Whether that’s as tastemakers, DJs and producers, or behind the sound desk, dance music simply couldn’t function in its modern iteration without the involvement of femme genius across the generations.
But those experiences haven’t been without challenges. With International Women’s Day upon us, CLASH and AlphaTheta have aligned to spotlight mothers in music, platforming their lives as they attempt to open up conversations in club culture.
—
—
Logic1000 has been through some changes. From her teen years in Sydney, Australia through to her current base in European techno redoubt Berlin, her journey has been almost never-changing. Recently, though, the producer – real name Samantha Poulter – went through the biggest change of all: motherhood.
“I feel like I’m way more conscious as a parent,” she tells CLASH over Zoom. “I feel like before, I was kind of sleep-walking through life and just going through the motions. But now I have this deep sense of care and responsibility.”
A transformative change in her life, motherhood has coincided with some decidedly dark news headlines; a matter of days before our conversation, the fraught German election takes place, with far right forces emerging bolstered. “Something’s shifted in me,” she points out. “Motherhood has opened up my heart in a way that I can hardly described. I feel big feelings now, and I am embody them.”
“It’s really making me think about my interactions on a day-to-day basis, and how my parenting can potentially be quite radical. I want to create a human who has a positive impact on the world.”
The shift in her emotional life has also had a remarkable impact on her creative practise. Last year’s debut album ‘Mother’ was informed by this, and it seeps into her upcoming mix on the DJ Kicks series. Pivoting away from club energy as a producer, she’s drawn to audio paintings, slower-moving tracks with impeccable detail.
“Becoming a mother is part of the reason my sound is kind of evolving and changing now,” she notes, “but I’m also having a lot more fun making this type of music!”
A huge fan of the DJ-Kicks series, Logic1000 cites Moodymann’s imperious instalment as a formative influence. “It’s such an iconic thing, isn’t it? Just looking at all the artists who have done it before me… it’s an incredible honour.”
“It’s completely, completely self-indulgent,” she laughs. “As a DJ, when you’re in a certain city you get drawn to different sounds, different things. But approaching something like this, it’s a global thing. You can’t adapt, so you have to look inward… and you think, what do I want to do? What do I want to say? And the results are super reflective of what I’ve been listening to since my kid was born.”
“It’s a huge risk for me,” she adds. “I mean, I don’t know how it’s going to be received. I’m super happy with how it turned out. And I guess all I can hope is that other people find some joy in it!”
In a practical sense, Logic1000 is lucky in that her co-producer is also her co-creator in life – her husband, Tom McAlister. As such, they can split parenting and studio duties, but she’s also noticed profound shifts in how she tackles creative endeavours. “I have a lot less time,” she says. “I feel like I was almost overwhelmed by the sheer volume of time I had before becoming a mother, and then I was slapped in the face with just having no time at all. I think in that sense, I’ve become more effective, as opposed to more productive, with the time I do have.”
Laughing, the producer adds that she’s more instinctual now, “and not stewing over things! I’m very decisive. It’s like, I know what I want. Let’s do it now!”
—
—
Out on March 28th, the new mix is part of a furry of activity from Logic1000. Perpetually creative, she embraces fresh challenges, but is also wary of the pressures placed on artists in club culture – there’s a need to be present, to be visible, that can sometimes be damaging. “For mothers, there needs to be less of this pressure to bounce back really quickly,” she notes. “I wish I had given myself a year to just connect with my baby, connect with my new self, and my new family arrangement, and just… slow down”.
“I mean, it was part excitement,” she notes of her own early return to the circuit. “I wanted to just get back out there, and I didn’t want to lose what I had. So I thought, I’m going to do this. In hindsight, I wish I’d taken some time off… because I ended up having to take a whole year off anyway, because I burnt-out.”
Refreshingly candid, Logic1000 explores these issues at length in her podcast series, Therapy. Co-hosted alongside Heléna Star, the two have been joined by numerous female guests, exploring club culture, mental health, and – crucially – motherhood. It comes at an apt time – AlphaTheta report that tech sales are rising amongst women. That said, there’s still a big gender divide, particularly in the volume of bookings available to female DJs, and the fees that club promoters are willing to offer in comparison to their male counterparts.
“I feel like motherhood in club culture is becoming a visible thing now, which is so cool to see,” Logic1000 observes. “It’s amazing. It’s the change I think we all needed, and I’m glad we’ve arrived to this place.”
That said, numerous obstacles remain. As an industry, night-life – and clubs specifically – needs to have a reckoning with the challenges of motherhood, and work to assist those navigating parenthood while still packing in the crowds.
“There needs to be a bit more support, financially, to bring a team,” she says. “It’s up to the promoters to build that in… like, an allowance to bring a nanny, or additional help, if your partner can’t come.”
Looking ahead, Logic1000 is ready for yet more changes – she and her young family are planning a move to London, a city she’s long had a love affair with. Many of her initial club inspirations hail from the UK – Sam cites the ghostly bass abstraction of Burial, the post-dubstep explorations of Pangaea, and those seminal Joy Orbison anthems as key touchstones – and she’s longing to set down roots.
“I don’t know what it is,” she smiles, “but when I was first introduced to dance music, it was all UK. It’s always nice to play there, a place where I got so much inspiration from. It’s a real privilege.”
—
—
Logic1000 will release her DJ-Kicks mix on March 28th – pre-order it online now.
Words: Robin Murray
—
