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Like many others, techno talent Gabriela Penn started out with vinyl. At 28 she met her partner, techno-icon Rob Hes. That's when she started playing constantly. Of course, the German DJ/producer remembers her debut very well. In 2017 she told me her story. “They say: eat bananas when you’re nervous. So I did.”
“I was fourteen when I started going to parties. Those weren’t techno parties but hiphop events. I grew up with hiphop and it took until I was nineteen for me to discover techno.”
Men’s world
“One of my friends played with vinyl. I was so fascinated by that, that I wanted to try for myself. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the courage. In my eyes, the techno scene and my education (MTS) were real men’s worlds. Therefore, I didn’t dare to take the step.”
Grandmother
“On a regular basis, I secretly went with technofriends to parties, to feel how it is when people respond to your music. I grew up with my grandmother and when she died, I realized that you have to enjoy life. It made me think: ‘This is my chance! I can do whatever I want with my life’. It didn’t take long for me to order turntables and a mixer.”
Rob Hes
“When I was 28, the fun started and I was constantly playing. Later that year I met my boyfriend DJ and producer Rob Hes. Rob is my partner, my friend and my mentor. We talk about everything and now, after a few years, we can work together perfectly. Often people tell us how great is that we are a couple that boths works in music, but of course every pro has its cons.” (laughs)
Challenges
“Rob taught me a lot – no not wat you’re thinking” (laughs) ” – what producing is concerned and I’m very happy about that. I still haven’t stop learning and I love new challenges.”
Bananas
“My first gig was at Manifesto in Hoorn. I was thrown of the deep end immediately, because there were no less than 250 people on the dancefloor. I had prepared my set a little bit and was very excited. People say sometimes: ‘When you’re nervous, eat bananas’ so that’s what I did, all night long. I’m happy to say that the set went very well and I had been nervous for no reason. It was fabulous to see the audience enjoy my music! Afterwards, all I felt was love, enthusiasm and pride! Fortunately, I had and have many friends who support me. This makes me really happy.”
Beatport Top 100
“After that first gig, many more followed. Among them were Elektroküche I Cologne (Germany) and Openmind in Italy. My first released immediately entered the Beatport Top 100, extremely cool! In 2014 was I runner-up during ADE Next (Demo Demolition) and Dave Clarke played my track in his radioshow Whitenoise. Needless to say, that this was a tremendous honor.”
Live
“At this point, I play less DJ sets and concentrate primarily on live shows, awesome! This way I can give my sets my own twist. The music scene is perfect for me, because I’m a true night owl.”
“One of my latest releases was on FLASH, Florian Meindl’s label. I’m super proud of that! This year I will have some more releases on his label.”
More Gabriela Penn?
This article is originally published on DJMag.nl on January 5th 2017.