Shaped by an upbringing between Harlem and South Africa, New York DJ, producer and PELE PELE founder AQUTIE brings both places to the dancefloor. It’s been a landmark year for the multi-hyphenate, having launched PELE PELE, an independent label and platform for forward-thinking sounds from across the African diaspora, as well as releasing LATESTATE, a love letter to the city’s after-hours spirit made with fellow New Yorker L3Ni. Now, AQUTIE is back with “Bender”, a percussion-led club track built on rolling drums, a deep bassline and hypnotic vocal refrains, made with South African-born, Berlin-based artist Floyd Lavine and released through Klub Record.
The record began far from either artist’s home club. AQUTIE sketched the idea on a trip to South Africa, setting up a makeshift studio at her mother’s home and aiming to make something that felt like home. Her manager suggested bringing Floyd on board, and once he added his vocals, everything fell into place. We caught up with AQUTIE to talk about how “Bender” came together, how New York and Berlin meet on the dancefloor, what running her own label has changed, how the track differs in mood from LATESTATE and more…
You’ve just released a wicked new record called “Bender”, congrats! The single pulls together Afro house and AfroTech, amapiano and gqom, but you and Floyd come at those traditions from different starting points, New York and Berlin. When you first got in the studio together, was there obvious common ground or did you have to find it?
AQUTIE: I started the idea for this record while I was on vacation in South Africa. I brought my equipment with me and set up a little studio at my mom’s place. I wanted to create something that felt like home, and being back in South Africa gave me the inspiration I needed. Once I finished the record, my manager, Tay, suggested bringing Floyd on board to give it that extra energy. He came back with his verses pretty quickly, and once he laid down the vocals, everything clicked. It all came together really naturally.
Your music draws from her upbringing between Harlem and South Africa, and Floyd’s draws on a deep-rooted position within African electronic music built out of Berlin’s club scene. Does a track like this feel like a genuine midpoint between those two worlds or more like two distinct voices trading the same rhythm back and forth?
AQUTIE: I think our personal experiences have shaped our sounds in similar ways. We both have roots in South Africa, but we’ve also been influenced by scenes rich in club and electronic music culture. Bringing those worlds together felt really natural because we already understood the assignment. We had a shared vision for how the record should sound: a straight-up club banger. Something that gets people dancing and allows the music to do the talking.
This single landed right after you launched PELE PELE, your own label and platform that blends electronic and diaspora sounds. Did having your own platform change how freely you approached a collaboration like this, compared to releasing through someone else’s imprint?
AQUTIE: Absolutely. Having PELE PELE gives me the freedom to release the music I want to put out, but I always aim to stay authentic to myself as an artist, whether I’m making something more club-focused or leaning into Afro sounds. I don’t want to be boxed into one particular sound. At the end of the day, you’ll know it’s an AQUTIE record when you hear it.
PELE PELE is framed around amplifying forward-thinking sounds and ideas from across the diaspora. Where does a track like “Bender”, made with an artist rooted in Berlin’s club scene, fit into that wider mission for you?
AQUTIE: PELE PELE is all about pushing club culture and sound forward, and Berlin is a city with such a rich club culture. Bringing these worlds together is exactly the kind of thing we want to achieve with PELE PELE. While amplifying sounds and artists from across the Black diaspora is a big part of what we do, it’s also about bringing club kids together, regardless of where they’re from. At the end of the day, we share a love for electronic music, and the dance floor is where those connections happen. For “Bender”, I worked with Klub Records to release the sound to their audience which focuses strictly on African diaspora sounds.
AQUTIE just came off “LATESTATE”, a love letter to New York’s after-hours energy with L3Ni. Going from that project straight into “Bender” feels like a shift in mood. Was that intentional or did the two projects simply happen to land back to back?
AQUTIE: I think the two projects go hand in hand, even though they’re sonically different. “LATESTATE” was an ode to our experiences in New York’s nightlife, while “Bender” is about being the baddest in the room and letting the night take you away until the sun comes up. Both projects explore nightlife and how liberating it can be.
Before you were making tracks like this yourselves, what are the first Afro House records either of you remembers hearing that really stood out and influenced you?
AQUTIE: There are so many to choose from! I remember sneaking into a club in 2012 that I definitely had no business getting into. Black Coffee was DJing at The Sullivan Room in NYC and I heard his edit of “Clap Your Hands” by Zakes Bantwini. That moment changed everything for me. Other records that really shaped me include, “Soweto Funk” by DJ Mbuso, “Fallen” by DJ Cleo, “Triabl Blast” by Loopman, “Y.O.U.D” by Culoe De Song, Caiiro’s remake of “Timbuktu” by Dennis Ferrer and Jerome Sydenham, “OMG” by DJ Vitoto, “Banane Mavoko” by Black Motion, “The Creation” by Vestaa. I could honestly go on forever! Those records helped shape the artist I am today and the artist I’m continuing to become.
You’ve both built reputations as artists who resist sitting neatly in one scene or sound. Was there a moment while making “Bender” where you had to actively pull the track back from going somewhere too experimental, in favour of keeping it dancefloor-focused?
AQUTIE: Not with this record. I was in a place mentally where I knew exactly what I wanted to create. I was feeling energized and inspired, especially being in a different environment, taking in new sounds, people, and experiences. I knew I wanted to make a club banger. I was having an amazing South African summer holiday, and I think that energy really came through in the music.
Looking past this single, does a collaboration like this feel like a one-off meeting point or the start of something you’d want to keep building on together?
AQUTIE: This record feels like the start of something I’d love to keep building on. It feels fresh and different from a lot of the Afro records we hear today, and I want to keep exploring this sound and see where it takes us. I think there’s a lot more we can do together.