Small talk with Darwin

memòri : Where does the name Darwin come from?

Darwin : Charles, of course! I actually chose the name at a time when being a female DJ was quite a disadvantage, and I didn’t want people to know I was a woman. I had no social media until 2018 and no photos of myself online, just a SoundCloud and a residency at Griessmuehle.

I liked that the name was tied to science and nature, something that has always been a deep inspiration to my palette.

memòri : You were born in Canada, found your way into music through London, built your career in Berlin, and decompress in Mexico. If you had to pick one of those four places as home, could you?

Darwin : México para siempre.

I haven’t lived in Canada in over 20 years, and it feels the furthest removed from who I am now. Berlin gave me so much, and I feel incredibly grateful to be part of such a thriving community here. But Mexico is where my heart is and where I feel the most free. I’m connected to the ocean there on a daily basis, and it's the place where I’ll eventually hang up my boots for good.

memòri : We've heard your REEF parties might be coming to an end. Can you tell us more about that decision?

Darwin : REEF was never meant to last forever. It was a vision for a moment in time and a space that I felt called to create. But those spaces and ideas have shifted for me, and I feel like I achieved what I set out to do.

I think there’s something beautiful about listening when something feels complete. Even though it makes me sad to let go of REEF in the form it exists today, it feels exciting to take everything I learned and loved about it and channel that into ABYSS. This project feels much closer to who I am as an artist now.

memòri : What's your best memory from a REEF night? One moment that captured exactly what the party was supposed to be?

Darwin : The first time we took over both floors of Berghain. I’m highly critical of myself when it comes to programming and flow, and sometimes you have no control over how people will play or what the crowd energy will be like. But that night felt perfect from start to finish.

There’s a certain magic in the air when all the artists arrive with the same intention and truly understand what they signed up for. Everyone brought their A game that night. I remember bursting into tears of joy at the end when Esposito dropped Omni Trio “Mainline (95 Lick)”. Seeing my best friend up there, after everything we had been through together with the parties up to that point, was a really special moment for me.

memòri : Which release on your label SPE:C best captures what the label sounds like at its core?

Darwin : Honestly, Buckley’s new album Infinity Scale really encapsulates the full evolution of SPE:C for me. It moves through ambient, mutated 140, drum & bass, halftime, dub soundscapes, and dub techno while still feeling completely cohesive.

As a label, SPE:C has always been about discovering and developing artists, and Buckley is someone I’ve been especially invested in. He’s come incredibly far, even from his first release on SPE:C to this album. More than just the sonics, that progression really captures the spirit of the label at its core.

memòri : ABYSS feels like a different kind of project, more inward, more restorative. And is expanding beyond Berlin, to Open Ground in Wuppertal and potentially further. What would make you feel like the concept had traveled well rather than just been transplanted?

Darwin : ABYSS is about restoration and connecting inward. It’s also about freedom within a space and pushing the boundaries of what clubbing can look and feel like. More than anything, it’s an invitation to slow down, listen differently, and create room for experiences that feel genuinely connective.

For me, ABYSS travelling doesn’t mean transplanting the exact same thing into a different city. It means the core intention staying intact while allowing the project to be shaped by the people, artists, architecture, and energy of a place. REEF was deeply rooted in Berlin and the bass music community around it. If I brought those same lineups somewhere else, it wouldn’t hold the same magic. It’s the place and the people that make REEF special.
ABYSS is a more expansive experience that I want to gift to people.

memòri : You've played b2b with DJ Storm, Mala, Lena Willikens. Is there a dream b2b partner you haven't done yet?

Darwin : I would love to play with Upsammy actually. I feel like there’s an unsuspected throughline between us in the halftime / 170 range that would be really fun to explore. Her set at REEF last year completely melted my brain. Jan Loup too. I think she’s doing really exciting and playful things with her sets.

memòri : You've traveled and played everywhere. What's the best club in the world according to you?

In no particular order, a few favourites are Final in Taipei, Canary Test in LA, Open Ground, Outra Cena in Lisbon, and Bassiani <3

Basically, give me a dark room with lots of smoke and a crazy soundsystem and I’m in.

memòri : Any upcoming projects you're excited about and can tell us a little about?

Darwin : Ohhhh, I’m going to leak it here! I have this beautiful ambient album coming out in September on Biofield from an alias of Addison Groove. It’s one of the most exciting artist plot twists I’ve ever been sent. I’m really honoured he agreed to work with me on it.

memòri : You're playing memòri. Is there a track you'd want to share that captures the energy you're planning to bring that night?

Well, I’m closing the Barn on Thursday and my intention is to release the freaks… So I would say Anubis by Sepia. This track feels a bit like the freaky pied piper for me.

At ABYSS we had this joke during Nono Gigsta’s set “no wrong dance moves” because people were getting so weird on the dancefloor. I definitely want to channel that same energy to close out the first night.