Anyway Presents Alphabet Street 2nd Anniversary Beach Party

On July 30th, Anyway returns to Lorosae Beach Club and its beautifully sandy dancefloor for another round of fun, gritty house music curated by none other than the Alphabet Street Records crew - who’ll be celebrating their second year in activity plus a handful of underground hits released on their label. Alphabet Street is a project run by two of our favourite guests from last year, Yen Sung and Photonz, and it focuses on underground dance music that honours the roots of house and techno while keeping it fresh and avoiding easy categorisation. They’ll also be bringing some incredible guests with them this year so get ready to come dance with us once again, with your feet firmly buried in sand and a desire to move your body to the beat! DJs Yen Sung Photonz Chima Isaaro Varela YEN SUNG should need no introduction: a pioneer of the Portuguese dance music scene that is indissociable from many of its pivotal moments and mutations. Her status as a trailblazer goes back to the early 90s, when she started the very first hip hop night in Lisbon, just after she was taken as resident at legendary venue Frágil and subsequently LuxFrágil, in 1998, where she has remained to this day. Even more so, Yen has been vital in the development of house music and techno in Lisbon, playing some of the earliest parties, expressing a kinship to the purest form of these genres coming from Chicago, NYC and Detroit at a time when few others would. With regular gigs all over the country and abroad, in-depth articles in platforms such as Resident Advisor or Rhythmic Culture, and records on legendary labels like Atlantic Jaxx, she’s widely considered one of Portugal’s most consistent talents and a true master of the craft. In 2021 she joined forces with another Lisbon mainstay, Photonz, to collaborate in the studio. Soon after that, Alphabet Street Records was born and we’re thrilled to be able to host a line-up totally curated by the label after last year’s memorable time with Yen Sung and Photonz behind the decks at Anyway. One of the founders of Alphabet Street Records with Yen Sung, PHOTONZ is a jack of all trades when it comes to everything related to clubbing and rave culture: DJ, producer, radio show host, label manager, event organiser and programmer, amateur graphic designer and mastering “engineer” - you name it, he’s done it. He’s mostly known, however, for his productions and DJing, extending back to his debut record “Ronin EP”, released in 2006. Since then he has toured far and wide - from China to the US, India, Brazil, western and eastern Europe, Australia and more - and dropped dozens of records on iconic record labels such as 2020 Vision, Creme Organization, Unknown To The Unknown, Naive, Dark Entries and countless others. If that wasn’t enough: he’s also the head behind the label One Eyed Jacks; a co-founder of community projects like Radio Quântica and Planeta Manas; one of the founders of the infamous mina parties and a radio show host on Berlin’s Refuge Worldwide community radio. Photonz is not one to chose between the various flavours of the underground, rather favouring a varied approach to genres and styles, old and new, ranging from raw house and techno, breakbeats and jungle, bass-heavy hybrids and electro - all seamlessly blended together for maximum dancefloor bliss. Last year he connected deep and strong with the Anyway crowd, and we can’t wait to have him on again! Having had her debut at Berghain/Panorama Bar just a few weeks ago, it's clear that Lisbon-based DJ CHIMA ISAARO (FKA Chimahiro) has been doing the work. Lighting up the basements of Brussels, the dance halls of Milan and the reputable venues of her home turf with versatility and a honed instinct for groove, the seasoned selector – who is as much a dancer as a digger – is rightly becoming recognised for her uplifting, surprising and always generous sets. Well-known for effortlessly melodic sonic journeys that weave through the time-spaces of techno, house, disco, soul, batida, jazz and more, she consistently offers up Black-rooted candescence, for the people. Her mix series Nyce & Slo has long been a favourite for discerning lovers and yearners, while her jacked-up, turned-out dance mixes on platforms including Boiler Room and Rinse FM have won her devotees internationally. Chima Isaaro sustains that expansive energy with a universal invitation: you can come, if you can dance. VARELA has it all: magnetism and charisma; a wide and comprehensive knowledge of music; an absolutely killer instinct for the dancefloor and the most impeccable taste. There’s a strange sense of nurture that comes through when Varela is playing; you feel like you’re being taken care of, and partaking in some sort of healing ritual - one that just happens to involve lots of fun and dancing. He’s most known for his house and techno dj sets, often percussive and full of drama, but the range of Varela’s selections is anything but limited: new beat, disco, strange and obscure rhythm tracks, italo, soul, Detroit techno, jacking acid, vocal NYC gospel-infused garage - you name it, he can drop it in the mix. No surprise then that he rapidly rose from a hectic dj schedule around town to being snatched by LuxFrágil for their residents team. Now he spends most of his weekends sharing the dj booth with some of the world’s finest - as it should be.