Safeasfx interview w/GirlBlunt
- Crimmu$
- 1 day ago
- 8 min read
Origins
Tell us about the name Girl Blunt.
We fucking love it — and we love blunts. What’s the story?
I’ve been active in music on and off for the past decade under a different moniker. When I first started djing I was using that name and realized it didn’t fit anymore. I happened to bring it up one day when I was hanging out with my friend Patrick, they immediately just blurted out Girl Blunt, I think it was the first name they said and it just clicked. The name, of course being a reference to the song Girl Blunt by Leikeli47.
What was it like finding your musical connection to the empty, open spaces of the Midwest?
How did that environment shape the sound you gravitate toward now?
God, as a kid I hated it. I couldn’t believe I wasn’t just born somewhere “cool” like LA or NYC. Anywhere BUT The Midwest, really. Everywhere else was glamorous, or had some sort of culture it could boast. What did we have here? Cold weather and people? I don’t think I found my appreciation for it until I moved back after living away for some years. For artists here, for me at least, you’re not creating expecting anyone to see it or it go anywhere. You’re creating something knowing that realistically it very likely won’t. It’s driven by something inside that just needs you to do it.
When did you go to your first rave?
What do you remember about that experience?
I’d BEEN to raves a number of times in my life before I actually experienced one. Initially, I would end up at one for the sake of keeping my own party going at the end of the night. Then I started hanging out with a friend who is deeply involved with the electronic music scene in Minneapolis. He brought me to one and something just clicked. He and I often separated on nights out together, and that particular one I could not be taken away from the dance floor full of, at the time, strangers. Not to be corny but the music had… I don’t know how to describe it, I guess started speaking to me? It was this instantaneous feeling that I was in the right place and that this was going to become a major part of my life somehow.
The Midwest & The Scene
Tell us about the scene in Minneapolis.
How has it shaped your taste, influences, and the kind of music you play now?
It’s influenced every part of me. Lived experiences blending with my own personal intertia of hating the somberness and seemingly ominous nothing, while still endlessly searching for and finding unique cracks of light and deep togetherness, pride in being from somewhere like this. The people who create here do it for the sake of creating, any spaces where we can do that are made possible by others like us, often hard fought. It’s impossible for me not to be inspired by that. Being an artist here is being like part of a secret club but you want the world to know about it, because it should.
What’s the Midwest producing right now that you love dipping into your sets?
Any regional sounds, producers, or micro-scenes we should know about?
They should rename Minneapolis MicroSceneapolis. Too many to name. Look up Minneapolis on SoundCloud, honestly. I’ll list some of my favorite locals at the end which would be a good starting point for those curious. I’ve been known to throw local moments from the past into sets at random. Poliça (current artist), Pony Bwoy, Spooky Black (now Corbin), Prince.
I saw a duo called Mutual Identities perform live a few months ago and I was really impressed and excited to see something like that in the city. I answer more later on some local stuff currently happening that’s worth checking too.
Career & Residencies
Tell us about your Synastry residency.
How did that come about, and what does it mean to you?
In summer 2023 I was offered the resident spot by a local booker and venue owner. The deal was for Sundays every single week, a free dance party with guaranteed pay for me and other guest performers. I had only been djing since that winter and was nervous but also knew this was a really great opportunity to not only fast track my skills, but connect me with other artists and the community. The fact that it was not only every single Sunday, but that it was also free set it apart from most other dance nights in the city. It was pulled from its original venue under confusing circumstances but wasn’t even gone for a year before another local venue picked it up and made it a monthly. I’ll always be grateful for its origins and how I was able to bring a free dance floor to the city and give myself to the opportunity work + connect with so many other djs and attendees. Many, now friends. Performing every week made me learn quickly, usually by listening to and watching the many djs I had booked. I learned about communication and what goes into making a night special, bringing my ideas to life and listening to those of others’.
If you could move anywhere in the States strictly for music culture, where would it be — and why?
Detroit. I’ve been all over, lived lots of places. I instantly felt connected to the city when I visited for my birthday last year and playing my first out of town gig that same winter. It’s the birth place of techno, it’s just different. It has heart that you won’t find anywhere else in the Midwest.
It’s wild that you’ve only been mixing since 2023. Your mixes sound like you’ve been cultivating a signature sound for years.
Tell us about that process — how did you get so dialled so quickly?
Music freak for my entire life. I listen to every type of music, genuinely. My grandpa collected records, my parents both had eclectic taste, I was constantly being exposed to new sounds and now as an adult I feel like I NEED to be. I spend sometimes up to 12 hours a day immersed in finding new music. It’s kind of an obsessive thing. When I find a song I connect with, it’s usually helping me process something emotionally. If a song doesn’t make me feel emotion of some sort, I’m not interested in it. I’ve been lucky enough to live in several places, other countries included. Music bridges gaps between people. Across the globe, we are moved by sound. We may have different names for our emotions but we all know them. When I’m mixing I feel like I’m inviting others into my world, it’s very personal while also universal. It’s showing them that they are safe and free to feel, even if it’s only as long as a set or a mix.
Any big projects or plans for 2026 that you want to tease?
Honored and humbled to be bringing in 2026 with Intellephunk, arguably the most epic warehouse party in the state for New Years Eve. From there, Synastry will be moving forward with exciting news, and in the spring, I’m sharing a bill with an 808 legend. I’d like to make and hopefully release a track or 2 of my own this year, as well.
Life, Parties & Personal Picks
How was Halloween this year?
How many parties did you end up hitting?
Halloween was lit! Super lit. I played at one of my favorite local venues Gateway with an incredible lineup. My friends own and run the space, which I’ve enjoyed as a patron, but performing there for the first time at a sold out Halloween Party was really exciting.
Then I pretty much went straight to Fargo and played another sold out show, both were Blade/Blood Rave themed so I got to be 2 different Vamp Blunts.
Any big plans for NYE?
Playing my favorite New Years Party, which feels like a dream. Shoutout to Midwest legends Intellephunk for that opportunity, the lineup is bonkers. My birthday is the 28th and all I wanted to do was see my friends and play music, which now I get to.
What are some of your favourite old records?The ones you treasure, spin, or keep for inspiration.
I don’t spin vinyl at the moment but I do have a few in my stash from times living in other places, and my grandpa collects- so I’ll be going through that when I’m ready.
Top two festivals in the States?
Either to attend or to play.
The Great Beyond, it’s in Minnesota and is an incredible intimate festival that my friends at Intellephunk put on. I got to go for my first time this year and absolutely hope to play in the near future. Another that I haven’t yet been to but hope to this year would be the legendary Movement in Detroit.
We have to ask… did the belly-button tattoo hurt?
Yes it did. The story behind it is kinda crazy. I got it in a cheap hotel room in Mexico with a battery operated machine that could’ve died at any second. I also hate my belly button being touched but saw it as some sort of personal challenge because that’s how I am. Definitely worth it all.
Community
Any local shoutouts?
Crews, DJs, artists, collectives — who deserves flowers?
Local favorites?
Insanely hard question because so many people are doing so many cool things.
Intellephunk crew has been holding shit down forever. Legendary shit. Being part of a new generation of fellow djs learning from them is insane in the best way. Also saw DVS1 rip the warehouse wide open last weekend and held the floor down with my friends til the end.
I can’t pick favorites but I’m proud of my collective Body High. On an individual level and as the unit we have created. Myself, Techno Doll, Jam.La, Starthirl.
I try not to miss an Elysium Alps set either.
Sound & Style
We love that you rep electro — not enough people are doing it justice.
What’s your history with the genre? What pulled you in?
My favorite movies are all from that same y2k era where everyone was futuristic and there was a rave scene at some point in the film. I always feel like I’m from somewhere else and electro and the like helps me decode messages being sent to me that I need to relay. I don’t get that from other genres (not to say they aren’t doing the same thing). I really like the idea of being from a planet of alien lizard hotties and I was a DJ, it never gets light outside and our language sounds like electro. Now I’m just waiting to go back. Crazier things have happened.
Tell us about Body High.
How did it start, what’s the vision, and where’s it going?
Body High was a one off party. I had a date at this venue, couldn’t figure out what to do with it. Enlisted 3 newer djs that I was really excited about and thought would work well together. The night was an incredible success and continues to be. It’s entirely femme and queer ran + centered. There isn’t another night like that at the venue, so we feel excited we can provide that type of environment and dance floor. The vision now is keep expanding on that, I find that working as a group is one of the best and fastest ways to learn (from each other) and cultivate something lasting. We’re starting another year or our residency and that’s major. We’ll see what happens from here, I want us to keep having fun and share the joy in each others journeys, bringing joy to others on theirs.
There’s a specific sound in your techno and electro — dark, acidic, industrial, with hints of darkwave.Would you say that’s accurate?
It definitely reminded us of the Montreal/Toronto club energy.
Very accurate. That’s music I grew up listening to. My parents saw Nine Inch Nails with me in utero so I like to say I was there. When I mix I get really focused and serious, I don’t think about song selection as much and let the songs select me. That sounds corny but whatever story I’m telling ties together best that way. I listen to a lot of darker stuff in my personal life and my emotional journey- that guides my sets and djing in general- is kind of just dark in general. It’s blending your soul with your shadow type shit. And make it fierce.
Who are some of your favourite producers right now?Anyone shaping your sets at the moment?
I love anything with sexy reptilian vibes. Reptant is a mainstay, on a newer end Anastasia Zems, on a more classic end Anthony Rother come to mind. I have so much music, I seriously spend hours per day finding new tracks but these are the first three I thought of that I love play.
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