SARAH FARINA - Rainbow Sounds
Where are you from?
From a small town in south Germany called "Kempten“.
When did you start djing and why?
At 18 I got in touch with more eclectic club music for the first time through a Berlin DJ duo called the "Sick Girls“. I went to their monthly party "Revolution Nr 5“ and they basically educated me in club music & DJing culture. Through them I heard club music from the UK for the first time, also genres like Footowork & Juke and much more stuff that blew my mind and widened my music horizon. Thats when I became interested in DJing. At the same time I was studying at a music academy, it was terrible tho. And I was about to quit anything that has to do with music. But a really good friend of mine encourged me and asked me if I would like to learn how to DJ cause he liked my music taste and thought I have the skills to become a DJ. So they taught me and we played at a small bar in Berlin-Kreuzberg every Sunday for like a year. Me getting into club music and DJ'ing happened very naturally, it was really never a plan. So from there, people started hearing me play and I got to play more small gigs. And „Sick Girls“ and me became close friends after some time and they play a big role in why and how I became a DJ too. They inspired & supported me so much and became my music mentors and they still are to this day.
How would you visually describe the music you play?
It’s a rainbooow!
So, I describe the music I play as "Rainbowbass“, which is a term that I came up with to introduce the music I love to others. For me, the vibrations of everything I listen to, everything I play, translate into color. Sounds visualised like a rainbow – naturally connected to each other and to me. The message of Rainbowbass is that it’s all one, like we are. All the grooves, BPMs & energy levels in beautiful harmony.
I was wondering if you could give us some insight into the making of your upcoming EP? I know you have recently been in Detroit. How did it feel, as a music artist, to be able to stay at the headquarters of one of the world’s most important electronic music institutions, Underground Resistance’s Submerge?
I got to be there for 6 weeks through an artist exchange programm by Musicboard Berlin and the Detroit-Berlin Connection. They offer lots of different residencies all over the world and I applied for the Detroit residency because so much music that I play and listen to is from there or is connected to Detroit.
I’m very grateful that the jury chose me cause they only send one person per year to do an artist residency.
Detroit really was the missing puzzle piece for me and very educational in so many ways.
The people I’ve met were some of the most essential music figures when it comes to electronic music and I’m so thankful I got to share some time with them.
I had my own room and access to music studios and it helped me so much to be away from my Berlin life for a while to actually focus on my own music in a safe space.
In those 6 weeks I didn't get to finish the whole EP but I almost got there. On my last day I showed Mike Banks from Underground Resistance the songs I’ve been working on and he only had to say good things about them. Which means so so so much to me. Those kind of moments gave me such a boost in my self confidence as a person but also in being a women of color who DJ’s and produces club music.
Because when I’m honest I have been struggling with internalized oppression for a long time (being a women of color), I guess we all do in some form and this Detroit experience helped me to unlearn some of those things. Simply being surrounded by mostly People of color and Black people and not being the minority most of the time, gave me so much good energy.
What was also very beautiful, was to meet a lot of wonderful activists who care really about their community and do such important work. Meeting those people and exchanging with them was very healing too.
For me as a person but also as an artist, educating myself when it comes to music history is extremly important to me...Learning about where the music & culture comes from. And I exactly got to do that during my stay and will be forever grateful for that. Listen to Sarah Mixtape here