Some people were born to breathe life into a community and such is the reality for the unstoppable Cinthie. As a DJ, producer, multiple label owner, record store owner and mother each in their own right, there’s nothing this powerhouse can’t do.
Pre-2000s and Flash
Cinthie Christl, for those wanting to be formal, started off her life in her now home of Berlin. Regardless it wasn’t long until she moved away towards the French border following the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was here in Saarbrücken, that her formative musical memories were made. Finding a work based refuge in a small record label named Humpty Records, she worked and studied under DJ’s who seemed to have not left the decks for centuries. Venturing into the country as a rave tourist with her record store paycheck, it wasn’t long until she took up a residency at Flash, a club on the periphery of Frankfurt. By this time it was only 1997 and Cinthie, not yet even 18, conjured up crowds on the dance floor through an eclectic vinyl collection (until the club owner discovered her youthful age and banned her for 3 months).
It was barely two years later when Cinthie, then known as Vinyl Princess, was first signed. The aforementioned Flash was a hub for leading German DJ’s, most notably WestBam – the head of the label Low Spirit (formerly known as Electric Kingdom). It was he who noticed her potential. He booked her to play his New Year’s Eve party before then releasing her first singles the following year.
“Finding her sound amongst the sweaty masses, these odd venues became her university of sound”
Early 2000s and Motherhood
This was only a short-lived soirée of sorts. Feeling too constrained by the label’s commercial stylings, in 2001 Cinthie went to Berlin and set out on her own. She joined forces with the city’s burgeoning punk scene to run explosive illegal parties. Hijacking abandoned spaces only just large enough to carry her vast sound – from power plants to slaughterhouses – Cinthie choreographed dance floors in her own auditory image. Finding her sound amongst the sweaty masses, these odd venues became her university of sound, teaching the mechanics of movement and facilitating an exchange of ideas between all who stepped up to the decks.
In 2010 she gave birth to her daughter, Marlene, and with the newfound guise of motherhood retirement became a consideration. However as fate would have it, instead, she met Diego Krause, Ed Herbst and stevn.aint.leavn. DJs who together reignited her passion for music brighter than ever before as they exchanged unreleased tracks and hatched plans to set up the Beste Modus collection (under which now lies the Union Wax and We_R House labels).
Today and Tomorrow
In the almost ten years which have followed, much has changed for Cinthie, yet her unfaltering dedication to the musical community and exquisite talent remains. Now a single parent, owner of the Elevate record store and a handmade studio packed with an eclectic array of drum machines and synthesisers, she has yet another label under her belt. 803 Crystal Grooves, a label solely designed for her music. Recently releasing ‘vol 004’, this small collection of light, bumpy bass-driven tracks are a euphoric example of why Cinthie is so adored. The final track, ‘Boss Lady In A Men’s World’, captures everything she is about in its ever-expanding, gut-punch of organised chaos.
It feels almost odd calling an artist who has been burning through the scene for over twenty years as one to watch. Yet, with the release of her euphoric debut album, Skylines – City Lights (an album which unites both minimalism and energy), this year it does feel like a new evolution of Cinthie. One more accessible to music connoisseurs all over the world who can hear her techno soul at just a push of a button. One that sets up Cinthie’s sound for the next decade and whatever else there is to come.