The enigmatic Berlin artist behind viral summer banger ‘My Barn My Rules’ dials in from the farmyard ahead of her set at Maiden Voyage
Berlin’s horsegiirL was always interested in making music, but, being a horse, she didn’t really think dipping her hooves into the industry was a viable career for a starry-eyed foal. Eventually though, she got the push she needed when she was discovered in her barn by legendary songstress Whitney Horseton, who she says encouraged her to follow her dreams. “They say never meet your idols, but then some idols, when you meet them, are even better in real life,” horsegiirL explains over Zoom, dialling in for this interview from her farm in the German countryside. “[For her] to see something that you might not yet see in yourself was so empowering.”
Cut to 2023 and the DJ and producer is touring the globe, lighting dancefloors on fire with hits like “Pegasus” and “My Little White Pony” and fast, frenetic hardstyle sets that incorporate 90s and 00s Eurotrash anthems, happy hardcore, and tongue-in-cheek hyper-pop remixes. A recent Boiler Room set saw her drop a bleepy ringtone-esque Brutalismus 3000 remix that sampled Dido’s “Thank You” alongside Balearic banger “Lady”, “Sexy Back” by Justin Timberlake, and Khia’s “My Neck My Back”. Unsurprisingly, the stale, pale, cave-dwelling technohead males had a lot to say about the set across social media, but everyone else was hooked – alongside artists like DJ FUCKOFF and Partiboi69, horsegiirL is ushering in a new, exciting era of dance music that doesn’t take itself so unbearably seriously.
Bringing horsegiirL out from the Berlin underground – or rather, the barn – and to the masses, however, is addictive earworm “My Barn My Rules”. Though the collaborative MCR-T track was being spun as far back as early 2022 and officially landed in January, it’s taken on a life of its own on TikTok where it built momentum and galloped away as a viral trending sound. The DJ explains it’s surreal to scroll through the app and hear her song over and over again, but now, she’s had enough. “It still bangs when I play it in a set because I like the reaction people have to it, but I’m definitely over it,” she laughs.
Beyond music, horsegiirL’s name is clearly being thrown around the fashion scene, too, with Marc Jacobs tapping the uber-chic horse to soundtrack a raucous Heaven party in London. It’s not surprising. The producer has a knack for throwing together eclectc secondhand scores with DIY pieces crafted by her creative friends in a brilliant mish-mash kind of way that mirrors what she does behind the decks – a recent lace-trimmed cami bearing the slogan ‘I’m not a DJ, I’m a horse” a real highlight. Her merch, which brings together baby tees with 00s trucker caps and kitschy knickers, is also flying off the digital shelves of her website, with a new drop set to land “very, very soon”.
Ahead of her final UK festival date at this Sunday’s Maiden Voyage, we caught up with horsegiirL to talk barnyard style, why she’s got it in for unicorns, and ambitions to smoke a blunt with the Crazy Frog.
Hi horsegiirL! So, your Resident advisor bio reads: “HorsegiirL’s fast rise to fame began when she was discovered singing in the stables before a horse show by none other than legendary Song-Stallion Whitney Horseton.” Tell me about that moment. It must have been pretty special!
horsegiirL: Yeah, it was surreal honestly. They say never meet your idols, but then some idols when you meet them and they are even better in real life? It was a crazy moment and just the beginning of everything really – to have someone believe in you and push you and see something that you yourself might not yet see in yourself. It was empowering.
Did you always want to make music?
horsegiirL: I was always making music yes, but I didn’t think there was a career for a horse in music for sure. I didn’t know it was possible! I was always musical right from being very young though.
And what has the reception been like for a horse? Because the dance music scene can be a pretty hostile place, like for women for example.
horsegiirL: It’s actually been mostly pretty positive, but when you polarise people, there’s always going to be someone who doesn’t have anything nice to say. But you know, people are entitled to their own opinion, not everyone has to like me or like my music. It’s okay! I’m not asking them to. Mostly everyone has been very kind, and very friendly.
“My Barn My Rules” has been everywhere this summer. Did you have an ‘I’ve made it’ moment yet?
horsegiirL: I definitely don’t feel like I’ve made it yet! I’m still at the very beginning. But a crazy moment that made me realise how it’s going in the right direction was probably when I played in Melbourne, which is so far away from my home, and it was a sold out show with 2,600 people and another 1,000 on the waiting list for a ticket, and that was really crazy because to play somewhere so far away and to have so many people know your stuff so far away ws really amazing and I’m really grateful for that.
What was the first song or album that you really loved?
horsegiirL: I think the first track I really loved when I was a very young foal must have been “The Ketchup Song” [laughs]. I loved that it had a little dance that we could all do and it was so much fun. I liked the rhythm to it.
A banger. Have you ever mixed that into a set? I could so hear you dropping that at some point.
horsegiirL: Oh that’s a good idea. I should see if there’s a hardstyle remix out there.
“I was always into making music, but I didn’t think there was a career for a horse in music for sure. I didn’t know it was possible!” – horsegiirL
Your style is amazing. Who or what is on your moodboard? Are there any style icons you look up to, any designers you love?
horsegiirL: Thank you! I don’t often think of myself as very stylish. I am a country girl at heart and I will always be, so in some way my style always has to be a little bit practical because I want to be able to sit down in the grass and not think about my clothes getting ruined. But I do think now I am starting to become a little more out-there. I have so many people on my moodboard, anyone who is a little bit over the top I really love, I love getting inspiration from old music videos, like Gwen Stefani’s “Sweet Escape” when she’s in the prison and it’s all golden – that inspired the gold jacket you can see in my [Zoom profile] picture. Designers… I don’t think I really have a favourite designer, because there are so many great designers and creatives out there.
And what about horses – who is the chicest horse?
horsegiirL: I think any competition horses, like the ones in the Vienna [the Lipizzaner stallions], are very chic, but they’re also very boring in their style, everything is very same-same. So I would actually say... Myself! Yep, me [laughs].
Where do you buy clothes? I loved the ‘I’m not a DJ, I’m a horse’ top you wore for your Boiler Room set, which looked quite DIY – do you make a lot of your own stuff?
horsegiirL: My friend actually made that for me! I don’t really make them, but to a certain degree I do alter clothes. Most of my stuff I find in secondhand places or in vintage shops, and if I buy something new, it’s mostly on the internet from brands that I’ve discovered through Instagram. Very rarely do I go into an actual store!
You starred in a Marc Jacobs Heaven campaign last year. Who’s next? I would love to see you in an Hermès campaign or doing a collab with them on some equestrian gear. Or maybe the next Gucci Horsebit ad…
horsegiirL: A big dream of mine is to do something with a traditionally equestrian brand, something with a kind of ‘old-money’ aesthetic like Burberry. I could just totally see a campaign for Burberry or Polo, where I’m actually at the stables. But the ones you mentioned, like Hermès… I could totally see myself doing that, too. I also think something quite dark could be fun, because I tend not to be too dark in the clothes I wear, so maybe I could walk a Balenciaga show? I would love that.
Or Rick Owens?
horsegiirL: Oh yeah, definitely. Or even Margiela. You know, that split-toe Tabi is just like my hoof, so it would make sense.
If I gave you £1,000 right now to spend on fashion, what would you buy?
horsegiirL: There is a runway Louis Vuitton cute carrot-shaped bag that I found on eBay, I think from a 2008 show, and it’s so amazing. I think it’s about £800, so that would be enough.
“I’m not a big fan of unicorns. I think they are incredibly self-centred and they want to seem like they’re so perfect and sparkly and all of that. But really, they’re not!” – horsegiirL
Do you have a freakum dress? If so, what’s it like?
horsegiirL: I rarely wear dresses because I’m more about layers and skirts and stuff, but I do have one dress that is really, really nice that could be my freakum dress. It’s a very long, tight, kind-of wrap-around dress which you can wear in different ways. It’s very stretchy, it’s dark green, with little speckles of beige – it’s really hard to explain actually [laughs]. It has a very deep split that goes all the way to my belly button and it has an open back, so it’s very sexy. I wish I had more opportunities to wear it actually, but it’s very out-there.
If you were in a movie with a montage scene where like your character is going through their wardrobe, what track would you play?
horsegiirL: Maybe something from the 80s, like a Modern Talking track? Something silly and sparkly.
What about if you were cast in a fashion show – what track would you want to walk down the runway to?
horsegiirL: It really heavily depends on what look I’m wearing. If it was Balenciaga, say, I’d want something like trash metal or a heavy metal track that’s really in your face, or some really distorted electronic dark music I think. But yeah, show me the look and I can decide!
What’s your weirdest internet obsession?
horsegiirL: I’m not on the internet that much because I’m a horse, and I don’t really like it – there’s lots of human stuff on there. I have really enjoyed watching hobby-horsing as of recently, I think it’s really great what humans are doing there, it’s this new thing apparently. It’s better to have a stick-horse than to force free animals to be your toy. And I really like watching silly TikTok videos.
How was it seeing your track take off there?
horsegiirL: I wasn’t using TikTok that much, but people were sending me lots of these videos and then slowly more and more were coming – Olly [Bowman] was doing his shoulder injury dance to it – and it went crazy from there. It was very surreal to be honest – to scroll through an app and continuously have your own song be played, and it was also quite annoying honestly [laughs]. But also, very cool!
Are you sick of hearing it?
horsegiirL: Ummm… yeah, a little bit! It still bangs when I play it in a set because I like the reaction people have to it, but I’m definitely over it.
“My preferred [dream blunt rotation] would be Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, and the Crazy Frog” – horsegiirL
Who is your nemesis and why?
horsegiirL: I mean, I’m not a big fan of unicorns. I think they are incredibly self-centred and they want to seem like they’re so perfect and sparkly and all of that. But really, they’re not! And anyone that has ever met an actual unicorn knows they’re narcissists, so yeah, not a big fan of unicorns.
What do you reckon you’re most likely to get cancelled for?
horsegiirL: I don’t know, you know? But just like humans, horses make mistakes too. We aren’t perfect.
What would the line-up be on your nightmare blunt rotation? And then your dream one?
horsegiirL: So the people I wouldn’t want to smoke a blunt with would be Andrew Tate, Elon Musk, and Margaret Thatcher. And my preferred list would be Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, and the Crazy Frog.
Do you not think Crazy Frog would be a bit annoying?
horsegiirL: True, but I think he could be the type of being that when he has the blunt he might end up sitting totally out of it in the corner, randomly saying funny stuff? You know like a lot of really hyper people, when they smoke they chill out? I guess it would be like that.
Even if you’re sick of it, for a lot of people, “My Barn My Rules” is the song of the summer. What’s been your song of the summer?
horsegiirL: Actually something that came out over ten years ago – “Hot” by Inna. I’ve been listening to a lot of remixes of that. I loved it when it came out and I still love it so much now. It was part of that kind of wave of Balkan house that had a moment in the 2010s and it’s such a great summer song.
Okay, say you were locked in the barn for a couple of days and no one could get you out. What essentials would you want with you, and what three records would you listen to?
horsegiirL: I would say carrots – they’re good for you. To stay entertained maybe a hula-hoop or something? And maybe a blanket, because I wouldn’t want to sleep without a blanket. Records, maybe some classical music like “On The Nature of Daylight” by Max Richter. Something aggressive, like some Pantera. And then the Hampton The Hamster album. A classic!
Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with music-wise?
horsegiirL: I’d love to collaborate with Charli XCX, I really like her stuff. I’d love to make music with Babymetal, they’re a really great band. There’s so many more to be honest, but those are the first two that come to the top of my head.
Okay last question before I let you get back to the farm. What’s next for you?
horsegiirL: I’m super excited to be putting out a new single very soon, I can’t wait for that, because let’s move on from “My Barn My Rules” [laughs]. I have more to give! Also very excited for a cool video that’s coming in the next couple of weeks, and some new merch too. There’s lots going on.