Estrelar’s gear-serious private studios, in the heart of Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood, are built for DJs—for rehearsing sets, recording mixes, celebrating small wins and, most importantly, hanging out (with styling and decor that says “stay awhile”). “When you’re learning, you need isolation to find your own approach,” says founder Sandrine Somé. “I wanted a place that feels like home but takes the craft seriously.”
BY JEREMY PAUL
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ESTRELAR
1. Orange Couches
“These modular orange couches came from a gallery that shut down. Eric Chen’s branding for Estrelar has that [same] sunset energy. The couches tie the rooms together and make the studio feel like a living room.”
2. Blue Speakers
“Our friend Droop gave us [this] giant speaker stack. It actually works, but in a 200-square-foot room, it would shake the building, so we painted it a calming blue and turned it into a console.”
3. Book from Burkina Faso
“One of my most cherished books is Peuple de la Nuit by Sanlé Sory, a photographer from Burkina Faso, where my family is from. Keeping it in the studio matters to me; people flip through it, and it puts our practice in conversation with a wider African visual history.”
4. Estrelar Candles
“We developed our own candles with a maker in Ottawa whose business supports youth mental health. I’m drawn to musky, ambery notes, so we made three scents: Sunset Sonata (a jazz-at-dusk mood), Echoes of Dub (a meditative reggae-dub feel) and No Requests (a house-disco-let-the-DJ-play vibe). [They’re] another way to curate the room.”
5. Photograph
“[This] print is by my friend Othello Grey. It’s moody and a bit grainy, the figure almost hiding, and it holds the room quietly. Like our furniture and books, it came through community. That’s the material of Estrelar.”
