Laure Croft slows techno down until it starts to sweat. Between hypnotic vinyl sets and her Sexyrecs universe, the Berlin-based artist turns the dancefloor into a space of tension, seduction, and release.
Laure Croft, the Utrecht-born, Berlin-based techno artist, has become a defining force in the world of sexy techno. Known for her hot and heavy approach to the dancefloor, she turns DJ booths into spaces of tension, release, and sensual pacing, prioritizing deliberate energy over haste. From slow-burning hypnotic grooves to intense fast-paced peaks, her vinyl-only performances craft long-form narratives that pull listeners in with meticulous precision.
Beyond the decks, Laure is the founder of Sexyrecs, a label built on instinct, freedom, and authenticity, and a resident at Berlin’s Kinky Sundays and RSO, where she continues to refine her understanding of pacing, risk, and emotional honesty. In this interview, she opens up about her philosophy, her process, and what it truly means to “keep it sexy” in the world of techno.
You’ve built a world around the mantra “keep it sexy.” In a culture that often misunderstands female sexuality, what does “sexy” mean on your own terms?
To me, sexy is not something that is a ‘fixed’ definition. It’s a free shape that comes in every form. For me it means to feel mentally free. Free from prejudice or insecurity, free from anxiety and feeling ‘you’ in your body in the best way possible. Dancing in front of the speakers in a club, not thinking anymore, just ‘being’ is to me the most sexy form of what’s achievable as a human. It’s almost a form of meditation to me. Sexy is often just referred to as stripping naked and doing slutdrops, I mean this could be part of it, but sexy could also mean reaching a higher sense of freedom within oneself. Also this is not necessarily tied to a gender to me. When men reach this sexy sense of self, I love to see that. With my definition of sexy and ‘keep it sexy’ I want to eliminate this stigma on sexiness and sexualizing of women. Really, women are so beautiful and I get it, if people sexualize women or sexiness in general. But really there is no need! Who says pick-up trucks (to some the most menly thing there is) isn’t sexy? Same goes for techno or what I create on or off the dancefloor.
Is the dancefloor a space of empowerment for you?
Definitely, it liberates me; and it confronts me. With myself, with others, with life. Empowering often comes from a crash first. I learned that the hard way.
Berlin’s techno scene can still feel male-dominated. Have you ever felt underestimated behind the decks and do you enjoy proving people wrong?
First I need to share that, to some of us an unpopular opinion, I love a good men techno set! I just want them to know that. Secondly I need to share that most of these men also have to understand that my rise in the scene doesn’t mean the fall of them. I said what I said (with love)!
You’re predominantly vinyl-only. In a hyper-digital era obsessed with speed and shortcuts, is playing vinyl your way of reclaiming patience and control?
For me, playing vinyl was and will always be a tool. I started to learn how to DJ on CDJs, however this never hit me in the feels back then. Vinyl did. It was rough, extremely difficult and it made me a bit horny as well, feeling the rush of ‘having to do the mix now otherwise the record runs off’. Now after playing vinyl only for a few years, I felt a bit that I became so familiar with my records that I decided to expand my tech setup. Now I play mostly hybrid or sometimes even digital. I never really learned how to play digital and I love that I’m discovering this realm now, in front of my lovely crowds. I need this feeling of space to ‘fuck around and find out’. I need room for error. Apart from clubs messing up my vinyl sets due to bad tech set-ups, there wasn’t much room for error anymore. Without trying to make this sound cocky, as many DJ’s dream is to wish to some day play vinyl, for me I felt I needed more than just the Technics. Still though, on special occasions like my Boiler Room or in clubs where the tech set-up is perfect, like in RSO Berlin, or for example in a b2b with Kaiser I’ll be playing in Else Berlin on the 2nd of May, I’ll do vinyl only sets.
“Sexy techno” could easily slip into gimmick. Do you think techno should or can feel sensual?
Well, if people are in fact tricked by me and slip into discovery of what sexy techno actually is, I think I did my job perfectly haha. I know sex sells, but what I’m selling is not sex, I’m just sexy and my music is. If people do perceive this as me selling myself to get heard, they totally missed the point. If you get it you get it, if you don’t you don’t. Also It’s not for everyone, and I think it will always be something that is more leaning towards sub-culture.
You’re a resident at Kinky Sundays and a regular at RSO. What have those dancefloors taught you?
They taught me to have fun. Really just have fun. Both of these amazing spaces and the people that run it have made me feel so extremely safe about me as a person, leading to me feeling total freedom within my sets. Instead of deeply preparing sets, I always bring loads of different sub-genres with me on these nights, for 4 hours 2 record bags full and a USB with even more options to wander off the path. The dancefloor on kinky Sunday is, as you can expect from the name, very kinky. The dancefloor at RSO can be kinky but this is more sneaky. I love to play for both and I also feel that my following at both places is ever growing and evolving. When I sold out Sexyrecs at RSO last December this was for me a total confirmation that I’m at the right place, in the right moment, at the right time, with the right people around me.
Do you feel a responsibility to carve out safer, more liberated spaces for women and queer ravers or does that pressure feel unfair?
Definitely, I’ll always be an ally and vouch for women and minority groups of our society. This is not really something that I ‘chose’ to do, this just naturally happens. I’m an outcast myself, queer, autistic, and ever working on myself as I did not have the right handles when I grew up. I feel that it always takes one to know one. Same species seeking safer ground with each other. All weird aliens meeting together to not feel ‘alienated’ anymore. I feel that at my shows or at Sexyrecs events, this kind of automatically happens and I love that. I’m an open book and I talk about my flaws and conditions. People at my events and my shows feel safe and heard; often even without sharing words. This is special and I’ll always stay authentic to that connection and feeling.
Let’s talk fashion. What does the “Laure Croft uniform” look like before a set? Is dressing for the booth part of the ritual?
I LOVE a good latex fit, or anything that is leather or all types of animal print. I look at my feed a few days ago and was like ‘oh gee looks like a leather latex zoo over here but its whatever’. Dressing for the booth is for sure part of the ritual, however how I am on stage is how I am off stage as well. Its no performance, its also just me doing my thing. Sometimes I get comments like ‘if only she could dress normal’ then my brain automatically goes, ‘well what if you could shut up and dress a bit more fun for once’. I like dressing up, or down, i always have. One time when I was just a baby and could barely walk, my parents lost me and they thought I went out on the street, only for them to look up to my bedroom window and seeing me standing in it, naked, with only my red rain boots on. This was a moment where they realized like ‘jee she could be an interesting kid for sure’. This was pure, I wasn’t aware of society yet, couldn’t even speak yet for that matter. But I did know where to find my red rain boots, take my clothes off and climb into the window only to wave at people on the street.
Berlin nightlife is constantly mythologized. What’s the least sexy thing about it?
I would say the club toilets on Monday morning, but even this brings a nostalgic sexy vibe to me hahaha. If I’d have to name something that is so extremely unsexy to me is how fake some people are. This happens not only in Berlin but everywhere I guess.
Finally, electronic music aside, do you have a karaoke song and what is it?
Well I hate karaoke, but I sing the whole album of Addison Rae on repeat and I love the vibe she brings in her songs. Also went to see her live in Berlin, and basically half of Berghain was there and this just shows that a girl just wants to have fun. Can’t a girl have fun? Can’t a girl have fun fun fun fun?
VEIN MAGAZINE print issues. Get inspired by our archive Ilovepaper.co
