Dance music simply couldn’t function in its modern iteration without the involvement of women and femme geniuses across the generations; whether they’re tastemakers, DJs, producers, or behind the sound desk. But those experiences haven’t been without challenges.
Commemorating International Women’s Day, CLASH and AlphaTheta have aligned to spotlight mothers in music, platforming their lives as they attempt to open up conversations in club culture.
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No one engineers evocative sensuality like System Olympia. Since her debut in 2019, the London-dwelling artist has produced high-volume works that sit at the intersection between retro-fitted club music and slow grind ambient soul – a Dionyniac dimension for after-dark dwellers.
Early on her career as a DJ, System Olympia’s affinity for esoteric electronics chafed against the prevailing club sounds in Italy at the time, where superficiality and sexism was rife. Since then, System Olympia’s creations have actively explored romanticism in all its guises, where sex-positive anthems centre the need to be affirmed and fulfilled.
Beyond the nostalgic undertones of her releases, which shimmer with sensuality, pride and longing, System Olympia graces the NTS airwaves on her monthly residency and helms her own label, Okay Nature Records. System Olympia sees motherhood, song craft and the enterprising nature of music as parallel but separate experiences, and that compartmentalization has helped System Olympia navigate the demands of parenthood with being a prolific creator.
To realise her dreams, System Olympia has leaned on community – the women in her life – who form a protective unit around her son when duty calls. “My mom helps a lot when she’s in our same country; my son’s beautiful auntie Akyere, his amazing Godmother Alicia, my sweet babysitters. He is immensely loved by these people and I couldn’t have travelled the world for work the way I did these past few years without their help.”
With AlphaTheta reporting a growth in registered female DJs, System Olympia is honest about the realities of balancing family life with touring and club-centric ambitions. “Some of the challenges can be lots of time away missing your family, a bizarre schedule, no fixed income, and generally feeling light years away from other parents who have regular jobs. It’s a career that is not for everyone, but a lot of them aren’t,” she says.
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Concluding the Mothers In Music series, System Olympia delivers a life-affirming, classic hour mix; an intimate rendering of sounds exploring the often diametric journey and paradoxes of being a mother and musician. Traversing avant-pop and quiet storm, boogie and psych-soul, sunbaked carnival riddims and noirish synthwave, System Olympia’s mix is a paean to modern motherhood.
Of her mix, System Olympia says: “I’ve compiled a mix of songs that loosely revolve around the theme of motherhood, in a way that feels closer to me. It includes a skit from Kill Bill because it’s a feminist movie about a mother that does what she has to do for her daughter; a song from Drive – a movie about a single mother who falls in love again; a couple of songs that talk about how lonely motherhood can be, and how our children can feel like an unbreakable chain to past relationships; and a song I recorded one evening after having spent the day at Kew Gardens with my mom.”
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In conversation with CLASH, System Olympia reveals how her work has always been an extension of the feminine divine, the crude misnomers she’s has to overcome as a producer in electronic music, her unerring drive to do it all, and what infrastructure needs to be put in place for women and mothers who DJ after-hours.
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Talk us through your origin story and your early exposure to music. Were you surrounded by it or was it something you sought out on a creative whim?
I wasn’t exposed to much music when I was a kid. We only had one cassette tape at our home that I remember, but the songs in it had a very strong power over my emotions. I was very fascinated by that power. It’s the feeling I still look for when I listen to music today, something I try to recreate when I record my own songs.
Was there a particular artist that sparked your love of production?
Many artists inspired me in different ways at different stages but I vividly remember buying a Prince Hits double CD. That’s when I think I started listening to music with a producer’s ear.
As a DJ, curator and tastemaker, how do you negotiate between adapting a mix for different crowds whilst taking risks? What’s the template you follow?
I always feel free to play whatever I want. I am confident in my selections and trust where my inspiration takes me.
As a producer-artist, your releases are sensory and evocative. What inspired your love of after dark soundscapes?
I live my life in a sensory and evocative way, daily. It’s not a marketing strategy and there are no moodboards. Last weekend I spent twenty hours travelling so I could spend one night of passion in a hotel room with my boyfriend. Romantic soundscapes are my natural habitat!
You released your ‘Sanctified’ EP last year. What about the project are you most proud of, almost a year on?
I’m really proud of the songs that I wrote. I think ‘Sanctified’ and ‘Mi Dimentico’ are the best songs I’ve produced so far. I am proud of having written, recorded and mixed all the songs on the EP by myself. I’m proud of the artwork that I made. I’m proud of the fact that I was able to capture my inspiration and deliver it in a pristine way to the listeners. From my head to the vinyl pressing, it was exactly how I heard it and saw it.
It’s been said that nightlife is incompatible with family life? In your experience, is that largely true?
If I want to do something, I generally do it. I try to find a way. Nothing is incompatible with a strong desire that needs to be fulfilled. The question is, how bad do you want to be out at night when you have so much at home? How much are you willing to put up with? Because it can take a lot.
In your day-to-day life, who are the people you’ve relied on when juggling parenting with your profession as a touring DJ?
My mom helps a lot when she’s in our same country; my son’s beautiful auntie Akyere, his amazing Godmother Alicia, my sweet babysitters. He is immensely loved by these people and I couldn’t have travelled the world for work the way I did these past few years without their help.
In which ways has motherhood informed your sense of creative direction? In what ways has it made you a better artist?
Honestly, I don’t think it has. My version of motherhood lies outside of my creative sphere. Who I am as a mother is different from who I am as an artist. I am an ensemble of elements and they don’t always need to interact with each other.
Was there a particular genre or style of music you leaned into more when you were pregnant?
Only my eating habits changed a bit. All of a sudden I craved ice!
Do you feel there’s enough infrastructure in place to encourage women and mothers to pursue a career in electronic music, especially when you’re having to tour?
What we need is nurseries, kindergartens and child care centres that stay open 24/7. Please, someone take this genius business idea and implement it! It’s not just for DJ mothers, it’s for anyone who needs to work or just wants to be out at night.
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What are the challenges of releasing music under your own label? On the flipside, what are the strengths of having total autonomy?
The challenge is time. I have been on the verge of burnout at times, doing so much between studio, label stuff, touring and taking care of my son. Now I have a bigger team. I still work an insane amount of hours but things are running more smoothly. I enjoy every part of it though, and I must have total creative control of what I do. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
What more needs to be done to facilitate the experience of mothers who DJ and produce? What changes would you like to see to make mothers feel more included in front of and behind the decks?
I feel my experience behind the decks hasn’t been affected by my gender, or maybe it has and I haven’t realised because it’s something I don’t think about. I know promoters now try to book as many women as possible and that’s nice but I wouldn’t want to be booked to fill a female quota that needs to be met.
Of course we need to work on everybody getting the same opportunities, but talent and skills have nothing to do with gender and I believe lineups should be booked based solely on those factors. I want to get a stage because I play sick music, and I make and sell great records.
Has there been an isolated experience in your career where you felt the disparity and the gulf between you and your male peers? Or is it pretty much an everyday pre-condition of the industry?
When I started DJing in Italy, female DJs were perceived like strippers. Clubs wanted hot girls to go on stage and play corny music. So, I would use my sex appeal to get gigs, then go and play weird, obscure records. They wouldn’t book me again.
As a producer, I experienced the ‘your beats are cool for being a woman’ comments at the beginning of my career. When I was in a producer-band duo, the assumption was that he was the one making the beats cause he was a guy. I always just laughed it off and kept making music. Now, my records speak for themselves. There is no room for wrong assumptions anymore.
How do you balance the demands of parenthood with your ambitions?
I have more of a system in place now but I’ve had pretty much no personal life for a couple of years while I was building my label. I would be at home Monday to Thursday taking care of my son, recording music, managing my label: pressing, selling, shipping, marketing, distributing. Then I’d go to the airport to play gigs on Friday and come back Sunday night. Then repeat week after week.
One day I was on the phone with my dear friend Chiara. She was sick and I was feeling so strained, we were both feeling down, talking about how hard life can be. She said, “you’re doing great, you’re like a boxer who wakes up every morning and works for a dream in which only they believe in,” and I replied, “haha I’m like Rocky” and she said, “yes, but Rocky wasn’t a single mother”.
I felt like a superhero. Working single moms are superheroes.
What would you say to young women wanting a family of their own while wanting to maintain their DJing aspirations? What are the realities they need to consider?
I’d say to them that it’s challenging but can definitely be done. Some of the challenges can be lots of time away missing your family, a bizarre schedule, no fixed income, and generally feeling light years away from the other parents who have regular jobs. It’s a career that is not for everyone, but a lot of them aren’t.
When you’re practicing at home, or spinning through different selections, are there any particular tracks your child has built a connection to? If so, how does that make you feel as a parent?
My son grew up hearing music in the background, with both myself and his dad having recording studios at home. He developed a very refined ear. I think I could send him to one of those TV shows where you have to recognise a song within the first three seconds. Recently, I heard him doing homework with ‘Kind Of Blue’ in the background, and for a moment I felt like I had accomplished something important as a parent.
Is your child’s musical education something you think consciously about as they grow?
I did when he was little. These days I only kind of force him to have piano lessons. I told him from young that this was the only thing I would ever ask him to do for me. I don’t mind if he resents me for it.
What set list or mix of yours would you consider a career highlight?
I think my Glastombury set was good as some people that were there still mention it to me. Maybe also my first ever NTS Radio show, where I played my unreleased songs for the first time – when it felt like System Olympia was first coming to life.
In terms of your output this year – festivals, gigs, residencies, releases – what can we expect from you?
I am currently in the studio mixing a new EP and I have a big compilation coming out in September. There’s definitely some fun festivals this summer, and I am working to develop a proper live show which I will take on the road in the fall. I also co-run a digital channel with art director/graphic designer Dual Room, called Odessa Collection. We’re working on a printed magazine and some fanzines to be released later this year.
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Check out our Mothers In Music interviews with Jayda G and Logic1000.
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Words: Shahzaib Hussain
