- Words Yazzi Gokcemen
- Photography Foxxatron
- Styling Jamie Alex Judd
- Hair Alan Kitrell
- Makeup Daniela Alves
- Nails Nikki Nail Edit
Making waves in the electronic scene with her euphoric remixes and club nights, the Scottish DJ talks nights playing sets in Australia and what's coming up for club zer0.
The tables have been turning, positively hard and fast, for a certain Scottish disc-spinner in recent months. If you’ve come across a slapping, rave-ready remix of Lana Del Ray’s ‘Say Yes to Heaven’ then you’ll have already been introduced to the DJ, our new music crush, sim0ne. In the two years since she quit modeling and committed to pursuing music as a career, sim0ne has racked up an impressive resume.
Mixing up house with euphoric techno and electro-pop, she’s held a residency at Rinse FM, appeared on HOR Berlin and been named BBC1’s Future Star of 2024. All that, plus an Australia tour, was achieved with only two official remixes out on streaming platforms. Dialing things up, sim0ne last month dropped the track ‘Halo’, an enticing collaboration with Remedy Club which marks the beginning of a new chapter producing her own music (heads up, she has an EP is coming out later this year).
What the dance music enthusiast appears most excited about – aside from, perhaps, a return to Australia’s wild crowds – is club zer0, the club night she launched last autumn and will be taking for another run this Spring. club zer0’s debut saw Chippy Nonstop spinning decks (which many would consider the ultimate endorsement) and subsequent nights took esteemed electronica venues such as London’s Phonox and Pickle Factory and Edinburgh’s Sneaky Pete’s by a storm.
Kicking off on March 2nd, sim0ne will be firing up dancefloors along with a host of homegrown dance-music masters, carefully selected by herself for the vibes in Manchester, Bristol, Brighton and Glasgow. Sitting down with sim0ne ahead of the party, we learn that the DJ could never be kept away from the dancefloor.
Next month, you’ll be embarking on four club zer0 events across four different cities. How do you go about curating a night and selecting who will play at each one?
Each city has a very different energy and I wanted to reflect that in the lineups. There’s a real mix of homegrown, up-and-coming talent such as Jenn Gunn supporting me in Glasgow for a second time and some friends I’m bringing with me because I know the crowds will love them, such as Saint Ludo for the Bristol date.
What can people expect from a club zer0 party? Having already hosted sold-out events up and down the country, how do you try to constantly evolve the night with everyone that goes by?
I want club zer0 to feel like a hedonistic place where people can be themselves and let go while also being community-driven – somewhere people can come time and time again. At this moment it’s growing with me as I develop as an artist but eventually I’d love to see it run as an independent party!
What’s one other club night that’s left a big impression on you over the years? Who was playing and what was the vibe like?
I used to do the seasons in Ibiza, where I truly fell in love with the scene as a subculture instead of a genre of music. Space Sundays were the crown jewel of the island for me and I was lucky enough to see so many legends play there before the club closed in 2016.
And moving onto your DJ sets, which sprawl techno, hard house, trance and other pulse-raising genres. What influenced your taste for electronic music’s more energetic side?
I just love seeing people excited to be on the dance floor and fast music makes people move.
How would you like to develop your DJ sets down the line? Are there any other genres you’re beginning to explore that we may not expect from you?
It’s hard to say. I think listening to a range of genres keeps you on your toes as an artist and I imagine that as I discover new artists and sounds, this will influence what I play. It’s more important for my sets to feel like an extension of myself rather than something genre-specific. I’m really into recession pop right now so it’s only a matter of time before I start dropping some Afrojack-style Dirty Dutch…
You’re originally from Scotland, a country known for its rich clubbing culture. Can you describe those first moments going out and witnessing the electronic music scene in places like Edinburgh and Glasgow?
Nightlife has always fascinated me, I used to sneak out to parties so often that my parents started picking me up from nightclubs so they could keep tabs on me. When I was at Edinburgh University, I used to work on the door of Fly Club which has grown so much over the last decade – a lot of other Scottish DJs got their start there too which is cool to see.
Where’s one city or club that you’ve played and the reception you got surprised you?
Absolutely nothing could have prepared me for the reception I got on my first Australian tour. I hate choosing favourites as everywhere is so different but I miss Australian crowds every day, they go for it – I can’t wait to get back over there.
In a previous interview, you said that the techno scene at large has always felt like a bit of a boy’s club. Do you see that changing anytime soon?
I mean just look at most lineups, even if there is a 50/50 split you have to look at the placement of these acts – if the peak time slots are all white guys, the lineup is not as diverse as you might think it is.
Being a model as well as a DJ, you’ve belonged of two worlds which are massively intertwines. But what’s one lesson you’ve taken from fashion that you carry with you on your life as a DJ?
I quit modelling when my DJ career began to pick up a couple of years ago which I’m quite proud of as there’s a saying in the industry “You don’t quit modelling, modelling quits on you”. But I think cutting my teeth in the fashion industry taught me how to value myself, use the fact people always want something from you to my advantage – and to always read a contact.
sim0ne rules the world for a day, what’s going down?
Loads of parties, compulsory out-of-office messages, free bubble tea.
What’s next for you? Beyond DJing and throwing parties, is there anything else you’re trying to achieve in 2024?
My debut single, my mini-album, a really exciting fashion collaboration. There is loads in the pipeline which I’m so excited to share, I hope I get to continue travelling and meeting people who connect with me and my music.