Creating dreams with Jasmin at Lente Kabinet 2019

May 15, 2019 | by Floor Reitsma | Event, Music

About the author

Dancing around the world with funky socks and bananas, has a fetish for doors and hands, thinks glitters make live for fun, dreams big and lives by the quote: playing it safe is dangerous.

While I’m pushing myself to finish some deadlines, I keep thinking about what’s to come: my favorite weekend of dancing, dreaming and loads of sun. Last year was the first time Lente Kabinet did a weekender. Although I had some doubts at first, I’m really up for a weekend of musical pleasure. To get ready I had a quick chat with Jasmin about her background, taste in music and how her main love for fashion shifted to music.

You had a big love for fashion design, or creating processes in general. How did you translate that to your music?
“During high school I always wanted to work in the fashion industry, so after my graduation I moved to Antwerp. After some time I discovered that I didn’t see myself working in that industry. Though I still feel a big love for certain designers, music is my obsession. For hours and hours I can search for tracks or look into labels on the internet. Sometimes I also go record shopping, but funny enough I don’t buy that much in records stores here in Amsterdam.”

How did you got involved in the music scene?
“I was always busy with music, and wrote about it on Tumblr or Blogspot when I was younger. Later on I started writing for De School’s blog, THUMP, Crack, and other platforms. Back then I would make mixes with Audacity by just cutting and pasting tracks into one another. Meeting my boyfriend in 2015 brought out the real nerd in me: he was a DJ and we started talking a lot about music. In 2017 I played my first set, after playing some tracks at a party with friends, and later on I started playing at Stranded FM. I started playing quite quickly at certain places, probably because I knew some people that were involved in the club scene through writing.”

I noticed your a big fan of Missy Elliott, so am I! What’s your favorite track, and can you please bring this to Lente Kabinet?
“This is definitely a tough one – I love all her music. But if I would have to choose it would be “Pass That Dutch” and “Get Your Freak On” because of the beats and the video clips are genius. If I ever meet her, I’ll probably die out of excitement. As a kid I often asked my mom to text to The Box to request the “I Can’t Stand the Rain” music video for me. She’s a true pioneer.

With so many good DJs around, are you concerned with creating a specific sound or image for yourself?
“No, I don’t really think about it in that way. Of course I like to discover something unknown but it’s not what I am aiming for when I am searching tracks or records. I do push myself to stay open minded to different genres of music. My parents always listened to bossa nova, samba and cumbia. So I do think that my Argentinian background has some influence in my taste of music. Besides, for me it’s important to play tracks by labels and people I feel comfortable supporting.”

Which labels/artists/EPs do you adore right now?
“One of my favorites is Portugese label Príncipe, I love their focus on strong percussion and most of the artists have a beautiful warm sounds in their music, like DJ Lilocox. Another release I love right now is mixed berries by DJ Haram, she’s great. Next to that the dreamy, new album from upsammy on Nous’Klaer, it feels perfect for my opening set at Lente Kabinet.

How do you prepare for a set?
“I try to create something I would like to dance on myself. Of course I prepare my sets, bring a lot of music (mostly digital) but I also need to adjust to the situation. Most of the times I’m in love with a few tracks, those are the core of my set, then I choose my other tracks around them.”

Do you feel there are changes happening is the industry, for example in the field of sexism?
“The most obvious change is that I don’t get that many strange faces or get asked if I’m the DJ’s girlfriend that often anymore when I come to play. So that’s a good change, but we’re not there yet unfortunately. Women might be more visible nowadays, but that doesn’t mean the way people behave towards us in a club, it’s not always how it should be. The most important change to me is that women support each other. We should support, help and push each other in every way possible.”