Charlotte de Witte is the young, fresh new face to be causing waves in the electronic scene and one of the biggest names climbing festival bills around the world. With women dominating the techno scene (think Peggy Gou, Nina Kraviz, Ida Engberg), Charlotte is no exception. By 17, she had made her debut behind the decks of top underground events and her style of play has continued to captivate crowds earning her place on major lineups like Tomorrowland and Pukkelpop.
"Belgium has a lot of history when it comes to electronic music. Back in the eighties, in the New Beat era, our scene used to be huge. We were actually also the ones who invented the technology to press something on vinyl so I’m quite proud to be Belgian. I didn’t grow up listening to electronic music though. I discovered that when I was about 16 or 17 years old and started going out more to underground clubs in Ghent, where I went to school at that time. I fell in love with the music and wanted to do something more with it. My radio show started about one year and a half later, after winning a DJ Contest curated by Tomorrowland and Studio Brussel, which I won, and made me a resident of the radio station. I remained a resident for several years after which they’ve decided to give me my own slot on air." Charlotte de Witte
Fast forward to the present day and you'll find Charlotte playing all over the U.S., South Africa and all across Europe. She teams this with her Saturday night radio show, 'Playground Charlotte de Witte' where she champions underground techno and also with the residency she holds at KNTXT, Brussels Techno Institution Fuse. Most recently Charlotte was with us in the UK playing Junction 2 festival, which not only received heaps of praise for being an outstanding showcase of electronic music, but Charlotte was noted as one of the most notable acts of the day.
"The festival itself is absolutely gorgeous and I was very sad I had to leave so soon to play at another festival in the South of France. The first half an hour of my set was quite stressful since there was literally no one in the covered stage where I was playing. It was a beautiful day outside so I was concerned people would want to be outside instead of in the covered stage. Turned out no one was there because they hadn’t opened the doors of the festival yet. So luckily for me, after that playing for no one half an hour, people started coming in and the stage was filled quite quickly. Everybody was shouting and whistling. They were all in a wonderful mood so I loved it to bits." CdW
The 'Wisdom' EP is de Witte's latest production and her second effort on Sleaze after her debut earlier on in the year. At 24, she has truly captured a unique sound – dark and techno are two words, Charlotte expertly plays between. Her releases on Tiga's Turbo Recordings and OFF, which received support from the likes of Ben Klock and Slam, have added additional credibility to her work.
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The title track 'Wisdom' is the biggest of the bunch, having a huge impact during its peak moments. 'I'll See You Tonight' is darker, driving sound, with a stand out vocal cut whilst 'Sending Them' is a stripped down, loopy groover while 'Maelstrom' rounds off the EP nicely with a pounding beat, a crazy warped vocal, and hard-hitting percussive elements.
"Hans Bouffmyhre, Sleaze Records’ label boss, was actually a part of the first edition of KNTXT a little over two years ago. I love his music so when suggesting line up he was on top of my list. We sort of stayed in touch and a couple of months after playing together, he sent me an e-mail saying that he liked the stuff I released on Turbo Recordings, asking if I would be up to release on Sleaze Records. This resulted in releasing Our Journey EP early 2017 and 'Wisdom' EP now."
'Wisdom' EP by Charlotte de Witte is released on Beatport on Monday 26th June on Sleaze. Catch her performing at Oasis Festival in Morocco this September. For tickets visit www.theoasisfest.com
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