INTERVIEW:

✹ Introduce yourself and tell you what you do

Hey <3 my name is Stefa, i’m an artist & activist in the local Warsaw scene. i’m a part of dekonstrukt – a collective made up of trans non-binary dj best friends aiming to promote broken and bold club sounds and also a member of Kem – a queer-feminist initiative working at the intersection of performance, choreography and social activity.

✹ What has been a support and what has been a hindrance to your musical development?

My friends and mentors who I learned DJing from have always been a great support. I’m so grateful for the tips and secrets that they shared from behind the decks and I’m very proud to see the places where they are in their careers now. My musical education has also been very helpful. A significant hurdle for me is my own perfectionism and the constant DJ identity crisis, which makes me want to mix all moods and genres in my sets. But I’m trying to reclassify that now into my strength <3

✹ Tell a little about your local scene. What cool things are happening? And what would you like to change?

Throughout my life, I’ve passed through several scenes. The first was in London, where I discovered clubbing and its rich cultural history. Later, I spent a year in Seoul, South Korea, where I developed a taste for everything experimental, cross-genre, and eclectic. Then I settled into the Warsaw scene, while also having a six-month fling with Berlin in between. Of all these scenes, Warsaw, where I am currently based, seems to me bursting with potential for what could still happen here. The other scenes have a more developed music culture, funding, and larger events, but in Warsaw, everything is still possible, and that’s what makes it attractive. By doing things here, you can be part of this city’s history. Additionally, there is a great demand for queer sound and visibility, as well as for strengthening solidarity and local alliances. There aren’t many queer events, but more and more each year. I wish there were more places to organize events, more squats, and events for less than 50 zł… I also wish there were daytime events on Sundays… and that the club culture remains underground and radical, not engulfed in capitalist circuits… but I feel like there will be time for all of this

✹ What are you excited about lately? Maybe you discovered something new that changed your approach to music or DJing??

Lately, I’ve been excited about how the global underground music scene has shown solidarity with Palestine. I feel empowered seeing the engagement from people around me and from initiatives I’ve always respected, like collecting and donating funds, boycotting platforms, spreading anti-colonial discourse, and amplifying instances of injustice. There’s also many new initiatives popping uplike raversforpalestine and sonic.solidarity. The roots of club music lie in resistance and opposition to oppressive social, political, and economic structures – I’m glad we’re not forgetting that. At the same time, I realize we need to do a lot more.

✹ What are your thoughts on the diversity of Polish electronic and club music scene?

There are several great initiatives that promote diversity really well (such as Oramics), and what they do for the music/club scene is invaluable. Thanks to them, we can experience small, temporary musical utopias, where there is a full range of representation. However, unfortunately, most events have predominantly cis-het-male line-ups, at most with one tokenistic queer-femme DJ who usually opens. But it’s also hard to talk about the Polish scene as some kind of unified entity…. I haven’t been to many events lately… but when I do go, they tend to have diverse line-ups, so from my perspective, it’s diverse. However, I realize that most events happening in Poland are not like that.

✹ What are your nearest musical and artistic plans?

For me, what’s musical is encompassed within what’s artistic. With the girls from Dekonstrukt, we want to create experimental, queer spaces for unconventional music and radical performance, and these spaces themselves blur that boundary. We plan to release a series of Dekonstrukt podcasts and organize several events this year, including collaborations with other Warsaw collectives <3 there’s strength in staying together!

Regarding the second initiative I’m involved in, Kem, I’ll also have several opportunities for gigs abroad, including in Portugal and the Netherlands. I’m really looking forward to it <3 I also invite you to the Ephemera festival, where we’re hosting our event, Dragana Bar, with a super hot queer lineup of DJs and performers.

I’m also graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts this year, so a lot will depend on that too… keep your fingers crossed!