Henri Bergmann: Guarded by Angels

A sonic alchemist who fuses vibrant rhythms and melodies, Henri Bergmann has captivated global audiences with both her magnetic DJ sets and high-quality productions. Over a decade of hard work has earned her a place among electronic music's elite, with affiliations to respected brands such as Afterlife, Zamna, Watergate, and her own Automatik imprint. Bergmann’s unique sound—rooted in deep emotion and driven by contagious structures—has become synonymous with the full spectrum of human experience.

Fresh from her performance at WE ARE ICONYC X Di.FM during this year’s edition of the Amsterdam Dance Event, Type < / 01 Magazine caught up with the electric artist to dive into her latest release, “Guardian Angel”, her balancing act as a mother and label owner, her take on the state of the scene, her involvement during the Venice Film Festival, and more. Bergmann’s reflections offer a deeper look into the mind of an artist who continues to shape the melodic landscape while staying true to her core identity.

Hi Henri! Thank you for sitting down with us. How are you? How was your summer?

Hey guys! It’s my pleasure. I’m well. It's been quite the busy summer, intense, with lots of traveling. I’m just coming down and still recovering (laughs).

Haha! Yeah, we’ve seen your Instagram feed! So...You recently debuted your new track, “Guardian Angel“, at Pacha & Hï Ibiza with your husband Wennink on vocals. Congratulations! How did it go down? Can you share with us how this one came about?

Yes! It was “Guardian Angel”, which came out last month on Damian Lazarus’ Crosstown Rebels, featuring remixes by Stimming and Hardt Antoine, who have both done a fantastic job. I’m very excited to have this one hitting the shelves.

And, about how this one came to be…that’s a tough one, ha! I’ve done SO much music together with Oli, it is hard to keep track of how it originated.

Having said that, I’m pretty certain I was re-listening to a mix I did for Ibiza Sonica Radio a while back and came across a track I had never ended up releasing. I was like I love this vocal hook, so I went and dug the project out and dismantled it completely, keeping some specific sounds and that one vocal hook, and began to work on a completely new entity, which eventually became “Guardian Angel”.

Do you and Oli [Wennink] usually show your tunes to each other? Or does the feedback get “too technical”?

Oh, yeah, we share a lot of what we do, especially now that we share the same studio. We used to have two different studios in our house, but we decided to build one common space now. We’ve been working together for so long now, that sharing ideas and the process is seamless.

And the fun times didn’t stop there, did they…? Can we talk about the Venice Film Festival? That must have been quite a surreal experience. Have you been to something like this before?

My god, it was so surreal. It’s one of the most glamorous things I’ve ever done. I mean, I’ve done things like playing at private events before and all that, but this was just so luxurious. And the A-list celebrities…I was totally starstruck. I was there because I was DJing at Aston Martin’s latest car launch, and you had people like George Clooney and Daniel Craig standing next to you…It was really something else.

Music wise, well…you know. It’s not something that is going to provide a transcendent experience. It's more about “cocktail music”, just being in the background. The people are not there to dance, so its more about setting a “vibe”. Still, getting the playlist together was a bit stressful, but it was a lovely experience. And I have to say I just loved staying at the Danieli. It was one of the most gorgeous places I’ve stayed in.

Since we’re still scrolling down your Insta…we also saw that you even got to enjoy some quality time with your kids this time around. Being a mother of two, how do you balance your time as you also pursue your professional career? Are they aware of what mommy does by now?

You mean like… ”Why is mommy never home on weekends?” (laughs).

Well, YOU said that…not us, ha!

Haha! Yes, they are aware of what I do now. I mean…we’ve got the studio in the house, and we’ve got our decks set up in the living room, so I think they have a good grasp of what I do for a living and they like to watch all the videos of me Djing when I come home and ask me “is that you at work?”.

Spending time with them this summer was great. Every summer, I play for a hotel in Greece, and in exchange, I get to stay there for a few days. This was the first time they could actually stay up late enough to see me perform. It’s definitely not a rave, but it was really fun to wave our hands in the air.

I have to say that I was really lucky to get pregnant pre-covid…that really helped me out, as I didn’t need to take time off, since we were all locked up. However, I did try to hide my pregnancies until I was 6 or 7 months pregnant, especially my first one. It’s not like it is nowadays…I know this was only a few years ago, but in these past few years, with figures like Amelie Lens…I think there’s a way better reception and understanding of this. At the time, I was really worried about how it would come to impact my career… I was more relaxed with my second child and got really into pregnancy fashion. My biggest revelation was to wear really tight or see-through clothes and not dress like a sack. I’d love to go on tour now fully pregnant but no chance of that happening, haha!

Obviously, my daily life can get hectic. You know…traveling from Thursday/Friday to Sundays, coming back home, waking up, getting the kids ready for school, hitting the studio, playing with the kids, trying to catch up with friends, maybe going to a fashion show or event, dinner, and then getting up to do it all over again…I really have to say that Oli is a big part of what makes this balance possible.

Now, into the music…being a label owner and a curator, what do you usually look for in a tune? What’s a MUST?

Probably something with a cool drive. I’m always on the lookout for something original, something unique. I know that’s not saying much…I guess I mean some sort of hook, a vocal, a sample…something that’s instantly recognizable, that bit of a memorable moment and not just a clone of what everyone else is doing, you know?

Now, I’ve read somewhere that you are working on a Live set….is this right? Have you attempted something like this before?

Oh, no. Well…yes, and no. It’s not like I’m working on something right now. Oli has joined me live on a couple of occasions, but he’s not a constant part of the set. He has some sporadic appearances, singing on the tracks that we’ve worked on.

However, I would definitely love to explore that further, doing some special one-off tours or a special show, where we interact and share the stage during the whole show, like a hybrid set. And the more songs we do together, the easier it will be to pull something like that off. Obviously, this is a bit more complicated than just getting two people on stage because of the logistics…but I do have that somewhere in my mind.

Speaking about live performances, I also read somewhere that you learned Logic when you were in a band some 11-12 years ago…What kind of music did you play?

Ha! I see you came prepared! Well, that is true…but it's been longer than 11 or twelve years, I think. I really don’t know. Oh, God…if I’m being honest, I can’t remember how long ago I got married, or for how long I’ve been a DJ. In fact, I think I’ve been telling people for over 15 years that I’ve been DJing for a decade now.

Anyhow…yeah, I was in a band. This was when I was living back in Los Angeles, and it was a psychedelic krautrock band.

What the…? That is oddly specific…I guess I wasn’t ready for that!

Yeah, I know…we were so into CAN. We really wanted to emulate them.

Does one become a better DJ as they become a better producer? Do you think one informs the other?

Hmmm…No, I don’t think that one informs the other. Nonetheless, I do think that you need to make music in order to be able to market yourself in today’s landscape. I don’t think you can cut it by just being a “selector” or a cratedigger. You need the marketing that comes along with releasing your own music, and it's a way of setting yourself apart from the rest.

You once said that if you had not become a DJ, you would have probably worked with books. Is this real? Did you write books once? What about?

Well…I used to write books. Nothing that would have gotten me a Nobel Prize for literature, but I did work for a publishing house back in LA, so I mostly wrote what they told me to write about. However, I did write some academic-related books, like one I did with Larry King about “what beyond a reasonable doubt really means”.

I found this quote of yours, which I actually found to be quite refreshing…“I haven’t curated the tracks according to how I would play them in a set or how you would have heard an album from start to finish in the old days because that’s not how streaming and people’s attention span works in our current climate.”

I mean, I guess you can if you’re Fred again.., or Taylor Swift, or Beyoncé. Those players can do that, properly promote a concept album, and have everyone willingly engage with the record from start to finish. But if you’re not one of them, then yeah, you have to work the landscape in your favor if you want to cut through the static.

Of course, if you really want to make a statement, then I get the concept album thing. Hell, I’d love to eventually get there and do a concept album. I should even add my own vocals, which I always say I will and never do.

Making the most out of this level of sincerity…I know that as artists we try to make “timeless” music…but, as a label owner, does music have a shelf life?

Yeah, I think it totally does, but mostly because of the genre. I’d say it’s genres that have a shelf life. Of course, if you make pop music, that’s probably going to be in style forever. Or maybe a memorable vocal hook, in regards to electronic dance music. But again, if your sound becomes too “gimmicky”, then yeah, it’s going to have a shelf life.

I do tend to think about this, and I also try not to pay much attention to it, and maybe that’s why I think my music is hard to describe or peg down…But I know it's hard not to follow a trend or be influenced by other people’s music. Even if you're trying not to…that works on a subconscious level, you know? Like, not too long ago, I found out that one of the lyrics we wrote was very close to an 80s song I always liked. It wasn’t completely the same, and the execution is different, but I can see the connection.

Now, back to your travels…You have just come back from the Middle East, right?

Yeah, that’s correct. I did Dubai, Doha, and Jordan. It was absolutely fantastic. I had been to Dubai before, but this was my first time in Doha and Jordan. I can tell you that Jordan has a real soul. The people are so nice, I just couldn’t believe it. Everyone was doing their best, helping me feel welcome. It was the most hospitable place ever. For its part, Doha is very similar to Dubai…but with fewer people. It’s crazy to think there was pretty much only one hotel there in the middle of the desert in the 1980s and how much it’s been developed since. There’s a very international crowd now, but since it’s so eclectic, it feels like you can really push your sound there and go further out.

And now you’ve got ADE done and dusted, including your performance at ICONYC x Di.FM at the A’dam Torren on October 18th. How do you feel about ADE?

I love ADE. It's one of those places with its own special vibe, there’s no networking event for electronic music like it. You’re mainly DJing to other DJs and producers so it does feel like one of those places where you can be more experimental with your sound. This time around I did ICONYC, ZAMNA, 1001Tracklists presents b2b with Mila Journeé, and another event with Fedele’s Obscura Music, where I went b2b with Hardt Antoine.

I’ve seen you go back-to-back quite a few times this year. What would you say is key to a good b2b set?

Yes, that’s quite true. Before the start of the year, I think I only had done one back-to-back with Biesmans. And now I’ve done a whole bunch, including like five with Magit Cacoon, one with The Element at Pacha, a couple with Jamiie, one with Elif, and now a couple more during ADE. It’s the year of the b2b.

I tend to speak to the other artists, exchange music, and all that, so it’s not a random thing, but I still like to wing it. You don’t want it to feel like two different sets, but you do want to exercise some level of freedom. I think you’ve really got to have some kind of chemistry and enjoy each other’s company. You know…the first time I went back-to-back with Magit, I was so focused on what I had to do that I barely looked over at her once. It looked like we had no chemistry and people thought we weren’t friends, which is the farthest thing from the truth…so it’s about enjoying it, for sure.

Thanks for this fabulous talk, Henri. We’ll see you on the dancefloor again soon! Take care!

Thanks guys! This was a great chat. See you soon!

Henri Bergmann & Wennink’s “Guardian Angel“ is out now via Crosstown Rebels. Purchase your copy here.