Berlin house and techno stalwart and longtime Kater resident Mira celebrates 30 years of DJing with an extended mix exploring a lesser-known side of her sound rooted in electro, bass and breaks.
The German producer also speaks with Megan Venzin about the patient approach and constant evolution that has guided her decades-long journey in music.
Patience is a virtue that’s become increasingly difficult to uphold. In dance music's attention economy, rapid-fire drops and viral moments can reap quick rewards, but, as Mira Mahn knows well, there’s more to longevity than chasing hype.
The Berlin-based DJ and producer has always taken her time, a fact best evinced by her hypnotic sets – longform exercises in sonic storytelling told through chapters of deep, minimal house music, always building with intention.
Her decades-long career has evolved from dancefloors in battered buildings to the decks at Berlin club Kater, where she’s been a resident for over 15 years. She hosts an annual birthday party there that unfolds over three full days because, well, anything shorter just wouldn’t be enough.
When we catch up with Mira on a video call from her apartment, she’s just returned from the Elidium Festival in Portugal. There, she and longtime collaborator Chris Schwarzwälder went back-to-back for three hours, playing for the kind of crowd that embraces a multi-dimensional trip as much as she does.
Her actual trip home, however, was decidedly less enjoyable. “When they come on the speaker and tell you there is another two-hour delay after you’ve already been on the runway for two hours, that part can be difficult,” she sighs.
Mira accepts circumstances like this as an inevitably of touring, and after 30 years of navigating this song and dance, she’s way beyond letting them ruin her day.
Peering from beneath her baby doll bangs, she wears the soft smile of someone who goes with the flow – literally and figuratively.
Born in East Germany, Mira came of age as the country experienced a massive shift. “I grew up behind the Wall, and when it came down, there was a lot of crazy freedom [in] abandoned buildings,” she recalls of raucous nights.
During weekend-long excursions to these parties with friends, she’d take note of tracks that moved her on the dancefloor, returning home with missions that often proved futile.
I would love to have it! I spent hours in record shops trying to find my favourite tracks.”.
When she wasn’t painstakingly digging for records that evoked the feelings she was looking for, she studied the seemingly limitless crates of the DJs she admired.
It blew my mind." Inspired by the French pioneer's wide-ranging style, Mira approached her early sets from a place of fearlessness. "I was not afraid to play a track from 2 Live Crew, or something from hip-hop, into maybe a Giorgio Moroder Track, or something from Human League.
Then I'd mix all of that with raw techno, I think that really shaped me.
After fully relocating to Berlin in 2006, she found herself at home in Bar25, an infamous riverside open-air venue that ran until 2010 before reopening in 2014 as Kater Blau.
Now simply known as Kater, she’s still there, a stalwart resident on its roster.
For Mira, Kater represents everything she likes about DJing in Berlin, a city that affords her the opportunities to play however she likes, away from the hype-based trend cycles of the touring DJ hamster wheel.
You are obviously playing the soundtrack of the night, but the people are also there to entertain themselves via the music. I always say, we create this together, right.
While honing her craft as a DJ, Mira began to make music reflective of that mindset. Collaborations like 2025’s ‘Laika’ alongside Landikan demonstrate a playful take on deep house that’s found its lush edges over time.
The tune – a tribute to the first dog who journeyed to space on the Sputnik 2 – tells a bittersweet story through pulsing synths, warm piano keys and, yes, samples of intermittent barks.
Narrative grooves like this one add colour to Mira’s flowing, melody-rich sets, in which leftfield selections somehow always stick soft landings. Over hours, she and the dancefloor create an ephemeral connection.
This adaptable ethos extends to her sets in clubs and festivals around the world, where she’ll play solo or b2b with artists like the aforementioned Chris Schwarzwälder, as well as Britta Arnold, Jonathan Kaspar, Mimi Love and, recently, the Parisian artist Remcord.
It’s a lot of fun, and something new to me.”.
Mira's love for ingenuity informs her ability to thrive in unpredictable environments like Burning Man, her regular visits to which make her something of an outlier among her cohorts in the Berlin underground.
Keenly aware that sandstorms and expensive equipment don’t jive, Mira finally traded in USB sticks in lieu of her time-coded vinyl setup at her first Burn in 2016.
Mira instead perceives these so-called threats as "refreshing". Her vision didn’t implode on the playa, and she doesn’t see that happening now that robots are in the mix either.
Mira’s seen enough to know that meaningful art always perseveres. “If you are a good DJ, or a good curator, or a good selector, it doesn't matter how you do it,” she says matter of factly.
Working as head of A&R at Kater’s label Kiosk I. D. has no doubt contributed to this mindset, and its artists that embody that ethos that she endeavours to work with – think names like Argia, Britta Arnold, Golden Hour, MANTi, Yoram and Takiru, whose EPs and remixes shine on the label.
Mira couldn’t care less about extending opportunities to “big names”. In her curation role, which she fulfills pro bono, the main duty lies in unearthing innovative talents who create authentic, intentional music, much like herself.
She shares the stage with these types at the Mira Invites event series, which takes place in her favourite cities around the world, and at her annual Kater birthday bash dubbed Katzen Tanzen auf'm Tisch or “Cats Dancing on the Table”, which occurs without fail at the end of November, erupting into a nearly 72-hour extravaganza of nonstop music and revelry.
Of course, she’s wiser now. The birthday girl’s mastery of pace is obvious during celebrations, when she’ll admittedly skip Saturday festivities to stay fresh for her sprawling Sunday set, which kicks off at noon sharp.
There will always be more time to work, and she’s doing plenty of that. She is currently in the process of completing two EPs that are true to her patient and honed style, both of which will arrive by early 2027.
In the meantime, she’s making a different statement. In her contribution to DJ Mag’s Recognise mix series, Mira unveils a grittier sonic side, informed by the breakbeats and electro that she first fell in love with in the ‘90s, fused with a passion for longform sets that burns even brighter today.
Recorded at home base, the beast of a set spans more than 50 tracks across eras and aesthetics. “I went to Kater. I got the full sound system on – even the lights – and then I just went with the flow,” she explains of the fast-moving mix, which, despite keeping things consistently between 130 and 150BPM, still reflects Mira’s slow-burning sonic identity.
Within, productions like Plastikman’s 2003 minimal stunner ‘Mind in Rewind’ meet modern cuts such as Chris Lorenzo and Kah-Lo’s subby banger, ‘In This Bih’. Adiel’s atmospheric take on ‘Den Mahlstrom rauf’ by Acid Pauli represents an instance in the groove where Mira’s longtime friends and fresh talent collide.
Over almost three hours, these selections tell the story of genres that have morphed with the ages, only to stand the test of time.
Listen to Mira's Recognise mix, and check the tracklist, below.
Aloka 'Inta' John Monkman 'Signal (Extended Mix)' Plastikman 'Mind in Rewind' Red Eye, Johnny Aux 'Wallies (Johnny Aux Remix)' Kassian 'Sun (Extended Club Mix)' Pyrame 'Hyperspace of Dimension 7 (Acid Washed Remix)' Weval, Nsanshi 'HEAD FIRST (Original Mix)' Uffie 'Ready to Uff (Original Mix)' Yo Speed 'Man Of The Speed (Original Mix)' 9 DEER 'a DIOS (Original Mix)' TOYZZ 'Rudeboy (Extended Mix)' Brunello 'Not For Sale (Original Mix)' Paranoid London 'GRNDR (Original Mix)' Eitan Reiter, A.
Balter 'E0E (Eitan Reiter Remix)' Marc Houle 'Funky Bassline (Beltran Remix)' TRA FO 'DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT (Original Mix)' Acid Pauli 'Den Mahlstrom rauf (Adiel Remix)' Arutani 'No Rest for the Wicked (Original Mix)' Bawrut, Hard Fist 'Mas alla (Original)' Arkajo 'Tape 17' Drivetrain 'That Detroit' Gregor Tresher, Sniper Mode 'The Hooded Figure (Original Mix)' Marco Resmann 'Destination' Red Eye 'Wallies (2025 Crash Planet Revision)' Yermak 'Bomb Has Been Planted (Original Mix)' Agustin Giri 'Not Now (Original Mix)' Yraki 'Percolate (Original Mix)' Chris Lorenzo, Kah-lo 'In This Bih' (Extended Mix)' Chloé Robinson x DJ ADHD ft.
DumbBlon 'Last Night (Extended Mix)' Mary Droppinz 'The Cycle (Original Mix)' Raxon 'Spaceport (Roman Flügel Remix)' Polybot 'Cyborg Party' Red Axes 'Casi O (Original Mix)' Bia, Fred again.
ICEY. (Original Mix)' Radio Slave, Kameelah Waheed 'All Rize (Samaran Remix)' TERR, Daniel Watts 'Outer Space' Far&High 'No Stress (No Cheese Mix)' DJ MELL G 'You Will Comply (Original Mix)' DJ Emerson, Ackermann, Raphael Dincso 'A.
C. A. B. (Raphael Dincsoy & Ackermann Remix)' Posh ! The Prince 'Re-Bokk Robot (Hannah Holland Remix)' Fred again.., Wallfacer 'I Luv U (Original Mix)' Theo Kottis 'Drone (Extended Mix)' Ikari 'Cuatro Tiempos (Original Mix)' Dusky, Farsight, Manga Saint Hilare 'Work (Original Mix)' sooyeon 'from there for now (Original Mix)' Kassian 'Ghost Dub (Original Mix)' Reid Willis 'Underpunished (Original Mix)' Farsight 'Peace Walk (Original Mix)' Samet Günal & Predex 'Venom' Tim Sean-Lee 'Orbittech' Gabriel Atlas 'Titan.
Want more? Recognise Isaac Carter, RHR, Alírio, GIDEÖN, ZULI and Supergloss.
Fontes
Informação baseada em material público de DJ Mag, reescrito pela redação ULTRA NOTÍCIAS.
