Soumaya Phéline
During her residency, Soumaya Phéline’s will deepen her practice of CDJ turntablism, with a particular focus on the performative aspect of DJ’ing. By pushing the limits of CDJ’s and turtables (which are often seen as merely playback devices), she reveals their potential in reshaping electronic music practices. Her DJ performances carry a cinematic quality, using sound storytelling to recompose and blend tracks into immersive narratives. This approach shifts her role beyond playing music to crafting unique, ephemeral sound experiences that encourage conscious experimentation.
Her practice critiques dominant music models that prioritize originality over reinvention, recycling and technical craft. During the residency, she plans to deepen this exploration, collaborating with sound artists and designers, beatboxers, DJs, and vocalists to push creative boundaries and create collective sound interactions. Documenting her journey through sound, visuals, and writing, she aims to build a sample bank and capture the evolution of her process. Real-time sampling and manipulation will be a central aspect in this, which she uses to weave new narratives within live performances. Through this research, she aims to explore unprecedented uses of tools as well as new forms of musical storytelling.
Soumaya Phéline continuously pushes her limits in the music industry, continually rethinking her interaction with sound and technique. She finds the interplay between body and sound both challenging and exhilarating, deepening her engagement with music while embracing its evolving techniques. Turntablism, with its demands for innovation through techniques such as scratching and beat juggling, embodies her drive for daring playful reinvention. Within the space between technical mastery and improvisation, she seeks to carve out her voice and redefine what DJ instruments can achieve. For Soumaya Phéline, creativity lies in balancing precision and freedom, allowing for both improvisation and daring. In this space, she seeks to discover her voice and push the boundaries of the instrument.
Active since 2006 in the Belgian music and cultural scenes, Soumaya Phéline is an experienced DJ known for her many projects, performances, and work with collectives, rethinking cultural and musical codes. Her sets blend bass-heavy beats, breakbeats, polyrhythms, and narrative sounds, balancing energy with technical exploration and sound manipulation. She champions turntablism and CDJ exploration through her festival, Another Way to Play, focused on experimentation. Passionate about music’s impact on emotional and sensory experiences – highlighting the powerful bonds it forms within communities and beyond – she promotes representation, diversity inclusivity, and challenging DJing clichés, deromanticizing club culture. Soumaya Phéline has contributed to the feminist platform and collective Psst Mlle, constantly rethinking dancefloor dynamics and fostering immersive club culture, and is part of the BIPOC-focused project G10 in Brussels. Her mission is to make music accessible by reimagining the industry, preventing hearing risks, organizing eco-friendly tours, and leading large-scale cultural fundraisers, all while ensuring that humans hold a central place equal to music and fostering connections.