Few festivals create a fully immersive atmosphere quite like Draaimolen. Taking place in the south of the Netherlands, the festival site is nestled within a beautiful woodland area just outside Tilburg. Collaboration is a central theme of Draaimolen, as shown by the extensive co-production between the festival organisers, guest labels, artists, architects and lighting technicians. This is also evident in Draaimolen’s programming, particularly in its reputation for unique and unexpected B2Bs—it’s truly exciting to see how artists with varying styles can combine their sonic universes to create something unique.
Photo credit: Bitter Babe – Instagram
Seeing the way the stages interact with their natural surroundings is truly incredible. This year, the festival featured six stages, many of which were co-curated with a particular label and designed around a distinct sonic and aesthetic theme. Each space worked with the natural layout of the site, using installations and lighting as an enhancement to the existing environment.
Friday at the festival brought plenty of highlights. Mama Snake B2B Darwin felt like entering the belly of the beast, delivering an eerie, almost animalistic techno set perfectly suited to the winding, jungle-like Tunnel stage. Later, Angel D’Lite B2B Kim Ann Foxman played as the sun began to set, with the pink sky providing the perfect backdrop to their euphoric, trance-infused house set. The combination of Angel D’Lite’s old-school rave style with Kim Ann Foxman’s progressive house was uplifting, with a hint of nostalgia.
The festival’s thoughtful interplay between design and nature was particularly striking at the Strobe stage, the festival’s largest space. Behind the DJ decks stood a huge, wave-like aluminium structure, undulating against the backdrop of the woods and reflecting both the natural environment and the crowd, distorted across its surface. Over at Strobe, Shygirl offered one of the weekend’s rarer live performances, bringing her genre-defying sound with a surprisingly punk edge.
During the day on Saturday, Devon Rexi Meets John T. Gast combined ethereal vocals with experimental, dub-heavy production. Nicola Reverda’s dreamy voice floated above the funky bassline, layered with snippets of post-punk sampling. The set took place at the Aura Stage, which is run by the UK-based Timedance label, led by Batu. Its bass-heavy sound system lent itself perfectly to the drum and bass elements of the set. Later, harnessing the celestial atmosphere of the Moon Stage, Adiel combined her signature experimental techno with Garçon’s more hypnotic style. The result was an intense, moody set, with melodic tracks contrasting propulsive, high-energy sounds.
At the Pit Stage, co-run by the label Tra Tra Trax, Bitter Babe and Carista brought two distinct styles together in a set that blended them into the best of both worlds. Bitter Babe’s dembow- and guaracha-inspired sounds collided with Carista’s house and breakbeat influences, resulting in a bass-heavy cacophony of sexy playfulness. Above them, a beautifully luminescent tarp covered in tiny lights responded not only to the music but also to the movement of the wind, completely engulfing the crowd visually and sonically.
The night eventually wound down at the Forest Rave stage, where Sandrien eased into a gentle and nostalgic house set to wrap up the festival and lead us back out into the real world. The stage is co-programmed by Eris Drew and Octo Octa and was probably the least reliant on installations, instead leaving the space’s beautiful trees as the main attraction. At night, spidering lasers cut through the trees, playing with the natural architecture of the woodland that gives the stage its name.
In the wake of her B2B with Carista, I caught up with TraTraTrax’s Bitter Babe (AKA Laura Solarte) to get some insights into her current inspirations, approach to her craft, and experience at the festival.
EG: Hi Laura, welcome to Electronic Groove. Thank you for joining me today! You’ve had a very busy summer in terms of gigs. What have you been listening to this season that’s been particularly inspiring you musically?
Bitter Babe: I’m not exactly sure if it’s something that is inspiring my music directly; for sure, indirectly, but I keep coming back to Flea’s new album ‘Honora’ since I listened to it back in April. The instrumentation, the space in the compositions, the emotion, and his trumpet playing all work so well. I’ve had such a busy summer playing and being surrounded by club music, so I think I’ve naturally been drawn to listening to things that sit quite far outside of that world when I’m on my own. There’s something about that album that gives me a bit of space and keeps pulling me back.
At the same time, I’ve been returning a lot to Florence’s ‘The Vineyard’ remixes, especially the Beat Pharmacy Dub from 2009. There’s something about the combination of dub, space and rhythm in that track that really resonates with where my head is creatively at the moment. I’ve been increasingly interested in how you can create something that feels very physical and hypnotic without it necessarily being heavy, and how much movement can come from repetition, space and subtle shifts in the rhythm.
EG: You’ve mentioned previously that you initially got into DJing because you were tired of seeing the same male DJs always performing, and wanted to prove that you could do it better. Is there any advice you would give to FLINTA DJs who are just starting?
Bitter Babe: I’ve never felt particularly comfortable giving advice because everyone’s path is so different. In my case, I didn’t start DJing with the ambition of becoming a DJ. I was just tired of seeing the same four men playing the same music back in Bogotá where I grew up, and I couldn’t understand why that was all we were being offered. There were barely any women playing at the time, and I remember thinking that surely I could do something more interesting, even though I had absolutely no idea how to DJ yet. So I guess my initiation was partly out of spite, which turned out to be quite a useful motivation!
If there’s anything I would take from that experience, it’s that you don’t have to wait until you feel completely ready or qualified to start. Be curious, develop your own taste, and don’t assume that the people already occupying those spaces have something you don’t. Sometimes the fact that you’re dissatisfied with what’s out there is already a pretty good reason to create something of your own.
EG: The label you’re a part of, TraTraTrax, co-curated the PIT stage at Draaimolen. Can you describe the vibe of the stage from your perspective, having played there?
Bitter Babe: It felt like a real milestone. Draaimolen is such an incredible festival, and the PIT is such an emblematic stage, so being there as part of TraTraTrax, with the label co-curating it, was already very special. But getting to experience that alongside my friends made it even more meaningful. I spent most of Saturday at the PIT, and what I loved was how each artist brought something completely their own while still feeling connected to the identity of the label.
And then there was the closing. Draaimolen has such a strong identity as a festival for experimental music, so seeing the PIT end with DJ Playero playing a 45-minute reggaeton megamix, and watching so many people stay, dance, and have the best time, felt almost historic to me. The type of music my friends and I were dancing to at 13, 15 years old, closing a stage made me realise how far this has gone. I think that’s what I’ll remember most about that day: the feeling of community, the joy of sharing this music with so many people, and the fact that I got to experience it all with my friends. It genuinely felt like a dream, and a reminder of what makes doing this so worthwhile.
“It genuinely felt like a dream, and a reminder of what makes doing this so worthwhile”
EG: Draaimolen’s lineup this year featured a lot of amazing B2Bs, which seemed to encourage artists to experiment with their typical sound. How did your B2B with CARISTA come about, and what was the process of blending your respective styles like?
Bitter Babe: We actually barely prepared! We were both so busy with other shows and commitments that suddenly it was time for the set, and we hadn’t really discussed much. But I think we both trusted each other’s musical trajectory and work, so it never felt particularly scary, even though we knew this was an important one for both of us.
The main thing we agreed on was that groove and rhythm would be the point of connection between our selections. We also understood the context of the stage and the label we were playing for, which allowed us to push our individual sounds a little further than we might at a regular club night or another festival. But how that would actually unfold was mostly a surprise to both of us.
We exchanged a few tracks to figure out how to begin, agreed on the opening track, and that was pretty much the extent of our preparation. It ended up being one of my favourite B2B experiences of the year. The stage got incredibly packed, and the music just flowed. There was something so natural about the way we were responding to each other, and we were having so much fun throughout. I think the fact that we left so much room for spontaneity is precisely what made it so special.
EG: You’ve been doing a lot of incredible B2Bs recently. What do you love most about playing B2B?
Bitter Babe: I’m quite selective about B2Bs. I love to do B2B’s with DJs whose approaches to music and world-building inspire me. I’m not necessarily interested in playing with someone whose sound is very similar to mine, because then it can end up feeling like an extension of what I would do on my own. What excites me is the possibility of two distinct musical worlds colliding and creating a completely new one. Something that neither of us could have imagined or created individually. That’s what I’ve loved most about the B2Bs I’ve done recently. Every time, I find myself stepping into a world I haven’t explored before, one that’s being shaped in real time through the exchange between us. You can’t fully plan or prepare for that because the other person is an essential part of its creation. There’s something really exciting about surrendering a little control and discovering where you can take each other.
EG: Draaimolen is known for its incredible location in the woods, paired with amazing stage design and installations. How do you think your physical surroundings influence the way you craft your set? How do you think these things influence the experience for the crowd?
Bitter Babe: My physical surroundings play a huge part in how I prepare a set. I always think about the space I’m going to play in because the environment inevitably influences the music I want to share and how I want to communicate it. Playing outdoors is completely different from playing inside a club, and being surrounded by trees creates a very different atmosphere from being in a concrete space or a dark, smoky room with minimal lighting.
The PIT is a perfect example of this. It’s literally this enormous pit, almost like a football field sunk into the ground, with a line of subwoofers stretching from one side to the other. The way the stage and sound system are constructed already invites you to explore the lower frequencies and experiment with how the music can be felt physically. Then you have the woods behind the stage, and the lighting plays such an important role in translating the music visually. All these elements become part of how I imagine the set.
I think the same applies to the crowd. The space shapes not only what I’m communicating but also how people receive it. The sound, the architecture, the surroundings, and the lighting all interact, creating an experience that goes beyond the music alone. That’s what I find so special about Draaimolen: the environment isn’t simply a backdrop to the performance. It’s an active part of it.
“The space shapes not only what I’m communicating but also how people receive it”
EG: From your hometown of Bogotá, to Miami, and now Paris, you’ve lived all around the world. How do you think these places have influenced your music and sound?
Bitter Babe: I think every place I’ve lived has shaped me in ways that are probably difficult to fully separate from who I am now. Bogotá is where I grew up, so there are rhythms and ways of experiencing music that feel almost instinctive to me. Miami exposed me to a completely different mix of cultures and sounds, and living in Europe has expanded that even further.
More than consciously taking something from each city, I think it’s the accumulation of all these places that has shaped my sound. Moving around has kept me curious and constantly exposed me to different ways of listening, dancing, and thinking about music. I don’t necessarily hear one city in what I make, but I definitely hear the fact that I’ve lived between different worlds.
EG: Okay, one final question to wrap up: you travel a lot for your job; what are your essential travel work-bag items?
Bitter Babe: My headphones (that aren’t actually mine, shout-out to Gabrielle Kwarteng for giving me a pair after I lost mine) are probably the most essential thing, both for working and for surviving the amount of time I spend in airports and on trains. Then my laptop, a portable charger, sunglasses, electrolytes, and some kind of snack because I’ve learned the hard way not to rely on airport food or assume I’ll have time to eat. I also always have something to read with me, even if I’m overly optimistic about how much reading I’m actually going to get done; earplugs, sleeping pills, and a sleeping mask.
For more information about Draaimolen Festival, visit its official website here.
Follow Bitter Babe: Spotify | SoundCloud | Instagram
Follow Draaimolen Festival: Website | SoundCloud | Instagram
