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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.”
This interview with Gabriela Penn is originally published on DJMag.nl on January 5th 2017.
Who is Gabriela Penn?
Gabriela Penn was born in 1982 in Bad Muskau, Germany. She was lovingly raised by her grandmother and partly by her mother in Weisswasser.
Gabriela Penn has been in love with music all her life. At an early age already Gabriela Penn was always seen with her walkman, playing recorded tapes with rare and obscure material. When she 19, she packed her stuff and moved from Berlin to the Netherlands. A couple years later Gabriela Penn got to know the wheels of steel. That was the beginning of her music career.
Her techno tracks always have a nice funky groove, combined with some warm, deep melodies. With a strong eye and ear for detail, Gabriela Penn’s deep grooves are surely going to make you move. Her first track ‘Radioactive Elephants From Mars’ landed instantly in the Beatport Top 100.
