It’s interesting that you mention Södra Teatern as a “mainstream” club, because it tends to spring up in my mind as a rather “world music”/cultural elite type of place. I guess you could think of it as at least two separate mainstreams – one from pretentious small-town student bars going up to the Södermalm hipster joints like Södra Bar, one from working-class chain bars like Harry’s up towards the rather more “economic capital” nightlife around Stureplan. The two don’t interact very much, and rarely play the same music, and happily coexist in different geographical spheres in Stockholm.

Interestingly enough, the rather more working-class mainstream tends to occasionally be more open than the hipster one towards what in my ears is good music. One of the biggest club and chart hits this summer is (bizarrely enough) prohibidão funk number “Rap das Armas”, for instance. Add to that the (again entirely separate) diasporadic and immigrant scene (which might also play the same music) and it’s quite possible three entirely different clubs with entirely different audiences, imagery, raison d’etre can play the same music at the same time – it’s quite a schitzophrenic thing. I’m looking forward to hearing your experiences in crossing the gap.