Season 3 Episode 8 - LITTLE SATURDAY

In a country known for both pragmatic protestantism and Absolut Vodka, you can imagine there is some anxiety around alcohol, that swings between enjoyment and control. A spectrum of emotion that simmers in the background of Stockholm’s night life. So episode we’ll be talking about the party, the club, the bar, the night life of the city.

Script

[INTRO]

JONAS 0:00

I didn't go out to clubs or partying or anything or to bars until I was like 18,19, I didn't have a fake ID or anything. I was like a good boy.

[Music]

Jess 0:33

Welcome to Here There Be Dragons. This season, I’m taking you to Stockholm. I’m your host, Jess Myers.

Episode 8: Little Saturday

0:46 

“…the drinking culture…”

“…rich young people partying like…”

“…people being booed and...”

“…people drink a lot…”

“…typical to do more sociable…”

“…kinda guys…”

“…there's like a lot of strange people there…”

“…you're a little bit drunk than me you're a bit loud and I show my queerness in a big way…”

“…some of my best memories also have the worst memories…”

[Music]

Jess 1:29

Although you may be fooled into thinking that I'm a lavish partier. I have, in fact, live the nightlife tastes of a little old lady. Sure, I'll go to dinner and split a bottle of wine. But when it comes to clubs, I am a notorious sipper and may have already called a car by the time anyone gets around to ask me if I'm having a good time.

But as a young person in Stockholm, I was quickly informed that this was profoundly unacceptable behavior. So, in Stockholm, I had to switch things up a little bit, you know…for research.

[Club music]

And enter Wednesday nights or what Swedes call a little Saturday. The best guides I could hope for attempted to show me the party scene of Stockholm. And dear listener, I could not keep up. But even from the vantage point of the corner of the dance floor, I could see a certain change in the people of Stockholm.

The shy, the awkward, the normies, if you will, would really loosen up. Gone was the image of the diligent, hardworking Swede, and in came the karaoke shrieking booty shaking openly flirting people of the night.

And what made all this possible? How were Swedes casting off the norms of a mere two episodes ago and letting their hair down?

[Absolute Commercial] 2:53

“Unlike other vodkas, we only use the wheat that comes from approximately 338 farms around Sweden.”

Jess 3:04 

Well, a little libation doesn't hurt. [Music] Maybe not a little.

In a country known for both pragmatic Protestantism and Absolute Vodka. You can imagine that there is some anxiety around alcohol that swings between enjoyment and control, a spectrum of emotion that simmers in the background of Stockholm's nightlife. This episode we'll be talking about the party, the club, the bar, the nightlife of the city.

Drinking in Sweden is somewhat of an institution, with traditions and rituals dating back hundreds of years. But throughout the country’s history, drunkenness took on different meanings for different people.

For the upper class, it was a privilege. It meant you had a taste for fine wines and fine brandies… and that you could afford a life of leisure.

[Movie Quote] 4:01

“Yes, we have problems with alcohol, described as neurotic…”

Jess 4:08

But for the lower class… being drunk was seen as an obstacle to productivity. If people drank, who would go to work in the morning?

Over the centuries, Sweden has tried different experiments in state monopoly and control over the consumption of liquor.

In 1775 the monarchy claimed exclusive rights to distilling spirits to control the nation’s drinking.

But by 1917 the government implemented ration books, where you could be approved to purchase up to 4 liters of strong liquor each month. However, this measure went up or down depending on who you were and what the government deemed best for you. For example, single women over 30 were granted some of the smallest allowances while married wealthy men were given some of the largest.

But Swedes were, understandably, not very happy about a system that relied on gendered and classist stereotypes. So, by 1955, the country came up with the current method of regulation: the revered and exasperating Systembolaget.

[Movie Quote] 5:10 

“The largest monopoly in the world is sustainable argot. A state-run chain store for alcohol.”

Jess 5:17

Although these state-run liquor stores are no longer the world’s largest monopoly. They remain the only establishments outside of restaurants that are able to sell liquor stronger than 3.5% alcohol by volume. So if you were looking for a tame beer or cider, the grocery store would serve you well but... wine, whiskey, or vodka? Off to the Systembolaget.

[Movie Quote]

So why does Sweden need all this regulation in the first place? In her 1969 essay A Letter from Sweden, Susan Sontag observed:

Susan Sontag 5:58

“Such an uptight world has to have a safety valve. Here it's drink. Alcohol has the status in Sweden of a mythic substance: the magic elixir that gives one permission to release aggressions, and allow intimacy.”

But she also said:

“...No other people have attacked the dangers of alcoholism with the punitive ferocity of the Swedes. The result is that they do indeed have a liquor problem, but it's as much or more a national neurosis about alcohol…”

While A Letter from Sweden was a controversial essay when it was published, many Swedes did see their own experiences reflected in Sontag’s observations. A night of drinking becomes a kind of permission to be social and to relax. But when you do away with the old expected norms, what’s left can be uncertain, towing that fine line between exciting and threatening. 

JONATHAN 6:55

Two nights ago, like Saturday night, I would be walking home on Götgatan, which is like the central shopping street on Södermalm, and there was like a crew of guys. One of them would look me in the eye and he would be like, "Oh hi there cowboy!" Because I was wearing a hat, like similar to a cowboy hat. I saw that this was a pretty drunk guy, out with his friends.

And I looked at him and I smiled and I said, "Howdy." And he said, "Oh this guy is... he was really nice" he said to his friends as I was walking by. And, I don't think that would happen if he had not been drinking.

The sober Swede is pretty reserved I would say, compared to a lot of places. Like New York, for instance, like people are much more, in my opinion, open for communication with a stranger that you haven't met before. But here in Stockholm, that doesn't happen much, unless people are drinking. That's like a huge thing in Swedish culture, the drinking culture.

We are very much reserved, I would say, and also quite lonely, according to surveys. And people drink a lot, to be more sociable. And that can be a thing that, not scares me, but it makes me a little bit aware when people are drinking and they're very drunk, because they tend to do stupid stuff.

Jess 8:28

More than New York or Paris, Stockholmers brought up alcohol as something that put them on alert, even when they were having a good time. For residents we talked to, there was a heightened sense of awareness around neighborhoods known for drinking and partying. Stureplan in Östermalm alongside Megaborgplatsen and Götgatan in Södermalm really stood out for people.

VIDE 8:50

Well you know in the evenings, and especially in the weekends, more people are out. More people are drunk, and there is definitely a different feeling and

JESS 9:00

Götgatan and Megaborgplaten are both on Södermalm, which I already understood as a place where posh thrill seekers tend to hang out. Most Stockholmers we spoke to knew when to join in and when to steer clear.

VIDE 9:13

You always hear around Megaborgplatsen is where like the crime statistics for violent crimes and stuff like that is the highest. But that's also because it's one of the busiest places where people go for partying. And I wouldn't say I feel unsafe there Friday or Saturday evening, but I think it's definitely a good idea to be sort of …on the alert a little bit.

GUSTAV 9:42

I mean the rowdiness comes from one particular place in Östermalm which is…

Jess 9:46

To me, the neighborhood that really caught my attention when talking about night life was…

GUSTAV 9:50

“Stureplan.”

SAMANTHA 9:52

I don't like the area around Stureplan.

Jess 9:54

Stureplan.

GUSTAV 9:55

…which is the going-out kind of area.

Jess 9:57

Stureplan is in Östermalm,

NAZEM 10:00

If there would be a colonial center in Sweden it would be Östermalm.

Jess 10:02

Which you may recall from Episode Two is this the city’s snooty business district.

JACQUELINE 10:07

“…extremely homogeneous…”

ASYNJA 10:08

“…it's so white...”

JACQUELINE 10:12

“…reminds me of my difference…”

 ULRIKA 10:14

“…probably felt the least safe around Stureplan actually…”

TANVIR 10:18

like anything you you would associate it with the rich young people partying, Stureplan is where the nightlife is like in Östermalm. That's where I think I would feel the least welcome as a young person.

Östermalm, or especially Sturenlan, is very consistent in the look of it. But also, like just going to an area where there's only white people is also kind of excluding, and you feel out of place. But even more if it's white people wearing nice clothes. And now I'm talking as like how I felt when I was young, rather than today.

Jess 10:55

It was hard for me to imagine the rich aristocratic neighborhood in the center of town was starting the party. But Stureplan is a little square in the midst of boutiques, and banks where the wealthy and those with who can garner a nod of approval from intimidating bouncers can party.

SAMANTHA 11:12

Walk around there late at night you're gonna see a lot of like kind of fucked-up stuff…

ULRIKA 11:15

Because that was the place where people would go out.

SAMANTHA 11:18

People being rude…

GUSTAV 11:19

I don't know much about it, but I avoid it if I walk. 

SAMANTHA 11:23

…like people that have like a lot of money and doesn't seem to care really about other things than themselves.

ULRIKA 11:31

You had to watch out after a certain hour. So it was mostly around um safety as a young woman.

SAMANTHA 11:36

This area where the clubs are at, there's this really long street it is like well-known for prostitution.

Jess 11:45

One of the Stockholmers we talked to, Samantha, she dances at a strip club not far from Stureplan. She gave us a run down of the clubbing eco-system there and how she navigates it as a young woman.

SAMANTHA 11:56

I think it's kind of interesting how these clubs are like really close by to the streets. And it's like the hidden red light district of Stockholm. Yes, that it's very like hidden, because there's like no such thing in Stockholm. But that's an area generally where a lot of like people buy sex.

Most people know it's there, but I don't think a lot of people like put it together with the clubs but it's more like a personal observation I've made like how close that famous like street Sex Work Street is to these clubs. So it feels like the sex buyers a lot of them are this like typical Östermalm-kind of guys that like work in this area and then goes party at Stureplan and then like, comes there.

I don't really feel scared I can be a bit. It's mostly that you're afraid that someone is gonna be like outside like targeting you. And there's been times when like guest has followed like girls when they're walking home or whatever, afterwards.

But I mean, a lot of times we also leave like together and like two and two or like in groups because that feels safer. I mean about the guests, with time you learn how to handle them.

Jess 13:19

Even with the complicated landscape of Stureplan and other party scenes, the residents we spoke to weren’t staying in with a good book and knitting a sweater at home. No, they still liked to join in and have fun but there was the constant expectation of a mixed bag, like the party could go south at any time but was still worth the risk.

MARIE-LOUISE 13:41

Some of the best memories also have the worst memories the most uncomfortable or threatening moments happens in the most beautiful safest places and I think that is quite telling for a city like Stockholm.

There aren't in my point of view any bad places, Stockholm made very very very sure that there aren't. The places might be that are famously considered a bad place in the city center is Sergels Torg the plattan by T-centralen and Megborgarplaten. Megborgarplatsen in Södermalm is probably because it's quite dense with night life and also Bjornstragord is right- little park next to the square is also where a lot of drug dealing happens. And also Sergels Torg has this history of drug dealing. And also being in the city center so I guess they are considered dangerous a very natural causes.

BJÖRN 14:53

it was in Södermalm in Götgatan and it was like close to this bar where it's like… there is like a lot of strange people there. It was like an assault from nowhere. I got like a punch in the face and I went down and then he was gone. And I was like, what happened? [Laugh]

Often when I got in trouble it was often because there was something they got really pissed at. Maybe I had like braided hair, I guess it was like some sort of, often it was like, maybe how I was dressed or something.

PHILIP 15:32

I think that I do check myself a bit more and extra when I'm at places or around the subway. Because there's a lot of people you don't... like, it's everybody's there. So you don't really know what people are going to get. Who's going to get on and what they going to think of you. And if you're a little bit drunk, then maybe you're a bit loud, and I show my queerness in a big way and that maybe not enjoy people.

Jess 16:00

Outside of the risk of unpredictable violence or assault, some residents also questioned where they would be welcomed to enjoy themselves on a night out.

NAZEM 16:10

You cannot hide away from, you know, the way you look, and the way you move, and the way you talk, from them what kind of money you are connected to.

But I mean, in general, I've never experienced I never heard anyone, you know, really experienced that they've been turned down. When sitting in an exclusive restaurant, I mean, you can go to the best restaurant in Stockholm. And as long as you pay your bill, they won't mind. They won't even mind your way of clothing, you know. You have access if you have money.

But you know, having access by being able to pay the bill, it's not the same thing as feeling welcome. I'm part of this middle class, we were kids when we came, we lived in the poor areas our parents were poor, or they're still poor. But we had this, you know, kind of a class, Klassresa, this traveling of classes, we went from this poor working class to some kind of middle class where we you know, we could gain more cultural capital and with that generally came also more economic capital, not that we own so much that we can control others' work, but you know, we can consume quite fancy stuff, if we like clothing and culture. And, you know, food.

So we are... so we, we invade these, you know, traditional whitespaces. And most of us look like people who are not supposed to be there. So in a way, we are dirty, you know, the definition of dirt is something that's in the wrong place. We're in the wrong place.

And so I mean, but in a city like Stockholm, the beautiful thing is that it's so many of us, that we can have our hubs and our places where we can quite safely do that. But the but there are these, you know, this subtle structure of signals in this city, like in all cities, where you can't be free and safe when do when when trying to crossing them these boundaries.

Still reminding that I mean, it's not so dramatic and Stockholm, but in terms of hospitality and generosity and the way people... you can feel it. You can feel it. And of course, you feel it through this kind of rudeness.

[Music]

Jess 18:38

I’m sure you’re wondering if these Stockholmers are so stressed about partying why even go out? Well not every club scene is Stureplan, Megaborgsplatsen, or Götgatan. The kind of scenes that are so big they start to feel completely anonymous.

And don’t get me wrong, that kind of night is some people’s jam but there ARE scenes that cater towards a different vibe. On a well curated scene, night life doesn’t have to be a source of stress. It can even be a form of liberation. For many queer Stockholmers We spoke to the now-disappearing network of queer bars and clubs were a place to be comfortable and make community. Asynja is a well-known queer club creator.

ASYNJA 19:19

I started doing a little club in a bar, which was like full if it was like 30 people or 25 people it was really- it was sort of like this room- really really small with a bar, which I got for free, I mean it was just a bar so I mean… it was more of a- like a get together. Listen to music, having a laugh, drinking a beer, or whatever you like and just hanging out.

And then it grew. So first it was Maria Torget and then it went to Gamla Stan to this gay place, which was like chandeliers in the roof, really big windows. To like lift the lesbian community out of the cellars, not the cellars, what do you call it? The basements, to show that we exist sort of like.

And it grew and it grew. And I did a lot of collaborations with different people friends in that term. But then my former partner and I split up so Puma, which was the name of the club. I couldn't like do it anymore because this was so much our thing.

Jess 20:41

One of her most famous projects, Slick, quickly grew into an award-winning inclusive club that could draw hundreds of revelers a night.

ASYNJA 20:50

So I got this offer to try out something new. So we got the offer to do whatever you want, how many times we want during the summer of 2002. And that was the terms. You don't have to promise them anything, we just want to try it out. And I was like, That is amazing. I mean, when when do you get that kind of offer nowadays, that that you can do whatever you want, whenever you want, how many times you want, during what hours you want.

I was thinking about this offer. And I was like this is too good to be true. So then a friend of mine, I played DJ at his club. And he came in in the end I saw and I was like, I need a partner. I need someone who's different from me to do this thing that I wanted to do, because I wasn't sure what it was. I just wanted to do something else. Explore whatever that was.

So that's how Slick started, which was a club for everyone was a room of courage. Like anything goes the thing was like dance, drink, have fun, respect each other. Behave. Don't be an asshole. And if you don't like it, you may leave. Like that was the terms which was really fairly okay, I thought. [Laugh]

ULRICKA 22:12

It was voted club of the year in Stockholm several years in a row and got all kinds of awards, and was the hippest thing ever for years. And it was packed every night. You had it open. You know she's being modest, oh yeah?

ASYNJA 22:34 

Well, yeah, but I was saying that the first night, I was really nervous because we didn't know how we are going, and 300 people came and it was so cool. It was like, you know, magical. But I had that for 16 years, actually.

Jess 22:56

When Asynja was building her club scenes. Södermalm has a strong ecosystem of queer, gay, and lesbian bookstores, bars, and clubs. But as the center city got more expensive these brick and mortar establishments were pushed out along side the people who created them.

ULRICKA 23:13

It’s been a queer neighborhood it used to be lots of queer bars and restaurants and cafes especially down around Hornstull so that used to be my favorite place. And around Maria Torget, I don't know if that's the right place, but the city's changing so much, so a lot of those places aren't as comfortable anymore.

What made it change, I think was gentrification. So Hornstull in the early 2000s was still not a hip place. It became a hip place, and then eventually then a different kind of crowd took over. A younger generation or resource generation.

I think the reason why a lot of the queer spaces disappeared was partly because it became too expensive for many of these places, and many could, and then that they became very attractive areas. And so people were offered significant money to sell their businesses that were probably you know, there, they were doing okay, but they weren't necessarily making buckets of money, right? So eventually, people got exhausted from standing behind the bar or serving coffee forever, and were able to sell.

Jess 24:32

Whether a little or a regular Saturday, in Stockholm, a night out can be a mix of joy and anxiety. Most of those partying in the city were on alert for both and when I went out clubs are a mixed bag. They could be an awkward place where fitting in felt impossible, or they can be fun in surprising places to meet new people. I once stumbled into a DJ set by the Swedish pop star Robin after listening to poetry demanding the rights and recognition of indigenous Scandinavian So you know, anything's possible.

Next episode we’ll take a closer look at another site of anxiety in the city. For me, it was the train station that started it all in Stockholm, T-Centralen.

[Music]

Jess 25:42

We are produced with the generous support of the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and Konstnärsnämnden (The Swedish Arts Committee). Thank you to our senior producer Adélie Pojzman-Pontay and our team of graduate assistants from the architecture department at the Rhode Island School of Design: Bilal Ismail Ahmed, Daniel Choconta Guerrero, Kim Ayala, and Uthman Olowo. Fatou Camara consults for the show. Cory Jacobs does the music. And Adriene Lilly is our sound designer.

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Until next time, this has been Here There Be Dragons!

[OUTRO]

ANASS 27:23

I loved it! It was really cool.