Claude VonStroke spent over 20 years shaping underground dance music and building a community. After selling the Dirtybird brand and taking a 2 year hiatus, he’s back with a new mindset - playing only where he wants, for those who love the originality of his unique style.

His new "Life of Leisure" rebrand is not a status flex; it’s a vacation on the dance-floor.The ravers are the heroes; Claude is just the guide. Leave your villains at the door—fear, anxiety, and stress have no place in
VonStroke’s vibe. Only music, movement, and energy matter. Every show is intentional, every moment sacred.

Claude VonStroke is finally doing more of what he loves and dumping all that stuff that sucks. Shedding his stressed-out, overachiever role for a more reflective and grateful approach. "Life of Leisure" is a victory lap, but we all know it’s not so easy to forget reality. Join him, even if it’s just for a few hours in the club on a Saturday night.

Afterlife / Siamese / Upperground / Simulate / Ellum 
Worldwide booking: citizenkain.booking@gmail.com

French DJ/producer/label boss Citizen Kain is the DJ’s DJ – his powerful tracks at the heart of sets by many a top name (Tale Of Us, Maceo Plex, Artbat, Solomun, Mind Against, Adriatique…). He releases on Afterlife, Ellum, Upperground, Siamese, Atlant, plays at global events such as Fusion Festival (DE), Marvelous Island (FR), Ying Yang Festival (Great Wall of China), Les Plages Electroniques, Sunburn Festival (India), Spilt Milk (South Africa), Les Nuits Sonores, Piknic Électronik… while supporting luminaries such as Artbat, Laurent Garnier, Adriatique, Adam Beyer, Maceo Plex, Solomun, Mind Against… 

 Add to that his impressive following on DSPs and honourable history (including jail!) as part of the French illegal rave scene and it’s high time he was more of a headliner in every sense of the word. So, he’s emerging from his ‘eminence gris’ status into the limelight, in time to make his new label’s name UNSEEN (launched Aug 2022 with ‘Kiss Me Again’) well and truly ironic as well as releasing his own new work, remixes and other artists. 2023 sees his track‘Ghosts & Shadows’ drop on Artbat’s label Upperground, after his ‘Ricochet’ dropped March 2023 on Adriatique's Siamese imprint – more big releases TBC amidst a hectic tour schedule.  

SOUND, STORY & EARLY INFLUENCES: Kain describes his sought-after and very strong individual sound as ‘Melodic Techno, always melodic, but with an edge and very groovy rhythmics. I mix genres of Techno, Hardcore, DnB and House from each period of my music development, defining a very fat, high energy sound.’ Other influences from 80s New Wave (Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk…), Punk, and his earliest youth playing guitar in a Metal band also enrich the mix. 

Kain’s childhood passion for making music began at age 10, an electric guitar from his parents leading to forming Metal bands with friends and gigging from age 15. He got the House/Techno bug soon after, and from 2002, he gave up a car factory job for full-time DJ/producing after a small legacy allowed him 2 years free to learn his craft, the one silver lining to the tragedy of losing his mother at age 20. From then on, he earned his living in music. A period of mainly Techno Hardcore/DnB eventually evolved into his current passion, Melodic Techno. 2006 saw his first vinyl release, and from 2007 he released vinyl on high stature labels and began serious touring. From gigs in local bars and clubs, to organising small illegal rave parties and then much bigger illegal events (which landed him briefly in jail!), he has lived his love of music on stage and never stopped. 

Early influences began with Metal, Hardcore and Punk (Biohazard, Sick Of It All, Madball, Agnostic Front, Fugazi, Discharge) while playing in bands, then when DJing it was Electro/New Wave like Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, Joy Division, The Cure that got him into Dance Music, seeing him through his Techno epiphany. 

RECENT RELEASES: As well as his 2023 July single ‘Ghosts & Shadows’ from a 4track VA EP on Artbat’s label Upperground, and lots more in the works, there was also ‘Ricochet’ March 2023 on Siamese while 2022 gave us ‘DRAG’, and ‘Pancho Villa’ (both on Tale Of Us' Afterlife), his label launch track ‘Kiss Me Again’ on UNSEEN, plus releases on BOg’s Atlant and a second track on Afterlife’s VA compilation, as well as a track ‘Supercycle’ with David Guetta’s alter ego Jack Back. He made his Ellum debut with ‘Charly Charly’ in 2021. His tracks are eagerly snapped up by DJs such as Tale Of Us, Maceo Plex, Artbat, Solomun, Mind Against, Adriatique, David Guetta, Laurent Garnier, Carl Cox, Dubfire, Richie Hawtin, Joris Voorn, Joseph Capriati…

PERFORMANCES: Citizen Kain has shared a stage with all the major artists since 2000, most recently Artbat, Maceo Plex, Solomun, Mind Against, David Guetta, Adam Beyer, Laurent Garnier, previously Richie Hawtin, Sven Vath, Ricardo Villalobos, Carl Cox, Dubfire, Luciano, and earlier, Underground Resistance artists like Mad Mike, Jeff Mills, James Pennington. He has a packed touring schedule for 2023. 

GIGS INCLUDE: Fusion Festival (Germany), Piknic Électronik Montreal, Ying Yang Festival (Great Wall of China), Les Plages Electroniques, Sunburn Festival (India), Spilt Milk (South Africa), Dream Festival (Mexico), I Love Techno (Europe), Sea You Festival (Germany), Marvelous Festival (France), Family Piknik Festival (France), Klubbers Day Festival (Spain), Big Bang Festival (France), Les Déferlantes Festival (France), Burning Beach Festival (Germany), Icarus Festival (Germany), Panoramas Festival (France), Eclipse Festival (Canada), Les Nuits Sonores (France).

Now Citizen Kain has stepped fully out of the shadows, with such a list of achievements and accolades, the sky’s the limit.

New music incoming...

BOOKINGS: byron.sinnema@gmail.com 
COLLABS:    byron.sinnema@gmail.com

http://www.wearesoundspace.com

Independent music site since 2013.

Email: kyle@wearesoundspace.co.uk
Repost: https://wearesoundspace.com/submit-your-repost

No accurate depiction of electronic music culture would be complete without special mention of Deborah De Luca. Widely acknowledged as one of the most prominent flag-bearers for Techno globally and a regular fixture inside the world’s most distinguished DJ booths, Deborah has the unique ability to transfix crowds with her electrically charged, technically nuanced sets, fusing hard techno with minimal grooves and melodic soundscapes to absorbing effect. A pioneer in the use of social networks as a promotional tool, whilst somehow managing to retain a strong sense of discretion in her private life, Deborah is unrivalled in her determination and passion, earning every part of her current status as one of the most exciting talents to emerge from the international Techno scene over the past decade.
Born under the shade of the infamous Vele di Scampia – one of the toughest districts in Naples – the now-globally recognised DJ, producer and label head came from humble beginnings, forging her path to international success against unlikely odds. However this was to become her making. “You shouldn’t let anybody tell you what you can or can’t become”, she expounded in a rare interview, referencing her early livelihood as a nightclub dancer. “It’s true, in recent years I have gained popularity, but I am very grateful for the long journey it’s taken”. More than anything else, Deborah’s roots and her unwavering ethic are an integral part of the flourishing artist we see before us today.
Deborah spent the formative years of her musical career in Northern Italy, following a brief stint at fashion school in Modena. Cutting her teeth on the European club circuit, where she quickly realised music was her true calling, Deborah’s hard work and relentless determination eventually began to pay off and in 2013 she launched her very own imprint Sola_mente Records. Created as a platform by which to release her own music, free from creative pressure and external constraints, the label went from strength to strength and in November 2018, Deborah marked a decade-long career in the industry with the critically acclaimed release of her debut album ‘Ten’. A huge milestone for the Italian producer, ‘Ten’ represented an important rite of passage and a body of work that she would cherish indefinitely.

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