SLATE Collective: A Shelter Built on Community

With our new editorial series Inside Collectives, we invite you to step into the worlds of diverse art collectives shaping today’s cultural landscape. Today we talk with SLATE Collective.

Luca Armando founded SLATE Collective in February 2025 in Milan to carve out a genuine community, a space where music, visual art, and performance could coexist, and where the usual hierarchies of “who’s who” in the scene would matter less than the simple fact of showing up and being present.

The name itself is a quiet mission statement. Slate is a stone used to roof and shelter buildings. So, Luca and his collaborators saw in it a fitting metaphor for what they wanted to create: a refuge from the outside world. Around that idea, a tight-knit and notably intergenerational team has formed, spanning DJs, visual artists, social media strategists, and community organizers in their twenties through their late thirties, each bringing a different skill set to a project.

In just over a year, SLATE Collective has grown from a small idea shared among friends into a fixture of Milan’s nightlife. The collective now holds a residency at NAMA, and has launched projects such as the New Faces podcast series, which spotlights emerging artists, and SLATE Meets Art, which brings performance and visual art into the club setting.

In the conversation below, Luca talks about SLATE Collective’s origins, its philosophy, the people behind it, and where the collective hopes to go next, including ambitions to bring its distinctly Milanese spirit to stages beyond Italy.

Please introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi, nice to meet you and thanks for having us in your series. My name is Luca Armando and I’m the founder of SLATE. I’ve been passionate about electronic music and club culture for almost 20 years. Around ten years ago I started getting behind the decks, studying music production, buying my first records and tracks. At the beginning it was simply a passion I shared with a few friends, but after moving to Milan I became more and more involved in the scene, trying to contribute to the city in my own way.

Together with a group of friends, I co-founded a collective that still exists in Milan today. After some time, though, I decided to step away in order to follow my own path and stay closer to my personal vision and ideals. After several different experiences along the way, that journey eventually led to SLATE.

SLATE Collective is quite a young project of yours, just coming to life in February of 2025. How did it start, and what was the spark that turned the idea into something actual?

I was part of a project that was already well established within the city’s scene, together with some of the people who later decided to join this new adventure. SLATE was born from the desire to create something that goes beyond being just another party… A real community, a safe space where people can express themselves freely, regardless of whether they are well-known or completely new to the scene.

We wanted to build a place where people with the same passion can connect, create new relationships and maybe even open up new opportunities together. Sharing and collaborating are values that, in our opinion, have slowly been forgotten over the years and we felt the need to bring them back to the center. Our goal is for everyone attending our events to feel like they are truly part of something unique and meaningful. The community always comes first, while hype and status stay outside our doors. Even for more established artists, we see this as a chance to reconnect with the roots and genuine spirit of this culture.

We’re very happy with how this first year and a half has gone, despite many challenges that inevitably come with this path. At the same time, our vision has never been limited to music alone. We’ve also embraced performative arts, trying to make different forms of expression coexist under the same roof and bringing something new to every event.

Where does the name Slate come from and what does it represent in your collective?

Slate is a strong and waterproof stone commonly used in construction for roofs and coverings. If our goal is to build a safe space, then that space also needs to offer protection from the outside world, from everything happening beyond it. Otherwise, what kind of refuge would it really be? The name came from exactly this idea.

Apart from you, who are other people behind the collective? How is the collective structured behind the scenes?

At SLATE, there are many of us, and everyone takes care of a specific aspect of the project based on their own skills, professional background, and personal experiences. One of the things I love the most about the collective is the variety of ages within the group. We range from 23 to almost 40 years old. Despite that, or maybe because of that, there’s a real sense of mutual listening and exchange. Everyone listens to everyone, regardless of age. There’s genuine dialogue, and that’s something far from obvious nowadays, especially when different generations often carry prejudices or barriers toward one another.

Carolina works alongside me on the artistic direction; Riccardo, besides being one of our resident DJs with stage name IKIIR, manages relationships with both local and international artists; Andrea and Anna take care of installations and light design during our events; Laura and Marta oversee the project’s social media strategy; Sara curates the performative arts side of SLATE; Pietro is responsible for merchandising; Francesco, in addition to being a DJ and producer with a stage name HERTZ COLLISION, is involved in the development of our music studio and, eventually, the label as well; Gianmaria handles our interview series, an in-house SLATE project created to share behind-the-scenes stories and give our community a deeper insight into the artists we invite; and joining him is Giulia, who takes care of the editing and video post-production for all of the interviews.

Then there are Irene, Matilde, and Astrid, who work on content creation and social communication, while Laura, another resident DJ with stage name LAURA VAN HAL, who lives in Berlin, brings an external and more international perspective to the project.

There are also people like Helena, Mattia, Lanka, Sam (Emanuele) and Luca, who help spread the spirit of SLATE and act as important points of reference during events whenever support is needed.

Over the past months, many people from our community have naturally become part of the project as well. Even if they are not involved in the organization full-time, they still play an essential role in what SLATE is becoming. That’s something very important to us, because SLATE doesn’t belong to one single person or to a closed group, it belongs to everyone. Every person, every contribution, every small piece of this puzzle matters and helps shape what we are building together.

In the end, we’re simply a group of passionate people putting our time, energy, and skills into something we truly believe in, trying to help it grow and reach more people every day.

Do you consider yourself primarily an Italian collective or do you not wish to put constraints on geographical scope of your work?

We were born in Milan, we are an Italian collective and our first intention is to contribute something meaningful to our own country. At the same time, we don’t want to set any geographical limits for ourselves. We’re open to international collaborations, and we already have a few planned for this year. We try to connect with collectives abroad that share our same vision and values, in order to build a parallel scene alongside the more mainstream one and to share our passion while supporting each other in the most genuine way possible.

How would you define SLATE Collective? Is it a solely nightlife project, artistic platform, or something that doesn’t quite fit either label?

That’s a great question. In a way, it’s connected to everything you mentioned. We organize events, promote both local and international artists, and try to give our audience a deeper understanding of what happens behind the scenes of this world. SLATE is a movement. SLATE is an opportunity.

What do you think differentiates your approach from other collectives right now?

Most of us are locals who are deeply involved in the scene and experience it on a daily basis. We’re constantly attending events, building relationships, and staying connected with the people and spaces that shape the city’s nightlife culture. At the same time, we regularly travel abroad to create new connections, find inspiration, and discover ideas or perspectives that we can bring back home.

We always try to stay evolving and never repeat ourselves from one event to another, while still staying true to our main purpose: being a genuinely community-driven collective. That strong local focus and close connection to the city are definitely some of the elements that define SLATE the most.

Our residency at NAMA has also been fundamental in shaping this identity. The venue’s two-room setup gives us the opportunity to invite collectives and artists from different musical backgrounds, allowing different communities to meet, interact, and blend naturally throughout the night. Creating those kinds of connections is very important to us, giving people the chance to step outside of their usual circles and share the same space and energy together.

Music, visuals, culture – what are the things that genuinely shape the direction of your collective?

Music is definitely the common thread that ties everything together, but it takes on a different meaning when other elements and creative figures become part of the experience. Integrating art, installations, and performances transforms the atmosphere each time, making every event feel unique, immersive, and constantly evolving.

You have opened up SLATE Collective’s radio to emerging artists, which feels important at a time when established circles can be really hard to break into. Can you tell us more about the New Faces approach? What do you hope it gives those artists?

The New Faces podcast series is definitely one of the most challenging bets we’re making right now, especially in a context where visibility for emerging artists is almost non-existent. In our own small way, we hope to act as a bridge toward more established platforms and realities that follow our work, potentially helping them discover new talent. We’re still a young project, and the ideas are there. With more resources, we could definitely invest more and be more active in supporting and pushing the artists we feature. I’m confident we’ll get there. For now, what matters most to us is giving these artists a voice and making sure they don’t feel alone in the process.

SLATE Meets Art opens the space to performers, visual artists, and multidisciplinary creatives. What does it mean to you to bring that world into a club context?

SLATE Meets Art means creating an even stronger connection between the crowd, the club and the event itself. There are many people within the club scene who are artists in their own way and often what they do can naturally become part of this environment. So why not give them a voice?

I remember the early events I used to go to in Milan, where performers were a constant presence and art in general blended seamlessly with music. Luckily, there are still a few collectives that continue to carry this approach forward, even if they are rare.

We want to be part of that direction. We feel the need to breathe art in and, at the same time, let our community breathe it as well.

When did you first feel like SLATE Collective had a community, not just an audience?

The first clear sign definitely came from social media, seeing a small but consistent group of people regularly reposting our events, commenting and staying actively engaged, even reaching out to us via DMs.

Another important aspect was noticing people coming back to every event, choosing to be with us again and again, sometimes even over other nights happening in the city. And many of these people have now become friends, also spending time with us outside of the events themselves.

Is there a night that you especially remember? One that felt like a turning point or just stayed with you for reasons you didn’t expect?

I can tell you that every event, up to now, has left me with something. Each one has had a moment or a signal that made me understand that what we’re doing is necessary and genuinely appreciated, both on the nights that went really well and on those that didn’t go as well.

Of course, the challenges are many. Milan, as big as it may seem, is actually a small city, with a rather limited core of truly passionate people who attend these kinds of events. That makes everything more complex. Tickets, for example, are rarely bought in advance: most of the sales happen at the door. And when it rains, people simply don’t go out. NAMA, where we hold residency, is located inside a park, so getting to us requires walking, which becomes an additional barrier in bad weather.

I particularly remember one of the most difficult nights, a showcase with a very important artistic lineup. Milan was hit by a downpour, extremely heavy rain that went on continuously for more than 20 hours. As I said, we are in a park: you can’t just park your car and get inside. You have to walk in, and on top of that, between the two rooms at NAMA there is an open-air garden with no roof at all. Despite the extremely challenging situation, we still had just over 400 people, and I can assure you that, given the weather conditions, it felt almost like a miracle. While I was seeing everything in a negative light, also for financial reasons, the whole crew pointed out how much of an achievement it actually was, far from something to take for granted and that we should be proud of what we had managed to accomplish. What can bring people to a park, under relentless rain, if not a real community?

What has been the hardest part of keeping SLATE Collective going and how did you get through it?

The hardest part has definitely been building something from scratch that could generate interest in a very demanding audience, one that is often used to following big artists on lineups. Going against the grain in this sense hasn’t been and still isn’t easy. Being locals and having a lot of friends who support us has certainly been a huge advantage, and we’ll never stop being grateful for that.

Another major challenge is the financial side: in Milan, event production costs are very high. Not having the economic power of larger clubs or more established players sometimes makes it difficult when dealing with booking agencies, which are used to working with clients who have greater financial leverage and often tend to make comparisons. Let’s say, we have to put in a bit more effort, but we’re lucky enough to be known, and by clearly explaining the nature of the project, we almost always manage to find a good compromise. And when we don’t, it’s not an issue, there are plenty of great artists we can still work with and build something coherent with.

What would feel like a meaningful next step for the collective? Do you have any new projects and directions in mind?

Over the next year, we want to consolidate everything we’ve built so far by continuing to curate a refined and high-quality artistic program, while also developing more targeted collaborations, label showcases, and giving a more structured identity to the second room of NAMA as well. We also want to place even more focus on installations, lighting, and performative arts, as we see them to be an essential part of the overall experience. At the same time, one of our main goals is to start bringing SLATE abroad. Personally, I’ve set myself the objective of organizing at least four events outside Italy during the next season.

Is there a direction you’ve consciously decided to stay away from?

We don’t want the collective to be recognized solely as a party, and that’s exactly why we’ve chosen to develop and will continue to develop different projects and forms of expression within SLATE. We’ve already started revealing some of them, but there’s still much more to come. Keep following us.

We’d like to thank Luca for taking the time to talk with us. We wish SLATE Collective all the best as they continue to grow, and we can’t wait to see where the journey takes them next, both in Milan and beyond.

Follow SLATE Collective on Instagram: @slate__collective

Check out SLATE Collective’s website: https://www.slate-collective.com/

Listen to SLATE Collective on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/slate-collective

We would also like to thank Sara (@s.supertramp), Matilde (@pioggiabow), and Daniela (@arbre__magique) for the photographs.

Editorial prepared by Sopho Kharazi.