Cassy: fearless and free

In the early 90s Vienna started developing a strong club scene, and Cassy particularly loved a soul/funk night called Soul Seduction, which led to her discovering UK selector and rare groove legend Gilles Peterson and his influential label Talkin’ Loud. “Before I went off to drama school to London for three years I put on a farewell party at my parents’ for about 150 people,” she recalls. “Kruder and Dorfmeister played the whole night. That was one of the best nights ever, it was seriously good... 1994. Seems like an eternity ago!”

But then it was time to head to London and get her head down. “The serious study years for drama training,” she nods. “I learned a lot… but I realised it wasn’t my path.” So she came back to Vienna and went straight back into the music scene. “It was around then I started singing to electronic music, and soon I started DJing. I got obsessed and didn’t want to stop!” Her first gig was at Flex in Vienna with Electric Indigo, who, alongside Acid Maria and Miss Kittin, became Cassy’s first proper mentor. Kittin, aka Caroline Hervé, was especially instrumental in those early days. Through her, Cassy moved to Geneva, where she first met Luciano and Cocoon mainstay Sonja Moonear. But in 2003 she moved again, this time to Berlin, and began an intriguing underground music career that culminated with a prestigious residency at Panoramabar and a killer compilation CD for Ostgut Ton which joined the dots from Detroit techno to New Jersey divas.

And then Cocoon came knocking. Cassy’s reputation as a must-see DJ perhaps owes most to those years on the Amnesia Terrace for Cocoon. Although she was only a regular part of the Ibiza team in 2009 and 2010, she brought several key elements to Väth’s camp, including being the first woman to grace their iconic Amnesia billboards alongside Sven, Ricardo and Richie Hawtin. Her soul-infused sound, mainly played on vinyl, brought a whole new flavour to the Terrace, and she played alongside former Berlin mentor Villalobos on the best dancefloor on the island. Although she would later switch to the Circo Loco camp, there’s no doubt that she helped open the door for future bookings like tINI and Maya Jane Coles.

Britton has a sharp feminist perspective that remains focused at all times. Even though in 2016 there are possibly more women making and playing great electronic music than ever before, the friendships forged along the way, with women like

Miss Kittin, are vitally important to her. Cassy is particularly effusive about the Italians who book her for DC10. “I think that’s the only home I have,” she says of Circo Loco. “I love Andrea and Antonio, and they matter to me. I’ve seen how they cared for me in the past and they book me because they appreciate who I am and what I’m doing. They booked Tania [Vulcano] years ago. They’re Italian and they’re probably macho in some ways but I have never sensed anything sexist with that crew, quite the contrary.”