LAIKKA is an Austrian electronic duo that injects the effervescence of queer culture into every performance. Pegged down to neither gender nor genre, they connect with their audience on a level deeper than the pulse.
‘It’s often the small events,’ says Mo, one half of LAIKKA, ‘the unexpected ones.’ Smiling, they reminisce on ‘a rave in the basement of an abandoned hospital here in Vienna… you know, basically no stage, just five lights hanging somewhere, a sound system.’ Describing the intensity of a ‘small room filled with people really feeling it, eye to eye, on the same level,’ it’s clear that this is more than just music, but a connection and an atmosphere transcending sound.
Like moths to a flame, queer people are drawn to techno, the flitting colours that flare with every kick. There’s a sense of potentiality that simmers across the decks, flickering around the room with every glance. In the words of nightlife theorist Madison Moore, ‘each new beat – and there are at least 130 of them per minute! – offer[s] a new opportunity to pose.’ And who knows? In spaces like these, one moment you could be locked-in on the lights above, and in the next, interlocked with the lips of another…
The desire to bring people together even permeates the name, taken from Laika, the canine passenger of the Sputnik 2 mission. ‘I think it was just the picture of that dog being shot into space, victimised by technology in some way,’ says Alex, LAIKKA’s second half. ‘We started during the pandemic so those feelings of loneliness, of being separated from everything, was something that resonated with us.’
LAIKKA’s music follows contemporary influences, bringing together D&B, emo, and metal breakdowns, all filtered through distorted and intricate textures. The Eartheater influence is clear, with low kicks punching through ethereal pads, but the sound is its own: disruptive, fluid, and always changing. It’s a fitting reflection of queer expression, finding solid ground in contrast and transformation.
‘It’s important to have a second world right now,’ says Mo, ‘I wouldn’t even call it a counter scene against what is happening. I like to perceive it more or something like a better version of our world.’ In the face of rising conservative forces, the recent victory of the far-right FPÖ in LAIKKA’s native Austria, Mo points out the importance of ‘embracing our queer scenes as the better approach to life and moving. People should see that we can lead a better life.’
This penchant for the otherworldly carries over to LAIKKA’s visuals. The music video for “Eternal Light” takes you to a blood red horizon, the natural world glitching underfoot. In “Rivers”, beams of light cut through two undefined bodies as they writhe between dimensions.
Alluringly, this movement towards the surreal is grounded across borders. Having interacted with different crowds across Europe while on tour, Alex says, ‘I think they’re quite similar. I mean, we have our own experiences. But I think we have the same vibe and energy, I would say.’ Even though their music calls out to a different place, ‘lots of people in a queer audience connect to it very quickly. The energy builds immediately.’
According to Tamar Shirinian, a scholar of queer subculture, ‘Night is a time when the body, the mind, the spirit (including that of the collective) wander – sometimes into new, untreaded, terrain.’ It makes sense that queer people find community where one can sink into the beat, and ride the trance somewhere novel and unexplored. When the wider world makes no room for you to fit, you move with the music, finding space where none is given.
Mo says it’s ‘a bit like a family in Vienna because I feel like when you get into the scene, it doesn’t take a long time to recognise the faces of the people that you meet at the events. It doesn’t feel like you could get lost in some way.’ Even beyond the scene, LAIKKA’s charisma is unwavering. Mo explains how ‘we played this festival in the countryside and, like always, performed in a visibly non-binary way.’ Reading the faces of this more rural crowd, the duo saw flickerings of anxiety: ‘“uh, I don’t know, like should I hate it? Am I allowed to look?”’ But Mo says this type of exposure is ‘a good influence for people,’ recounting a woman afterwards saying ‘“I wasn’t sure if you were a man or a woman… but then I kept looking at it and it didn’t really matter and I enjoyed it!”’
This capacity for connection inspires a sense of hope, makes the barriers across the divide seem less concrete. On Austria’s recent rightward shift, Alex says, ‘I think it all goes down to money and financial security. I have a very core belief that nobody really cares too much about how other people live their lives. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that 40% of people have a problem with who loves whom.’
Looking ahead to 2025, LAIKKA is set to release a remix album, featuring collaborations with an exciting range of producers, including Hyeji Nam, EYESHALFSHUT, Enesi M., Mother Cell, Martyyna, Natasha Moreno, KoiFin, RADVLAD, The Meta Human Gabba Orchestra, Eyht, and ephemer. The album will showcase their unique sound from different angles, expanding on their signature style while staying true to their core ethos of creating music that fosters connection and transcends the boundaries between us.
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