Get to know Siobhan Bell

Siobhan Bell was stuck trudging through unpaid internships at various record labels before she realised her talents were best spent DJing.

“It was just harder back then, all the record labels were the go-to places more than now. But a lot of people were fed up of interning so we just started our own careers,” she says.

She got her first regular gig at London Oxford Street’s Niketown store in 2011 and it was there, honing her DJ talents for six hours every Sunday, that the 26-year-old began to perfect the high-energy sound of her sets.

Playing at friends’ parties, with the likes of the Work It and Living Proof crews, as well as her own Cherryade night, she melded UK music like grime with trap and r’n’b and began exporting her sound from Dalston’s Alibi to the US.

“They didn’t know about UK grime or anything, but they were still intrigued by it,” she says. “It helped me get bookings in America because there was still that fascination with UK music. It was still a wonder of a thing.”

Siobhan has since been welcomed into the fashion world, working on shows for Bobby Abley and Nasir Mazhar, and has started her own hair extension brand. She’s also flirting with production, with her Jersey club-influenced edits of Fabolous’ ‘Into You’ and Destiny’s Child’s ‘Cash By The Hour’.

“It’s my first step in the production game,” she says. “I wouldn’t label myself as a producer at this time. I’m still fresh and experimenting with sounds.” But it’s that freshness that has made her so intriguing to watch so far.