This Friday, the back lanes of Surry Hills will be playing home to Sydney’s newest party: SETTINGS. Taking place at District 01, the space is honouring hip-hop with an additional emphasis on fashion and photography for an all-encompassing affair.

SETTINGS are remaining intentionally elusive. Aesthetically, they seem to take clues from the more minimal and fashion-forward sections of hip-hop, while the excluisve mix they’ve handed us suggests that we’re in store for a lot of contemporary rap and moody R&B. Other than that, we’re not quite sure what to expect, other than the fact that it’s BYO and we’ll be bringing a couple of tinnies along. The lineup consists of Sydneysiders JORDVN, Tommy, Tipo Packman and jewellery queen Ella Baby Blue – and if the sets we’ve witnessed from these selectors is anything to go by, there’s going to be a lot of yelling and possibly a lot of Travis Scott bangers involved.

See all the details for SETTINGS’ inaugral party right here and head along to District 01 this Friday night to see what all the fuss is about. In the meantime, see what the SETTINGS crew had to say for themselves in the interview, where you’ll also find their 45-minute mix of sonic goodness:

What is SETTINGS, and how did it come to be?

SETTINGS is an art-directed event showcasing emerging Sydney rnb/rap/hip hop DJ’s and music producers, combining influences from contemporary fashion culture, photography and design. Its run exclusively by us – a group of Sydney based creatives; completely self-funded and executed.

We had each had ideas for something similar to this, and it just seemed natural to start something once we became good friends. We are constantly seeing images of our favourite artists putting on amazing shows for their cities, or our favourite creatives and designers doing amazing things within this culture. We see crazy fashion week parties and unique, exciting events for the youth overseas. We felt like nothing fully encapsulated this within Sydney. We wanted something for people like us, for what we are passionate about.

What preparation has gone into SETTINGS’ first event and what other events have you looked to for inspiration?

A fair few late nights filled with intense planning to work on our direction. The whole process took 11 months, refining our own unique aesthetic whilst creating a platform that expresses our influences in the best way. Our main sources of inspiration come from fashion and music culture, but we are really inspired by various artists at No Vacancy Inn, Places + Faces, Know Wave, and DONDA to name a few. We just want to be another voice within this space, and for our city.

You guys have said that this will be an ‘art-directed event’ – what exactly does this mean?

It’s primarily about the music, however we wanted every aspect of the space to be intentional and deliberate; executed within a cohesive aesthetic.

You also seem to be presenting this as an all-encompassing event that prioritises photography and fashion alongside music. How do you plan on championing all these aspects in a real life setting?

We’ve had input from several local Sydney creatives who’ve worked on various projects locally and internationally, and have also handpicked some very talented photographers with unique styles who will be documenting the event. We feel that the music is inextricably linked to our interests both in fashion culture and design, and we want to express that in our own way.

There seems to be a lot of people looking outside of clubs to throw parties in post-lockout Sydney. How much did the Sydney nightlife situation weigh on your decision to look at more unorthodox spaces for SETTINGS?

To be honest, the nightlife situation wasn’t really a factor in our decision to use an unorthodox space. For us, the most important factor was having complete control of a space, and finding the venue that best aligned with our aesthetic. We also feel there’s a definite gap between the current nightlife options in Sydney and what younger people are looking for, in terms of event and music options. We wanted to create something for people like us; for young people with an intense interest and passion for the culture we love.

Tell us about the line-up you have curated?

We want people to experience it for themselves and form their own impressions; but lowkey, there’s a lot of quality in the DJ lineup for Friday and we are really proud of the lineup we’ve curated. All our DJ’s are Sydney based, and play within a genre that is under-represented within Sydney. We are really excited to be a platform for this type of sound, and hope it becomes an avenue for some of the best new local DJ’s, as well as international acts.

Is there a more crucial fashion accessory than Ella Baby Blue’s sunglasses with in-built eyebrow piercings??

Absolutely not.

How much Travis Scott can we expect to hear during the night?

Well you know, Travis Scott only has a few projects: Owl Pharaoh – 50:24 minutes. Days Before Rodeo – 44:25 minutes. Rodeo 65:25 minutes. BITTSM – 53:38 minutes. Roughly 3.5 hours, so not much.

What’s one message you’d like to give to anyone who’s on the fence about attending SETTINGS this Friday?

It’s quiet for you.