Welcome To Our House

Step into a curated listening session with Darling Cool and Nastia Voynovskaya as they explore the soul of house music—its sound, its spirit, and its radical roots. Born in Chicago’s underground clubs, house music emerged from the creativity and resilience of Black, POC, and queer communities who carved out space for themselves on the dance floor when few others would. These were not just parties—they were sanctuaries, places of joy, resistance, and collective freedom.

Together, Darling Cool and Voynovskaya will trace the genre’s origins and celebrate its legacy through a handpicked selection of tracks. They’ll show how house music continues to be a vital lifeline for artists, dancers, and dreamers—a place where the beat still holds space for those pushed to the margins.

This session is more than just a listening experience. It’s a tribute to the cultural power of house as both a musical genre and a movement—a space of liberation that has endured across decades and generations. Come hear how house music continues to shape their creative lives and connect them to the vibrant, intersectional communities they call home.

Nastia Voynovskaya is a reporter and editor at KQED Arts & Culture who has covered the arts in the Bay Area for over a decade. Nastia’s stories about music, LGBTQ+ issues and community organizing have earned her two Society of Professional Journalists awards and two San Francisco Press Club awards. She co-created KQED's special story series That's My Word, a year-long exploration of the Bay Area’s influential hip-hop history. In addition to her writing, Nastia is a regular guest on KQED’s live radio talk show, Forum. She moderates panel discussions with artists at KQED Live and other events, including Litquake and Dregs One’s History of the Bay Day. Born in Russia and raised in the Bay Area and Tampa, Florida, Nastia is passionate about how creativity brings people together and inspires social change. When she's not interviewing artists, you can find her DJing somewhere in Oakland or surfing the Pacific Ocean.

Darling Cool is a musically eclectic DJ, producer, and event curator making fresh and meaningful waves on her bicoastal adventures living and playing between DC and Oakland. While you can catch her selecting classics, deep cuts, remixes, and edits from across various genres of music—she places a heavy emphasis on sharing soul-moving, dance-heavy beats influenced by her Nigerian and German roots, and inspired by the wide-range of house music she was raised on. She has rocked stages from San Francisco to DC to NY and beyond, playing on direct support for Jayda G, Drama, and on bills with Kaytranada, Salvatore Gannaci, MK, JYOTY, Andre Power, Snakehips, and more. Darling Cool is ½ of A Party Called Butter, creator of Black Girls Link Up, and ⅓ of the renowned Bussdown Collective.

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