Schak: Newcastle DJ reveals his next activation location as guerilla gigger braves the cold with ice rink stunt

It’s been a meteoric rise for Newcastle DJ Shakiel Luciano aka Schak; under the guise of Nanna Makina. The North Shields musician has become a viral sensation in Japan and was included in an episode of Have I Got News For You, while his tracks have earned playlist rotation on BBC Radio 1 and is up for two R1 Dance Awards - Dance Track Of The Year and Viral Moment Of The Year.

But the popularity of Schak has come from his unique, “pop up” style guerilla gigs on Newcastle buses and even a cheeky appearance at St James Park, home of Newcastle United. Those “activations” (a term used by flash mobbers regarding a pop up event taking place) earned Shak a legion of fans on TikTok, so staying true to those roots, the DJ has announced his latest activation will take place at an ice rink.

Between 12pm and 2pm on Friday, Schak will take over the Whitley Bay Ice Rink, with RSVP’s now closed to the event - but more than likely another plethora of viral videos are set to be distributed across Instagram and TikTok, much akin to his Newcastle bus activation in November.

The DJ has long been proud of his hometown North Shields which led Schak to embrace the Makina scene, a sound originally popular with the working class of the North East that blends elements of happy hardcore, scouse house, donk with trance like synths and fast paced MCing.

The meteoric rise of Schak is a far cry from his beginnings as a musician, which saw the musician spend ten hours a day while on Universal Credit honing his craft. The hard work paid off though with a record deal with TRICK after amassing one million Spotify streams, an appearance as part of Patrick Topping’s set at Creamfields this year, and sets at London’s Ministry Of Sound, Liverpool’s Blackstone Street Warehouse for TRICK, Newcastle’s The Lofts and a slot at Hideout Festival scheduled for next summer.