Rebekah
Techno Renaissance
One of the most respected, in-demand DJs on the European circuit, Rebekah’s high-energy techno sets are a thing of glory to behold.
We met up with her after one of her sell-out shows to discuss her inspiration, musical journey, and how she uses our BeatStep Pro sequencing controller in her life and studio rig.
What playing electronic music means
"Being a teenager I needed an escape - and music was that escape. It gave me freedom, and the connection to something else than where I was at. I remember the first time I heard techno, I was like "what is this?! I haven't heard anything like this".. it just twisted my head so much, and I remember just losing complete control. That's when I fell in love with it; it's just this feeling of belonging to something else."
"At the time, I was making music just for the sake of it, with no ulterior motive… that really freed my creativity up, and I could make music pretty freely then. I was not tied down to making a track that had to be a big one, to make a name for myself as a DJ. The minute I let go of all of that control I had around, it was the time that things actually started to happen and my career did move forward."
How to get better at making music
"Two years of studying creative music production gave me a lot of confidence, helped me to finish my tracks, and look at what needs to be done next. The biggest tip I can give to upcoming music producers is just to finish something. I think this is important, and that everyone that feels serious about it should definitely do a course."
"To get better, you just have to keep on making music. You just have to keep at it, get in your studio, know your monitors and your sound: reference it, throw it in another program, go to your car, test it in a DJ setup, mix it and see how it sounds when you swap a bassline over. It's all about that referencing part and this is how I get better by mixing it that way.""
Happy accidents
"I'm always looking for happy accidents - I feel like my whole career was a happy accident! So for me, I feel like if they're not happening, there's a problem. I think those parts make things really interesting; when the machines do something and you manage to capture it or you cut something up weirdly and edit things differently. Those are the things I’m really looking for the most."
"I always try to avoid falling into doing the same things by getting away from the same methods and having a few tools around to help with it. Maybe sometimes it's trying to not program the drums in the same way as usual, so you have more space to build other things. Having some time away from the studio might be beneficial sound-wise when you come back."
"When I use the machines the process is a bit different. If I can't get out of the groove I might bounce it into Ableton and jam on top of it; add a kick or arpeggiated riffs. With the modular, I would record everything in Ableton and cut up the loops that I make, or I would also do one take, noodling away for 7 minutes. There's different ways to get out of the loop and free yourself from it."
Rebekah on BeatStep Pro
Our BeatStep Pro sequencing controller is a favorite among performing electronic musicians and modular gurus alike, and for good reason. There is simply no other piece of gear that lets you combine the digital music world with analog and modular synths.
"I like the fact that you can store so many different patterns, so when you’re playing live you can still have a lot of different rhythms and patterns. You can't really go that wrong with it - that's the beauty of it, it's super easy. You can have claps anywhere and it will sound great anyway! It's just really fun to use. I don’t have much time to learn things deeply so the surface level has to be relatively easy and understandable."
"With the tricks it’s got, like the looper, and the “Last Step” function you can successfully use it in a performance as well. You do not want to be overloaded with too many features when playing live anyway. Once I got it I haven't really looked back. For the performance with the modular it’s really good. I think Arturia captured the market pretty well!”
Interested in BeatStep Pro, and how it might transform the way you perform? Head to our dedicated page to learn more.
"If you want to hear more of Rebekah’s music, you can find her tracks on every streaming service, and loads of fantastic sets on YouTube.
Here’s our favorite, from her
2017 Boiler Room show in Glasgow, Scotland.