Are We on Champagne Air?
By
Kulm Hotel
An interview with Arman Naféei, Directeur d’Ambiance at the Kulm Hotel, about his playful approach to curating the sparkling atmosphere of St. Moritz. Ahead of the season, he talks about selecting the right talent, the art of reading the room, and how it’s all about mixing – not just the music, but the high with the low, the past with the future, and the expected with the unexpected.
Arman, we have an exciting winter season ahead. What can we expect, and how will you bring your parties to life as winter events at the Kulm?
Every season we’re trying to do something different, trying to change the formula a little bit. I think the first two seasons were about creating the sound identity. The first season we had the hot air balloon, which was a light installation rather than a real hot air balloon. Last season, we focused more on the ice rink, as well as music and DJs and collaborations. Now, going into the third season, it’s like, okay, let’s play with that. In addition to the different music-focused events at the Kulm Country Club we’ll be bringing some vinyl moments to the Altitude Bar at the Kulm. And I can’t say too much yet, but my main focus is on a new element – and if we can make it happen on the Kulm ice rink, that would be pretty major. And it will be.
How do you select the right artists, and are there any upcoming highlights for the season that you can share?
We’re doing our weekly DJ programming. We like to call them ‘music curators’. We search for people who are always curious about music and constantly searching. Music is part of their everyday lives; it’s what keeps them inspired and creative. Most are also musicians themselves and involved in the vinyl community of collecting and trading. People who can read the room and shape the soundtrack of the evening, like Rob Low, Polocor, Higetaro, Tina Marie, Cuyuchi. We’ve booked them for this season, as well as Ajele, Cevincia, KAYKAY, Polysomn, Agathe, Tommiboy and Milangeles… It’s going to be amazing.
Do you think the famous ‘Champagne air’ in St. Moritz helps set the scene for your events?
Oh, for sure. I mean, all we’re really doing is creating the soundtrack to the mise-en-scène. You know, you have the most beautiful views and scenery and the visual in my head is the opening scene of… what’s that movie? Charade. Yes, the opening scene of Charade when they’re in the Alps and it’s very jet-set and then the kid comes and squirts her with a water pistol and all that. There’s also that Pink Panther film with Peter Sellers — the closing scene, with everyone dancing by the fireplace. Those two scenes are big references for me, in terms of the mood and the experience I’d like to create. But again, it’s about making it relevant to today — not just a retro thing. It needs to be authentic.
“For me, it’s all about walking that fine line between chic and cheesy.”
St. Moritz carries a very distinct image and reputation in people’s minds. Do you aim to nurture that perception or to redefine it?
Well, I try to avoid the obvious. St. Moritz has an image – a certain crowd, a particular clientele. It’s very easy just to lean into that, to play along, make it busier, more profitable – and all that. But that doesn’t interest me. I think, as with every other touchpoint in what we’re doing with the Kulm – and in the art – it has to tread a fine line. For me, it’s all about walking that fine line between chic and cheesy. You know, it can’t be one or the other. It needs to be right in the middle because then it’s fun, but it’s still elegant enough to work.
How do you achieve this?
We keep it elegant; we keep it sophisticated. It’s still about quality: the artists, the music, the sound, even the people we invite. Yet, there’s still plenty of playfulness and fun – and a sense of not taking yourself too seriously. So that’s the sweet spot. Everything else feels too stiff, too serious, a bit too showy. It’s like – let’s play with that, let’s disarm them with what we do. I like to take the ego down a notch, you know?
Last winter had its fair share of memorable moments – which ones stand out most vividly for you?
We’ve had amazing moments, so I don’t want to single out one person or one artist. I mean, we had musicians from the Staatsoper Unter den Linden from Berlin performing in the lobby last year, which was pretty amazing. We’ve had friends like Fiona Zanetti and Perel come DJ. But I think the most unexpected fun we had last year was the opening weekend of the winter season, which fell on that Italian holiday, Sant’Ambrogio. So I thought, great – let’s double down on the Italianness. We booked some really fun DJs from Napoli and Milan and had a cosy dinner upstairs at the Kulm Country Club and turned it into dinner and dancing. And it was such an eclectic, fun crowd coming from Milan and Zurich and other places. Tommiboy and Milangeles were DJing and it was so unexpected. It was the right amount of people. It was the right energy, the right mix of people. And it just kind of took off. It felt like a house party and that’s the ultimate, if you can achieve that in a public setting. So, if we can recreate this more often throughout the season, great.
“We’ll be bringing some vinyl moments to the Altitude Bar at the Kulm.”
At one point there were even queues around the corner! What do you think was the secret to making it such a must-attend experience?
Well, we honestly didn’t expect to have a queue around the corner – there’s no bouncer or anything! Suddenly, we were dealing with an overflow of people and trying to manage it as best we could. For St. Moritz that’s quite unusual – it happened two or three times that night at the Kulm Country Club. The same thing happened when we hosted a little daytime disco on the ice with pizza – seeing a queue in St. Moritz for pizza was the ultimate moment. I thought, OK – I think we’ve made it.
I believe the secret lies in playing with contrasts – the high and the low – something I love doing and which sits at the core of Are We On Air? It’s about blending high culture with something public, accessible, and free, both on the street and online. That mix, that natural coming-together of different worlds, is what makes it work.
Your podcast Are We On Air? has quite a following. What do you think draws people to your podcast and events – and how does that connect to what you’re doing at the Kulm?
I think it’s the unexpected. People know they’ll discover something new and have fun. It’s not just about parties; we once did a talk at Harvard that was supposed to last an hour and ended up going for five because no one wanted to leave. I’d brought in surprise guests like Lauryn Hill – it felt like a nightclub in a lecture hall. That didn’t happen when Beckham was there or when Kim Kardashian was there… it was again, that intangible formula, that chemistry in curating a space.
And that same spirit carries into what we’re doing at the Kulm. Are We On Air? has always been about eclecticism – mixing worlds, eras, and influences. St. Moritz and the Kulm reflect that beautifully – a crossroads of Swiss, German, and Italian culture, steeped in heritage yet always tuned into the zeitgeist.