Introducing: Fiona Kraft

“I’m more a producer than a DJ. I really feel more comfortable in my studio making music than playing in front of people,” said Fiona Kraft, speaking from the said studio. Despite Kraft’s preference for music production, she has used her talent for mixing to become one of the world’s leading DJs. The French-born producer and DJ has made 2024 her biggest year yet as she has toured the world and launched her own music label, NON MERCI MUSIC. With the year coming to a close, she spoke to Beatportal about her origins in music and the vision she has for her music label.

Clubbing culture played an integral part in introducing Kraft to her one true love: music. “I started to go to clubs when I was 15. Every weekend, we were going to clubs. It was something very new for me because it was also when I first started to fall in love with electronic music. I remember very well how I could watch the DJs for hours, and I would say to myself: 'One day it will be me up there.'" Dancing all night without a phone in sight was Kraft’s reality as a teenager, being truly “a dream place for[her].”

With the drive to move from the dance floor to the decks, Kraft took her DJing future into her own hands and ordered a DJ controller. This would be the start of her journey, which began alone in her bedroom: “I bought a Serato controller because I didn’t have the money to buy the real CDJs. It was the easiest thing to learn on, so I bought it and I practiced for one year in my room. I didn’t want to ask for help from anyone because I like to learn things by myself.” Taking her passion into her own hands allowed Kraft to move one step closer to her dream.

What followed were residencies in Lyon, where Kraft was given the freedom to bring the genres she loved to the ears of the locals. Playing on a barge on Sunday afternoons, Kraft cut her teeth by playing to a sun-worshiping crowd: “I started there, and I was very, very stressed. [It was also] the first time I was playing on real CDJs, so I was very scared to make mistakes… It was a good starting point because it made me known as a DJ and also taught me how to read a crowd. After being a resident DJ for their events, I could practice how to work with the crowd and build a set around them.”

What lurked in the background as Kraft established herself as a DJ was a pull towards making her own music: “I think since the first time I started to play [music], I already wanted to make my own productions. I needed to express myself. I think I wouldn’t be proud of myself if I were just a DJ. I don’t know how to explain, but it was obvious to me that I needed to learn how to produce.”

In 2018, Kraft entered the world of music production and taught herself how to use programs such as Logic and Ableton. Kraft’s music background included piano and she continues to integrate it as part of her music-making process: “I used to play piano when I was a child, and it was the natural way for me to create. I still have the keyboard I learned on, and I cannot do anything without it.”

Since 2019, Kraft has released her own original productions under labels such as Connected Frontline, Disco Halal and Kazukuta Records, with liberating and fiercely fresh singles such as “Deeper Feelings,” “Flashback,” and her sweltering remix of Gab Rhome’s “Alter He-Go.” Her tracks were quick to garner support from dance music heavyweights such as Carl Cox, John Digweed, Steve Angello, Luciano, Keinemusik and more. Despite the fact that her name was ringing out across clubland, the headache of label politics made it hard for her to release new music on her terms, fueling the flames behind the creation her own label, NON MERCI MUSIC, in 2024.

“I struggled a lot when I first sent my tracks to labels,” Kraft explains. “I had a lot of negative answers. I felt like they wanted to release music they could sell, which I can understand, but they also wanted to represent artists already known. It was very frustrating for me. You know how it is, you spend a lot of time behind your screen and you work a lot. It’s years of work and you’re getting ‘no, no, no’ and you want to give up. You need to go forward, and it was hard to receive rejections.”

The name behind Kraft’s label is informed by this demoralizing process, becoming a reminder for her now as she has the control to prioritize creativity over commerciality: “I’m looking for creativity. I want to highlight people who take risks. I don’t care about the money. I really want to have a platform to express my vision and put out the music I like… You must show a vision to present a different kind of music and represent a lot of genres, not just one style of music. Why would you limit yourself to one genre?” 

Supporting emerging artists and their work, NON MERCI will now be a label where originality will take precedence, something that has always been a virtue of Kraft since her days in Lyon.

So what’s next for Kraft? Finishing off the year with dates in Europe, the Middle East, a New Year’s Party in Switzerland, and South Africa, where she is slated to join Afro house kingpin Black Coffee for a Beach Club takeover in Cape Town, Kraft’s dance floor impact continues to heighten on a global scale. NON MERCI MUSIC will see more new releases from January onwards and Kraft even dropped hints of hosting a showcase. “I’m also thinking about doing label showcases in the future sometime," she tells us. "I’m imagining doing these in intimate places, outside of the typical clubbing centres. Also, to bring the music to the local community, which needs more support.”

Taking control of her passion by sharing her music through NON MERCI MUSIC and continuing to DJ, Kraft is literally crafting her own future in the industry by changing it from the inside out. From teaching herself the basics to where she is today, Kraft encapsulates what it means to follow your passion and by doing so has become a new part of a movement prioritising creativity.