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Sofia Kourtesis

Sofia Kourtesis is a Peruvian-born, Berlin-based house producer and DJ whose music is at once danceable, political, and meditative. Her earliest material was aimed firmly at the dancefloor, and by the time she released 2021's Fresia Magdalena EP, Kourtesis began to incorporate a contemplative side to her sound alongside a family-inspired social agenda, which she continued exploring with Madres, her 2023 full-length debut. The LGBT-empowering Volver EP appeared in 2025, and Kourtesis' DJ-Kicks mix arrived in 2026.Kourtesis grew up in Magdalena, a coastal district of the city of Lima where the sea was a calming influence and simultaneously provided the opportunity to surf. Both her parents were active politically, fighting the cause of the poor. Her father represented the underprivileged as a lawyer while her mother fought for the poor as a politician and social worker. The free-thinking nature that this instilled in Kourtesis sat awkwardly with the strict rules at convent school. She was soon expelled, and -- at 17 -- decided to pursue a more liberal environment, moving to Berlin to study film. The following year she found herself in a short-lived hip-hop outfit, but within a few years, Kourtesis was dividing her time studying in both Hamburg and New York. During this period, she became the booker for Hamburg clubs such as Prinzenbar and Docks before she began performing her own DJ sets. After settling back in Berlin, it was her romantic involvement with Gold Panda -- to whose 2013 LP, Half of Where You Live, she contributed -- that inspired her to make electronic music. Gold Panda also appeared on her 2014 EP This Is It.Her first two EPs for Sweden's Studio Barnhus -- March 2019's Sofia Kourtesis and February 2020's Sarita Colonia -- were colorful party records, full of thumping bass and choice film samples. The latter EP -- named after the Peruvian patron of the poor, whose image graced each of her early releases -- gave her career a boost and led to Kourtesis being tipped for success by numerous publications. Between that release and March 2021's Fresia Magdalena EP on Ninja Tune's Technicolour imprint, she lost her father to leukemia. Not only did the record pay tribute to him -- particularly the lead track "La Perla" on which she sang of the sea -- but its title was a nod to her mother, Fresia, and the work that she continued to do for the people of Magdalena. "Estación Esperanza," based around a sample of Manu Chao's "Me Gustas Tu," appeared in 2022. Full-length debut Madres, a reflection on family and nightlife, arrived on Ninja Tune in 2023. Her next release was the 2025 EP Volver, which included a collaboration with Daphni (aka Caribou). She then mixed a 2026 installment of !K7's long-running DJ-Kicks series.
© James Wilkinson /TiVo

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