Daphni

Long hours, no festival anthems

Daphni's sets are measured in real club time: five-hour farewells at Corsica Studios in February 2026, extended nights at Fabric, Panorama Bar, Printworks, Nitsa or Nowadays, and a two-hour Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1. It is not an alias for a live band performance; it is the DJ booth. The project was born in London when the house, disco, and techno that were already filtering through Swim no longer fit into Caribou and demanded tracks designed to be played that very same night.

Ye Ye, Jiaolong and the vinyl that slipped into other suitcases

In 2011, the first twelve-inches appeared almost anonymously: edits on Resista, the launch of the Jiaolong label, and a split with Four Tet on Text Records that included Ye Ye. Along with Yes, I Know, that track stayed on dancefloors for years. The album Jiaolong (2012) brought together dirty house, sampled afrobeat—like the Ne Noya mix by Cos-Ber-Zam—and functional techno; it earned a spot on the 2013 Polaris Music Prize longlist. The method was fast and intuitive: produce for the set, not for the showcase.

Fabriclive, Cherry and the dates that don't wear out

As a DJ, Daphni is intentionally scarce: he records under this alias and tours under the other. That is why every date carries weight. He has played at Dekmantel, Glastonbury, Coachella, Primavera Sound, Junction 2, MUTEK or Rainbow Disco Club. In 2017 he signed FABRICLIVE 93, a mix built almost entirely with his own material, and the album Joli Mai. The EP Sizzling (2019) and Cherry (2022) expanded the range toward techno without letting go of the groove. A PhD in mathematics from Imperial College, he treats the DJ booth like a problem to be solved live: long transitions, his own edits, and a collector's ear.

Butterfly, Open Ground and the crossing of voices

Butterfly, released on February 6, 2026, on Jiaolong, was rehearsed almost entirely at Open Ground, the Wuppertal club he chooses as his ideal venue: medium size, extreme sound, and permission to mix the functional with the strange. There, Sad Piano House, Josephine or Clap Your Hands coexist with Waiting So Long, the first time his voice—credited as Caribou—enters a Daphni track. In September 2026, Butterfly (Expanded Edition) arrives with seven new tracks and remixes. Meanwhile, the European dates—Lost Village, Dissonanze, the return to Open Ground—remind us of the essential: Daphni is not a parallel catalog, it is the dancefloor seen from within.