Brazilian hard techno artist Joanna Coelho talks to 909originals

Blending hard techno, hardstyle, raw style and psytechno, Brazilian DJ, producer and vocalist Joanna Coelho has always done things her way – with her DJ sets bursting with personality and raw energy.

Having graduated at the International Academy of Electronic Music (AIMEC) in Curitiba when she was just 17, she then moved to The Netherlands to commence the Electronic Music Production Course at SAE Rotterdam – and since entering the world of production, her tracks have been supported by the likes of Amelie Lens, Shlomo, 999999999, Dax J, Anela and others.

She’s also quite a prolific artist, having released numerous tracks this summer including Muy Loca (w/ Alex TB) on the Sonaxx Records label, Gopapi on Warind Records, and a remix of Harder than God-Maik on Influence Records, following this up with Crazy and Back To The Rave (alongside Schroomp), released on 11 October on Affenkafig Records.

Eleonora Vologni talks to Joanna Coelho about her latest music project, recent gigs around Europe and her plans for the future.

Hi Joanna, how did the idea behind your latest release come about?

In our previous release together, called Stars in her Eyes, me and Schroomp decided to record vocals, and it turned out that when we came up with the latest EP, Back to The Rave, I thought it would be nice to record original vocals as well.

The concept surrounding the songs is the timelessness of rave culture and sounds and how we could use a few of those elements in the two tracks.

You recently played in Barcelona – more precisely at The Garage. What was it like to perform there?

It’s amazing to be able to share the booth with legendary artists who have played that night and an honour to touch a booth that has hosted countless incredible performers.

If I were to ask you for a summary of the summer of 2024, what would you tell us?

This year was about work and growth – learning to level up at each step of the way.

Why did you decide to produce ‘hard’ music?

I think it chose me, to be honest. As a teenager/young adult, I used to reach for hard techno, acid techno and other subgenres in order to be able to deal with difficult life issues that went from minor things like a small frustration, to life-wrecking events such a passing of someone you love.

Hard music brought me life when actual life seemed too hard to cope with.

You have played in the best European clubs – in France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and many others. Are you planning any dates in Ireland as well?

I would love to come back to Ireland, since it has a special place in my heart for a dope reason – it was my first international booking! I remember buying a shamrock keychain and thinking “I hope luck always follows me on every gig”.

What are your future plans?

The upcoming months will be mainly focused on defining and finalising the tracks I might use on my next live project, not to mention an upcoming music visualiser and my official merch release.

Thanks to Joanna for talking to us. Keep up to date with her latest releases and tour dates here.