About Sai
"Under people I'm allways a bit introverted. I guess, I'm like a lizzard what needs the sun around to get warmed -up."
"Sitting and watching, while people are talking...and than give some unpredictable shots is my special attitude, haha."
"But in fact I don't like social situations like bars, cafés, etc...especially with much strangers around...can't do small talk...so I will avoid it..mostly falling with the door in the house, what some may find irritating and weird..or don't say something when there's no interesting point of relation...what I can do is listening in a pleaser's attitude, this is what I've learned...but you won't get my personality then.."
We are all this...sometimes darker-sometimes lighter...
"For me, music has always been political. That doesn't mean checking every artist's mindset before I listen to or playing their music... And I am clear that it is important to focus on similarities in order to counteract all these divisions in our world. Nothing is ever just “bad” or just “good”. But - if I obviously know that a producer, artist, DJ is or was recently proclaiming inhumane and religious or political beliefs that make my stomach churn, no matter from which direction - then I won't support you, no matter how good your output is. This is my personal way of handle it.. .most of the time I can't keep my mouth shut then...feeling annoyed? Unfollow me please.
I distance myself from any extremist ideas and religious or political brainwashing ideas. As well as stigmatization of any kind. I do this to the best of my knowledge and belief."
Kerstin Saidykhan aka Sai is a music nerd since her teens, influenced by many such as postpunk, dark wave through ska, jungle, dnb and techno.
Dancehall and the Jamaican Sound System Culture had also a big influence on her (after visiting Jamaica twice at the end of the 90s) especially the ruff and heavy basslines of dub and raggamuffin had a big imprint on her.
"After the Wall fell, I spend many weekends at Berlin‘s growing club scene.
It gave me the space to breathe as a young adult, what I needed at that time."
Growing up in a small town in Western Germany near Hannover and studying social work in Braunschweig (& wrote her thesis about „Techno Culture in Germany“ in 1996 b.t.w.) finally she moved to Berlin in 2001 and came into contact with the rhythm&sound vibe that immediately resonated with her.
It was still the time of small and illegal clubs and improvised venues. In that scene, she had the opportunity to try herself as a DJ for a certain time. But it never worked out on a larger scale and after she became a mother in 2005 she gave up her music activities with a heavy heart and thought, that's it for now.
But then during the pandemic time in 2021 she restarted mixing music again as a bedroom DJ and published her installements on SoundCloud, what was the beginning for a new developement, supported quickly through the attention she recieved from many independant dubtechno artists.
"Dubtechno became a very special role to me caused by its introvert meditative attitude which fits very good to me now in the present time.
So music is much more than entertainment to me and shaped my personality by getting much energy from it.
And this is something, what I want to bring over in my diverse and gengre overarching mixes."
From then until now she shows her way of mixing on many online podcast series such as Dubtechno TV, Dubwaves on Proton by Na:tek, Dubbism by Piranha Siberia Dub and many more and publishes her selection regularly on Soundcloud under the name "Moments Of Light 'n Darkness" (MLD). Recently she started hosting guest mixes from other DJs there as well.
"I love creating deep atmospheric mixes around dub techno, combining the classics from earlier days with the current releases, often seasoned with the dub reggae vibes, some broken beats, ambient non beat or other experimental electronic stuff - sometimes darker, sometimes lighter. At the end it's all about moods and feelings from moment to moment what flows into the present time."