Cassy

Not to be confused with R&B vocalist Cassie, Cassy (aka Catherine Britton) is a singer, DJ, and producer known for her smooth mixing skills and vocal-driven minimal techno tracks. Born in England but raised in Austria, she grew up listening to soul, jazz, and new wave before getting into dance music in the early ’90s. Cassy began DJ’ing at a Viennese club called Flex, and she made her first recordings as a vocalist on Elin’s remix of Ganymed’s “Music Takes Me Higher” in the late ’90s, followed by an appearance on Zombie Nation’s song “Unload.” It was her project with producer/DJ Dave the Hustler that helped propel her into the minimal techno spotlight. After collaborating on tracks with Perlon’s Luciano and Mathew Jonson, she moved to Berlin, where she began to DJ with great frequency. She has since collaborated with minimal techno mainstays Ricardo Villalobos and Steve Bug, started her own label (Cassy), and released her stripped-down, often spooky-sounding productions for Perlon and Uzuri. Her first mix album, Panorama Bar 01, appeared on Ostgut Ton in 2006, and was followed by Simply Devotion (Cocoon, 2009). She then moved to Paris for a short while before settling in Amsterdam. She held DJ residencies at international clubs including Trouw, Cocoon Ibiza, and Circo Loco, and released further mix CDs Cocoon Heroes (with Joris Voorn) in 2012 and Fabric 71 in 2013. Cassy’s debut album of original productions, Donna, was released by Aus Music in 2016. Recorded over the course of several years, most of its tracks — including a cover of Prince’s “Strange Relationship” — were co-produced by King Britt. ~ Rob Theakston