BRAZIL, BELIEF & BREAKING THE CURSE: HOW KAREN DIÓ ROSE TO THE TOP

Four years ago, Karen Dió left Brazil for Britain with nothing but ambition and attitude. Now, the Latin riot grrrl is one of rock’s fastest-rising names, earning love from Limp Bizkit, Sum 41, and a rapidly exploding global fanbase. We link up with her in Hastings, where the next chapter is unfolding in real time.

For the unfamiliar, she broke through in 2023 with “Sick Ride,” a viral punk blast built around revenge, chaos, and absolute freedom. That track kicked open every door. Her debut EP My World followed last October, earning heavyweight praise from across the scene and proving she’s building something truly her own.

Karen grew up in Santos, near São Paulo, playing shows as a teenager in a scene drenched in sun-bleached surf-punk and California-leaning hardcore. And even now in St Leonards, with the ocean still just outside her window, she carries that energy everywhere she goes.

Her love of chaos started with a film — the cult classic The Blues Brothers, which fueled her early fascination with noise, rhythm, and rebellion. From there came toy keyboards, abandoned lessons, songwriting experiments, late-night MTV, and a crash course in Green Day, Foo Fighters and The Offspring, helped along by her cousin Paolo, who kept feeding her fire.

It was seeing Avril Lavigne play live when she was 13 that was the true lightning-bolt moment for everything Karen is today.

“I was like, ‘Oh shit – that’s what I want to be,’” she grins. “I want to be onstage.”