Karen Dió

Karen Dió had her “lightning-bolt moment” at 13 when she saw Avril Lavigne live in concert. By that point, she had already absorbed just about everything MTV had in heavy rotation – from The Offspring to Green Day to Foo Fighters. A Latin riot grrrl was born in the coastal Brazilian city of Santos. In her band Violet Soda, Dió drew heavily on the Californian garage punk of the 1990s. Feminism is her central theme. In 2021, she moved to the UK with two clear ambitions: to become world-famous and to serve as a springboard for emerging talent from Latin America. Her EP My World (2024) soon caught the attention of several of her heroes. Heavyweights such as Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit), KennyHoopla and Deryck Whibley (Sum 41) have come forward as fans. ‘It’s the world turned upside down’, says the Brazilian artist. But she doesn’t mind one bit.