After nearly a decade commanding dancefloors with her uncompromising, high-octane sets, SPFDJ has stepped into a new realm. The Berlin-based powerhouse, widely renown for her fierce presence behind the decks and her fearless approach to sound, has finally unveiled her long-awaited, highly-anticipated debut EP, Heel Thyself.
A visceral, defiant and deeply personal project, it marks a bold transition from DJ to artist, pairing raw emotional honesty with the hard-hitting energy that has defined her career. Anchored by themes of self-healing, resistance and unapologetic femininity across four tracks, Heel Thyself captures SPFDJ at a point of transformation, emerging from the mud, stilettos intact, ready to redefine herself on her own terms. We caught up with SPFDJ to chat all about the project, her very own label Intrepid Skin and fashion…
Your debut EP Heel Thyself is here, congrats! How are you feeling?
SPFDJ: Excited, proud of myself, and like a whole new chapter is starting! Wait, not just a chapter, a whole new book! I’m really excited to step into being an artist as opposed to a DJ, in my mind there is a difference there and I feel like I’m starting to express myself authentically in a new and deeper way which is so exciting, a bit nerve-wracking but also so much more rewarding.
The project title carries a strong message, and the cover art, with stilettos submerged in mud and puddles, feels equally symbolic. Can you tell us how the name and visuals connect, and what they reflect about the themes or emotions behind the EP?
SPFDJ: The EP title has a double meaning basically, both a nod to personal healing and a commandment to women and queers not to lose our strong femininity and sass at a time when traditional values and right wing ideas are growing around the world. The artwork reflects this as well by showing a sexy Pleaser heel halfway submerged but still strong and powerful, almost like ‘you can’t push us down, we will emerge from the mud’.
You’ve been killing it as a DJ for nearly a decade. What finally pushed you to step into the studio and release original work now?
SPFDJ: I always wanted to make music, I just had to overcome some limiting beliefs I held about myself so I had to work on that first which I did. This also connects to the EP title, you’ve gotta actually heal yourself. In a way it was partly also prompted by a really difficult thing that happened in my life, a devastating loss that my mind desperately needed to reframe into something positive, so it motivated me to heal the parts of myself that were holding me back. Sometimes the absolute worst things that happen to us lead us to making powerful changes.
If you had to pick a favourite track from the EP, which would it be and why?
SPFDJ: I think my favourite is actually the intro track ”Cluster B Intro”. I think it is the most personal, I made it to have something I could start my own sets with, to re-set the tone from whoever else might have played before me, and I wrote it from an eerie emotion brought on by the emotional coldness and lack of empathy you can encounter in certain Cluster B personality types. I think it translates that emotion and has a lot of tension in it. It simultaneously shows the most restraint and is the most crazy out of the tracks on this EP and I love that dichotomy. I think it is also the most distinctly me in the way that it sounds. Aside from this it always seems to work for its intended purpose, to start my sets with, both in small venues and on big stages.
There’s a revolutionary energy running through Heel Thyself both personally and politically. What do you hope listeners take from the EP? Is it empowerment, defiance, healing, or something less easily defined?
SPFDJ: I don’t really believe in telling people what they should feel from music, or assuming it will land in some profound way. I made this EP in the middle of a personal upheaval, it was cathartic and grounding for me, but I don’t expect anyone else to feel healed, empowered or transformed by it, and I actually like that openness. If someone hears emotional layers in it, amazing. If someone just hears hard-ass club tracks and wants to dance, also perfect. I’m not trying to engineer a reaction, I just made something that felt necessary for me at the time, and however it meets people is valid, including indifference. At the end of the day it still bangs, that’s step one.
Your sets are of course renowned for being physically demanding and pure energy. How does that energy translate when you’re producing in a studio on your own?
SPFDJ: I think that energy comes from inside me, possibly an ADHD thing to be honest, so I have the same kind of vibe in the studio even when I’m alone. I have to actively remind myself to chill a bit, to not have new changes happen so quickly and all over the place, because it gets too chaotic even for myself when I listen back to it afterwards. It’s about finding a nice balance there.
Through your own imprint Intrepid Skin, you’ve worked alongside artists such as Nene H and MarcelDune who challenge sonic norms. What draws you to a project or artist for the label?
SPFDJ: The thing that draws me to an artist is a certain palpable personality and distinctive character. I want to hear who they are and what makes them different from their peers from the very first listen. I want to be able to hear a new track and without knowing who made it instantly say ”ah that is clearly so-and-so”. That is what’s interesting to me with artists and that’s what I want to encourage all producers to find, the essence of themselves told through music.
You’ve been attending shows across Paris Fashion Week, which is often seen as the pinnacle of creativity and self-expression in fashion. What does being part of that world mean to you personally?
SPFDJ: I don’t see Paris Fashion Week as this untouchable temple. For me it’s simply a space where a lot of incredible creative people converge at the same time, and I enjoy being around that energy. What feels meaningful isn’t the “fashion world” in a capital-F way, it’s getting to connect with designers and artists who push ideas, who build worlds, who experiment with identity and presentation. That part I love. It’s just cool to step into another creative ecosystem and feel inspired by people who are as obsessive about their craft as I am about mine, and there is a lot of exchange between music, fashion and art, they all feed each other.
Your visual world, from artwork to the clothes you wear have a strong aesthetic. Have you considered exploring that further, perhaps through your own fashion label?
SPFDJ: Yeah to be honest that is a dream of mine as well. I love fashion and I find that I do have ideas that I would love to explore and translate into wearable items. Perhaps with the right team in the future this is something that could become reality. I am currently looking to expand my team in general to be able to follow through on all my creative endeavours, including the production of merchandise items for my label, which would be a necessary first step in this direction. Watch me make my dream Crocs collab soon.
With the debut EP out now, what does this chapter represent in your evolution as SPFDJ?
SPFDJ: It is the beginning of something both more coherent and more chaotic at the same time. I think my chaotic flailing between genres as a DJ is being streamlined into a more consistent SPFDJ sound, but it’s not going to be formulaic. My rebellious nature naturally prevents that. I want to experiment with a lot of different influences and genres in my music production, but I think at the same time it will have a much more consistent thread and consistency in sound than my diverse DJ eras. Just like I encourage others to go deeper into what makes them them, I am going deeper into what makes me me.