The Leeds-based, DMZ- inspired beatmaker.
Taken from the 10th Birthday Issue of Wonderland.
Happa wears t-shirt by COACH and hat by NASIR MAZHAR
“I’d like to think I’m pretty nerdy,” Leeds’ Sami Alikhanizadeh answers when asked where he lies on the geek to party-god scale as a producer. Under the alias Happa (shortened from “Half a Persian Prince”, as Papa Happa’s from Iran), Alikhanizadeh is embracing his computer skills. “I just sit in my room on my own for hours twiddling knobs,” he laughs.
“My brother, he introduced me to dubstep; DMZ, Croydon, original dubstep sound, when
I was about 11. That slowly evolved into what I do now, which is more of a house and techno sound, but with a lot of dubstep elements.” Nerdy-ness courses through Alikhanizadeh’s veins, it seems. Is his song title “Chewy Teeth” a thinly-veiled nod to drug-taking? Nope, “It’s actually a quote from The Mighty Boosh.”
This autumn, Alikhanizadeh will be working on both a three-part EP release, and his fledgling record label, PT/5, with producer and manager Dan Foat. “I’d like to develop a Happa live set at some time,” he says. “When I end up doing this album, it’s going to have a million different inserts and it’s going to cost £60 and I’m not going to be able to sell any of them. But I’m going to be so proud of it.”
Photography: Rory DCS
Fashion: Isabella Brunner
Makeup: Jaimee Thomas
Hair: Shiori Takahashi
Words: Lily Walker