Artist Profile: DJ Howl

At age 4, Marissa Kuchelyma aka DJ HOWL saw The Nutcracker live for the first time. She was instantly captivated by the intangible magic of Tchaikovsky’s layered melodies and complex compositions. Marissa recalls how the dancers would leap effortlessly from stage-left to stage-right, displaying a range of honest emotions for their audience to embrace.

Such enchanting memories shape Marissa’s passion for merging electronic music with meditation and movement.

“There’s something so unifying about being in an audience, witnessing the same live performance,” explains Marissa, a disc jockey and dubstep enthusiast who specializes in mixing. “It’s a shared moment in space and time.”

Throughout Marissa’s youth, she learned a variety of traditional and modern movement techniques, solidifying her love for the visual and performing arts. Classes in ballet, jazz, and contemporary cultivated her desire to build a career in dance and music.

“I continued to dance several times a week until high school graduation. And I still love to dance,” says Marissa, who started mixing in 2007 and launched her DJ HOWL project in 2017. “I love expressing the language of music visually. My body is my canvas.”

HOWL resides in Harrop, a rural community tucked away within the farmlands of British Columbia, Canada. Immersed in this natural environment near the annual Shambhala Music Festival, HOWL hones her creative craft. She mixes a variety of bass music, blending grime with 140bpm to build hour-long mosaics of sound-system sorcery.

“When music resonates with me on a deep level, I feel like I can hear the heart and soul of the musician behind the song,” says HOWL, an avid non-fiction reader interested in ancient history, quantum physics, and lucid dreaming. “I experience more joy and freedom when I mix from a place of sharing what I like, rather than playing what the audience might expect to hear.”

Valuing authenticity over conformity, HOWL draws on wisdom from renowned writer Alan Moore: "If the audience knew what they needed, then they wouldn’t be the audience. They would be the artist."

As an artist, HOWL uses personal expression to resist external pressures to fit in and assimilate. She connects with Background Noise’s mission to bring the background into the fold, emphasizing the importance of amplifying underrepresented voices across music scenes.

“The phrase ‘into the fold’ reminds me of being surrounded by love – a giant hug from all those who celebrate authenticity and integrity,” says HOWL. “I think it's important to remind people that having interests or qualities outside of what might be considered ‘the norm’ is more than okay. It's what makes you unique.”

As a woman in a male-dominated industry, HOWL is no stranger to the insidious ways systemic sexism and gender bias show up in electronic spaces. Where male artists & industry leaders alike are met with praise, many women and nonbinary folks face discrimination, often in the form of double standards and gendered expectations.

“It is not easy being a female or a woman in this industry,” says HOWL.

Female artists and industry talent experience multiple forms of marginalization, from gaslighting and erasure to fetishization and microaggressions. Women in music also lack equitable access to long-term mentorship and career development opportunities.

“People assume more opportunities are given to female artists, yet really any opportunity can instill self-doubt: ‘Am I being offered this chance simply because I'm female? Or is it because of my talent and merit?’,” explains HOWL. “I feel that women artists are judged to a higher standard, and that a number of our male peers fail to take us seriously.”

Straight and cisgender men in the electronic music industry must do their part to check unconscious biases, unlearn toxic behaviors, and pass the mic to gender-marginalized people. Supporting up-and-coming talent and investing in artists from underrepresented communities is key to transforming the industry into a more inclusive and empowering space for everyone.

Beyond mixing bass music and overcoming unique obstacles, HOWL helps people empower themselves. She previously worked with a women-led team at Lifestyle Meditation, where she completed training to teach classes. Now, she leads workshops on the medicinal effects of meditation, focusing on the motivational power of mindful movement and intentional awareness.

“I'm preparing to launch a project called Highly Guided. I’ll be offering guided meditation and entheogenic integration services, providing people with tools to navigate inner paths to higher perspectives,” says HOWL.

In a world weighed down by a devastating global pandemic and a rise in algorithmic social media, releasing expectations and building resilience can be useful skills. HOWL is dedicated to designing meditation and stress-management programs that encourage people to develop practices that align with their unique needs.

“When things don’t go according to plan, resilience and the ability to let go of expectations is an essential skill in order to feel joy,” says HOWL.

As a jack of many expressive trades, HOWL finds purpose in mixing music and making art. Bringing the intangible into form is at the heart of all she does in the creative world and beyond.

“The artist reaches into the intangible realms of imagination and dreams, and brings into the material realm a form with which our senses can interact. We’re cosmic translators who cultivate meaningful changes in the consciousness of those who come in contact with our art,” says HOWL. “And art is a form of magic.”

This article was originally published through Background Noise.