VIM = Energy
The trio have overseen a series of parties across Copenhagen, helping to create something that transcends music, parties or events.
Ever since that first party, the VIM energy has been an organic force, something created by a combination of the right people, the right location and, maybe most importantly, the right vibe. “We’re presenting our authentic selves and doing things that are authentic to us, and that generates the right kind of energy,” adds Bayden. “I think that energy is what keeps people around. You can’t quite put your finger on what it is, but you know that when you come you’re going to have a great time and feel good about it. You’ll feel energised.”
Diverse range of sources
All three were born in the UK but had different upbringings, experiences and came to Copenhagen for various reasons.
For Semple, a short-lived interest in New Nordic cuisine attracted him to the city, although he soon found that world less interesting and instead established his own modern Caribbean cooking concept. Bayden’s background is in academia and community radio, while Agbodjan came to Copenhagen to study for a Master’s at the architecture and design school. “And then I ended up staying, working and building a community here,” he says.
Since arriving in Copenhagen, the trio have struggled to fit into the city’s nightlife scene. “There’s a huge gap in the middle, between super-niche underground things and the super-elite expensive vibes,” says Bayden, although things have been changing over the six years he’s lived in Copenhagen.
VIM is not just a party
Starting with music and experiences, but applying that to other things in the future.
“We’re lucky to know where we’re from and proud of our cultures and to understand the differences and nuances between them, but we don’t want to stay in the past. We want to think about how we want to live our lives, what we want to explore, and things we want to articulate whether that’s through music, fashion, art, or experiences. That tension creates this space, these vibes, and that’s why we call it the vibescape.”
“That’s just energy. The energy is the meaning, it’s a bridge from which you can connect and avoid the all-too-familiar limbo of broken lineages and feelings of ‘No Nationality’. Entities like VIM help facilitate that energy and reconnection.”
There’s that word again: energy. When talking about VIM, all three founders keep coming back to the idea of energy when talking about what they’re doing, because that’s what VIM is. VIM isn’t a party, it isn’t an event, and it isn’t even a series of parties. VIM is bigger than that, it’s something that anyone can be a part of, wherever you are and whatever you do. VIM is an energy.