Kléo

Grow­ing up in the sub­urbs of Paris dur­ing the late ​’90s, Clé vivid­ly remem­bers the first time she heard Nuy­or­i­can Soul’s song, ​“I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun”. In that moment, a spark ignit­ed inside her teenage self, one that still burns bright­ly. A pas­sion­ate and metic­u­lous crate dig­ger for 15 years, Kléo’s joy­ful obses­sion with ana­log cul­ture remains unchanged from her ear­ly days – dis­cov­er­ing every­thing from Chica­go house and NYC garage to obscure boo­gie and dis­co odd­i­ties, and always keep­ing both ears on mod­ern pro­duc­tions too. For­ev­er weav­ing a sto­ry with records, Kléo care­ful­ly selects each track from what is now a vast vinyl col­lec­tion. Sen­si­tive and fierce, she is an intu­itive force behind the decks.

In ear­ly 2024, Kléo launched the label ​‘Call 4 Rhythm’, with her debut self-pro­duced EP ​‘Agogo’. In keep­ing with the style of her DJ sets, the release is a mind-daz­ing invi­ta­tion to let go and dial in. The A‑side sets off nos­tal­gi­cal­ly, lin­ger­ing keys inter­weav­ing with men­ac­ing lines of acid between robust per­cus­sive beats. The B‑side is a dev­as­tat­ing Chica­go-infused ver­sion, a state­ment of force­ful yet elo­quent 303 exe­cu­tion. As much as the record is an authen­tic and rugged dance floor affair, it guards the spir­it and virtue of hon­esty, ele­ments which have been the back­bone of every art­form Kléo has shared over the years.

Kléo has graced clubs like De School, OHM, berlin­Club, ²⁰⁄₄₄, Peti Kupe, and had reg­u­lar appear­ances at fes­ti­vals such as Dek­man­tel, Selec­tors, ADE, Lost Vil­lage, DGTL, and LOVE­FEST. Though her roots are amongst inti­mate dance floors, Kléo is no stranger to big stages either. No mat­ter the size or space, con­nec­tiv­i­ty with the crowd is key. Kléo believes in the fun­da­men­tal role club cul­ture plays in our soci­ety: to advo­cate for accep­tance, love, and diver­si­ty, offer­ing a safe space for all to be free to be your­self. As the great Lar­ry Heard asks, ​“can you feel it?” When Kléo is at the decks, the answer is always a resound­ing yes.