MELI

MELI is a DJ based in Belgrade. She trained as a classical violinist before she went near a mixer, and she has spent roughly five years behind the decks. The training is not a talking point so much as a working method: she builds sets around harmony, and she will happily put together two records that have no business being put together. Her own summary of the job is shorter than any of this — "IT'S ALL ABOUT THE GROOVE".

She does not sit in one lane. Her first Sonic Shift set, #11, ran through tech house, breakbeat, acid and progressive, with gospel vocals cutting across it. Her second, #24, came from a different shelf entirely: house, funk, jazz, breakbeat and acid.

That second one was her first vinyl-only set — twelve records, no USB sticks, an hour of it. She collects vinyl, and the set is built like someone who does: a ska break to open, Chicago and jazzy house through the middle, then acid and a 90s rave dub to finish.

Her club path runs through the region and out of it — Montenegro, Croatia, the Netherlands, Portugal. She has played Exit Festival's AS FM stage, a set at ADE in the InDeep'n'Dance record store in Amsterdam, and 24 Bar in Novi Sad. She turns up regularly as a guest mix: Substation Live twice, KULT:R, Pericolo Sessions, Wanderlust Sessions, OnTrack.

She is now moving into production.