Charlotte de Witte: "I am a woman, playing and producing music, and I’m bloody well proud of it"

Charlotte de Witte recently discussed the signifiance of ditching the male DJ alias she used at the start of career as she started to become more successful.

Speaking to XLR8R, the Belgian techno star spoke about how she had used the moniker “Raving George” when she first started DJing as a way of avoiding the sexist stereotypes that female DJs and producers are undeniably and unacceptably subject to. However, as time went on and her status as an artist started to rise, she felt that such a moniker was restrictive and unnecessary.

“After DJing for six years, it became pretty obvious to most people that I actually was a woman, not a man,” she explains, saying how once music started becoming her full-time pursuit she “didn’t feel the need to hide behind a male alter ego anymore.”

“This is who I am,” she continues “I am a woman, playing and producing music, and I’m bloody well proud of it too.”

In that same interview, de Writte discusses her favourite non-club music, her earliest clubbing experiences and staying sane on tour.

It’s not the first time that the KNTXT techno concept curator has spoken about the importance of working under her own name. In her DJ Mag UK cover interview in September 2017 she said, “This is me, I’m playing techno, and so many techno artists, like Ida Engberg, Adam Beyer, Alan Fitzpatrick, Nina Kraviz, they all use their own names, so why should I still hide behind a male alter-ego?

“Fuck no, I’m sick of it! It was like getting rid of my insecurity, and holding a big middle finger to the ones that were very mean to me in the beginning.”

Charlotte de Witte is having a busy 2018. Last week, she dropped a deep, dark debut essential mix that you really should listen to. 

Sexism is a worryingly common occurrence in dance music. In December 2017 a helpline was set up for victims of sexual assault in the dance music industry. In our February UK issue, DJ Mag spoke to five women in the industry about their experiences of sexism.