A crucial organiser in New York’s underground is the subject of our next Underground Insider interview

Underground Insider is Resident Advisor‘s bimonthly series spotlighting the people building scenes from the ground up—the programmers, organisers and cultural workers creating spaces, platforms and communities that keep local music ecosystems alive. Our latest guest is ARCHANGEL, organiser of Body Hack, a New York fundraising party for trans and nonbinary people.
 
RA: For those unfamiliar, can you give a brief rundown of who you are and the different things you do in your career?
 
ARCHANGEL: I’m ARCHANGEL. I’m a producer, international DJ, curator, grassroots fundraiser, writer, part-time party girl and full-time cultural worker. I’m the founder of Ice Cream Social, a core organiser of Body Hack and a resident and curator of Body Hack’s programming at Nowadays, The Lot Radio and more.
 
I’ve DJed across the US, Europe, Japan, Canada, Jamaica, and Lima, Peru. I’ve also been a part of curating festivals including Dweller, Pansy Fest and .NET. I dropped my debut album CRITICAL HIT in 2024.
 
RA: What is Ice Cream Social and what differentiates it from the other parties, booking agencies, and collectives?
 
A: Ice Cream Social was founded ten years ago as a dance party series that platforms Black, of colour, trans and queer people in Richmond, Virginia. The series was a direct response to the absence of events centering people like my friends and I. Before creating ICS, I was heavily inspired by events and venues I went to in Philly, Baltimore, and New York like (F)lawless, Papi Juice, The Crown and Ghettogothic. I wanted to bring everything I was experiencing out of town to the scene I was living in.
 
The group has always been primarily run by Black trans and queer folks. We hosted two music festivals: a 24-hour Zoom music festival livestream at the onset of the pandemic to raise money for Peter’s Place, an organisation that was dedicated to providing safer sober living spaces for BIPOC/LGBTQIA+ people, and an in-person, citywide DIY festival I helped organise. Now, we have whole new generations of Black folks in the area learning how to DJ, curate and create spaces for people like us.
 
RA: How did Body Hack start? How did its first iterations look different from its present forms?
 
A: Body Hack was started by Rio Sofia and DJ Sissy Eliott. One day Sissy Eliott booked me to DJ during Rio’s birthday party (which lowkey felt like the first Body Hack to ME—no one jump me). The next time Sissy Eliott booked me was to DJ this party called Body Hack that was raising funds for my friend’s surgery expenses. I was like, “Duh! That’s my sis! Of course I will!” It was one of my first DJ sets at a venue in New York and my first time playing at Mood Ring.
 
A year or two later, Covid-19 shutdowns began and Cisne, who had become a part of Body Hack along with Viento, reached out to book me for Body Hack’s online fundraising music festival. When clubs started opening their doors again, Body Hack asked me to be a host for one of their first happy hours during their regular events at Nowadays which was largely possible due to the involvement of Body Hack family Ceyenne Doroshow and Keioui. I was told that Body Hack had been doing afterparties that went later into the night, and I asked if it would be cool for me to plug in to the decks towards the end. I tore that lil impromptu set up until the staff turned the lights on and told us to get out. Months later, I was in a period of putting together events to fundraise for medical expenses. Cisne told me that I could curate Body Hack’s March event to raise some coins. The event quickly gained traffic and it became one of the most successful Body Hacks at Nowadays.
 
After that, Río and Cisne asked me to keep organising with the collective. Soon, Cielo joined Body Hack and Nana XOXO came into the fold about a year or two after. What is beautiful about Body Hack is that the event started as a smaller event series with the goal to raise money for our trans friends that need it. People volunteered their time to organise different events and help promote. Now, it’s grown to a collective with a group of core organisers who throw giant community events that link our people to health resources, legal support, and harm reduction tools. We have the opportunity to book artists at venues with legendary dance floors, and pack a night with hours of programming. We’re able to pull off eight-hour events on weekday nights while fundraising thousands of dollars for trans organisations domestically and internationally every month. Body Hack is the Fab Factory, or the Teaness Emporium.
 
RA: Juggling DJing, promoting, organising, and all the other nooks and crannies of your life, what does your day-to-day look like at this point?
 
A: My day to day could obliterate the mind of a Victorian child, or scare a modern adult more than an A24 horror movie. It consists of calls with collaborators, organising my travel plans, working with my collective members, discovering new music, organising Rekordbox. Every single day I dance around and listen to new music to remind myself why I love this. I try to post something pretty inflammatory yet thought-provoking on my Instagram story at least once a day to keep my followers on their toes.
 
I try to track out on Ableton for a couple hours & hop on the decks to practice for my next set. Sometimes during the slow season my days have a lot more room for playing video games and binge watching episodes of whatever is my emotional support show at the time. But this summer feels like no sleep, bus, club, another club, another club, plane, next place, no sleep, no fear or whatever the scary lady said. This last New Year, I decided that I want more structure in my life by building more of a weekly routine to assure that I’m reserving each day to keep up with different parts of my career while planning days for nothing but rest. Whether it’s existing as an independent artist or someone doing community organising there are countless stories of folks who suffer from overwork and burnout. Taking care of myself is paramount. Intention and organisation is key to keep up with all the different things.
 
RA: What has Body Hack taught you during its lifespan? What lessons can you teach other organisers looking to do similar work in the space?
 
A: Body Hack taught me that growth is inseparable from change. The collective looked completely different before I joined, and it looks different years after I’ve been a core organiser. Change is inevitable, and so is growth. It all takes work, time and collaboration. Things are often chopped and cooked before they are served and ate. Give your project time to find its supporters, grow your effort organically by your connections with people dedicated to cultural work, not by chasing some kind of notoriety or social status.
 
Surround yourself with people who actually believe we have to be moving money from full pockets to our folks on the inside, to each other as we face housing and medical challenges. Ask yourself: how can you provide support to people in tangible ways by addressing the needs that their material reality produces? What inside connections do you have with spaces or people that can help you meet your goals? What feels fab? Are there people already doing what you’re thinking about? If so, what would you do differently?
 
RA: What’s the biggest problem facing New York City’s nightlife scene right now?
 
A: To answer this question I asked some of my friends that were born and raised here for some of their thoughts: As far as queer nightlife, many of the venues that have bigger budgets and more to offer are focused in Brooklyn, versus other boroughs. A lot of people aren’t willing to come from Brooklyn to events uptown. Then there’s a huge accessibility barrier for folks that can’t afford an event that’s more than $40.
 
There’s also gentrification in nightlife, people moving to neighbourhoods and filing noise complaints for the establishments in the area, putting them at risk for shut down or exposure to police. There’s a lack of discussion around substance use and safety within the scene, along with a large number of men in nightlife with the role of booking, operating a venue or deciding where the money goes that also gatekeep opportunities from others unless they make a sizeable profit for themselves.
 
RA: Anything else you would like to mention or shout out here?
 
Sissy Eliott, who booked me for my first Body Hack and one of my first gigs in New York ever. Cisne, she gave me a chance to curate artists on a lineup at Nowadays with the collective-and a pillar of friendship for me in my move to New York. When it comes to ARCHANGEL in Body Hack, y’all have these two to thank. Viento and Cielo, who are the core organisers along with myself in this current iteration of Body Hack. I teamed up with the two of them to organise the 30-hour nonstop music festival at Nowadays this past weekend. We had over 40 artists, dozens of vendors, a multitude of community resources and countless hosts. I love those two real bad. Rio, for being one of the ushering forces when it came to bringing me into the collective. Shout out my sis Nana for collaborating with me to book the past two Dweller x Body Hack events. Sha Ray and DJ Haram on the new album Critical Thot on the Backwoodz Studio label. I co-produced “Strictly” alongside DJ Haram with Sha Ray spitting absolute heat on the track. We’re all going on tour along with Bbymutha later this summer, so if you’re reading this make sure to grab tickets. Dweller, Dick Appointment, Black Trans Liberation, Black Trans Love, G.L.I.T.S, For the Gworls, Black Trans Femmes in the Arts, Black Trans Travel Fund, and Black Trans Media, and Red Afro Cubana Trans. Shout out F2L- Fight to Live, the only org of its kind in New York City. They truly are groups that bridge night life to mutual aid efforts on a massive scale.
 
I am so proud to say that I’ve DJed, curated, fundraised, or been a part of events from each of these organisations I’ve named. My sister Na’eem AKA Hunting Dog—an incredible DJ, producer, and creative force who has held it down as the CEO of Ice Cream Social these past few years, and continued to organise events in Richmond in collaboration with me throughout the years. My sisters Finishher and Bored Lord, with whom I’ve been producing as a trio for over a year now when I’m in Oakland and SF. New York City. New York City stand the fuck up! New York has some of the best nightlife in the world. The wealth of artists and creatives that this city has birthed never fails to amaze me. I’m really grateful to get to make art amongst actual legends as a normal part of life. Shout out Philly. Shout out Virginia, one up, one down.
 
Photo: Mthr Trsa

Promoter: Body Hack