Yum Cha Chats with Cinthie: A lockdown 'house' special

Sunday’s are hard but can be made easier with unexpected delights — so here’s some fluff to get you through it. Inspired by a recent jaunt for dim sum with Miss Yellow in Hong Kong, allow us to deliver a new edition of Yum Cha Chats — which means let’s go eat dim sum and drink tea in Cantonese. The series will dig into the obscure and tasty 'fillings' you never knew about your favourite DJs and have nothing to do with music — every Sunday. Best enjoyed from bed…

The gigs are on hiatus, the bars and clubs are shut and we need to take breaks from the studio sessions. Label boss, producer, DJ and single mother based in Berlin, Cinthie is a wonder-woman of the house music world. Her recently launched 803 Crystalgrooves label has earned critical acclaim as a platform for her own releases, while cultivating a sub-label Collective Cuts that paves new ways for, as the label name suggests, music from artists that are closely known to her. To further her musical endeavours, Cinthie's debut album drops next month on July 17 on Will Saul’s Aus imprint.

She keeps life simple by dedicating most of her time shared between her studio and her daughter, while of course not on the road. And life has become even simpler but far more meaningful during this lockdown period. It truly is about house music with Cinthie, and speaking of house, for this Sunday’s banter over Yum Cha Chats, the Berlin artist breaks down 5 things keeping her sane and happy while confined to her home.

"I’m a big fan of white wine. In fact I guess I’ve only had like 4 glasses of red wine in my life. I hope my parents don’t read this because they are big, big fans of red wine — they’re always shopping for very good bottles in France and they have quite good knowledge about it. But I’m more simple — I prefer white wine because it's lighter and especially during summer, I prefer its freshness. I usually also never drink at home but since the lock down and I don’t have a drink at the weekend for playing, I bought a bottle of the Müller Thurgau. It’s not the most expensive one but a very nice and solid white wine made in Switzerland. It’s very fresh and light and a bit dry and fruity. Cut some good cheese with it and you are good to go."

"I’m in love with Tess Gerritsen, she is one of my favourite authors of all time and I own all of her books — reading, next to making music, is another big passion of mine. What I really love about the writing of Tess Gerritse is that you start reading and you are immediately into the story. One of the best crime story writers in my opinion plus she has a background as a doctor, which makes her even more authentic."

"Anine Bing is one of my favourite brands when it comes to clothes but she also released a fantastic candle a few years ago. It became quite a ritual after a long day, to light up the candle and chill on the couch with a good book. I’m not really into watching TV or Netflix, I’ve always been a big reading person. The candle smells really good after roses. It s very subtile. I tried to put it into the studio as well but since the studio is mostly made out of wood, I’m too scare to leave it there."

"I’m a big fan of Demuja anyway but this album is something else. He totally went out of his comfort zone here and you can listen to all sorts of stuff — from breakbeat to house and downbeat and back. But the hit on the album in my honest opinion is 'On The Road Again'. Such a tune."

“My daughter will turn 11 this year and she is such a smart little person. We’ve always been very close to each other because I’m a single mom but with the lockdown we got to know each other on a different level. She likes to do stuff on her own but we also do a lot of stuff together. She is very very creative, especially when it comes to drawing. Funny enough, she gets inspired a lot from TikTok — they show a lot about drawing techniques for example. When I was younger I always dreamed about a good set of pens from Faber Castell. They are the best. My granddad was also really into painting and he always had them. So I bought a big set with 50 pens for us in a big box. It’s an investment, yes, but when you see what she is drawing every day, it was absolutely worth it."