Hard Techno Priestess Sara Landry Was Never An Industry Plant

Sara Landry has come a long way since throwing underground raves in Austin, Texas. In the last year, the producer, DJ, and audio engineer (dubbed “The High Priestess of Hard Techno”) became the first techno artist to play Tomorrowland’s main stage, released her debut EP Spiritual Driveby, and landed at #75 on DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs list. 

Next up? The US debut of her audio-visual tour Eternalism — a high-caliber production featuring custom structures and ethereal visuals from studio High Scream — at Coachella’s Sahara stage. Bringing Eternalism to Coachella is a full-circle moment for Landry, who was originally set to perform at the festival in April 2020 (in a much lower spot on the bill) before the pandemic brought everything to a halt. 

“I was scheduled to be the last day's opening act in 2020, and at the time, I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is it. This is going to be my big break that I've been working five years for,’” Landry tells me over Zoom from her Amsterdam home, still buzzing from an all-nighter in the studio in preparation for her Coachella set. “And then the pandemic happened. So it’s a very surreal feeling to be going back this year. They dropped the lineup and I’m playing after Three 6 Mafia, which is crazy.” 

Coachella might seem like an unlikely stage for hard techno — a subgenre characterized by high tempos and pounding bass lines and more associated with warehouses and underground clubs in Berlin or New York City than at polished big-budget US festivals. But bringing blistering BPMs to the masses has always been part of Sara’s MO. For her, techno isn’t just music — it’s a cathartic escape that she’s determined to share. 

“I feel like it's such a misunderstood genre, but there's so much variety, and there's so much beauty in it, and there's so many different ways you can make music and tell stories and share emotion through it,” Landry says. “The origins of the rave scene are in queer and Black communities in Chicago and Detroit, and the whole foundation was it being a safe space for free self expression to be yourself and enjoy yourself. So for me, that's very important.”

Ahead of her Coachella debut, Landry chats about Eternalism, dealing with misogyny as a woman artist in a male-dominated scene, fashion, and her take on dance floor cell phone etiquette. 

Sara Landry: We've been developing Eternalism for eight months to a year now, thinking about how we can create something that's bigger than just showing up and plugging in. I've done hundreds of shows like that, but we wanted to add an extra layer to the experience and give the fans something that's really special and unique, that they can only get with me. I wanted to create something that felt really beautiful and fun, feminist, uplifting and esoteric. ... We took a lot of inspiration from [Swiss artist] H.R. Giger to create this sort of other worldly, alien goddess vibe to the visuals. 

I started learning to DJ 11 years ago and learning to produce 10 years ago. I had been working in nightlife in mainstream clubs, and I managed to finesse my way into the DJ booth and was like… yeah, I'd like to know more about that.

My first serious techno experience was in November 2017. I had gone to the Ableton Loop conference in Berlin and completely blew off the final day of the conference to go to [nightclub] Berghain by myself. I still have an audio recording in my phone of Len Faki playing the main floor, like 134 BPM, grindy industrial German techno. Being an American girl from Texas, I’d never seen a set like that. It blew my mind at the time. 

My remix of “WAP” was not so much a serious creative endeavor, but more of an impulsive “let’s scratch this autism itch.” [Editor’s note: Landry has long been vocal about her neurodivergence.] At the same time, I was also producing gnarly, grinding, industrial techno. When I started playing, it was at 100-person raves, underground clubs, in queer community dance scenes, so it was always something for the gays and the girls. I'm from Texas. Meg's from Texas. We love Meg. So like, hell yeah, I'm gonna put Megan The Stallion over a techno kick, and everybody's gonna have to deal with it. 

As a producer, it's also an exercise in working with vocalists and vocal production in the way that more mainstream artists do. My background is in sound engineering, building everything from scratch, drums, all of that stuff, so for me it was always a fun exercise. The gays really love it. The girls really love it. The techno purists… I mean, whatever, that's not my business.

“Bought or fucked her way in” is what they always assume. I've experienced [misogyny] in every different flavor, and it's one of those things where you're like, surely this can't be that bad. Like, surely we've moved past this. But no, no, no, it is so much worse to the point that I handed control of my socials to my team for my mental health. 

I'm an Ableton beta tester, I've done an Ableton editorial feature, I've done master classes, I've done Twitch streams, I mix all my own tracks, and I master a good chunk of my tracks. And it doesn't matter how much I do… because when people see me, they form kind of an immediate opinion, especially because my career kind of kicked into the stratosphere so quickly.

The old adage that it “takes 10 years to be an overnight success,” is true, but the misogyny is really crazy. Those of us who are on tour, the girls and I, we all talk about it privately. When I started to go through it, Amelie Lens reached out, and was like, “Hey, girl, don't read the comments. Focus on yourself. Focus on your life. Everything else is noise.” There's some other up and coming female DJs who've been kind of going through the same thing that I've gone through, and I've been paying it forward, like “Hey, girl, ignore it. If a man is determined to hate you, he's gonna hate you, and there's really nothing you can do about it.”

On the rare occasion that I actually get to go and enjoy a show, I'm not on my phone, and I wish that people in the crowd wouldn't do that either. If you have your phone out the whole time, I feel like you're missing part of the experience.

I think phones are a necessary evil, and I can tell which tracks really slapped by how many phones go up when I’m performing, but at the same time, I sometimes want to go on the mic and be like, “Guys, put your fucking phones away. I have like, three content guys that are gonna capture videos, like we got it. Enjoy yourself. Have fun. Don't worry about it. I got you.”

I just love the idea of being able to tell a story and just become whoever you want like a chameleon. I've always been what I would call a “uniform dresser,” like I've been doing the all black thing for a decade now, maybe longer.

I've always loved Rick Owens and Ann Demeulemeester. Lady Gaga was a huge early influence for me. I'm actually manifesting that I get to meet her at Coachella because the first ever show I went to was the Monster Ball tour. I made a custom outfit, and I covered myself in sequins and rhinestones and got all decked out. It was actually her music videos and her fashion that got me into my first high fashion love, which was Alexander McQueen. May he rest in peace, an absolute genius. 

I stay strapped with blister band aids, lip gloss, and essential oil inhalers. You can also get refillable travel perfume containers [for your favorite scents], so I always keep those on me — I don’t want to ever smell like BO. The other thing I would say is that it's only a party if everybody gets home safe. I cannot stress enough how important it is to be smart, mindful and conservative when you’re partying and to look out for your friends. If you see somebody who needs help, please help them. And if you need water at my set, tell me, and I will get you some water.