Roya Spreading Love and Light with Music
Roya
DJ, producer, founder of Casa Colab. A playground to live, love, and create magic on a farm in Portugal.
"My greatest passion? Sharing love and happiness."
"Making people happy made me happy and that's always been my mission with my music."
Roya happens to be one of my closest friends, and a ray of sun to all those lucky enough to cross her path. We met long ago in Mykonos and have since been on many adventures together: a memorable yoga class in Tulum, dressing up like Sesame Street characters in New York before Halloween, playing like little kids in the snow in Baqueira. Roya has an incredible ear for sound and music. Her melodic house sets bring people together and make you want to dance and dance even more. The energy in any room she plays is just incredible.
I've always loved music. As a child I would spend days making mixed tapes and would use all my brownie points to go to concerts. Madonna was always my favourite. I feel like I can create a timeline of my childhood memories with a best of Madonna album.
Fast forward to my 35th birthday and I was given a DJ controller by some of my closest friends: this is how my love for creating music began. I started off DJing out of the kitchen in my London apartment. By the time I moved to New York, I had a little groove going and was DJing at some clubs as well as doing a bunch of private events. Making people happy made me happy and that's always been my mission with my music.
I have now started producing my own tracks, which gives me a whole different kind of satisfaction. Being able to express myself through production feels like it will be the gift that keeps on giving, whilst also hopefully making a few people dance with me along the way.
Seu Jorge is probably my favourite singer. He has single-handedly made me fall in love with Brazilian music. As a DJ and performer, HVOB is a vibe I really aspire to. I love the combination of the DJ and live instruments alongside vocals. Who knows, that might end up being my brother and I at some point. My brother MH is an extremely talented artist, and he inspires me to practise, dedicate and achieve on a daily basis.
"I'm a big dreamer. But my name actually means 'vision,' so I think I'm just following my purpose."
RoyaWhere we are right now in Marrakech. We've been confined, my brother and I, in a hotel for music lovers in Morocco. I must say we are feeling extremely grateful for this opportunity and are using it to grow as artists, be creative and hopefully share our music and love with others that are stuck at home. This has been an incredible journey for me. One that keeps pushing me out of my shell and encourages me to be brave and try new things as an artist. Singing is a side of me that I am exploring on this journey, which is completely new.
Roya travelled to Marrakech for her brother's birthday despite the tiny risk of getting stuck there. As the universe intended, she did get stuck. Twenty guests arrived on 16 March. The government went into military lockdown the next day. Twelve stayed. One month later, nine remained.
They created music, shared skill sets, and built a family all at once. Most of the guests had some artistic flavour about them. The experience planted the seed for what would become Casa Colab: a haven for artists to grow, nourish their craft, and collaborate. "This has possibly been one of the most special experiences to date in my life and I have lived a very colourful life so far."
Colab
Roya moved to Portugal in October 2020, embracing the uncertainty of a new life. By May 2021 she had already taken over a hotel two minutes from where she now lives, transforming it into a month-long artist residency and music retreat. That experience became Casa Colab: a rural sanctuary set against rolling hills and the ocean, featuring a swimming pool, a yoga dome, outdoor lounges, and an intimate on-site music studio.
You do not need to be a musician to stay. Casa is an artist's refuge, a place to feel at home, create, make friends, and share talent with all the guests. Healthy food, good music, good people, and enough silence to meditate.
thecasacolab.com ↗While many expats flock to Lisbon, Porto, or the Algarve, Roya found herself captivated by the charm of Meco, a coastal village just 40 minutes south of Lisbon. The magic of Meco is precisely that it has not been discovered yet. Rolling hills, ocean access, the kind of quiet that lets you actually hear yourself think. Casa Colab sits in the middle of all of it.
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