Exploring the connection between spaces, faces and sound with Anyplace is Fine

Scrolling through social media, sifting through throwaway memes, dodging ads and fleeting trends that disappear as quickly as they first appear, it’s rare to stumble upon something that feels worthwhile these days. Yet, now and then, a project appears that cuts through the noise, illuminating the feed with creativity and heart. One such example is 'Anyplace is Fine,' a quietly captivating video series that’s been engaging dance music fans worldwide since it first appeared online back in April this year.

The project is the brainchild of Italian-born selector, designer, and confessed travel addict Elisa Nicolia, better known as Isa in the electronic music scene. In each instalment, we see Isa spinning records in settings chosen not for their prestige, but for the mood and atmosphere they create - spaces that hold aesthetic value or a personal connection from her travels.

“I love taking little trips and finding places that make me feel good,” Isa tells us. “Even in the city where I live, I choose to have my coffee in a small square, drenched in sunlight, surrounded by beautiful structures. That’s where the idea for Anyplace is Fine first originated.”

She describes the series as a way to show what inspires her. “Sharing is a big part of music,” she continues. “I wanted to share what moves me, hoping that someone else might discover something new and be moved too.”

With only a handful of episodes released so far, it was the third instalment of Anyplace is Fine, filmed inside a bustling Vietnamese restaurant, that first caught our attention. In the video, Isa sits plugged into a travel-friendly controller, mixing an eclectic blend of percussive house, jazz, funk, and UK garage between mouthfuls of Bún Bò, a traditional rice noodle dish, as the venue hums with activity.

Two camera angles capture the vignette-like scene: restaurant staff dart in and out of frame, ferrying plates from the chef in the back to diners scattered throughout. The walls seem to breathe as fans whirl overhead, carrying the divine aromas of the unpretentious eatery. The air stirs menus and posters that barely cling to the walls, while outside, daylight fades gently into twilight. It feels as though the entire space falls into sync with the rhythm of her mix.

Though minimal in concept, the hour-long film pulls you in completely. Beyond its finely tuned tracklist, there’s a quiet power in the way Isa merges sound, place, and feeling. It’s an exploration of how music inhabits space, and how that space in turn reshapes the music.

Her musical upbringing and the winding path that led her here help explain the project’s authenticity. “My father is a mechanical technology teacher by profession and a musician by passion,” Isa recalls. “I grew up hearing him play guitar every night, watching our living room fill up with friends, saxophones, keyboards, and drums until late.”

Ironically, her first instrument wasn’t a guitar or piano, but a USB stick. “I used to go to a club in Rome where one of the DJs stood out from the others. I started observing him regularly, and one day, I asked if he would show me how to mix. He gave me one of his old controllers, showed me the essentials, and sent me home to practice.” A few months later, she played her first set at Goa Club, one of Rome’s most respected electronic institutions, an experience she describes as “powerful and formative.”

Between gigs, she pursued degrees in Architecture and Product Design, followed by a master’s in Retail Design. Today, she focuses on temporary architecture and installation design for shops, pop-ups, and window displays. “I’m sensitive to any kind of artistic and creative production, and I believe that architecture and music share a dual nature.” It’s the fusion of these ideas that gives Anyplace is Fine its strength.

“For me, they’re equal parts technical and poetic,” she reflects. “There’s the mathematics, the physics, the geometry of it all, but then there’s also this romantic, creative impulse. The part that moves you and makes you want to build, or play, or dance.”

That same sensibility underpins every episode of Anyplace is Fine. Each set isn’t just filmed, it’s composed. The shade of colour on the walls, the people drifting in and out of shot, even the vistas in the backdrop, all form part of a deliberate frame, guided by Isa’s attention to form and feeling. “The space is vital,” she says. “The physical location and the frame of that location, the right angles, the right light.” Her partner Mattia, a filmmaker and photographer, captures it all with an eye that shares her sense of visual rhythm. Together, they turn found corners of the world into living galleries of sound and motion.

There’s something profoundly cinematic about her approach. The first episode looks like an oil painting come to life: moody clouds hang over a view of Lake Garda in northern Italy, stretching far to the silhouette of mountains in the background, Isa front and centre. It wasn’t a scouted set so much as a moment that presented itself; a place she’d gravitated to on one of those small trips she takes to find spaces that make her feel good, where the light and lines feel right. She and Mattia framed it quickly, letting the water and the shifting sky guide the shot. “I turned around, and it had become night all of a sudden,” she remembers. “The lake was vast and still. It gave me goosebumps.”

In Milan, the second chapter offers contrast: a library of colour and chaos. Piles of magazines stand in for DJ tables, a curious dog weaves through the cords, and books filled with half a century of fashion and design history line the walls. “The family that owns the Milano Fashion Library were so generous. They let me play surrounded by all those stories,” Isa says, smiling at the memory.

And then came Vietnam. The restaurant in Huế. A simple, commonplace eatery filled with steam, the low hum of chatter, and movement that became the unlikely stage that captured the world’s attention. “We couldn’t speak the same language,” she recalls, “but when we asked if we could record in their restaurant, through gestures and broken English, they agreed straight away. They smiled, danced, even offered me food, and instantly there was no distance at all.” 

When the Huế episode went online, Isa had no expectations. She doesn’t track views, doesn’t plan posts, and doesn’t chase engagement. “I’m not used to social media,” she admits. “I didn’t even have a real sense of what the numbers meant.”

The video quietly went viral, reaching over two million views on TikTok and sparking a wave of warmth from new fans. Thousands of messages from strangers, each inspired to start their own creative projects. “That’s one of the driving reasons behind Anyplace is Fine, to inspire someone else, even just a little bit.”

In an age of algorithms and polished content, Anyplace is Fine feels refreshingly analogue. No branding. No filters. Just music, space, and feeling. “I think it reached people because it’s simple but meaningful”, Isa says. “The photography, the staff dancing in the background, the dog making an unplanned appearance, there’s something that makes you smile.”

Shooting live in public spaces inevitably comes with its challenges, but Isa wouldn’t have it any other way. “We used a suitcase as a stand in one episode, and piles of magazines in another,” she laughs. “In Vietnam, the iPad we used moved twice because people kept taking chopsticks from the holder it was resting on.”

Instead of cutting these moments out, she celebrates them. “Those little accidents made the video unique,” she says. “It captured everything that would normally happen in a place like that.”

Another part of the magic of the series lies in Isa’s ability to tell stories through multiple senses. Alongside the videos, her captions often read like travel diary entries: reflective and vividly written. “I love writing,” she says. “Every time I post something, it’s always accompanied by its story: the finer details, and the emotions I felt at the time. It’s honestly the only way I know to tell things.” Her storytelling brings each location to life beyond the music. It provides a complete sensory collage where space, sound, and memory merge. Architecture informs the framing, music gives it motion, and the writing binds it all together.

As for the music, Isa keeps things instinctive, never overthinking the track lists. “There isn’t really a set process,” she says. “I listen to tons of new music every day, but I also go back to songs I’ve loved for years. The way we listen changes over time.” Her sets aren’t improvisational in the traditional sense, but they’re guided more by feeling than by formula. “Sometimes I’ll change direction mid-set. In Vietnam, I had a few darker tracks lined up, but I felt happy in that moment, so I picked the sweet, joyful ones instead - just before the iPad ran out of battery.”

She doesn’t publish full track lists either, though not as an act of gatekeeping. “I love sharing music,” she clarifies. “But I also love the hunt, that joy of finding something yourself.” That curiosity has led many of her followers to seek out and download tracks from the series. In an era of instant gratification, Isa is quietly reviving the thrill of musical discovery.

With new invitations arriving from around the world, Isa has no shortage of ideas for future episodes. Some will unfold close to home in Italy; others may take her far beyond. “I already have many locations in mind,” she says. “There’s been a list since the very beginning, and I can’t wait to keep adding to it.”

There are also whispers of collaborations, radio shows, and live DJ sets on the horizon, though Isa remains tight-lipped for now. What she will share, however, are the sounds currently filling her playlists. “Lately, I’ve been listening to Sault, Brighter Days Family, Little Beaver, Pedro Mizutani, and Jitwam.” Each name offers a clue, another layer in the sonic mosaic that shapes her world.

As dusk settles over the third episode, Isa cuts a standout figure, moving to the rhythm as life continues around her; customers converse as they await their orders, while scooters and buses blur through the fading light out on the street. The moment is fleeting, but within that transience lies the whole idea: that connection, regardless of language barriers or cultural differences, can happen anywhere.

Anyplace is Fine isn’t just a video series. It’s a statement about creativity, community, and the everyday spaces that hold meaning when we slow down long enough to notice them.

In Isa’s world, music doesn’t belong to stages or spotlights. It belongs to the people who dance, eat, work, and live beside it. “Any place,” she says, “can be fine for making music, as long as you bring joy with you.”

Follow DJ Isa and Anyplace is Fine on Instagram and TikTok.

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