Brazilian techno producer, DJ and Warung Beach Club resident, BLANCAh releases ‘Cold Lights’ on Renaissance Records on 19 July – the first original release on the celebrated label in over a decade. Having recently played alongside Solomun at Renaissance’s sell-out event in Birmingham in May and with festival dates this summer including EXIT, La Rêve, Bloque, and Rock in Rio, plus an album coming out later this year, DMC took some time out of BLANCAh’s busy schedule to chat with her.
Hi BLANCAh, what have you been up to recently?
Hi guys, thank you so much for this opportunity to talk with you. Well, I’ve been touring since May around Europe and Asia. I went to India for three gigs, and also played in England, Germany, Serbia and have some more dates up until August before coming back to my country, Brazil.
It’s exciting to see you releasing on such an iconic label as Renaissance. When did you first become aware of the label?
Yes, I’m really happy and excited about this release. As you say, Renaissance is an iconic label and during almost 20 years have presented to the world many artists who became legends like Sasha, John Digweed, Maceo Plex, Hernan Cattaneo, Tale of Us and many others. My first contact with Renaissance was around 2013 when they released The ReMix Collection with Tale Of Us. This collection of amazing music changed completely my way to understand and appreciate electronic music.
What is your favourite track from the Renaissance Records catalogue?
Hard to choose. To me, one of the most amazing songs released was Petar Dundov ‘Distant Shores’. I get goosebumps every time I listen to or play this song.
What is the inspiration for ‘Cold Lights’?
When I was invited to create an EP for Renaissance, I took it as a personal challenge, due to the relevance of the label. I spent almost three months focused in my studio creating, studying and exploring music. I knew that I wanted to come back to sing on my own productions and that was the perfect moment to do it. The lyrics came to my mind on a hot summer night, whilst I was walking around my neighbourhood. I came back to my studio and started to record those sentences over the base that I had been working. My intention since the beginning was to try to create something powerful for the dancefloor, but at the same time soft and clean. I’m happy with the result.
How was it playing EXIT Festival recently?
It was an amazing experience. I performed a one hour and half set for a warm audience. Playing at festivals like this is pretty cool because I feel that most of the people there are completely open to enjoy and have fun. I went to the festival on all four nights, not only when performing, but so I could live the whole festival from both sides – first as an artist performing, and also mixing with the crowd following some shows. In this way, I had the opportunity to see how a huge festival like this happens, flowing from the backstage onto the dancefloor. It was super nice.
You are resident at the world renowned Warung Beach Club in Brazil. On which other stages in the world would you like to perform?
Honestly, I never focused my goals to play in some special or specific stage. My goal is always to make good music and being able to express myself through my art. Naturally, requests and gigs will happen around the world. Most of the amazing places that I have already performed, I never imagined being there. Even when I was invited to become a Warung resident, it was a big surprise to me, something that I never expected. So, I keep working hard in my studio, I keep learning and producing music that represents my own truths. I keep my heart open to receive everything that the universe has to give to me.
What are your plans for the rest of the summer and beyond?
I have some gigs in Europe until I return back to Brazil. My schedule is full until the end of the year. I will perform at some really nice festivals like Rock in Rio La Rêve, Bloque, and XXXperience, and I’m really looking forward to coming back home to work on my new songs. I’ve plenty of new ideas and inspirations and I need to transform it into music.
We hear that you have a new album coming out. What can people expect from that?
Yes, I’ve been working on this album for almost two years and it’s almost finished. I think that an album is the best way to tell a history and is the right place to show different skills as a producer. This will be my second album and I decided to explore the low bpm universe and organic sounds. I face this album as a testimony of love, full of lyricism and poetry. I’m looking forward to showing it to the world.
A lot of acclaimed Producers and DJs have come out of South America recently. Which other artists should we be looking out for?
I agree, there are a lot of rising starts coming from Brazil right now. There’s an amazing techno duo called Binaryh releasing solid music since their first EP. Another great producer is Paulo Foltz, he used to release his music in a Brazilian label called Prisma Techno. I also recommend listening to a guy called Chappier and another one called Obscure Sense.
How do you unwind when not in the studio or touring?
This is the hardest question here because I spend 100% of my time touring or in my studio. I’m a workaholic. It is really hard for me to turn off my brain and not to think about work.
BLANCAh releases ‘Cold Lights’ on Renaissance on 19 July. Pre-order at smarturl.it/ColdLights
BLANCAh Renaissance podcast: https://soundcloud.com/renaissance-recordings/blancah-renaissance-podcast-2019
