This story originally appeared in i-D’s The Homegrown Issue, no. 355, Spring 2019.
“Brat Star was born a dolphin in mysterious seas,” the Canadian DJ and producer tells us. “She is a warrior but traded her sword for love. She uses her powers in the hope of assisting humans to reach beyond themselves.” Three years ago, Brat Star moved to Berlin from Montreal after learning that “you need to eventually leave your hometown and live somewhere else to understand who you are and what you want”.
Shifting the attention away from techno and onto her underground club nights, the genre-anarchist is known to splice together eclectic selections of trap and metal, hardcore and pop. “There is no such thing as a typical Brat Star set,” she confirms. “I just love the chaos of newness.”
To Brat Star, DJing is more than just a hobby, and worlds away from just a job. “We live in confusing times for human relationships,” she says. “It is both easier and harder than ever to connect in a way that feels real, and this new reality can be hard to manage. I mix with the aim of bringing people together in the chaos – within themselves and with others.”
After touring extensively for the past year both solo and as Spanish rapper Yung Beef’s DJ, Brat Star has started producing her own music; honest vocal-centric productions created as an antidote to over-stimulation. “I want to make music to save lives,” she says, full of sincerity. “Music to remind you that there is something greater than day-to-day life to hold on to.”