Who are you?
My name is Pauline and my DJ name is She The DJ. I am 24 years old and have been DJing for about three years and I am also studying law. I have been living in Brussels since October.     

When did you start Djing?
That interest actually started after I went to the Dour festival. I grew up in a small village: Berlaar. I went to parties there and there were only EDM DJs. It is mainly by going to festivals, especially Dour, where you get to know all kinds of different genres, that my interest in DJing started. At Dour, I also saw a lot of female DJs there and thought maybe I should try this too. Then I bought myself a panel and watched a lot of YouTube videos and then the ball started rolling.                     

Do You have a moment when you were the Dj that topped all other moments in your three years of spinning? 
A few years ago I entered a competition on vi.be to play here in the STUK Lab. Someone had contacted me for a 4 or 5 hour set. And that was very exciting for me because I didn't really have much experience yet, especially in different places.

I remember sitting in the car and talking myself down a bit like, “Pauline, if things aren't going well this evening, just stop doing it, then it's not meant for you.”

I arrived here at STUK, and I thought I should just play some background music. I played my first record and people immediately started dancing super spontaneously. Throughout my set, people were dancing and shouting and really encouraging me and afterwards I really felt like wow and was blown away by emotions.

Especially because my evening started with putting myself down and the fact that the evening turned out so unexpectedly makes it a highlight of my career.

Are there still some venues or festivals that are still on your bucket list? 
Pukkelpop and horst has been a goal for me for a long time. When I went to Pukkelpop when I was 16/17, I was like, wow, what is this.  And the fact that they asked me to play last  year was really unbelievable and a crazy honor, same with Horst now.

Now I want to get more into the Brussels scene and Dour is certainly still a big dream. Because that's certainly where it started.

I remember going to see a Bambi set and that it really did a lot for me and stirred up emotions. I also saw DJ Marcelle and then I thought okay, I'm going to try something. Dour would really complete the circle.

What is at this moment your favourite track or a track that you play in a lot of your sets? 
I always try to vary my sets. I find Halo, a bootleg by Nora Zion, very enjoyable, especially as a final ending to a night. The track is a bit of a guilty pleasure song and I think it's really cool to throw it through one of my sets.

Imagine someone is stepping in your shoes three years ago, what advice would you give them? 
Just do it, don't be afraid of what other people might think. There are often girls who come to me and say: I want to try that too and then I often say just do it. I started with a pioneer ddj 200 and then watched videos and just learned by trial & error myself.

Not being afraid to take yourself seriously because I found it very difficult to call myself a DJ. I did not dare to say that for a long time. Also participating in small competitions and developing your skills very constructively, step by step, I think is the best advice.

Interview by Tim Borlez