My first intro to ANNA was via my brother in Techno, David, who sent me her CRSSD set from last year. Admittedly, I didn’t love it the first listen through cause I was stuck in a Trance phase. But when that same set was recommended by another brother in Techno I’ll be shuffling with at EDC Las Vegas 2019, I gave it another listen. This time around, she made me feel dark and dangerous, a rare feeling I revel in. I suddenly wished I was at a warehouse rave instead of dancing in my car. And there are few places I feel more powerful than when I’m breaking it down on the dance floor, imbued with the vibration of the music. Suddenly ANNA made my #WomanCrushWednesday list.
Hailing from Brazil, ANNA first started spinning at the age of 14 at her father’s nightclub outside Sao Paolo. When she complained that the resident DJ was boring, he was fired and she took his place. She started out playing the popular Brazilian tunes of the day, but the Techno, House, and Drum ‘n’ Bass leaking through the ceiling above called to her. Make no mistake, though she may have had an “in,” she worked hard to become the Best Breakthrough Artist of 2016 (DJ Awards Ibiza).
With every dime ANNA earned in the club, she bought records and spent hours experimenting in her brother’s studio using the technical skills she picked up from the DJs passing through her father’s club. Starting out in Drum ‘n’ Bass, she moved into House, and eventually graduated to Techno. ANNA thrived there, creating her own brand of elegant Techno that I unknowingly started hearing everywhere with her 2018 release of “Hidden Beauties”. With the single impactful word “time” interspersed with simple beats and downward trending notes, her track was played by the biggest names in Techno like Adam Beyer, Richie Hawtin, and Sven Väth. In addition to this track, her remix of Jon Hopkins’ “Singularity” made Mixmag’s Top 50 Tracks of 2018. It was a big year for ANNA as she also took home Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the DJ Mag top 100 DJ Awards.
Having started my journey into Electronic Dance Music in the year 2000, I freely admit that I’m an elitist. I’m unapologetically picky as fuck about who I choose to listen to and I can easily hear mistakes. Many of my friends can tell you how often I roll my eyes at their “basic” tastes and moan about how many untalented “artists” are making it big these days. Best way to prove how good you really are? Throw down a vinyl set. Which is precisely what ANNA did at Les Pavillons Des Étangs for Cercle last year. The woman’s transitions are flawless and it’s a fabulously planned out, straight-up gorgeous set. ANNA is without a doubt, #WomanCrushWednesday worthy.
Like Persephone, ANNA brings great beauty into the darkness with one foot planted on Earth and another in Hades. She gifts us with the light of summer and the cold of winter all in one set. Her home country of Brazil is understandably proud of one of their best recent exports. Her sets have me revisiting those bygone days of dark warehouse raves where vinyl and Techno reigned supreme.
*Featured Image of ANNA Via Artist FB Page*
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[…] blessed with three Techno GODDESSES at EDC Las Vegas 2019: Amelie Lens, Charlotte de Witte, and ANNA, all of whom have been assaulting stages around the world lately. Like every single woman […]
[…] words that describe some of the best things in my life. For these two reasons, I dubbed ANNA Persephone after the Greek goddess whose departure from Earth to the realms of Hell signal Fall and […]