Klub Sukar Is At The Epicentre Of SWANA Club Culture In Ireland
Over the past year, Klub Sukar has harnessed the transcendental power of sounds from Southwest Asia and North Africa to create one of the most dedicated nightlife communities Ireland has to offer. As part of our series with Jack Daniel’s, spotlighting the minds behind the creative pillars of the Irish community, we sat down with Jamal Sul, AKA Moving Still, the founder of Klub Sukar to dissect how Klub Sukar became the epicentre of Arabic dance music in Ireland.
Moving Still’s DJ pedigree has been built on a foundation of over a decade of selection, curation and performance from behind the decks. The Saudi-Irish DJ has always reserved a place for sounds from his cultural roots. Over the years, Jamal became a source for SWANA bangers, through his remixes of iconic tracks and production of his own works such as ‘Sidi Mansour’, Al ‘Disco Haram’ and ‘Kunafa King’. However, it was in Hen’s Teeth where the community aspect was first breached.
“Klub Sukar stems from an original event that I had in Hen’s Teeth. The reason I called it Sukar is that I have a sweet tooth, and I love Sukkari dates. I wanted to kind of play on that idea of Sukar, which translates to sugar.”
The Sukar label was given to an event which put food, community and art first. As more of a social, it showed the appetite from the SWANA community and further afield for a hub in Dublin.
“I realised that people were going to this event, and they wanted something a bit more than that.”
Although music is foundational to SWANA culture, the clubbing world is still yet to permeate into the western nightscape. This results in pockets of Arabic nightlife around the world becoming interlinked. The community of curators of SWANA nightlife are a tight-knit network, which Jamal called on from the very first inaugural Klub Sukar.
Kicking off the first Klub Sukar, was Jamal’s personal friend and one of the biggest DJ names in the SWANA world, Nooriyah. Her sets had gone viral and had been one of the prime examples of SWANA sounds being exposed to the wider dance music world. Even with a huge name as a pull, it was still uncharted territory for Dublin’s nightlife.
“You’re going into this event you’re also booking somebody that is like a big deal and you don’t know whether there is a following for that person or it is going to work out. Is it going to sell? So yeah, I was really, really nervous and I was trying to think of the lineup, trying to make sure that I was a good host and trying to bring people up and put them on a platform.”
The show sold out easily. The idea was actualised perfectly, as Yamamori Tengu hosted what was soon to become a cultural institution. Sights of an empty smoking area were almost unbeknownst in Tengu. However, here it was a given. The dancefloor was packed as a community was formed under the unifier of SWANA music.
“It was really a fun experience because I don’t think anybody has had that level of experience within that music genre within Ireland and that was it’s first ever showcase within a club context.”
Since then, Klub Sukar has had over a year of platforming local and international selectors from the Arabic world and afar. Big names such as Saliah, Lionessa and Cheb Runner have headlined their own sold out shows. However, even a lineup of local acts packs out the dancefloor. So much so, that Klub Sukar was given the coveted New Year’s Spot in Tengu, with an inevitable sell out.
“I was like absolutely blown away that it was a sold out show. People were just coming for the party. They don’t care who’s playing. They just want to hear their music basically being platformed.”
Klub Sukar is more than healthy, it’s thriving. However, it can’t be ignored that it’s still in its infancy. A current of excitement runs through the crowd, becoming stronger with each show. It’s not just a club night, it’s a public service and its a platform for cultural integration.
“You also get to learn about what our culture is because sadly, the world and the media have painted us as kind of being all these terms and you don’t really get to see who we are until you’re actually at a party like this. It’s representative of what we enjoy really. “
Klub Sukar has become a portal between SWANA culture and Irish nightlife. The floodgates have opened and nobody has any desire to close them. Klub Sukar is at the epicentre of SWANA club culture in Ireland and it’s only just beginning.
This is the first in a series with Jack Daniel’s where we scour the country looking for the figureheads who are contributing something different to Ireland’s creative landscapes. Stay tapped in to find out about the weird and wonderful corners of Irish music and culture.
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