Artist Spotlight: Maite Dedecker
With your dad being a DJ himself, do you think music was always going to find you, or did it still feel like a surprise when it did?
I think music has always been a part of me, even before I consciously realised it. I grew up surrounded by music at home, in the car, and everywhere I went; there was always music playing. So in a way, I feel like it was always in my blood. Before becoming a DJ, I actually danced professionally as a ballerina. Dance was a huge part of my life, and it taught me so much about rhythm, movement, discipline, and, most importantly, how to tell a story without saying a word. After I had to stop dancing because of an injury, I found my way into DJing almost unexpectedly. But looking back, it feels like I was always being guided towards it. What makes me incredibly happy now is that I get to combine everything I’ve learned through dance and music and turn it into something that is completely my own.
K90’s “Deliverance” is a hard trance classic. What drew you to that track specifically, and what made you feel like you had something new to say with it?
The melody was the first thing that really caught me. The original already has such an incredible drive and energy that, from the moment I heard it, I immediately felt, I want to do something with this. I also think there’s something very personal about working with a trance classic like “Deliverance.” Because my dad was a trance DJ, that sound has been around me for as long as I can remember. I feel like trance is somehow in my blood, but at the same time, I wanted to tell that story through my own musical language. For me, that meant bringing it into my world of techno, adding my own grooves, drums, energy, and a more contemporary, club-focused feel, while still respecting what made the original so powerful.
What do you hope people feel when they hear your version for the first time? And what can fans expect from you for the rest of the year?
More than anything, I hope it gives people an immediate feeling. That moment where you hear a track and suddenly think, I just want to dance. Maybe you want to grab a drink with your friends, get in the car and turn the music all the way up, or simply feel that energy running through you. I want my music to create that kind of atmosphere – something that makes you feel good and makes you want to move. For the rest of the year, fans can expect a lot more from me. I’m working on new music and continuing to explore the sound that feels most authentic to me, somewhere between the emotion and melodies I grew up with and the grooves, drums, and energy of techno. I’m really excited about what’s coming next. I feel like I’m only just beginning to discover how much I can express through my music, and I want to keep pushing that further. My goal is to keep releasing music that has a story, an identity, and, most importantly, makes people feel something