Originally hailing from Dublin, Saoirse has been playing genre-defying sets to crowds all over the world for over twenty years. Whether it’s her residency at Maricas, in Loverboy’s adoptive city of Barcelona or starting her own queer dance festival, Body Movements, in our hometown of London, Saoirse, always represents the community.

Now she has been invited by London’s iconic fabric to curate a new mix for them – fabric presents Saoirse – out now. A pumping, intergalactic set that takes in deep house, moody techno and more, Saoirse’s mix features some of her favourite deiscoveries from over the last twenty years as well as exclusive new tracks from friends Shanti Celeste and Junes.

Loverboy speaks to Saoirse about creating the mix for fabric, her favourite things to do in Barcelona and the constantly evolving queer dance scene.

Saoirse, congratulations on your fabric compilation. I love that it traverses so many genres. When you approached it was there a location you were imagining people dancing to it?
Well, probably no surprise that the club I thought about people dancing to it in was fabric! It’s curated based on the sound and texture I’ve heard within those walls through all the years I’ve spent on the dancefloor and now I want to hear within those walls.

How many drafts of the setlist did you go through before you comitted to the final one?
You actually have to submit a huge volume of tracks because they need to be licenced, so it’s hard to know what the vibe is going to be until you get those approved. Once the approvals come in then you can start to structure a vibe. It’s a different way of working than I usually would when curating a mix.

Seventy minutes is not really so long for a DJ set and I imagine you want to represent important artists, scenes and for it all to flow and sound great. Did you feel pressure to represent everyone in such a short set?
It was more about a mood rather than who I was representing, I want it to be a mix of people that want to listen to it repeatedly based on that particular mood. Just wanted it to have an uninterrupted flow.

In fact, can you tell us about some of the artists you have selected?
A lot are artists from all over the world, many of whom I didn’t know before these particular tracks. It was a digging process to find music that fit in with the mood I wanted to create.

Who was the first person you played it to?
Only my management heard it before its release.

You’ve got a couple of exclusives on there. You’re good friends with Shanti, I know, but how did both the exclusives come to be. Did you ask for a vibe and they delivered? Or was it something they already had?
Shanti sent me a tune the morning of a trUst show of mine in Hackney Wick. I said, ‘OMG, I LOVE’ and played it that day at the show. It really went off. I pulled her over and said ‘You have to let me release this’ and she did! For Junes, he’s just one of my favourite producers so I hit him up and said, ‘Would you be interested in in releasing something exclusive for this mix?’ He sent me a folder of absolute gold. It was hard to choose just one.

I know you’re here in Barcelona a lot. What do you love about it and where’s your favourite place to be…besides Maricas!
I like the slowness. Everything is calmer than London. People feel more chilled. It’s spontaneous. Honestly my fave thing is just sitting outside a bar having pintxos and watching the world go by.

Tell us about your connection with Maricas and your time as resident there?
We actually met in Stockholm, and it was one of those meetings where you knew instantly, ‘OK, these are my people.’ When I came to play for them the first time in Barcelona, I think I ended up staying for three days. That’s how safe and comfortable I felt with them. It just clicked with us, our values, our humour, our music tastes. Just works.

I know you’ve said you realised you needed to leave Ireland and didn’t want to wait for someone else’s approval. It sounds like you were young to realise validation has to come from within.
Dublin always had a glass ceiling for me. I needed more openness, new cultures and love, all of which I wasn’t finding in Ireland. I do love it, the people, the laughter, the history but I’m always looking at new things to take on and I found in Dublin I didn’t have as many opportunities for that.

How has the queer clubbing scene changed since you started clubbing? It feels so much less segregated by gender.
Well I think queerness in itself is what has taken over. Being queer feels more like a culture, it’s a value system and openness and acceptance rather than just a sexuality. This means that queerness is an umbrella for many and not by segregation. That’s what I have seen change a lot.

You’ve got Body Movements Festival 2023 happening very soon. How are you feeling about it all?
Feeling good! A little calmer than usual as we know what we are doing, more so now than before. Although I don’t want to jinx it! It’s definitely hard ticket-wise this year. That seems to be across the board but personally I feel this is our best line-up yet. I’m very excited to see Deena Abdelwaheed and Introspekt.

Lastly we are named after the biggest selling single of 2001, so we always ask what is your favourite Mariah Carey song?
I mean it’s cliche but who can stay sat down when ‘Fantasy’ comes one, it’s just impossible!

fabric presents Saoirse is out now
Photo: Seb Peters