Read passionate stories about music and joyful memories, written by us or our friends!

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If you’ve ever taken the West exit of Amsterdam’s Vondelpark, no doubt you’ve spotted the iconic building pictured above. This building is OCCII (Onafhankelijk Cultureel Centrum In It) and is one of the most important venues in Amsterdam for alternative and independent music. Once built as a horse-tram depot in 1884 and later squatted in the nineties, the venue now provides a cultural program that is hand-picked for those drawn to a wonderful and wide range of subversive sounds and music genres: global beats, noise, punk, folk, improv, rave, avant-garde & electronic.


OCCII’s impact is not limited to the city’s music scene. The venue is part of “De Binnenpret”, a social center consisting of a variety of cultural and political collectives. On Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, the venue hosts theatre performances and workshops for kids aged 2-12 years.

Since the closure of the venue due to the corona measures, the venue has been struggling with its ongoing costs. The venue and it’s regulars have since initiated initiatives to raise money to partly cover these costs. For example, the venue is offering merchandise and their custom corona-special craft beer “L’OCCI DOWN” for sale at it’s front door. Recently, over 30 DJs and producers have teamed up to craft a “OCCII Compilation Deluxe Edition”, available on bandcamp. The compilation features names such as Rabih Beaini, Aardvarck, Suzanne Kraft and Jordan GCZ. Most have played at the venue, while others remain high on the list of the venue’s booking dreams. All profits of the compilation go directly to OCCII.



I – Mehdi Tallal – took out my camera and decided to make a documentary about OCCII, highlighting the history of the venue, stories from regulars, their activities and their struggles. Check it out below, buy the compulation and donate if you can via the links below!

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OCCII – A DOCUMENTARY BY MEHDI TALLAL

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