Interview with Carmen Electro by Charlie Taylor
Carmen Electro’s debut release on SEVENVA02 marks a pivotal moment. Not just because it’s her first official track, but because it reveals a new layer of her sound.
Best known for powerful techno sets, Carmen Electro shifts into more melodic, emotional terrain with “Viviane” – a House music cut rooted in friendship, introspection, and creative risk.
SEVEN · PREMIER: Carmen Electro – Viviane [SEVENVA02]
I spoke to her about how the track came to life, why now felt like the right time, and what this moment means for where she’s heading next.
Carmen Electro’s approach to DJing mirrors her energy outside the booth: keep it real, respect the legacy of the music you play, and always bring something new and unexpected to the table.
A proud force within the global underground techno scene – with sets at iconic venues like Berghain’s Säule, Bassiani, Tresor, RSO, Radion and Industrial Copera – Carmen’s selections reflect deep knowledge, big emotion, and a fearless instinct for pushing boundaries.
As a resident at KAOS, Selected Berlin, and Tresor Berlin, she’s earned a reputation for sets that are immersive, electric, and always evolving.
Now, SEVEN is proud to present a different side of Carmen Electro – one that’s been hiding in plain sight. Her debut release, Viviane, marks a bold entry into the world of House Music. And more than that: it marks her first ever official track.
“I only started producing in 2020, and back then I had no idea what I was doing most of the time. If you told me three years ago I’d be putting a track out now, I’d say: yeah, you go girl! But I definitely wouldn’t have guessed it would be house.”
But house music, as she reflects now, has always been part of her story – just more quietly than techno.
“So in a way, house has always been there for me, even if I gravitated more toward the intensity of techno,” she explains.
“I’ll admit I feel a bit shy about house music because, compared to my knowledge of techno, I still feel like a beginner. There are so many artists, labels, and subgenres I’m still discovering. That definitely plays a role in why I kept that side of me more private.”
That’s begun to shift – both in the booth and in her own tastes. “Over the past few years, when I go out dancing just as a raver, I find myself drawn more and more to house music,” she says. “And if you really look at the history of dance music – how techno evolved from those early house sounds – I realised I couldn’t take myself seriously as an artist if I didn’t allow myself to explore those roots. SEVEN is my way of doing that. It’s about reconnecting with where it all began, and giving space to a side of me that’s always been there, quietly grooving in the background.”
The Making of Viviane
The track began not in the studio, but in motion, on a summer train ride from Munich to Berlin in 2024, midway through what Carmen describes as a stretch of “challenging weeks.”
“I was feeling quite melancholic and texting my best friend, Viviane, about everything,” she recalls. “She’s always been my biggest supporter, and in moments like that, she just knows exactly what to say to lift me up and help me push through.”
It was on that journey that the track began to take shape.
“The original version was slower, with a melancholic, loungy intro that gradually evolved into something more hopeful and uplifting – mirroring how my mood shifted in real time as she encouraged me via text. I’m truly blessed to have Viviane in my life, and this track is really an ode to her if anything. I know she will forever fight for me.”
Originally, Carmen didn’t intend for the track to go beyond her own hard drive. But that changed when she shared it with CRYME – a close friend, DJ and co-founder of SEVEN.
“I just wanted feedback. He’s the real house connoisseur,” she says. “I trust his taste completely. When he came back and said, ‘You need to finish this and send it back to me,’ I was surprised – and honestly, touched.”
That moment gave her the push to rework Viviane for the club: “I gave it a facelift – more upbeat, more playable. I wanted to be able to sneak it into my techno sets,” she adds with a grin.
From the start, Viviane was one of those rare sessions that just made sense.
“It was honestly the most easygoing, sense-making process. I just felt such a strong emotion and was sitting in front of Ableton, stuck on a train, with no other distraction – and therefore it was so natural to channel that emotion into this track.”
She entered a flow state almost immediately. “All the samples I chose, I felt really strongly about from the beginning – which is not always the case.”
Carmen’s usual workflow involves building out ideas quickly, then creating multiple versions to explore different directions. But Viviane was an exception. “I really finished the first loungy version in five hours on that train ride,” she says. “And the final version took maybe another six hours, six months later.”
In the end, the track landed exactly where it was meant to, both sonically and spiritually.
“Viviane sits perfectly in the ethos of SEVEN – at that intersection of house’s uplifting piano riffs and the driving energy of techno.”
She adds:
“I’m incredibly grateful to CRYME for pushing me to believe in this track (and in myself), and also to my production teacher, Steve Ward, who’s truly been a sensei on this journey toward releasing my very first track.”
Techno Heart, House Soul
There’s a vulnerability in Viviane that shows a new side of Carmen Electro – but one that still feels true to the artist fans know from her techno sets.
“It’s not that techno doesn’t allow me to show my feminine side, but in that context, I tend to express it in a stronger, more assertive way. House music is different. It gives me the space to tap into a more emotional, playful, and fun-loving version of myself – one that probably reflects the everyday Carmen a bit more.”
That emotional openness, she adds, might also stem from her Finnish roots. “Even when the emotion isn’t sad, a lot of my tracks carry a kind of melancholy. That definitely comes from my background. And I’m often drawn to nature-inspired or organic sounds – there’s a kind of national romanticism in that, I think.”
A Quiet Build, A Loud First Step
While many artists would tease their production journey online, Carmen deliberately kept her process under wraps.
“I think it’s just surprising to people that I am producing,” she says. “I didn’t feel comfortable posting about it – I don’t enjoy the whole virtue-signalling thing. I just wanted to put my first record out there and let that speak for itself.”
That quiet confidence was met with full support from the SEVEN team – including Glenn Elliott and Lucas Kreimeier, the label’s co-founders and curators.
“I’ve loved Glenn and Lucas since the moment I met them,” Carmen says. “They’ve created such a loving and supportive environment for me to explore new sides of my sound. I truly can’t emphasise enough how much it means to me that they believe in me to the point of putting my very first track out on wax. SEVEN is executed with pure energy and passion, and I have no doubt it will grow into something wildly successful. It’s a no-brainer, and an honour, to be part of it now.”
What Comes Next?
This release marks a new beginning for Carmen Electro – and there’s plenty more on the way.
“We’ll definitely have more music coming soon, I’ve been refining my sound in the studio and building a demo folder that represents me. The next releases will probably lean a bit more into techno – although I’m also exploring some spacier stuff that I’d call… emotional tribal, haha.”
And where would she dream of hearing Viviane dropped for the first time?
No hesitation: “Panorama Bar.”
Carmen Electro on SEVEN
Carmen Electro’s debut track Viviane will appear on SEVENVA02, out 28 August 2025 on digital, 12” vinyl and audiocassette. Pre-orders and previews will be available via SEVEN’s Bandcamp and SoundCloud.
More Carmen Electro
You can follow Carmen Electro here on Instagram and here on SoundCloud