Over the past four years, our New Years Resolution series has become something we look forward to every single year. It’s an opportunity for us at Trommel to reflect, to ensure we’re expanding our horizons to the emerging musical talents within the scene and appreciating those who deserve appreciation.
Now onto our fourth edition, we put forward 12 growing artists from our beloved scene who we think you need to keep a close eye on and if they’re playing in your city, releasing a new record, or just checking out what they’re all about.
Our 2022 edition of our 12 must-see artists on the rise looked ahead to the first full calendar year of clubbing since 2019 and what an incredible year it turned out to be. We had experiences which left us in awe, strengthened our already strong bond to our music scenes, and even re-kindled lost loves from within our scene. Vinyl pressing plant delays are dwindling, we’re partying at clubs like we never stopped, and everything feels on the up.
Without further ado, we present our 12 artists to watch in 2023, one artist for every month of the year as per usual. This a special selection of talented diggers, creative musicians, and all-around great artists who we can’t wait to see grow. Do not miss these artists!
Alexia Glensy
Kicking off our list is Brazilian artist Alexia Glensy, who became one of the fastest rising talents in a crowded scene in her adopted city of Amsterdam. With close ties to the VBX crew, Glensy caught Trommel’s attention by providing some of the most engaging yet patient warm-up sets we’ve seen in recent years, playing alongside scene-leaders like Andrew James Gustav, Francesco del Garda, and Nicolas Lutz to name a few.
It’s little surprise the Brazilian’s risen so rapidly, a patient mixing style combined with her bags of grubby electro, stinging acid, and bludgeoning techno mean she’s already began breaking out of the Amsterdam scene, with dates at FUSE’s Halloween party in London and Out Of Time on Hoppetosse already showcasing she’ll soon be at a city near you.
More info on Alexia Glensy
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Doudou MD
Perhaps more so than anyone else on our list, Slapfunk resident Doudou MD leapt onto the scene in 2022 and captivated everyone with her infectious energy behind the decks and tunes to match. Behind the scenes though, there was little leaping on the scene, hailing from a music family, the Dutch artist spent 5 years in Berlin with Panorama Bar and Hoppetosse playing a huge part in her musical education before moving back to Amsterdam and becoming a crucial part of the Slapfunk family.
The Dutch capital served as a vital launchpad, with regular gigs at Shelter and Lofi, and ADE in October was a particularly exciting period for Doudou MD, with seven gigs across five days for the likes of VBX, Slapfunk, and Breakfast Club. Her gigs outside of Amsterdam are already blossoming, playing in Ibiza for tINI and The Gang, Manchester for Animal Crossing, and Dimensions Festival in Tisno.
There’s something refreshingly unpretentious about Doudou’s approach to DJing, grinning and unabashedly dancing whilst spinning some of the most charming house and techno you’ll find just about anywhere.
More info on Doudou MD
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Fonte
Fonte has been on circling on the peripheries of our 12 must-see artists on the rise lists for a few years now, but a big 2022 from the Berlin-based Spaniard. The past year saw him play sets for Picnic at Hoppetosse, Prague’s beloved Wildt Bar, and all across his native Spain, with a particularly silky set alongside partner-in-crime Sugar Free as well as Apollonia and Nicolas Lutz.
The highlight of Fonte’s 2022 for us has to be traced back to his all-night long set alongside Sugar Free back in March at London’s Pickle Factory. A beloved venue which when the right DJs are in charge of the vibe, can become a club-night that very few venues around the world can match. Fonte and Sugar Free bounced around silky house, scintillating breaks, and bouncy techno for one of our favourite sets of the entire year.
More info on Fonte
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Hicham
Aptly nicknamed ‘The Boss’ within his native scene of Brussels, Hicham’s rise over the past couple of years has ridden the wave of what’s been dubbed ‘The French wave’. Their refreshing re-imaginings of house, techno, breaks, and everything in between has been two fold, A) fervent diggers made it their life mission to dig up high quality and unique-sounding records that slipped through the cracks of popularity, and B) producers who took inspiration from the still-fresh sounds of the ’90s to revive tried and tested genres.
Hicham falls into the latter, and whilst digging is hardly a new phenomenon or rare attribute for a DJ, he shows that to stand-out as a strictly DJ-only artist, you have to be quite exceptional at unearthing hidden away musical gems. Lucky for Hicham, he’s just that, captivating us at Cartulis’ afterparty in March at Starlane Pizza Bar with tunes so good they make you want to deactivate your Discogs account.
More info on Hicham
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Jorge Escribano
Native Spaniard Escribano made the most of moving to London in 2015 from his native Corboda, becoming tight with the OPIA Records crew to become a resident and co-founding the label’s sub-label Euphoric State.
It’s little surprise that Escribano slotted so seamlessly into OPIA’s roster of residents with his otherworldly selections of house and techno. Alongside his collective, OPIA’s tours have seen him behind in the decks in Valencia, Berlin, Naples and Ljubljana. Now residing in Berlin, he’s seen his solo gigs take him to Paris for Radio Pirate, Barcelona for Mad Radio, and Berlin for Outer Place at Club Der Visionaere.
His co-founded label Euphoric State focuses on re-issues and bringing older, unreleased music from those artists to light, and 2022 was a solid year. A huge five track EP from deep house maestro Anthony Teasdale, including a touching tribute to the late Andrew Weatherall in B2’s Entwined Minds. Late in the year we were blessed with an EP from Skat, an alias of A², compromised of Alec Stone and the sorely missed Andy Panayi for their seriously charming EP ‘Skat Mode’.
More info on Jorge Escribano
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Loa Szala
Londoners will be very familiar with the gritty selections of Loa Szala after she’s carefully curated a reputation for the one of the finest dancefloor warmers and versatile selectors in the English capital.
After a steady couple of years refining her craft around various promoters and venues in London, 2022 was the year Szala broke out beyond her resident city. Playing dates in Barcelona as part of OPIA Records’ tour, in Berlin for Planet Pleasure, and Lisbon for Futura. It was back in the city which has grown her reputation where she grew her reputation where Szala impressed us the most.
Her sets for Alien Communications’ Lion and Lamb residency included her playing alongside the likes of Vlada, DJ Masda, and DMX Krew, and it’s not uncommon for Szala to steal the show as a resident for Alien Communications, her otherworldly selections are delightful.
More info on Loa Szala
Instagram | SoundCloud
Lola Haro
To say Belgian artist Lola Haro had a busy year would be a serious understatement. From warming up for the likes of cult heroes Optimo at London’s Phonox, playing at Caprices Festival in Switzerland, and ION Festival in Albania. But it was the smaller club venues where Haro captured our attention, playing for Planet Pleasure x System Error in Berlin alongside the likes of Nicolas Lutz and DJ Masda, Off The Grid at Hoppetosse, and even a date at Robert Johnson in Offenbach.
Whether playing those big festival stages and clubs, to a 150 people at Hoppetosse, her greatest asset is her versatility. Whether it’s tripping you out with dubby minimal, blitzing you with choppy breaks, or pushing you to the wall with peddle-to-the-metal techno, Haro keeps you on your toes and captivates in a way that very few artists can.
More info on Lola Haro
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Lumbago
French duo Lumbago fall into similar territory as compatriot Hicham, become a vital part of the blossoming French digger scene. The two have been steadily rising for a number of years now, in no small part to their ties with French promoters Nostromo and their sets at the festivals which have word about them far and wide.
The past year saw them play key dates in Barcelona for Mad Radio alongside Phonotheque associate Kino, and Off The Grid at Hoppetosse. But it was in their native France where they shone the brightest, playing alongside Francesco Del Garda in Lyon, for Breakfast Club in Marseille, and for Nostromo’s High Vaultage event with the likes of Unai Trotti, OMAR, and DJ Tree.
What to expect if you get the chance to see them? Well, expect just about everything. Genre doesn’t bound their sound to a singular vision, bouncy house, thrashing techno, otherwordly electro, their bags contain it all. There was also Ninja Tools Vol.5 released on the pairs’ label after two hiatus, featuring five delightful cuts of dancefloor-ready material, as we’ve come to know and love from the Ninja Tools series.
More info on Lumbago
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Man/ipulate
French artist Man/ipulate had an absolutely incredible year, offering himself up as a double threat as both a thrilling DJ and forward-thinking producer. He showcased his talent with his party-starting ‘Shinsei’ EP on Sentaku’s sub label Shin’uchū back in 2021, but 2022 is when we saw his sonic vision of pulsating techno and boisterous house come to life.
High quality releases on Sentaku, Certain Music, and OPIA Records illustrated Man/ipulate’s talent for pure, unadulterated, club music with his bouncy basslines and pedal to the metal energy within his tracks. The DJing side wasn’t too shabby either, with gigs for Yoyaku in Paris, a What’Sub and Sentaku showcase in Amsterdam, and a standout gig in London for Sentaku alongside Desyn back in February.
More info on Man/ipulate
Instagram | SoundCloud
Mariiin
I know we’ve said this about everyone on our list this year, but seriously, what a year Italian selector Mariiin had in 2022. Often found playing alongside her partner-in-crime Bobby, head honcho of London-based label and party, Pleasure Club, Mariiin had a few sets which captured our hearts and put her firmly in this list.
She played four sets at Houghton in which she captured the party spirit absolutely perfectly, either solo or playing alongside Bobby. Their B2Bs also served as some of our favourite sets from the past year, including at Cartulis’ afterparty in November, as well as at Village Underground for Picnic, and of course, their regular B2Bs at Pleasure Club’s residency at Lion and Lamb.
The Italian also inspired us when playing solo, with the highlight being an esoteric set of robotic techno and tingling electro at Hoppetosse for Outer Place alongside the illustrious DJ Koolt. The Italian also released her second EP on Lapse, featuring the moody electro tune ‘Impasse’, and hypnotic stomper ‘The snake is changing it’s skin’.
More info on Mariiin
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Outcast Torino Collective
We always like to bend the rules a bit when it’s come to our 12 artists to watch list at the start of every year. We’ve included duos and trios before as there’s simply too many talented artists in our scene not to. And that rule especially applies to the Outcast Torino collective.
Outcast Torino have been hosting parties since 2013, although their sound has evolved quite a lot as you’d expect since then. The crew, compromising of Alex Dima, Cristian Sarde, Paolo Macri, Lorenzo Aribone, Munir Nadir and Bakked to name a few of the front-facing names, were there when minimal began first twitch, as scene-leaders like Nicolas Lutz, Binh, and Onur Özer expanded their horizons into the forgotten corners of house, techno, and electro.
The crew are still hosting events, including the much-adored Out/castle one-day festival series, but there’s also their record-label, which kicked off in 2021 but had two excellent releases in 2022 from collective-member Cristian Sarde and Bakked.
In the past year, the likes of Dima, Sarde, and Macri played alongside Christian AB, Z@P, and Nicolas Lutz, bringing their now-distinct style of cheeky and brash house and techno. Their showcase alongside Oscuro London at Starlane Pizzabar back in May was a particularly standout moment for a big year for the Outcast crew.
More info on Outcast Torino
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Sibil
What an incredible year for French DJ Sibil. She played just about every party worth playing in her resident city of Berlin, including dates at Roof Booking Weekender, Picnic, LowMoneyMusicLove at Hoppetosse as well as tINI and the gang, and Lize’s joint summer party at Club der Visionaere.
Her brand of scintillating and grin-inducing house also saw gigs in Paris, Prague, and Tbilisi. There were also reputation-defining sets at Nostromo’s New Horizon festival back in July, and a sensational B2B alongside previously featured artist Mayell at The Pickle Factory in late November which we’ve been replaying in our minds ever since.
More info on Sibil
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