more connection! Kerfew is a starting point for what we can really do. I also REALLY want an epic international link up with some of the crews from across the world like Daytimers, No Nazar, Dialled In etc.

-

Tickets to Kerfew presents Primary Thug, Secret International Guest (UK) and Kerfew DJs at QQQ ST. KITCHEN (June 22) are still available.

You can find Kerfew, Munasib and Brown Suga Princess on Instagram.

-

Jack Colquhoun is Mixmag Australia’s Managing Editor. You can find him on Instagram.