Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2011

Courtesy of Eleven

If clubs had sister venues in other countries, then Eleven’s sibling would have to be Panorama Bar. In its first year of life, the Nishi-Azabu club—which celebrates its birthday this month—has hosted Panorama residents Marcel Dettman, Prosumer, Tama Sumo, Nick Höppner and Steffi. And the one-way traffic to Tokyo continues next weekend, as Cassy arrives in town.

Born in Kingston Upon Thames to an Austrian mother and Caribbean father, Cassy (real name Catherine Britton) swapped the UK for Vienna as a young-un, and eventually caught wind of the fun to be had in mainland Europe’s club scene. She hooked up with veteran Austrian DJ Electric Indigo and became a groupie of sorts, rolling in and out of the continent’s top clubs with her mentor. Eventually, Indigo told her to learn how to DJ—or else start paying for the costly trips herself.

Needless to say, Cassy began putting needle to wax, and got really good at it—so good, in fact, that mustachioed Chilean techno god Luciano asked her to spin at his Cadenza label party in 2003. She subsequently left Vienna for the techno Promised Land of Berlin, and bagged a residency at the prestigious Panorama Bar.

Production-wise, Cassy often layers ghostly vocal hooks over her bass-heavy techno beats, and has clocked up releases on some of the most respected labels around, including Perlon and Playhouse. Her singing is as much in demand as her DJ talents: she’s vocalized on tracks by Steve Bug, Ricardo Villalobos and Mathew Jonson, among others.

Cassy has also played her part in the recent incorporation of what we’ll call “house-y bits” into minimal techno, alongside folks like Sebo K and Kate Simko (who’ll be joining her at Eleven). But that’s not to say she should sign with a happy house label like Hed Kandi—we’re predicting a solid, deep DJ set at Eleven, with enough drive to at least briefly sate Tokyo’s seemingly unquenchable appetite for techno.

Eleven
Mar 4, from 10pm, ¥3,500. Nishi-Azabu. Tel: 03-5775-6206. www.go-to-eleven.com