Brett Callwood
See Lindsey Herbert From Our Minds: Phoenix-based, LA-born producer/DJ Lindsey Herbert is about to embark on the From Our Minds — To Be Announced tour with Richie Hawtin, so it’s a great time to get fully acquainted.
Herbert started DJing when she was about 15. She didn’t have any musical background as far as learning to play instruments prior, but she does come from a musical family.
“I began going to shows with dance music as early as age 14, and concerts age the age of 8 or maybe even earlier,” she says. “My mom had taken me to a Green Day concert (my favorite band at the time—I owned every CD and could recite nearly all the words to every song), one for Earth, Wind and Fire, and an American Idol one as well! I feel like I’ve always been pretty open-minded when it comes to music, as I’ve also had a background of listening to and going to events that had punk / alternative rock, indie, electronica, R&B, hip-hop / rap, reggae, etc.—you can say I’ve always been a big lover of music ever since I can remember. Even as a kid I remember setting the iTunes Store to different countries and scrolling through to see what was popular over there—I’ve just always had such an interest and curiosity about music.”
Herbert and her friends discovered electronic music in middle school, around 2009.’
“In my discovery of electronic music I went through so many genres and styles such as drum & bass, trance, progressive house, dubstep, big room EDM, bass music, house, disco, deep house, tech house, and eventually found my true love, techno,” she says. “By the age of 15 I was regularly attending dance music events and raves such as Beyond and Nocturnal Wonderland, EDC, Coachella, Hard Events, etc. and it was always important to me to listen to and familiarize myself with who was playing. I was actually a kandi kid as well who really believed in the idea of PLUR. I got connected to a lot of the community as an attendee and true lover of the music and would meet up with people I knew through social media and trade kandi with them at events. For me, as is true for many ravers, these events were an avenue for escapism and a place where I could be myself, let go, get lost in the moment and feel accepted at a time where I didn’t always necessarily.”
It was around this time that she started getting ideas for mash-ups of electronic tracks, and it wasn’t long after that she bought her first DJ controller, a Traktor S4.
“I believe I was also 15 years old when I went to this place called Camp Spin Off in California over the summer, which is a sleep-away camp for aspiring DJs aged 13-17 and teaches them basics of DJing and music production,” she says. “Before attending, I had already learned the basics of using Traktor and mixing on it, but it was there that I was really introduced to Ableton (briefly) for the first time; and I also took a scratching class there! In my early days as a bedroom DJ, I challenged myself to practice as much as possible and upload weekly mixes on my SoundCloud; eventually they started gaining a little bit of traction from people throughout the world. I was also around 17 or 18 when I bought Ableton, but I didn’t get more serious with it until a couple years after. When I started out, I was just simply following my passion and I had no idea I would ever get to be where I am today.”
After she graduated from high school, she moved to San Francisco to study at SF State, where she continued to practice her DJ skills.
“I got my first gig in SF at the age of 18 at a weekly Deep House event after having entered their mix contest; I hadn’t initially won but I had caught their attention, and one day, last minute, they asked me to fill in,” she says. “I’ve been playing out ever since, and I even had to use a fake ID my first 3 years DJing in nightclubs. I picked up a residency for former SF techno collective, Robot Ears, where I held a residency for over 6 years and eventually worked my way to being in charge of essentially everything regarding bookings with them. I began playing out-of -state and international shows around 2016; but I didn’t really start consistently touring more until 2019, and right as things were beginning to pick up for me in 2020, the pandemic hit and I refused to perform for 14 months until things improved, as I was also living with my parents again. In 2021 when the music industry began coming back to life, I joined forces with my friends at the long-running Direct to Earth collective in SF and have maintained a residency there to this day where I travel to play a few times a year.
Herbert studied audio engineering and recording in college.
“At the same time I was really beginning to learn how to produce music with some substance that was also more technically correct and dynamic,” she says. “I studied advanced recording and mixing of bands as well as Foley and sound design for film even though I would only get credit for one or the other; but I chose to spend over 16 hours weekly in class and even took two semesters just to soak up as much knowledge as I could. My time as a college student in San Francisco was such a turning point for me personally and musically. I eventually ended up double-majoring in Audio Engineering along with German and was actually the only person in my major to be awarded for outstanding leadership in audio! After graduating college, my love for audio led me to pick up jobs doing live sound for bands and DJs at 3 venues in San Francisco—1015 Folsom, F8 1192 Folsom and El Rio.”
She released her first remix in 2018, followed by her first two-track EP.
“Ever since then, I’ve had releases on Nastia’s NECHTO Records, Paula Temple’s Noise Manifesto, Coyu’s Suara, Exos’ Planet X, as well as labels like Seclusion 13130, Blank Code, Northern Parallels, Oktave, Crisis of Man, TMM Records, Immaterial.Archives, a vinyl remix on Quaint But Extra, and much more,” she says. “Plus, I have a lot of exciting stuff on the way.”
She says that her sound today is consistent with what it’s always been — rhythmic, trippy / hypnotic, a bit deep and spacey at times, and always driving.
“If I listen back to some of my older sets, I still recognize my style and feel that I’ve stayed true to it, but it’s definitely evolved as well,” she says. “These days I’m definitely playing with some more energy, as I’m often playing peak-time sets, but also with some more groove, tribal elements and 90’s / early 2000’s influenced sounds, as well as a little bit faster (like most people post-pandemic). How energetic I play always depends on the situation, because it’s important to me to adapt and challenge myself to fit various slots, as I’ve had to do a lot over the years while warming up for other artists. I would say I’ve always had a passion for music, especially electronic music, that is high-energy, just because of the kind of vibe it has the potential to create. If you’ve ever been in a room of enthusiastic ravers losing their minds to fast, banging techno, then you know exactly what I mean; and this also lines up with my EDM and punk backgrounds as well. As I was coming up as a DJ, I often had to put my taste in the high-energy stuff on the back burner and really challenged myself to learn the art of opening appropriately, but I took that as an opportunity to become more versatile as an artist. As an opener, I spent so many countless hours digging and finding music that I felt still fit my personal style while also developing a love for the deeper, dubbier, ambient and more hypnotic side of techno. To this day, I love playing slower and chiller for some situations, or starting there and gradually building the energy up especially during a longer set. One of the best things I find about being a DJ is how you are in charge of the vibe and energy in a space, and how you can play with tension and emotions. I always aim to incorporate elements that kind of put the listener in a trance, and that evoke some kind of emotion whether I’m playing more more atmospheric, up-beat, or darker and sexier!”
Herbert believes that electronic music is thriving right now.
“Techno is what I can really speak on, but honestly it is a different experience depending on where you are in the world too,” she says. “In the US, I feel like at the moment, techno is probably the biggest I’ve experienced in my lifetime (I’m just about to turn 27). There seems to be more techno artists playing bigger festivals and nightclubs, there’s more techno events and warehouse parties and it just feels like the demand can be high, selling out an event, depending on who’s being booked.”
“Experiencing just how massive techno is in some cities in other countries (Berlin, Amsterdam, London, Medellín, etc) vs. how it is in the US, sometimes it feels like it’s very much still growing and maturing here,” she continues. “I’ve been part of a couple different techno collectives throwing events over the years while living in San Francisco and now Phoenix, and I see that sometimes an event can easily sell out or be very packed, but other times it’s struggle to get even a few hundred people out on a given night because of other competition or whatever the reason. During my time as an artist and event thrower I’ve seen many event collectives come and go, as pushing techno here in the States can sometimes be a challenge when you aren’t booking the biggest names, but I have such a great respect and appreciation for people who continue to work towards building their respective scenes and pushing their passions for this music.”
Herbert says that her sets one the Hawtin tour will be a journey, with fresh, hypnotic, high-energy grooves.
“You can expect some of the ‘next-generation of North American techno artists,’ according to Richie, accompanying him on a tour hitting 8 cities,” she says. “It’s really such a full-circle moment getting the kind of recognition and support from a legend like Richie who’s been at it for so long; and it’s such an awesome initiative for him to invite the younger artists whose music he has been supporting lately. I can’t wait to be able to share the stage with Richie as well as some of the fresh faces of American techno who will be holding it down for years to come. This opportunity is really once-in-a-lifetime—I really think that both generations can learn so much from each other, and I’m really looking forward to getting to embark on this journey with everyone. I’m so beyond honored to be playing on 7 stops on the tour: Detroit, Toronto, Vancouver, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.”
Looking ahead, Herbert has plenty planned for this year.
“2023 is gearing up to be a very busy one with many domestic shows and debuts, releases and some more international touring,” she says. “My partner and I just recently launched our label, EvilGroove Records, with the first various artists compilation to be released on March 24th, which I have a single on. I have a remix of Albert Salvatierra’s ‘Walking With Uncertainty’ out on Elart Records March 17th, a Remix of Vekh’s ‘Seditop’ coming out to vinyl via Virescence Records on April 13th, a digital remix of Larix’s ‘Czara Pantera’ on Revolt on March 31st as well as of Pink Concrete’s ‘Sputnik Beep’ out on Bipolar Disorder at the end of April. I’m also currently working on wrapping up 2 separate EPs to be released later this year with more in the works too.”
See Lindsey Herbert From Our Minds: Lindsey Herbert will appear with Richie Hawtin at a secret location in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 18.
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