Recognise: L U C Y

Born and raised in Bristol, the city shaped her political - liberal and socialist - views, influences and instilled in her an ardent passion for dance music. It all started when she was 14. “I went to a club near mine called Black Swan when I was young. It was a dub night,” she says, enthusiastically reminiscing of her first time going out. “At 15, I used to go to these club nights. I remember having this epiphany standing right in the middle of this rave: I want to be doing that [DJing].”

She went to a youth club called The Basement in Bristol where the legendary jungle and d&b artist DJ Dazee taught L U C Y how to spin records. The Basement had everything necessary for L U C Y to become hooked: decks, records and, most importantly, a desire to see her succeed. “They were encouraging when it came to DJing as it was such a maleheavy environment. I never had that much encouragement before. It gave me a boost.”

Starting to collect vinyl from charity shops, L U C Y’s future career as a producer and DJ within dance music was a secret she kept to herself. She saved up for a MacBook as the production side of the youth club shut down and started to work on her craft obsessively. L U C Y has risen to prominence since, playing countless shows across the UK.

A forward-thinking artist whose views of inclusivity have been championed by fellow DJ’s, it was her work as a member of 6 Figure Gang that truly set her out. What started as an in-joke between six emerging powerhouses  — SHERELLE, Yazzus, Jossy Mitsu, FAUZIA, Dobby and L U C Y — over earning six figures from DJing became an important element in UK dance music. Challenging misogyny in the industry while showcasing how young women and non-binary people can occupy space as producers and DJs, 6 Figure Gang have since played at Boiler Room and spin tunes on a show on Rinse FM.

L U C Y doesn’t like to dwell on the past, though. Abruptly cutting yesterday’s memories short, she starts talking about the near future with an excitement that was missing previously. “I’ve had amazing moments,” she admits. “[But] I’m always thinking about the next steps. I’m not a self-reflective person. I kind of always have to think about the next thing.”

Szns7n is a main focus looking forward, the label L U C Y started this year with a primary aim to be “a platform for multi-disciplinary collaboration in music and art”. Her label party at Colours, Hoxton, in East London in December saw Pinch headline, and she says he hopes that she can use it as a platform to build upon.

L U C Y wants to shed the past because, in 2020, she hopes to debut several exciting things. Though her recent EP closes a chapter, her next one has already been written. She wants to change the perception of how she’s viewed in the club. From being notoriously renowned as a 140bpm-and-above artist, she wants to come to venues with a new performance aspect. “I’m going to do live shows next year, so it’ll be a bit more personal,” she admits. “It’ll be more like a concert rather than a club-night.”

And one of the ways she wants to “do better” is by flipping the table on what audiences can expect from her releases. “My next project should be interesting. It may annoy people who have listened to me and who see me more being grime, but I never stated that I played or did a particular genre. It was within that time that people were like if it's 140, it’s grime. If it’s this, it’s this. I feel like it happens a lot now as people experiment more and more with music. I think music journalism and audiences place genres onto things that they don’t necessarily need to.”