Since opening its doors to the public for the first time in 2007, WOEI has left its mark on the international sneaker and streetwear community with several collaborations including Asics, Patta, and Stüssy along the way.
But the interests and passions of the WOEI crew reach far beyond just shoes and apparel; Besides providing the streets with the latest from Nike, Adidas, and Co., music has always been at the heart of the store. Considering the highly curated playlists and mixes that can be heard in the store and hosting some of Rotterdam's most notorious parties, the belief that music unites is deeply ingrained in the WOEI DNA.
For edition #46 of WOEI FM, we’ve invited no one other than Richelle Soigni.
As always let's start with an introduction: could you please introduce yourself to us?
My name is Richelle Soigni, I am a Club DJ for 25 years and I’m passionate about many things—but music has always been one of the biggest.
When did the love for collecting records start for you?
I started collecting records when I was a little kid. My first one I got from my mom when I was six years old during a visit to the Bijenkorf. She usually said no when I asked for things, but to my surprise, when I asked for this record, she said yes! It was one of the early Jackson 5 albums.
Music and dancing were already deeply rooted in my family. My mom ran a Modern Jazz Ballet school from home—very ‘80s, think Fame and Flashdance. My dad was a jazz fanatic, and my grandfather was a musician who also organized parties for the Indonesian community in the Netherlands.
After getting that first record, I quickly started collecting more. When I was around 8 or 9, I became close friends with Frans Dietvorst. We were part of the local skate and music scene in Rotterdam. He loved music, and his cousin Paul Du Lac was deep into collecting and even DJing. I remember Paul making me a mixtape before I went on a family holiday so I could listen to it on my Walkman in the car. That tape introduced me to sounds I had never heard before—from labels like Warp Records.
It blew my mind. I already knew synth pop, but this was something else entirely. These artists were using drum machines, synthesizers, and computers, and the impact it had on me was intense. I became addicted to this “computerized” music and started asking Paul for a new tape every time we had a holiday coming up.
What was your first experience in DJing, or getting the hang of mixing techniques?
Paul Du Lac had turntables set up in his basement—which we called “Paul’s Basement.” It was packed with records and gear. We could hang out for hours, just watching him mix. His delicate techniques were super inspiring. Later, Frans and his brothers got their own setup too, so we could listen on our own s and soaking it all in. At that point, I wasn’t mixing yet, but I was already obsessed with digging and collecting.
Around 1999, Paul started working at Clone Records, so naturally, we all went over there, and our digging obsession just kept growing and it became my Never Ending Story.
A few years later, I got to know someone who worked at Jazz Café Dizzy. He worked behind the bar and did the programming. After a deep conversation about music, he could tell how passionate I was and asked if I played records. I said, “Not yet!” His response was, “Well, would you like to play here sometime?” So I did—without ever having touched a mixer.
I had no idea what I was doing, but I quickly started reading the crowd. I could feel what they wanted to hear just by watching them move. After a few gigs, they kept booking me and putting my name on posters around the city. That’s when I asked Frans to finally teach me how to properly mix. He showed me the basics, taught me how to work the pitch control—and the rest is history.
You also know Woei from back in the day right? How did you guys meet?
We go way back. Around 1997, we were part of the same street and club scene in Rotterdam. I was roller-skating, Woei was skateboarding, and we’d all be hanging out in the same spots, always having fun. As the years went by we still run in to each other at parties, we are still in the same scene today. I think the passion he has for sneakers is the same kind of passion I have for music. Some people never lose that love for what they do, and it’s beautiful to see there’s a new generation now that shares that same energy and vision, and they’re the ones helping keep this scene alive.
When it comes to DJing, you’re known for a distinctive style and approach. Could you maybe explain how and where this unique way/taste comes from?
Most records I buy are timeless with a peculiar raw emotional twist, other records I buy are more tools for sets to lift the bangers up. Once I’ve listened and once it hits my soul they are in my head and I already hear combinations without even listen to it again, so basically I can already overlap records in my mind and hear whether it sounds off-key or not, I rarely get it wrong, but that has more to do with octaves than with the chords, or because of an unexpected instrument that pops by.
When was your first real official gig?
I think my first Club gig was at Nighttown 2003, but the one I’m really proud of happened in April 2006. I was on the same lineup as Legowelt, David Vunk, DJ Assault, and Slick Chick. It was at Waterfront—an underground party with music freaks spread across two rooms. The vibe, the music, everything fitted perfectly.
I’ve had bigger gigs since, but sometimes I felt like I didn’t belong on the lineup—either because my sound didn’t fit, or I felt I was booked just for being a female DJ.
You have been affiliated with a few of the top underground organizations known in the scene (Bordello A Parigi, Clone Records & Intergalactic FM). Where did that match come from?
It all started for me at Clone Records and the Bootleg DJ Café which were our home bases during the mid-nineties.
From the moment I met these guys we had a nonverbal connection which is difficult to explain, but let’s say we just know and it’s real. For me that connection has never changed ever since because we do what we do and we like what we like.
But above all, we are friends, and Otto Kraanen from Bordello even became family.
Let’s say 10 years ago I started to come back again after a classic break of a few years. Bordello a Parigi started to book me, and gave me bigger and very interesting dancefloors in other cities like Berlin, Amsterdam and Bilbao, so thanks to Otto I got a whole new lift in the club scene again which I am really thankful for.
Because you sometimes take a break from DJing you have a clearer vision and view of how the scene is developing throughout the years. How do you think the scene is now compared to a few years back?
I always had a huge interest in the dynamics of dancefloors, which I can’t really let go and because I take a break once in a while I always come back in full effect with lots of new input and a strong output.
Some years back there used to be this hype of booking female DJs no matter what their sound was. I remember being booked by promoters for only that reason or because they thought ‘I Only played Italo". In a way that’s my own fault because I am not very good in promoting myself neither with uploading mixes that they can listen to.. but yeah.
Thanks to the internet our music reaches a bigger audience, so we have way more female dancers on the dancefloor as well. I really enjoy when young kids feel what I felt when I heard these records for the first time. I hope that I have the capability to do so, that the purpose of the sound really hits their soul, like it hits mine.
These days I've noticed that some DJ’s don’t really take their time to tell a story in their sets like the few DJ’s did back in the days. Probably because of the way of discovering their tracks.
I mean, if you don’t play a track at the right moment its magic won’t be done any justice!
“Some tracks can’t just be thrown randomly into a set. I’ll be mega displeased if the track is not used to its full potential during its peak moment.”
If you can’t handle the track, and it doesn’t fit in your set: don’t play it (yet). It needs time and awareness.
Back when I was often DJing with Monica Electronica, we’d also travel to Belgium to spend our whole Saturday on digging, like New Beat, she was really into that sound. That was something I didn’t really share with the “boys from the hood.” We’d go to record shops like USA Import and Wally’s Groove World in Antwerp to just hunt for the best gems.
We didn’t have the internet yet—you had to trust your gut when digging. I ended up with some really bad records as well to be honest…. I never sold any off my collection, so I still have everything, for better or worse!
USB or Vinyl?
Vinyl, for sure! These days I do digitize my own records because after so many years you're just sick of carrying record bags to gigs back and forth and I can make stronger and longer mixes with the Pioneers.
What can we expect from your Operator Radio set?
Because I know Woei from the 'streets' it’s gonna be a more soul-based Chicago street sound set!
Any future bookings we need to be watching out for?
I'm personally really looking forward to ‘Het Festival’ at NAR Utrecht. That's a gig where I’ll be able to play my music for the exact right audience.
Anything left to say to the readers?
For every moment in existence, there’s a perfect record to be played.
Check out WOEI FM #45 with Plentyvyenty!
