One of the most exciting artists in the techno world today, French DJ, producer, promoter and label owner Caravel has taken her dynamic sound to dance floors across the world. Boldly fusing raw rhythms and complex melodies, her smashing productions have been featured on Exhale and Sacred Court and her sound captures a certain intensity. As a resident of Berlin crew Synoid, she also orchestrates the Resilience evenings, bewitching events that marry sound and form. At the end of the year we were able to catch up with the artist about how 2023 went and what she's looking forward to in 2024.
The Brvtalist: As we are coming to the end of the year, share some 2023 highlights for us.
Caravel: The last year was great for me, and I also got the opportunity to play a Boiler Room event which was one of the best gigs of the year. I also joined STEER management in May and it has really help me to focus on the more important steps in my career, rather than all the admin. I am really looking forward to seeing where my career goes with them in 2024.
I also played several parties which were all on my goal list. With some really good b2b sets too, I started the year with my first b2b with Tham and finished with Kozlov at Rotterdam Rave. I have a side project which is my label Haku, which had its first release in November, and I’m also starting an event series called Resilience this year.
TB: Would also like to hear some moments that were maybe difficult as well.
C: Touring is not easy, I’m the kind of person that needs a lot of sleep, so it doesn’t always match with the job. People don’t see the amount of work we do during the weekdays; they often assume DJ’ing is a weekend job only.
Last April I was playing in Ecuador and got mugged in the street during daylight. Since then, I've been a little traumatized, I’m afraid of getting assaulted again and maybe even worse.
TB: Looking ahead to 2024, what are a couple things you are excited about?
C: 2024 will be even better, super happy about my upcoming releases. Some of my dream gigs are coming, a lot of debuts in new cities. Resilience and Haku have a lot of plans as well. First release of 2024 will be a VA with the first collaboration together with Kozlov.
TB: Tell us a little bit about your sound at the moment. What kind of stuff are you playing and do you think we will see a big shift next year in the techno scene sound wise?
C: I’m mainly playing a mix of hard techno, schranz, trance and rave. I like to make very progressive sets with variations. The goal is always to surprise the crowd. I also like to play some hard-trance a little pitched. I’m seeing sound evolving and splitting in two ways, harder scene and groovy scene. I don’t believe we will have a big shift, but hard dance is getting more and more into techno sets and productions.
TB: Would love to hear about your label, HAKU. What did you want to do with it and tell us about the first release.
C: As a producer it wasn’t easy for me to find the right label for the right track. I just decided to launch my own label which also allows me to sign small artists who are really talented.
TB: You also have an event series called Resilience. Tell us about the event concept and what to expect.
C: Gabrielle and I decided to launch Resilience a year ago. It was a spontaneous idea that we had in common, go further than what we were already doing. With Resilience we can bring artists that we really like, and especially producers. Show the people how we want to rave together and trying as much as we can to make original line up by having many debuts.
TB: Do you have any New Years resolutions?
C: As I tend to be a really anxious and stressed person, I always need to have some drinks before my set. When you tour a lot, it becomes unhealthy. I told myself I will try to get rid of this habit this year, but you how NY resolutions are (hahaha)
Follow Caravel:
https://www.instagram.com/caravel__
https://www.facebook.com/caravelfr/
https://soundcloud.com/thisiscaravel