The up and coming DJ and producer reveals how a rave saved her from a career in jazz and how, in techno, two notes a melody really can create…

Sara Simms’s star is rising rapidly in the world of techno. As a DJ, she has played sets for Allen and Heath’s live broadcast at ADE and Miami Music Week, at Charivari Detroit, and at Techno Taco Tuesday for MNTRA in Las Vegas. She is also a producer and for her latest single, Finally, has teamed up with vocalist JEI who worked with Intruder for the MoS/Defected Records track Aname. Here Sara reveals some of her production tricks including some intricate kick work advice that could change the backbone of your productions…

1 How did you get into music production?

Sara Simms: “I’ve always been into music; both my parents are music teachers who taught me piano, theory and invested in lessons for me. I grew up playing jazz guitar but my path changed when I went to a rave for the first time. I was mesmerised by the DJ, the music and the entire experience. I began DJing and got into the scene as a hip-hop turntablist and later found my way to techno. I earned a degree in audio engineering from Harris Institute in Toronto and put a lot of energy into finding sets, gigging, learning new music technology and building relationships with music companies. Then I began to focus more on composing and learning to produce.”