Boiler Room: an hour with VTSS (DJ Mix)

“This year was a big lesson for me,” Polish producer Martyna Maja told Boiler Room Radio about the crushing effects of the pandemic. “As a techno DJ, when the clubs closed, I felt like, ‘What’s my purpose now?’” Maja, who goes by VTSS and is based in Berlin, knew her joyful, rip-roaring techno—which she’s accustomed to performing through state-of-the-art soundsystems—wouldn’t sound right through fans’ laptop speakers, so she made some adjustments. “I changed the way I mix, the way I produce, even the styles of techno I [play], because I knew that people would be listening at home,” she said. In her daring and expansive an hour with mix—an exclusive partnership between Boiler Room and Apple Music—she infuses industrial techno with acid textures and playful throwback house (Masters At Work and Puppah Nas-T’s “Work,” the global smash that made Denise Belfon a club fixture in 2001, gets an urgent, tunneling edit). There's something defiant about the warp-speed way Maja whips these tones together. “When I first started playing techno, I really sought approval from the techno bros,” she said. “But at some point I realized nothing would be good enough. Techno is a beautiful genre, but it’s not a ‘scene.’ It looks so different in every country. For me, it’s always been important to do whatever I want, on my rules. I think that invites other women to join in—to do whatever they want.”