ColoRising Interview with Karolina Bnv & Premiere of ‘Context Abuse’

Words by Art Jefferson
Photography by Bryan Ashok

Berlin-based DJ, vinyl collector, and producer Karolina Bnv is a multi-faceted creative whose sonic explorations soar into various strands of electronica ranging from Italo disco, dark disco, industrial, Detroit techno, house, new beat, and more. Bnv has dazzled audiences across Europe with her entrancing selections and analog sensibilities.

Karolina Bnv joined Slow Motion’s sister label Wrong Era back in March of this year with her debut for the imprint titled Lessons On Good Behaviour. The 4-song EP demonstrated a masterful understanding of deep, and body-moving underground sounds fostering an uncanny bridge between the past and present. Bnv has now returned with her new EP Yet To Come, another sonic hybrid unleashing of new beat, electro, industrial, dark disco, and Detroit-fused rhythms. One can expect nothing but top tier production and fuel for the dance floor from the maverick.

We have a premiere of Karolina Bnv’s track ‘Context Abuse’ taken from her new EP Yet To Come, out November 22nd via Wrong Era.

You have been DJing for quite a while now. You’re also a collector of vinyl. Can you remember the first vinyl that you ever bought?

Karolina Bnv – Yes, of course! I remember that moment very well. I also recall bombarding the seller on Discogs with questions because I didn’t understand the process. He probably regretted that I contacted him. Fifteen years ago, I believed that a record graded as Very Good should indeed sound Very Good, but I was somewhat mistaken, as I later discovered. The first vinyl I ever bought was Urban Rhythm ‘Feel It Baby All Night Long’, released on the Strictly Rhythm label in 1991. It’s a wonderful combination of US garage sound with the well-known samples ‘Can You Feel It’.

When did you first begin your journey into music production?

Karolina Bnv – I took my first steps into music production in 2017. My head was always filled with ideas I wanted to express in my tracks, but I had no idea how to do it. At that time, a friend of mine introduced me to the basics, and I even managed to write a couple of tracks, completely ignoring key and sound structure (really, who needs to pay attention to such details?). After a couple of years of hard work, I wrote my first full-fledged EP, Lessons On Good Behaviour, and sent it to a few labels. Wrong Era was one of the first to agree to release it.

How long would you say it took for you to firmly develop your production sound?

Karolina Bnv – It’s a never-ending process, really, and it will likely keep evolving throughout my life as I go through different experiences. Five years ago, I was all about Italo Disco and EBM and everything related to them. These days, I’m more focused on the early ’90s Frankfurt sound, but there’s always this ongoing reflection on old school. I’ve always been a huge fan of the sounds from the late ’70s, ’80s, and early ’90s.

With you’re latest EP Yet To Come, you delve into various styles such as industrial, down to acid. Can you talk about the inspiration and creative process behind the new work?

Karolina Bnv -It was a bit of an experiment, really, called “Can I write a track in this or that genre?” which I think turned out quite well. I love all sorts of music and never limit myself to just one genre. Every time I go through the new releases for the week, it takes a while because I want to know what’s new from Disco to Trance. Inspiration always comes to me spontaneously. I might hear a lead or just start messing about with a sample, and then the ideas and room for experimentation just start to flow.