Words and Interview by Alexander Cheves
In mid-March, at a secret location in Madrid, Berlin-based artist Huamaniser will deliver her signature high-energy mix of groove and techno at the fifth-anniversary party of Fernweh, a FLINTA collective. The party promises heat—what Huamaniser does best.
Huamaniser—aka Natalie Huaman—has played at the Love Parade, the Gegen party series, club Renate, and others. She’s busy.
When she visited the Hinterhaus HQ, we knew we had limited time. She had been working until early that morning and had class later that day.
Even so, she was energetic, kind, and in a great mood as she hugged everyone and sat down for a conversation about life.
How did you get started in nightlife?
“In Berlin, I started with illegal raves,” she said. “Like a lot of us.”
Then, in 2020, Gentle Riot, a booking agency, reached out. With them, her gigs increased.
Last year, she had a viral moment, at least among queer Berliners. At Whole Festival—a queer outdoor rave that happens every summer at Ferropolis—someone filmed Huamaniser dancing, and the video ended up on Whole Festival’s Instagram page.
“I was wearing this shirt that said ‘DJ Whore’. People in Berghain later came up to me and said, hey, you’re the DJ whore! Yeah, that’s me. Fuck it, I’m famous.”
Let’s talk about your music.
Describing her music as energetic, sexy, and bouncy, Huamaniser says her music is shaped by her Latin heritage. But after speaking with her, we learned that many cultures shaped her life.
“People in Berghain later came up to me and said, hey, you’re the DJ whore! Yeah, that’s me. Fuck it, I’m famous.”
Huamaniser was born and raised in Spain, but her mother is Russian and her father is from Peru. And her boyfriend Tom—also known by his artist name, Mr. Exagggerator—is from England. The couple met in Australia, their home before Berlin.
“In Australia, Tom introduced me to artists like Ben Klock, Carl Cox, and Solomun. He showed me how to mix and encouraged me to play.” At that time, Tom was playing small gigs in Australia.
Doing came naturally to her, and soon she was booking gigs in Australia too.
After five years there, she was ready for Europe again—to be closer to her family, and his. They chose Berlin.
“Where else would I live?” she says with a laugh. “I didn’t want to live in Spain again. That would feel like going backwards.”
Tom stayed in Australia a year longer, and the couple dated long-distance. “I needed a year on my own, and it was so great,” she said. Shortly after Tom joined her in Berlin, the Corona pandemic came. In lockdown, the illegal raves started. The rest is history.
What’s next?
Now, Huamaniser is ready to produce. The class she had to attend later in the day, after our talk, was on music production.
“Everyone said I should produce, but I did not feel I was there yet,” she says. “I knew I had to fully commit when I did it, because I cannot study from home. I have to go somewhere to learn.”
She doesn’t know what kinds of music she wants to produce yet. “I want to experiment. I may do singing lessons or piano lessons. It would be cool to do nice tracks, listening tracks, not just club tracks.”
Taking inspiration from artists like Overmono and Fred Again, she likes music that is “electronic but not just clubby.”
“I love listening to Rosalia and Tokisha,” she says. “I love Arca.”
Arca, in particular, is an artist Huamaniser hopes to hear in person someday. “Her music is a bit electronic and futuristic, but she always has some heat, some sex in it.”
Growing up, Huamaniser was “obsessed” with Bruno Mars and listened to many genres of music, from pop to reggae.
Why did you move to Australia?
Most 18-year-olds in Spain don’t leave home to travel across the world and live in Australia. Why did she? Almost immediately, we sensed this question was maybe too personal.
“I have a good relationship with my dad now, but not before. He was very strict and sometimes aggressive. I had problems with him.”
She explained more: in her father’s Peruvian culture, parenting style is often more “traditional” and “old-school,” in her words.
“But in Europe, you know, people have rights, kids have rights, and you don’t do this to kids. I remember telling someone about it, and they said this is not okay. So, yeah, we had problems.”
Their relationship is better now, she says. When she visits her dad, they get Peruvian food together.
Let’s talk about food.
As our artist talks normally go, we turned to food. What food feels like home?
“I’m a bit Russian,” she says. “My mom is Russian, and when I was little, I went to Russia a lot. So Russian food and culture feel like home.”
Huamaniser loves Peruvian ceviche—and says the best ceviche in Berlin is at Potsdamer Platz, Alebrijes Cocina Mexicana.
Her parents helped her move to Australia; she told them she needed to learn English there, and that she would return to Spain and study tourism in English. Did she know she wouldn’t really do that when she left? She can’t say for certain—but that step gave her independence and freedom.
“Since 18, I have paid my way and done my own thing. It’s not easy. This is why I’m proud of my job. I lived a good life because of it.”
Let’s talk about your other job.
That job is not her DJ work. Before our meeting, Huamaniser said she had never discussed this publicly but was ready now. She works as a stripper in one of Berlin’s best strip clubs.
“A ‘motorboat’ is when the guy puts his face between the boobs and you kind of shake them around and they go brrrrrrrr.”
“I started stripping in Australia and have done it for eight years.” Before, she worked as a waitress. It was good work, she says, but she needed more money to pay for school.
“I was living in a hostel in Australia, and this woman there said I should try stripping. She said I would love it.”
After some training—the girls at her first club taught her “the basics”—she had her first shift, and it was not easy.
“A group of guys came in who were regulars, and they were celebrating something.” One of the guys wanted a private dance with a “motorboat,” and she did not know what that was. She does now: “A ‘motorboat’ is when the guy puts his face between the boobs and you kind of shake them around and they go brrrrrrrr.”
“I don’t get fucked up when I play. DJing is work.”
After him, another guy came in. “He said he wanted a private dance for one hour! I barely knew how to do one for ten minutes.”
During the lap dance, he offered her cocaine. “I was nineteen and did not do drugs, and I said no, thank you. I’m glad I was like that. A lot of people think strippers do a lot of drugs. From the beginning, I’ve always kept it professional. No drugs at work. This is a job.”
Stripping has helped her approach her work in nightlife with the same seriousness. “I’m professional,” she said. “I don’t get fucked up when I play. DJing is work.”
After that first day, she decided to try stripping for a year—long enough to pay for school. Soon, she started liking it. “Stripping is the best job I’ve ever had.”
What is the strip club like?
Every club is different, she says, and the one she works at now, in Berlin, is her favourite so far: Golden Dolls on Potsdamer Straße.
One thing she wants to make clear: she does not do “extras,” which means: “Blowjobs or sex, whatever.”
“If other girls want to do it, I say do it!” she says. “The only thing that upsets me is when girls don’t charge a lot of money. Girl, charge them! Work smart, not hard. Make money.”
Golden Dolls is “a professional club and the girls there are serious. They make good money.”
Any advice for beginner dancers?
“Some girls have asked if they can work at my club without any experience. I don’t recommend this club to them because it’s top-level. It’s tough. I tell them to study in another club, get experience, learn how to talk to people, and learn how to make money.”
Last year, she started recording her earnings and realised she could earn more by keeping a regular schedule and working certain days—and now, in production class, that structure matters.
“I study three days a week and work three days.” On top of that, she is regularly booked to play at various parties in Berlin.
Let’s talk about love.
For artists with nocturnal schedules, relationships can be hard, but hers feels solid. “Tom is the best,” she said. “He’s easygoing, which is good because I’m not.”
She met Tom at a party in Australia where Carl Cox was playing, and last April, the couple got engaged while on vacation in Athens. “I was never a get-married kind of girl. Now I am! It’ll be the sexiest wedding ever.”
Since their engagement, Huamaniser and her boyfriend have teamed up at the decks as Date Night. This past Valentine’s Day, the duo played at the party Anti-Valentines by MYL in Lithuania.
Why do you love Playboy?
Finally, we had to ask about Playboy. A cursory glance at Huamaniser’s Instagram shows her passion for the brand. She met us wearing a Playboy bomber jacket and showed us her gold tooth gem: a tiny Playboy bunny.
“When I was little, I went to these outdoor markets with my mother in Russia. They had Playboy rings and belts, and I loved them,” she says. “I didn’t even know what Playboy was.” The brand defined her childhood and, later, her life.
“All I have known is this life and this freedom. It’s exhausting sometimes, but it’s worth it to not have a normal job.”
As our chat ended, we asked what she wished more people knew about strippers. After all, most TV and film depictions of strip clubs (and sex work in general) portray the industry poorly.
“In movies, strip clubs always look like dodgy places,” she says. “But it’s not like that.”
“It’s a job,” she says. “Everyone assumes it’s easy money, but it’s not. You have to work hard. When people are negative about stripping, I think about how it gave me so many good things. The person I am is because of this job.”
Huamaniser loves her life, and her future—as an artist, producer, stripper, and wife—feels limitless. “This is not an office life, a Monday-to-Friday life,” she says. “All I have known is this life and this freedom. It’s exhausting sometimes, but it’s worth it to not have a normal job.”
Follow Huamaniser on Instagram and RA, and listen to her music on SoundCloud.
Words: Alexander Cheves
Pictures: Mara Menzel
