BEARCAT is a London-born, New York-based, DJ, producer, and performance artist of Jamaican and Irish descent.
BEARCAT’S DJ sets activate her masterful knowledge of black diasporic genres to evoke a dance floor experience of healing and release; both for herself and others. This incantation of uncompromising, pulsating rhythm and bass has brought her to perform at prestigious nightclubs around the world; festivals like Pitchfork, Afropunk, and Panorama; and museums like The Museum of Modern Art, The Guggenheim, The Whitney, and The Brooklyn Museum. Most recently she was Madonna’s opening DJ for a portion of her U.S. Celebration tour, additionally playing her iconic Oscars party.
BEARCAT’s sets are best described as transcendental, captivating, pounding and eclectic at their core, seemingly bringing together everything from jungle, drum’n’bass, techno, and house; to dembow, dancehall, rap, punk, deconstructed pop edits, and grime. This range of musical interests is reflected further in her work as a producer. BEARCAT has created a number of mixes for Boiler Room, RinseFM, NTS and The Fader. As well as producing fashion soundtracks for brands like Chromat and NoSesso. She’s been a part of recent vinyl releases from legendary labels Invadar and Epitaph and a digital release with Nervous Records. BEARCAT’s next release as a producer is an album that spans experimental sounds, blending unlikely genres but stressing visual storytelling through film.
BEARCAT has always embraced music as a part of her lifelong, anti-colonialist project, which began growing up in London; performing on the live music scene and discovering music as an escape from the daily violence of white supremacy. Throughout her journey, BEARCAT has conceived of her work as a therapeutic release, not only for those listening in the present, but as a healing exorcism that channels ancestral pasts through music. BEARCAT has performed and talked on panels regarding anti-racist /-colonial rhetoric, spirituality, queer politics and art at universities including Cornell, Wesleyan, and Oberlin, additionally sharing deeply personal stories of survival and adversities she has overcome.
BEARCAT’S queer politics, vast experience in the industry, and passion for equality inspired her to curate SELTZER, a night prioritizing queer, black and brown, experimental club DJs and artists. Originally born out of DIY spaces in West Philadelphia, SELTZER went on to hold a five-year residency at the infamous NYC nightclub Nowadays where, notably, BEARCAT was the first DJ to ever perform. She was one of the first DJs to be represented by the original female-lead booking agency Discwoman, and as a part of this collective, helped diversify club lineups around the world.