upsammy
By Kit Macdonald
Amsterdam's upsammy, aka Thessa Torsing, burst on to the scene in 2017, becoming a touring DJ and releasing several EPs within a year of playing her first-ever set in a club, at Berlin's about:blank. Back then she declared that she didn't see much of a future in DJing and that she would prefer to be playing live sets in the long term. Her recorded output certainly suggests a pressing need to explore music beyond the club: last year's Germ In A Population Of Buildings album is an intricate whirl of IDM textures, distorted vocals and polyrhythmic drums designed for headphones and home listening rather than dancing.
There has, however, proved to be a very big future indeed in DJing for upsammy, who in the past six or seven years has become one of the continent's most interesting selectors, in constant demand with an A to Z of the world's most respected clubs and festivals. Breaks have played a big part in many of her recent sets and DJ mixes, but it's anyone's guess what strands of her encyclopaedic club music she'll choose to mine in this set.