Grace Dahl on Honouring Her Mother's Spirit, The Power of Spirituality & Raving as a Wellbeing Practice
Such an honest and inspiring interview...
Welcome back to Music Is The Answer! Loving the sunshine here in the UK at the moment, but it’s massively distracting when I’m trying to sit at my laptop and get stuff done.
Before we get into this edition, I wanted to shout out a guest mix I did on my cousin Sharifa’s Netil Radio show. I played an hour of garage. If you’re a regular reader of the newsletter, you might remember that I had a huge garage fixation phase not long ago. Preparing for the guest mix was heaven.. and playing it was even better. I got to play some of my absolute favourite garage tunes - none of the more commercial stuff that gets churned out - with a few housey bits pitched up, in proper old school house & garage style. I’ve had it on repeat over the last week or so. I’m launching something radio-based very soon…. Need to get to doing radio shows, they’re my happy place. Listen below - starts at 59 minutes but the whole show is amazing.
I also interviewed Ron Trent for Ibiza-based platform OpenLab a few weeks ago. What a fascinating man. He was a joy to interview. You can a listen to that one below…
There’s so much to write about at the moment. I’ve got so many interviews stacked up but I’m also mad keen to write some opinion-style pieces to address some of the ins and outs of “the music industry” right now. TL;DR, I truly think there are way too many platforms and writers trying to do hot takes on every single little aspect of the music ecosystem. Maybe it’s because I’m online so much, but I’m fatigued by the constant stream of explainers, rage bait/divisive headlines and the absolute dominance of attention economy-driven “content”.
I’m working on a response to Shawn Reynaldo’s recent newsletter piece about the migration of music discourse to Instagram, which I loved. It’s a topic which I have been thinking about a lot myself recently. I’m a habitual Instagram user (read: addict), so I’m exposing myself to TONS of music-related content on a daily (read: hourly) basis. Overall, I guess there have always been channels through which people are fed bite-sized/watered-down forms of media and information. And, generally, most people are inherently seeking convenience. So, if it came down to it, investing the time, energy and attention it would take to read one of my long form newsletter pieces versus having it spoonfed in a series of easy-to-digest slides, or a 60-second reel, I’d say most people would opt for the latter. Personally, I find that saddening, but it’s a reality I think we all have to accept in this current fast-paced, short-form world that’s developed around us. More on that in a future newsletter…
The lead interview for this edition is with the amazing Grace Dahl. I’ve been following her progress on social media for a while, and I love how she plays as a DJ. Her productions have also been impressing me, I reviewed one of them here on the newsletter a few months ago. She’s been absolutely flying lately and I thought it was a good time to sit down with her and explore what’s going on in her world. It’s a very intimate interview and, as ever, I was so grateful she felt comfortable enough with me to share some of the personal insight she gave.
**You can also find my techno reviews for May here (plus a mix), including a brilliant new album from Glasgow legends Slam, among many other techno delights**
I’m listening to the mix as I’m typing this and have to keep stopping to dance in my seat, haha.
Enjoy, and please consider signing up for a paid subscription. That kind of support is deeply appreciated and does wonder for my mental wellbeing. THANKYOU to everyone who has signed up for a paid subscription, I see you and I am so so grateful for your support. If you knew how much it touches me when someone commits to this newsletter financially. It’s deep. On that note, I’m currently working on some extras that only paid tier members will receive…
A Personal One with Grace Dahl
When I caught up with Grace, she’d not long landed in Atlanta ahead of her debut show there, before heading to Detroit for Movement. So we started with her current situation and let it flow from there…
Have you played in Atlanta before?
No, it’s my first time in Atlanta and Detroit.
Wow. Nice. How does that feel? It must be exciting.
Yeah, it's very nice. I’m really enjoying the vibe here and also the accent, the southern twang. So it's very comforting. I'm very curious about Detroit as well. There's going to be quite a lot of DJs there and bookers that I know from Europe, so we're going to be visiting events together. It feels like a mini ADE kind of situation. And you, how are you?
I'm good, thanks. I've never been to Detroit, and I always get a bit itchy around this time of the year because I'm like, “Oh, I want to be there!”. All through the year I want to be there, but this particular time, because I know so many friends are going to be in Detroit - and you see the post-Movement footage, and you're like, “Aww man”. Some friends of mine are doing a party on Sunday, called Shift, at the Lincoln Factory. I've actually just interviewed them and written about it, and I'm not going… I wish I could be there.
I can imagine. I've always wanted to come as well. So it definitely is very nice to finally explore the city where the techno that we know today actually originated from. It’s very exciting.
I'd like to explore that a little bit more with you actually. Detroit techno is so important to all of us, regardless of whether you're into techno or not really, because of the impact and influence it's had on so many other genres. Can you talk to me about what it means to you and when you first connected with the Detroit style of techno yourself?
Initially, the first link to techno, for me, was more the Berlin style. But I think, even in Berlin style, there's a lot of Detroit influences because Berlin is also one of the first, if not the first, European cities that brought over Detroit DJs to play. So I think in a way I already connected with it because there was that influence. But otherwise, not long into my journey, I saw Jeff Mills at one of the Awakenings parties. From that point onwards, I was digging more into the history, getting to know all these other artists and doing my research. I think that when you start, I also say this to a lot of other DJs, “Do your research”, know where it comes from, because you have to know the history to be able to contribute anything now, in my opinion.
I need to research anyway, it's naturally part of who I am. But, because I'm so passionate about music and I love it so much, when I hear something, a new artist, a new label, a new style - or even something older, but new to me - I'm like, “Oh my gosh, what is this?” And then I get fascinated and then I have to dig into “What is it about?” “Where does it come from” and “What's connected to it?”. I’ll get hooked on a period of time, or style of music, and go down multiple rabbit holes. With Detroit, I'm very lucky that I've interviewed most of the pioneers from Detroit. Being able to have conversations, like I'm having with you right now, with all of those guys that were there at the beginning of that whole movement, it blows my mind that I get to actually ask them all of my fanboy questions and delve into their own stories.
Must be super cool. I watched an interview recently and it was really really inspiring - hearing about the Belleville Three, and that they've had such a major impact on what we know today. It's just crazy, and also that they're still here to share the stories and that we're able to actually see them and know them. It's really nice because often with other genres of music, those artists have passed already. You're watching or reading things but you can't actually connect with them. I would love to actually meet those guys also at a certain point in my career. I haven't yet…
So we're halfway through the year now, how's everything been going for your? Any highlights in particular that have really been inspiring for you?
It's been a really good start to the year. The beginning of the year was a little chaotic for me. In January I switched agencies, which is always quite a big thing. It happened quite abruptly for me, so it wasn't something that I was fully prepared for but that was actually (eventually) a very good step in my career. Now everything has settled and there have been amazing highlights already so far. At the end of February I had my second Berghain gig, which was really nice, and I played what I guess is considered one of the peak time-ish slots - I was playing 4 until 8pm on the Sunday in between Quelza and DVS1. The club was just packed. That was definitely one of the major highlights. A few weeks after that, I had a photo shoot with Vogue in Antwerp, which Amelie Lens invited me to. She was curating the June music edition and she wanted to invite six rising stars to feature in the magazine. That shoot took place in March and just came out this Thursday. That same weekend, I had my all-nighter for Vault Sessions and Radeon which was again a major highlight. Nine hour set. It was sold out. It was absolutely amazing. I was quite nervous about that night actually because the same night there was a Young Marco all-nighter in Amsterdam and we were both residents of Vault Sessions. So I was like, “Who planned this?!”. But it didn't matter at all and it was just a really wonderful experience. It was definitely something I needed, to really position myself again, in terms of where I'm at as an artist. The set felt flawless for me, and that's something that artists can rarely say about their sets. There was not one moment where I was like, “Oof, that was a bit off” or anything. So it was a really really nice moment in my career. Awakenings Upclose… again another major, major highlight. It's been a pretty good run this year so far.
Yeah, it sounds “pretty good” haha.
Next week Wednesday, I finally have a track coming out on my label again. A single that I've been sitting on for quite some time, and it's going to be a bit of a housey track. I'm very excited about that.
Tell me a little bit more about the track being more on the house tip, as some people might not necessarily expect that from you…
The track is called ‘I Want To Dance’ and it's one of my favourite tracks I've made, because it's a track that I didn't have any expectations for. I was just making what I thought sounded nice. It's not really even “proper house” either. I sent it to Seth Troxler, for example, and he said that it reminded him of old school Blake Baxter. That's a huge compliment. I can't categorise it myself, but if I had to, I would probably position it more in the housey end of the spectrum. It features my own vocals. I'm not singing on it this time, it's just spoken word. I played it as the closing track for my Boiler Room and a few other festivals this past year, and it always pops off. Even though, most of the time, I'm not sure about it, because the set has predominantly been techno, and then closing with that… I'm always like, “Oh, I wonder what's going to happen”, but people seem to really like it.
I’d love to know more about incorporating your vocals into your music. I worked with ANOTR recently on their album, and that project was the first time that they decided to use their own vocals, and they found it so liberating. Even though it's raw and unvarnished because they're not trained professional singers, they still found it brought such a personal touch to their music.
Yeah, it really does add a personal touch. I created my label because I wanted to sing on my tracks. That's how that whole idea came about, I remember, in 2023. It was actually right after my mum passed - because my mum always wanted me to use my voice in my tracks. When I was super, super young, I actually wanted to be a singer. Then I realised that that whole pop star lifestyle is probably not for me. Even as a 13-year-old, I was like, “That sounds like drama”. So I'm really happy I found DJing. My mum was always like, “Please use your voice. Okay, you didn't become a singer, but just use your voice”. A few months after she passed, I was like, “Okay, I’ve got to do it now. If there's a moment to do it, you’ve got to do it now”. So I reached out to a friend of mine, Alec Dienaar, who always had a housey edge to his tracks, even if it was techno. There was no time limit. We spent at least a year making the first release on my label, because it was also my first time recording vocals and I'm absolutely shit at songwriting. I have to be honest about it, I tried everything. So I can sing, but I can't write…. yet, at least. It was a really, really nice process, even though it was sometimes very frustrating. We really went on this journey together. It's something that I want to do way more and, every time I do it, it's also honouring my mum in that way. So to say it's a personal touch… it's very, very personal touch.
Thank you for sharing that. That's a really special thing, and well done for finding it within yourself to be able to use your vocals in that way. For a lot of us, in any creative field, sometimes we can have mental blocks around feeling like we're good enough: “Does my voice sound good enough?”, “Is my writing good enough?”. Being able to actually do it and be satisfied that it sounds good is actually quite a difficult process. So what's next? What's coming up next to the rest? We've got six months of the year to go.
Not long after my time in the US, I'm going back to Asia finally, and it's going to be my first time in Singapore. So I'm very, very excited about that. I'm also going to spend a little week in Seoul, because it's a place I've always wanted to go. We weren't able to add Tokyo this time. So hopefully that will come at a certain point, because it's definitely a dream of mine to go there. Early July, I'm going for a week to Argentina and Chile with the Vault Sessions crew. That's also a crazy, crazy week, because I land on the Thursday and then immediately play Wildeberg Festival on Friday, which is an iconic festival in the Netherlands. It's going to be my first time playing for them. Then I have to go straight back to the airport and grab a flight to Berlin, because then I'm playing on one of the trucks on the Rave The Planet street parade. That’s going to be a major highlight, because the last time I played a street parade was during the pandemic, and that was actually one of my breakthrough moments.
Wow. So you’re saying you're glad that you didn't go down the pop star route, but the touring is definitely pop star levels, isn't it?
Yeah, but maybe the pop stars always fly business!
Or private jets haha. Tell me a little bit more about Berghain. I'm assuming that you were going there long before you would have played there, right?
I went a few times. I wasn't a frequent visitor. I actually didn't party much for most of my career. I partied when I was super young, like, super young! The typical kind of adolescent rebel situation. When I started my career at 17, I pretty much quit everything cold turkey, because I took it so seriously immediately. It didn't start as a hobby. Even when people were like, “What are you talking about? Why do you think that you're going to be able to do that?”. I was like, “I know that I can”. I was just so sure of it. My dad was a DJ, he and my mum were promoters and everything. But still, even my dad was like, “Oh, I don't know if you're the type” and I was like, “I'll show you”. I basically didn't party until last year, that’s when I started rediscovering it again. So I went to Berghain, but I wasn't partying. I just went to look around, to hear the sound, to hear some of the DJs... I was there for like six hours max, so I never actually fully immersed myself properly. The first time I actually did that was last time I played. I'm really, really enjoying partying again now.
I don't want to mention my mum all the time, but I really do think that turned everything around for me. It was a process that started when she passed, and now it's really coming to the peak where I'm just channeling her energy. She was a mega dancer. I was always so embarrassed about it, and now I'm doing that myself. I just feel like I'm channeling her all the time more and more, really enjoying life and enjoying everything that I've achieved, and allowing myself to let my hair down and just dance and be happy. Not everything has to be constantly organised and constantly controlled. That's how my last year has been, and it's probably only gonna evolve further this year.
There's something very poignant about experiencing loss, whether it's a friend, a relative, whoever.. It demonstrates to us how finite life is. But also can be the catalyst behind something transformative in yourself, your mindset - realising that everything doesn't have to be so serious, or embracing the idea of being a bit wild and loose, because we all only have one life to live. I think it can be very easy to forget that when you’re caught up in the day to day of life. When you experience the death of someone close, it can be a big wake up call, or it can simply be a reminder that we only have one life and we don't always have to take it so seriously.
Exactly, yeah, and it wasn't even like an instant switch. It was a process that started then, but gradually built and built. Now, my boyfriend, who I've been with for 12 years, he's like, “I love it, but who are you?”. So he's basically getting a new girlfriend. My dad is like, “Finally, you're our daughter”. This is who he always envisioned me to be. It's a weird thing. Of course, it’s a very sad thing that I don't have my mum in my life anymore. But it has also brought so many beautiful changes and transformations, that I can only be thankful and just honour her in this way. It's not the end. I think it's still a process that's currently happening, but I'm enjoying life the most that I've ever have. So that's a very, very beautiful thing to experience.
I'm really pleased to hear that. Can you tell me a little bit more about what DJing does for you? You mentioned that you played for nine hours - I’ve played those kind of long sets myself, and I understand the process that goes into the preparation. But also when you're midway through and you're so deep into the process. It's a beautiful thing… it's very freeing for the mind, because you can get into a flow state and lose yourself. But, even if you're just playing for a couple hours, that can occur. So I just wanted to ask, what does it give you on a personal and creative level?
It actually doesn’t really matter that much if I’m playing two hours, four hours or nine hours, I pretty much always get into that flow state at a certain point, and it happens quite quickly. I cannot speak for everyone, of course, but the more experienced I become, the quicker the flow state comes. When I started playing, maybe it took me half an hour to get into it. Now it’s like, after the second track already, I’m pretty much there. Especially if the crowd is on fire, it just happens super fast.
What DJing gives me is the platform to completely be myself. I’m already very much myself in life. I wear my heart on my sleeve, I’m very open, that’s not something I shy away from. But in that moment, I’m just really me. My soul is literally on show for everyone to see and hear. It’s very liberating and very connecting. And having a connection with so many people around the world without, many times, even speaking the same language... I think that’s very healing. It’s a very spiritual experience for me.
Funny you say that, my next point was going to be that I interviewed Ron Trent a few days ago and so many of his answers contained the word spirit and energy. In the end I said to him, I’m hearing spirit a lot here. And he was like, “Yeah, you know, because this is spiritual”. He didn’t have to convince me, I was already onside, but he articulated it so well. He was talking about being a channel, being open to whatever inspiration comes, and, as you’re the channel, whatever you're channelling is coming through your hands, then connecting with people.
Yes, yes, I totally agree with that. It’s like an energetic conversation we’re having while I’m playing and the crowd is dancing. You’re having energetic communication, especially if you’re in tune with that. It’s very tangible. You can really feel it. What I try to do, at least, is make them dance and make them happy, so I’m completely opening my channel to receive what they want. Of course, somewhere along the line, I also want to present something that’s my sound, something I want to show them. But I’ve never felt like that’s why I’m a DJ. For me, I’m a DJ because I want them to have an absolutely great time. And I feel like I’m pretty much always able to do that, because I’m so open to their energy. I’m not thinking, “I want to do this” or “This is my sound”. That’s just not how I am. I’ve always had a very diverse playlist. I love all kinds of different music. So whatever I need to do to get them dancing as hard as they can, to help them have an out of body experience, I’ll happily do that.
It’s a very spiritual experience for me. I’m not sure if it’s like that for everyone. I think it depends how in tune you are with that in your daily life.
So on that note... how much does spirituality, or considering that aspect of existence, play into your everyday life as well?
It’s everything. I think it’s my entire DNA. It’s something my parents have always been very in tune with, too. They supported that from when I was a baby. For example, my mum was a realtor, and she used to take me to her business meetings. Afterwards she’d ask me, “What do you think of those people?”. She was like, “What’s your intuition?” and I’d say, “No, no, I like them”. And then she’d say, “OK”, and the business deal would go on. She was always really supportive of tuning into your intuition. I remember when I was a teenager, I’d say stuff like that to my high school friends, and they were just like, “That girl is cuckoo”. But I’ve always been proud of it, and it’s always worked for me. I also 100% believe in manifestation. So yeah, it’s a big part of my life.
Amazing. I was going to ask you earlier, actually, when you were talking me through some of your highlights, had you envisioned any of those?
I’ve envisioned them all. All of them. Some of them more vividly than others - like Awakenings or Berghain. I’ve fully had crazy dreams about it, and it actually happened the way it happened in my dreams. Standing there, and the feeling I felt then, I felt exactly the same when it actually happened. I wrote them all down. I still have them in my journal. It’s pretty crazy to go back and just see them. But it’s kind of like the chicken or egg story. Was that gonna happen anyway, or…? I feel like you make it happen. So, if you write it down and envision it, you’re going to make it happen. That’s why I believe so much in manifestation. Because I made them happen.
I've done a lot of research and analysis of manifestation. It may sound obvious, but if you don't have the idea in the first place, it can never happen, right? It starts with the idea. It starts in your mind, but if you keep it in your mind forever, it's never going to happen. So it's like, how do you translate what's up there, or what you've written down, into an action that then takes you towards that vision? Because we can spend all day long in our house dreaming, but the dream can only become a reality once you start taking action towards it.
I think that's something that I've always been good at, is taking action and just doing things. For example, when I was producing my first tracks - they've all been released. Maybe if I listen to them now, I'm like, “That's not good”, but at least I was taking action, and from those actions, all kinds of things snowballed. My contact with Amelie Lens, that started six years ago because I sent her a super shitty track. I was maybe delusionally proud of what I had made. But it did plant that seed, and now, today, I have a feature in Vogue because Amelie Lens invited me. So, it really is taking action and not being too insecure about whatever you have made. It's a journey, and I think that's definitely a privilege I've had by being brought up with my mum. Because my dad is a bit more “realistic” in that sense, and my mum was just as delusional as I am, in good and bad ways. She really helped instil that basic confidence in anything that you do. And if I wouldn't have had that, I'm not sure if I would be where I am today.
Having a degree of delusion is key, otherwise you're just going to look around at your reality and accept that that's your reality forever.
Especially now, there's so much amazing talent, it’s just constant. There's always new producers I'm discovering. If I let that get to me, I would never release anything, because their music is absolutely out of this world, let alone the OGs. But it's so accessible now. There are so many tutorials you can watch, all the software is very accessible, which I'm very happy about. This is to be shared, this beautiful thing that we do. But I think that's something that gets to a lot of people these days - they don't even start because they already get so demotivated by the talent that's out there, instead of seeing it as, “Hey, if they can do it, I can do it too”. And that's something that I've always thought.
Yep, exactly. I guess there's two types of mindset. One is, “Oh, they're better than me and how can I ever be like that?”, or it could be “They're better than me but hey, I can take some inspiration from that and make myself better”.
Exactly. And in that, I can only say that I've been very privileged to have the parents that I do, and not everybody can say that. So I really feel for the people that don't have that kind of support system. It's a harder journey, I think, because then you really have to fully convince yourself without having that external validation. So all I can say is that I've been very privileged there, and I'm very thankful for that.
That's lovely. Tell me about when you've had a spiritual experience on the dance floor. Is there anything that really stands out for you, any particular DJs?
Actually, probably one of the most recent ones was last Sunday.
Oh wow, that recent eh?!
It was absolutely crazy. My manager Elodie, she was there, she's my witness, and everybody that was around me is my witness. It was Truncate back to back with stranger during the closing of Upclose. I don't know what happened to me but, for two hours, I was just gone. I was just dancing so freaking hard. I don't think I've ever danced that hard in my life. It was so funny, and that was such a spiritual experience for me. She was saying, “I wish your dad was here to see you like this”. And then she said, “I wish your mum was here to see you”. Then we were pointing to the sky. And then I was like, “OK, now I'm really gonna go hard”. And that, I think, was one of the most spiritual experiences I've had.
Wow. I love that. Speaking about all of this stuff, it makes me think of how there's a lot of reporting in the news these days about club culture suffering. In response to that, there seems to be a movement towards positioning partying as a wellbeing practice and how there are so many positive benefits to it. It's a shame, because there's so much stigma about drug taking and alcohol. But when you really break it down, that experience that you've just spoken about, that's done so much for you on a biological level, on a psychological level, and so many people, every single weekend, every single week, go through similar kinds of experiences. And it gives them a strong foundation to just navigate life. Because life, for most of us, is difficult, and if we don't have these spaces where we can connect with ourselves, connect with other people, and just free ourselves from whatever stresses we have, it can make life so much more difficult.
I can definitely vouch for that. Actually, quite a few years ago, I think it was maybe even before the pandemic or right after the pandemic, I remember struggling a bit with the fact that sometimes during my sets, I could see the front row really suffering - especially because I wasn't partying then at all. I could see that they were there for escapism but that they were going through pain. And I was thinking to myself, “Do I want to facilitate this?” I felt guilty, in a way, for facilitating people who were maybe even abusing the situation. I was speaking about this with many friends, and also with my dad, and he was just like, “You know, Grace, if at least you can give them that moment for the time that you're playing, just be proud of it and don't feel guilty because it's something that they need. Even if they're experiencing pain, if it is their escape, be that person for them and just be proud of that”. Then I could really just surrender myself to that and be happy and be like, “Yeah, these people need this”.
And it's not always like that. There's also many parties where I'm at, where I only see smiles on the dance floor and there's no pain, but pain is also just a part of life, as we all know, and of course that's also going to translate onto dance floors. But I'm just very in tune to it, so I can really feel it. If I have a front row that's just all in pain, I can just really feel that. But I think it's something beautiful and something that we need. And I really totally agree with the fact that it's good for mental health and wellbeing 100%. I can also really vouch for that now, personally.
Me too. If I go through a period where I haven't been going out very much, I definitely start to feel it in my personal life. I'm sober, so it's nothing to do with withdrawal or anything like that. It's just being able to get out and be back in that familiar environment that gives me so much. So when I was talking to Ron Trent the other day, we came to this point of describing the DJ almost like a shaman, because there's that channeling of energy. As you were talking there, I was thinking, in shamanic situations, often there is a release of pain or difficult emotions... because that's simply just what occurs in those situations. And if we think about ancient civilisations, a lot of their spiritual practices were based around communal gathering, music, getting into trance-like states, and all of these kinds of rituals. To me, there are so many parallels between that and the culture that we have now in clubs.
Yeah, 100%. It is. It's such a necessary part of our life, actually. And it's very sad sometimes to see certain countries just not willing to facilitate it because of their stigmas around drugs or LGBTQ+ or anything like this. And it's such a shame because it's really something that we need, actually. And I've always seen it as a place where people can find a home if they don't have one. And again, I've been very privileged to always have a home where I'm very comfortable, so I've never felt like I needed to find a home outside of my home. But it's very nice that these spaces exist. And not only is it very nice, it's necessary. I'm super happy and I just feel honoured that I'm able to kind of be a “shaman”, I guess, in that way. To help people get well and get better and feel at home and feel safe. I think that's a very very beautiful thing to be a part of.
Actually Quelza really opened my eyes during my last session at Berghain, and also during the dancing, because I was with him the entire time. And he's basically part of the furniture at Berghain. He's always partying there, besides also being a resident. And he really explained to me what Berghain is. That it's so much more than just a club. It's hedonism, and people come there to experience pain and to cry. They don't come there just to dance and take drugs. And when he explained that to me, it was much more in detail and much better worded than what I'm saying now, but I really got it. I'm already excited now for my next gig at Berghain in September, because I feel like, now that I understand the place so much more and I fully immersed myself in it, my next set is going to be the best one yet.
For sure, because you'll be in that headspace, but also that energetic space to really complement and amplify the energy of the space. I really enjoy when you film yourself in what everyone calls “the spaceship”. I love it. It's so visually impressive. But also I just love watching you play, hearing how you transition between one track and another. It really fascinates me when you do those. When did you start doing them?
I think it was 2021 when I started doing it. If you look at how it was back then to now, you’ll see the gradual change of the size of the table and the equipment. It just kept evolving. And now I'm finally getting my custom booth next month. Another evolution.
My dad had packed away the table and the Technics, and I was like, “Dad, let's put it back. I want to film some videos at home”. And he was like, “Vinyl is boring”. I was like, “No it's not, what the hell are you talking about?” And then finally we set it back up again, and it's just been the best decision ever - being able to showcase some things from the comfort of my own home and not having to go to a space to record a mix or whatever. It's funny that people call it the “Star Wars spaceship” or they call it “the attic”, because it's actually my living room. But it looks like an attic. It's just a typical Dutch house, or typical Amsterdam house I should say. It started in 2021 and it's just such a fun way to showcase what I'm up to, showcase new tracks or whatever. I'm planning to do some back to back sets with good friends of mine. And what I'm really excited about is when I have the custom booth, I want to do a back to back set with Lobster, who is my absolute best friend. And then invite like 20 of our friends to dance behind us in my living room and do it like it's a house party. It's kind of leading its own life now, my little Star Wars spaceship!
So my last question, and it goes back to manifestation… What's on your mind at the moment that you want to make happen? Do you have a strong idea about what you'd like to achieve next?
Yes, I've started creating a new list. I had given myself a bit of a break because I achieved everything that was on my initial list, and I wanted to just enjoy it and not pressurise myself with a new list again. So I hadn’t done that consciously, but just recently I finally created a new list. There are a few things, they're more specific now, I guess, because first it was the major things, like Berghain and Awakenings and Vault Sessions. One of my goals now - whenever the time is right, there's no hurry whatsoever - is I would love to do a closing set at Berghain. I’d love to play more house sets, because I've actually not done that out in the open at all yet. And house is just... I absolutely love it. I listen to it so much, I love dancing to it. MARRØN and Rene Wise did a house back-to-back at Upclose last May, one of my highlights. It was unplanned, the sun was shining, and it was just amazing. So I’d really love to do more house sets. And one of my ultimate dreams is to do a back-to-back with Seth Troxler one day.
Oh that’ll happen for sure.
I really, really hope so. And another legend I’d love to do a back-to-back with one day is Luke Slater. Besides that, I'm just letting the vibe lead me. I really want to focus more on production this year and become more confident in it. Because I'm very confident as a DJ, and as a producer I always kind of shy away. Like, if I'm at the table with producers, I’m not speaking that much. I really want to feel like I also have a voice there, which other people tell me I do - but I have to feel that myself. So that’s something I want to work on.
I’d say those are the major things at the moment.
Grace’s single ‘I Want To Dance’ is out now. Check it out here.