Step Inside Addis Ababa’s Coolest New Party, ‘The Lab’

“There’s a few spaces in Addis that host events, and the ones that do are very expensive,” Hadish tells OkayAfrica. “Also, they might not be comfortable for the stage design and light setup that I want.” As the demand for The Lab’s events soared, Hadish seamlessly transitioned from intimate restaurants to venues like The Venue Warehouse, affording him the canvas to actualize his ambitious concepts.

Aside from the events, The Lab is also known for its film and music video-inspired marketing. The promotional video for their latest event in May feels like a snapshot from a Scorsese film, set in 1970s Addis Ababa. It opens with a sequence of a man, dressed in a suit, driving a swanky vintage car while his radio blasts Ethiopian jazz. The man parks at a newspaper stand and, as a shoe shiner dusts his shoes, he flicks through his copy of Capital newspaper — an Addis-based publication who Hadish and his team had reached out to prior — before stopping at a full-page ad for The Lab’s latest event.

“I’m really happy with the outcome, it’s definitely one of my favorite videos that we’ve done,” Hadish says. It’s this attention to detail in promotion that’s also contributed to the event's success, drawing over 1,500 attendees each edition.

“When we first started doing our videos, people didn’t really get it. It was initially hard for us to make people understand. But now it’s one of our selling points. The whole of the Addis event market is changing, everyone wants to do promo videos,” Hadish explains.

We caught up with Hadish, to discuss his musical journey, the creative process behind The Lab, and his future plans for the brand. The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

OkayAfrica: What inspired you to work in music and live events?

Yohannes Hadish: I grew up listening to a lot of music such as hip-hop, soul, Afro-fusion and jazz. I started off making beats when I was in highschool, so I was really influenced by sampling. That’s when I had the vision to incorporate the international sound with our local sounds.

While I was doing that, I started DJing and the event scene in Addis wasn’t that exciting soundwise. They wouldn’t play a diversity of genres. Moreover, the marketing of the events was predictable, featuring a basic poster with the DJ’s name. So I started playing different genres and the audience liked it.

That’s when my friend and I were inspired to create The Lab. I wanted to curate my own events where I could have total creative control of the entire sensory experience — from the sound, the look and the feel. From there, I started experimenting more and more. Currently, I see a lot of experimental Ethiopian artists in my generation, like Rophnan, doing a lot to push the boundaries. It’s a really exciting scene to be in.

What makes The Lab different from other underground parties in Addis Ababa right now?

It’s all about the attention to detail in every aspect of our event curation, from the videos, the design, and the venue, basically everything. A lot of different creatives are involved, like designers and videographers, so it takes a lot of teamwork and hard work. That’s one of the reasons our promotion is going viral and attracting a lot of attention, because people can see the effort we’ve invested in it.

How did you find your collaborators and how did you convince them to get on board to invest in this vision?

I started scouting for local talent in Addis. If our vision aligned, I would reach out to them directly and ask them if we could work on something together. One of my key creative collaborators, who I’ve partnered with since the beginning of The Lab’s journey, is a video production group known as Zenbaba Creatives. They’re very talented and they do most of our videos. I explained my vision to them, and they immediately wanted to get on board. And now, our videos have become our brand. The whole of the Addis event market is changing, everyone wants to do promo videos, and we can visibly see the influence we’ve had on the Ethiopian music scene. At first, everyone in our team, including Zenbaba, was doing it for the love of art and the hunger to create something new. But now that we’re growing, we’re capable of paying our entire team.

How do you make money from your events?

We generate revenue in several ways. We receive sponsorship from brands who support us, because we always tag them in our promotion. Sometimes they give us merchandise in exchange or pay us in cash. We also make a profit from charging tickets to the events. Lastly, we’ve managed to make some money from selling hoodies and tote bags, which we use to cover our expenses.

What are your ambitions for the next two or three years?

I want The Lab to be huge. I want it to be a space where a lot of alternative Ethiopian and African artists can thrive. For attendees, I envision an event where they can be exposed to a lot of new music, while feeling comfortable, so they can ultimately have a good time. I also want The Lab to travel beyond Addis to cities like Accra and Nairobi, so we can host events there, and forge connections with like-minded creatives.