Darwin is hustling hard on many levels. She runs the forward thinking party series REEF, her own record label SPE:C and she is trying to make the industry more sustainable. Enjoy!
Hello Darwin how are you and what have you been up to recently?
I’m doing well thanks! Feeling like I won the lockdown lottery getting stuck at the beach in Mexico. I’ve been surfing every day, working on music and the label, collecting shells, making driftwood sculptures, and hanging out with my newly adopted dog Taco.
You live in Berlin. How would you describe the city and music scene there at the moment?
Well, pre-COVID it was pumping, I’ve seen a lot more musical diversity in the city over the last few years. Bass music is becoming more popular after the post-dubstep dip, this time more open and reaching further than singular genres. Parties like Version, Wax Treatment, Mothers Finest, and The Bug’s Pressure night have all been key players to that in my opinion. I’m cracking up having flashbacks of being at Tresor 5 years ago to see 2562 B2B Pinch play an old school dubstep set to about 15 people. The guy in the skull disco t-shirt and I were freaking out though ;P It’s a beautiful thing to watch it swing back with a lot more cross-pollination and more women than ever before. Berghain took REEF on as a resident party this year which was also really exciting and felt like progress. I hope we will get to see that day now…
Berlin has always burned bright for the rave, I have no doubt it will still hold that torch in the future. If not I’m packing it in and moving to Mexico full time.
What annoys you or has pissed you off lately?
Ha, this is SUCH A GERMAN QUESTION!! :p
I try not to get pissed off these days and let those feelings pass through me. Giving attention to that shit is not worth the energy.
What excites you besides music?
The ocean, surfing, meditation, natural psychedelics, Taco, and obviously my friends.
Anything coming up you want to share with us?
During the lockdown, I’ve been working hard alongside an amazing team on our environmental initiative Clean Scene. We’ve come up with a lot of new ideas and efforts to make the industry more sustainable and tools to help people be more responsible when it comes to their lifestyle and the environment. I hope we will be ready to officially launch by summer.
I’ve also got some releases cookin for the 5 year anniversary of SPE:C. There are 3 upcoming dubs from the label in this mix.
Any shout-outs or final statements?
Number one shout is MARK! (aka Klon Dump) One of my favorite DJs, producers, friend, and the one who engineers all the vocal drops in my mixes because I don’t know how to use Ableton. Poor guy gets a dump of youtube audio rips and some crazy voice note on WhatsApp about „my vision“ and a hundred edits after. Big up Marky Mark foreva <3 Thanks for putting up with my crazy antics.
This was my mood board for the mix. Final statement.
