Interview by Passion Dzenga and Liesje VerhaveLaunching in 2021, Echobox has been forging a path for community radio by showcasing the diverse characters and concepts that surround their station. In this feature, we will be looking into one of the broadcasts that you can tune into, so get locked in and don’t touch that dial. Among them is Sophie Straat Hit Squad, a broadcast that feels less like a traditional radio show and more like a personal diary set to sound. Known for her sharp lyricism, multimedia approach and the self-built world of Protest Fest, Sophie Straat doesn’t separate curation from creation. Whether she’s programming a festival at Paradiso, touring across Europe, or stepping behind the decks, the thread remains the same: instinct over formula. Her Echobox residency wasn’t born out of a lifelong radio ambition; in fact, she admits she initially dreaded the idea of “having to listen to music again.” But somewhere between R&B deep dives, themed playlists about “winning,” and rediscovering the pleasure of listening without overthinking, the show became a reset button.Sophie Straat Hit Squad operates in the grey areas, where personal taste meets politics, where pop stages follow DIY rooms, and where a Justin Bieber record can sit comfortably alongside experimental drums or Gnawa rhythms. It’s less about making “social messaging music” and more about standing for something without announcing it. As she puts it, the artists she gravitates toward might not call themselves protest acts, but they represent what she stands for, and that’s enough. In this conversation, we speak to Sophie about rediscovering joy through radio, growing up in De Pijp, building Protest Fest into something tangible, and why identity is never fixed.What made you want to start a radio show, and what space did Echobox give you that you didn’t have before?Well, it was never really my dream to start a radio show. They asked me and I thought it was quite fun to do. What I like about it is that… I’m a musician, so I listen to music differently. Lately, I kind of lost my interest in music because I’m always working. When you listen to music, you’re always actively listening, and I lost the fun in it.I was actually really not looking forward to my radio show because I thought, oh yeah, shit, I have to listen to music again. But then, when it was coming up, I started listening to easy listening music. R&B, soul, indie kinds of places, and then I enjoyed it again. It’s fun. And it’s also like… people always have this image of you as a musician and what you listen to, and it’s fun to show them what you listen to. Do you get what I’m saying?The last show I did, I recorded yesterday, it’s for Thursday because I’m not in town, but I feel like that really represents how I feel now. I feel like every show is kind of like that. The description isn’t really correct, but every show is themed. Two shows ago, it was themed around “winning” because Zohran Mamdani got the win in New York, so I curated a playlist with a winning theme.So it’s both. It’s fun to curate a playlist in different ways, whether it’s something that happened, or how you’re feeling, or whatever. That’s what’s nice about music. When people ask what you listen to, it’s never one thing. It’s a billion things. And that’s what’s nice about curating.You curate in a lot of spaces, including Protest Fest. When it comes to your radio show, are you more open-minded to include things that are just “good music,” even if it doesn’t connect to the social lens people associate with your work?That’s a very complex question because “good music” is not really describable. And also, Protest Fest isn’t really only… what did you call it? Social messaging. When I make music myself, the goal isn’t to make social-message music. I make music, and it happens to be social-messaged. And in a way, the artists I listen to, they could fit into Protest Fest. And the lineup this year is Asma Hamzawi, who’s a Gnawa artist from Morocco, and Able Noise, which is experimental drums and vocals. They’re not really out there to be protesting or something, but I feel like they represent what I stand for. And that could be anything.After half a year of doing Echobox shows, how has the concept evolved for you? Are you more into collaborations and guests now?Yeah, I think next time I’ll take a guest. I’m always open to taking guests. It’s just that the show always comes up, I see it in my calendar and I’m like, oh shit, I have to do Echobox. And then I go up there and I just play the music that I feel like playing. But I was thinking to take a guest next time.Have you ever freestyled a show and it turned out better than expected?Terrible yeah. I’ve had that a couple of times, actually. Most times. Actually, most times. But yesterday I did prepare and it was really nice. So I’m going to do that more often. It wasn’t different than if it would be live because I still had to do it within an hour, but… because I haven’t listened to music in a while, it felt fun again. I tried to listen to music without thinking, and that was really nice for once. Listening to music that’s pleasant and not complicated or complicated in a way, but just… not thinking.What’s your relationship with community radio? Were you listening to stations like Red Light Radio before you had your own show?Not really Dutch or Amsterdam community radio, to be honest. Red Light Radio was always there and I’ve been a couple of times, but I don’t really have like a famous past with it or something.You grew up in De Pijp. How did that shape your taste? Do you play local artists, or are you more interested in the global conversation around music?De Pijp didn’t really influence… I guess. I mean, I’ve been raised by my mom but also by my neighbours and like my best friend’s mom, and she listened to a lot of Dutch hip-hop and rap, and that was the first music I listened to if I think about it. So in a way De Pijp influenced me because we were always over there, but I’m not sure if the neighbourhood introduced me to music I still listen to. But I think it’s interesting that you’re raised not only by your parents but also the people around you, and then after that, you choose the people around you that form you. That forms your musical interest as well. Life passes and you meet people, and those people have an influence on your taste and curiosities. The different lives you have within one life bring insights, music and tastes. That’s what I really like about it.You’re on tour right now. What kind of music do you listen to when you’re not working?It could be anything. And I’m not the only one choosing. It depends on how we’re feeling and what people want to listen to. I’m really looking forward to Jebba’s album; it’s coming out the day our tour starts, so I know I’m going to listen to that on the first day. Usually, when we’re on our way home, either we’re really tired and don’t listen to music, or we’re hyped and then my guitarist, Los, comes in with his awful playlists. It could literally be anything. I don’t know how to answer that.Do you listen to your own music?I listen to it for practice. Sometimes I listen to it with other ears, as you place yourself within someone else, but not really for fun. When it’s not released yet, I listen to it a lot the whole day, on my bike, in the train, I can’t stop. And then when it’s released, I’m like… over it.On tour, who controls the aux? Who’s the dominant one on the speaker?That’s funny you say that because… Justin Bieber actually got me out of that not-wanting-to-listen-to-music thing. I listened to this record, and I was like, oh yeah, I enjoy this again. The latest is Swag 2, which is also a great name. But yeah, I could be dominant, but I guess I’m the most dominant one with the speaker.The tour starts in early March. What are you most excited for?I’m really looking forward to Protest Fest, obviously. And the first week is going to be fun because it’s four shows in a row, so we’ll get into it. It’s always fun, so it’s a good starter. Then… N is always good fun. And then two times Rotterdam, which is also fun. So the first week is going to be a really good start.And we’re going to do two radio shows during the tour, actually, during Rotterdam twice, we’re going to do Operator Radio, and then in Brussels, we’ll do Kiosk as well.Do you have any tour rituals or anything you do before being away and sleeping in strange places?We don’t sleep in that many strange places because we’re mostly touring here and in Belgium. I think we only sleep three times somewhere else: Brussels, Rotterdam and Groningen. But I really like that the only thing I have to think about is getting in the bus. That’s the only thing I’m doing in the month. I’m really looking forward to that, because when I’m not touring, I’m busy with a billion things, and this March is just about performing.You’re a multimedia person, photography, music, video, art school. When did sound become one of your main expressions?When I was at art school, I always loved music, but I think I always used music within projects. I don’t know, I suppose I always used music within projects and I use my other stuff within other projects. It’s one big mess. But if you ask my main medium: music. Definitely. That’s my job. That’s what I do every day.Your album title asks, “Who the hell is Sophie Straat?” So: who is Sophie Straat today?I feel like we’re all not one particular personality or secret identity. We have multiple sides to us. It would be terrible and destructive if we said we only have one part and one identity. We have to go out to our different personalities and not be filtered into one place. You can be one thing one day and a completely different thing the other day, and don’t get stuck in an identity crisis because it’s not you or whatever. I want to embrace that and be someone else when I want to be.This project feels different from your earlier work. What are you looking forward to on this tour? What will feel new?Everything is always different. We evolve, I hope, and don’t stick to one thing forever. This album’s been out for a few months, and we did one tour in DIY places, small rooms, and now we’re doing the big pop stages. So it’s the album again but in a different place, which is fun. It’s going to sound different because the sound system is different, the production is different. And I like how you can play the same stuff in a different place and it can be completely different.You’ve collaborated with everyone from Goldband to the Metropole Orkestra. What do you look for in collaborators and in guests for your radio show?Either they’re people I think are fun and I love them, usually friends, or I think they’re really cool and I want to hang out with them and I see it as a good excuse. It’s one of those.Protest Fest has been at Paradiso for a while, and it donates to charity. Why build that platform?It started out because I had my show there and I thought, I might as well bring some other bands because I have that place. It’s kind of like curating a radio show, because you think your music is cool and you want to show the rest as well. It’s very self-centered, I suppose, because you think you’re cool and you want to let people know what is cool. That’s how it started.Why was donating part of the idea, and why support MiGreat this year?When I’m calling it Protest Fest, I can’t really own all the money that’s given to me. And if you’re owning money, you might as well donate it. MiGreat is doing interesting stuff; it’s very active. When you donate to somewhere, you don’t really know what they’re going to do with it. But MiGreat tells you what you can do. We’re probably also going to do a workshop to be active. People always ask, what can I do, how can I help? and MiGreat really tells you what you can actively do, like marry someone without papers, or they have these examples that are active and solve stuff.Where does the “Hit Squad” name come from? Because you played Punjabi Hit Squad on the show too.Yeah, that’s where it’s from. First I wanted to play that song as a jingle every time I would start, but after a while I stopped doing that. But that’s where it came from.Tune in to Echobox, broadcasting from below sea level every week, Wednesday until Saturday.

Once again, the iconic Patta x New Balance Grey Days party took over Amsterdam. The night heated up with bites from Sichuan Territory, a live performance by Anysia Kym, and new and timeless sounds kept the crowd moving deep into the early hoursBetween chess games, familiar faces and standout moments, the unmistakable Grey Days energy brought everyone together for another evening we won't soon forget. Get familiar with Grey Days as seen by Aryan Hamyani.  

Shubeen returns to Skatecafe on June 6 for another annual gathering where the diaspora comes first. A three-room takeover dedicated to migrant sounds, global bass pressure and the communities that continue to shape nightlife from the margins outward.Created by Murkage Dave and Passion DEEZ, Shubeen is built for the people who grew up between cultures, across borders and inside scenes that never fully reflected them back. It’s a celebration of music as memory, migration and connection from soundsystem culture to club mutations, from leftfield classics to dancefloor chaos.Leading the charge are co-founders Murkage Dave & Passion DEEZ, reuniting after last year’s sold-out edition for a genre-hopping b2b spanning global club sounds, Hotep hip-hop, Dalston kebab-shop anthems and everything in between. Fresh off the release of his album Brut Thoughts and a headline show at Village Underground, Murkage Dave steps back into the booth alongside his club collaborator. Opening things up is Amsterdam-based Garnett, whose sets pull deeply from reggae, dub and dancehall traditions while pushing soundsystem culture into new territory.Flying in from Los Angeles, Bianca Oblivion arrives with the kind of high-pressure energy that has made her one of the most exciting selectors in global club music right now — packed with dubplates, razor-sharp blends and pure movement. Joining her is Yeimy, founder of Popolaclab, bringing a sound rooted in dembow, salsa, cumbia, merengue and reggaeton straight from Mexico.In 1900, dengdeng curates a sweat-drenched room full of rhythm, chaos and community alongside the unstoppable Cata.Pirata. The South African-born multidisciplinary artist and SKIP&DIE frontwoman whose sound travels freely between continents, scenes and identities.Tickets are live now and if you came last year, you already know not to wait for the inevitable Ticketswap panic.