Audio: Introducing Sandrien’s broad techno palette

For techno in Amsterdam, few do it better than Sandrien. The Dutch native has been collecting records in her hometown for the best part of two decades, and became a staple of the city’s underground scene through MAD2 – the club night she ran with friend Carlos Valdes. Building on the success of MAD2 she went onto establish Imprint – the night she’s best known for – which she ran at the much-loved Trouw club up until its closure at the beginning of 2015. In the years since she’s been playing out increasingly beyond the Dutch capital, with 2017 seeing her tour Asia and stop off in Berlin for regular appearances. This rise in popularity is a real testament to her prowess as a selector. On 14th October she makes her Farringdon debut, so we didn’t hesitate in inviting her to record a mix for us to introduce herself. For her mix, she dropped a carefully-curated selection of ambient, IDM, broken beats and techno, before discussing her record digging habits and the scene in her hometown. Download: Sandrien fabric Promo Mix Did you have a theme in mind for the mix? I wanted to make a dynamic mix with warmth and deepness, going from electronics to techno, including acid influences and a few organic percussive elements. Listening back, I think it’s a bit of an emotional ride as well. From where did you source most of the records? From vinyl and digital – I’ve used old and new tracks, as well as a handful of promos. When did you first start collecting records? I started collecting 1999. There were a lot of record stores in Amsterdam at the time. Rush Hour, Killa Cutz, Outland Records, Midtown, Rhythm Import, Dance Tracks and so on. Me and my best friend Carlos [Valdes] always used to do a round to the stores on Thursdays and Saturdays when the new records arrived. Amsterdam still seems to be one of Europe’s key strongholds for electronic music, and ADE is happening right after you visit us. How has the city’s clubbing landscape changed since Trouw’s closure? A lot of new clubs like De School, Shelter and Claire have opened since Trouw closed. There are a lot of big parties going on elsewhere as well. It’s nice to see there’s a whole new young generation going to clubs and parties. It’s a diverse and vibrant scene. Is there anything you learned about DJing from your Trouw residency that you would recommend to an aspiring artist? What helped me a lot was playing different slots during the night or day. I also had the chance to play longer sets, which enables incorporating records from a wide range of genres. Listening to the artists we invited to play at the night helped as well – everyone has a different approach you can learn from. What do you have planned for the rest of the year? I’m really looking forward to ADE, I’m playing at Shelter for Speedy J’s Electric Deluxe party on the Saturday and playing a more house-oriented set at Het Muzieklokaal at De School on the Sunday. The following weekend is the Is Burning party at Shelter and there are a few nice (inter)national gigs coming up the rest of the year. Of course I’m really excited for my fabric debut, I’m really happy that Marcel Fengler and fabric invited me!