Sharlese

Sharlese, the Seattle-based DJ and radio host, thrives on the unexpected. The complexities and intricacies built within her sets create a dialogue between genres: from electro to EBM, Italo to techno, her vocabulary is vast and always rooted in the darker end of the spectrum. Sharlese's DJing creates evocative moments in time in which to feel and remember.

From Panorama Bar and Tresor in Berlin to Return to the Source and Club Toilet in Detroit, Intergalactic FM Festival in The Hague, Nowadays in New York and Smartbar in Chicago, Sharlese has built an international reputation for moody, genre-defying sets that ricochet between a seductive beat and uplifting synth patterns. Her mixes for respected platforms such as The Lot, pi pi pi, KHIDI and BITE and guest appearance for DJ Stingray 313 on Rinse FM further show her ability to invoke movement from an array of genres echoing the sweatiest dance floors. Sharlese’s set from Sustain Release Year 11 is an invitation to surrender: a dark and deeply physical journey through the outer reaches of the dance floor.

“Seattle residents already know that Sharlese is one of the best DJs on the West Coast, and this mix for pi pi pi is proof. Enjoy slow but powerful jams, with mixing that moves like a lava flow, overwhelming and all-enveloping.” RA Mix of the Day

Sharlese's deep knowledge and respect for music is rooted in nearly two decades of digging, programming and contextualising underground sounds. Since 2010, she has been part of Seattle's KEXP, where she currently produces The Afternoon Show and is Programming Education Manager, while also hosting Mechanical Breakdown, a show dedicated to off-the-cuff, underground and boundary-pushing music.

Her club DJ career began in 2012 as a resident of Seattle's industrial wave night Second Sight. This experience, alongside hosting shows at Electric Tea Garden, laid the foundation for Audiodrome, a collective and monthly party held at the historic Pony, bringing together Italo, wave, synth, electro and techno, with sets streamed live via Intergalactic FM.

False Prophet, Sharlese's live event series, has been nurturing celebrated and emerging artists including Josh Cheon, ADULT., Nuovo Testamento, Kontravoid, Kris Baha, Franz Scala, Beau Wanzer and Spike Hellis for nearly a decade in Seattle. Residencies with Massive, the PNW techno collective secondnature and Mutant Radio (Tbilisi) further attest to her dedication to her craft and unwavering commitment to making bodies dance.