DISCWOMAN at Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival
The DJ collective creates two playlists for CH in anticipation of UMFANG's gig this weekend
Crushing gender stereotypes by actively playing choice techno music, NYC-based DJ collective Discwoman book and showcase people who identify as women at the decks—and prove that the audience wants it. In September, they celebrated their anniversary at Bossa Nova Civic Club, where a max-capacity crowd danced to sets from Honey Dijon, Juliana Huxtable, Mumbai native Sandunes and more. A year ago, Discwoman sprung out of a one-off weekend event at the same venue, featuring 12 DJs, with proceeds going to Sadie Nash Leadership Project, a non-profit empowering young women in NYC. Since then, they haven't stopped hustling—touring from Puerto Rico to Canada (with American cities peppered in between) and working with over 130 women DJs to-date. "It's been an incredible experience being able to connect to women from around the world," co-founder Christine Tran tells CH. "Since our first event we've become a booking agency and currently represent UMFANG, Volvox, Bearcat and HD."
UMFANG, also known as Discwoman co-founder Emma Olson (pictured far right), will be performing this weekend as a part of Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival and put together a playlist for CH to warm up the ears in preparation. "I put together some tracks mostly made by my friends or people I've met through Discwoman events," says UMFANG. "I'm drawn to more moody music in the fall and this list has a broad spectrum of emotions showing through. I like to challenge myself and others to seek out music that maybe hasn't gotten a lot of attention before." The mostly instrumental tracks show off the many facets of instrumental techno—light, heavy, gritty, glossy. "Bangs_Dub" by Beta Librae and "Cave Room" by Journeymann Trax are definite highlights.
Another member of the collective, Hannah Daly (aka DJ HD) has also put together a playlist for CH to celebrate Discwoman at BEMF this weekend. Having played at the inaugural Discwoman event, Daly tells CH, "As the crew evolved into an agency it only made sense to work together. The future is female!" She continues, "It is pretty amazing that we can all co-exist and support each other as we spread our specific sounds. I call my style World Bass, meaning that I'm interested in dance and pop music from all around the world. This playlist speaks to that for sure. The music comes from Los Angeles, Stockholm, London, New York, Cape Town, Atlanta and beyond. I'm interested in the shared sonic space that connects artists creating R&B, hip-hop, pop and dance music all over the world, and, ideally, helps us connect in ways beyond the music." Check out the playlist below, and catch HD at Shine & Criss at Elvis Guesthouse this Saturday and warming up for Lil Debbie & Donmonique at Webster Hall this Sunday.
Catch UMFANG's set this weekend, 6 November 2015 at The Panther Room (Output)—where Planet Rock master Afrika Bambaataa will be DJing the night prior—as well as other acts like Floating Points, Armand Van Helden, Obey City, Snakehips, Soul Clap, and more. View full lineup and locations at Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival's website; tickets to individual concerts start at $10 and a day pass is $50.
Profile image of Hannah Daly courtesy of Serena Jara; final image of BEMF 2014 courtesy of Oliver Clothezoff; all other images courtesy of Discwoman