For over a decade, Honeydrip has been one of Montreal’s most vital underground forces — a producer, DJ, live artist and speaker builder whose work sits at the crossroads of bass pressure, dub heritage and forward-thinking club music. Rooted in sound-system culture and informed by electroacoustic practice, she designs music that feels as physical as it does emotional: sub-weighted, textural, intentional. Beyond her own releases, Honeydrip has become a pillar of empowerment within the scene, co-founding MORPH Soundsystem, a queer and femme-led collective reclaiming technical spaces through hands-on education, DIY collaboration and community care.

In 2025, Honeydrip entered a new chapter. Her single “Dutty Business”, created with PYNE and Ultima Esuna during the PHI North residency, marked her first vocal performance — a shimmering, breakbeat-laced offering that blends summer heat with witchy atmospheres, pairing bass discipline with melodic freedom. The track revealed a new layer of her artistry, one that moves effortlessly between sound-system rigor and pop-sensory intimacy.

For MIXED BY, Honeydrip delivers a mix that embodies this duality: deep, hybrid, humid, unbound — shaped by dub lineage, contemporary club mutations, and the collective energy that drives her work on and off the stage. This mix isn’t just a set, it’s a statement: a Montreal transmission tuned to low frequencies, radical community, and the future of sound.

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INTERVIEW

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You’ve been part of Montreal’s underground for about a decade — can you describe the arc of your practice from those early raves to where you are now as a producer, performer and speaker-builder?
I think I’ve always been chasing growth, personally and artistically, and those two things are completely intertwined for me. Loving music led me to DJing, DJing led me to producing, and producing eventually made me want to understand sound on a deeper, physical level. That’s when I started building speakers. And now speaker-building is opening up whole new trajectories that are still brewing. It feels like a continuous chain reaction, where each curiosity leads me into the next chapter.

Your work sits squarely at the intersection of dub/reggae/dancehall tradition and experimental electronic music. How do you balance reverence for sound-system roots with the urge to experiment and hybridize textures? Can you give a concrete example from your production process? (prompt for gear, samples, or a moment when genre boundaries collapsed in the studio…)
I grew up with sound-system sonorities around me, so the rhythms and the spirit of that culture just live in my body. At the same time, I’m shaped by lots of other sonic worlds, and I try to stay honest about all those influences and let them show up however they want to. I really see art as a channel, something we tap into, so in the studio I try not to over-control the outcome. I lock into whatever my intuition is saying in the moment.
My process almost always starts with a bassline, and everything else grows around that foundation. I love dubbing out sounds with reverb and echo, letting them stretch and fall apart. Lately I’ve been trying to bring more of my live-set instincts into my production: on stage I often have these magical moments where I dub stems into something unrecognizable, and I’m realizing that approach could be a powerful tool in the studio too.

You studied electroacoustics and you also physically build speakers — how does that technical knowledge shape your composition and your approach to playing live or on a sound system? Do you design tracks with certain speaker responses or frequencies in mind?
I still feel very much in a learning phase. I am developing my ears both as someone who mixes music and as someone learning to tune sound systems. The biggest thing I’ve learned so far is the importance of space, letting each sound breathe in its own frequency band, not overcrowding the spectrum. Understanding speakers has made me think more intentionally about how a track will actually live on a system.

MORPH Soundsystem is gaining attention as a queer, femme-led collective that reclaims technical space. What was the founding impulse for MORPH, and what have been the most surprising or meaningful outcomes so far (from workshops to repaired subs)? (measurable wins and long-term visions—fundraising, training pathway, etc.)
The founding of MORPH was kind of accidental. I built my subwoofers in 2023 thinking a crew would naturally form around them, because in Jamaican sound-system culture, these collectives often come together almost organically. But when the subs broke into pieces (literally), I looked around and realized I was a one-woman crew. I made an Instagram post saying I wanted to build community and share what I’d learned, and it sort of blew up. People assumed I was hosting workshops, so I realized there was a real need. We held our first event, and from there the collective just came together.

Last month we put together a huge fundraiser and it was our first time all collaborating on something that size. It was a success and I’m so proud of what we pulled off. And we just received Canada Arts Council funding for a big project, so stay tuned for 2026.

You’ve toured across Europe, the UK, South America and Canada — how do audiences and spaces change the way you perform? Do you alter sets when you’re playing club systems vs. a dedicated DIY sound-system setup? Any memorable cross-cultural moments?
I’ve never been someone who likes to plan sets too much… though I’m starting to question that because it seems like most DJs do. However in the past, I’d usually just show up and respond instinctively: how songs are sounding on that system, what the crowd is feeling, what mood I’m in. My Libra side usually keeps that balance pretty well. :)

Collaboration is clearly central to your recent output — the PHI North residency brings up Dutty Business, a track you co-wrote with PYNE and Ultima Esuna. Walk us through how that track came together during the residency. What was the role of each collaborator, and how did the residency context shape the song? (rituals or constraints in the residency that helped creativity, etc..)
I was doing a tutorial on my Ableton Push and came up with the synth melody. Ultima Esuna walked in and I was like, “let’s make a beat together.” We made the early version of Dutty Business, and I freestyled on it. Like I said, I don’t try to control the moment too much, I just honor whatever comes out. At first it had this Bonnie-and-Clyde R&B energy that didn’t quite feel like me. Alanna helped me rework the lyrics and shape my phrasing, and then Ultima Esuna and I rebuilt the track into something that feels much more like the Honeyverse.
I probably wouldn’t have put my voice on a track for years, if ever, without this residency. But since the whole point was skill-exchange between Alanna and me, it felt right to share what came out of that process.

 

Dutty Business marks your first vocal performance — why now? How did you approach vocal arrangement, melodic/harmonic choices, and the decision to place vocals in the foreground of a project rooted in bass culture?
I have been singing and performing since I was very young. I was even in a few girl groups haha but I ended up giving up on singing. I have also always loved working with vocalists, especially in the Reggae, Dub, and Dancehall genres. There’s a line in The Artist’s Way that

stuck with me. It It says we often surround ourselves with the kind of artists we secretly want to be. I think that happened to me. I kept working with vocalists, maybe ignoring that I wanted to be one too.

Sonically, Dutty Business has been described as balancing shimmering, witch-y textures with crisp breakbeats and a breezy, summer-anthem feel. Which artists, records or production techniques informed the tonal palette for this single? Did you deliberately reference contemporary names (Nia Archives / Pink Pantheress were cited in press) or were those comparisons emergent from listeners?
The song wasn’t trying to be anything specific but after it was made I noticed its similarities with Nia Archives and Pink Pantheress. Mostly because it’s female vocals on a breaky dubwise tune. I’m curious what people hear in it. To me, it also echoes elements of my track System with Shanique Marie.

Your album Psychotropical and recent edits show a willingness to pull in live instrumentation and vocalists (e.g., King Shadrock, Shanique Marie). How do you decide when to bring live musicians into the recording process versus keeping things purely produced/electronic? Any anecdotes about arranging for live players?
I have a bit of an unusual workflow with vocalists, I record them and let them go wild with minimal guidance because I trust their artistry and that is why I chose them. Then I take everything home, chop it up, rearrange it into a new flow, and send it back for approval. I think that method partly came from insecurity about not being fast enough in the studio while someone’s watching. But I’m gaining confidence and I’m excited to start building songs more collaboratively in real time.

You place importance on knowledge sharing (workshops for women & LGBTQ+), and on reclaiming the studio/tech space. What concrete advice do you give newcomers who want to get involved in sound-system culture but feel intimidated by the technical side? What are the first three things they should learn or do?
1. Learn the basics of sound — especially frequencies.
2. Understand signal flow.
3. Pick a specific speaker model, read the forums, and study exactly how it’s built.

Looking at the Montreal scene: what’s exciting you right now (artists, venues, collectives)? Conversely, what structural or cultural changes would you like to see locally or globally in how electronic music scenes are run? (good place to ask about sustainability, mental health, accessibility and inclusion.)
I’m really excited about Parquette. It’s a space built for the people and by the people, after years of listening to what Montreal’s nightlife community actually needed.

And I’m noticing more big artists talking about turning inward with touring becoming unsustainable and local scenes needing more attention. I’m curious what it will mean to headline in a city like Montreal if fewer touring acts come through and if you don’t have to “make it” internationally to be seen as a headliner at home.

For the MIXED BY mix you’re delivering for Bolting Bits, what’s the framing or story you want the listener to experience? Will you champion unreleased material, dub skanks, edits, or new live-to-tape elements? Any tracks or moments you’re determined to include?
I have been thinking a lot about the ebbs and flows of being an artist, especially as winter is starting. I think that is represented in my mix via the volatility of pace, rhythm, and the surprises. It mirrors the waves of an artists path.

I was determined to put my Dutty Business Club Edit in there, which I did. With the remix release there is also a great remix by Anna Morgan that I wanted to add but I decided to not put my track twice in one mix aha.

What were your staple music artists in your DJ sets in the 00s and 10s? Would you like to share some of your current favorites?
I have some well-worn records from the past 20 years for sure, some staples would be Orlando Voorn, Shinedoe, my UR and Electrofunk records, and some early 2000s records by Polish artist Digital PrinceZZ. I would still play these today, but more recent staples include Bézier, Archivist, Analog Tara, Nikki Nair, Sepehr, and I’ll include Shinedoe here again ;)

Can you describe your current workflow for music-making? Do you have any special concept you try to explore and develop before making and recording beats and sounds?
I’m more drawn to process (rather than concepts) as a starting point. For example, my osc.jamz EP was made from a series of improvised recordings of a simple homemade oscillator sequenced through the Electribe ESX-1. I like to spend time just exploring and working through trial and error with different setups. I probably started off this way because I have no formal music training, and part of what I love about making electronic music is that there’s always so much more to learn.

You are now making music with hardware instruments instead of pure software. How much do you think your compositions have changed? What are the most important changes in your compositional process with this change?
Working with hardware was new to me a few years back when I was building my new live set, and I really liked the learning curve, and the different constraints of each piece of gear. I found I had more focus working this way, and live jams have now become my main creative practice. Then at some point, I decide it’s time to record and arrange in the DAW. Right now these two workflows – creation and arrangement/refining – are separate, but that is really just a limitation of my home studio setup. So I hope eventually I can better integrate these parts of the process.

You sang in Social Factory Reset, your latest release. Is this your first exploration of having acoustic signals in your music? How different and new was listening to your voice and lyrics in the context of your music-making?
I’ve used my recorded voice in other releases, usually just as small samples. Dream-Life Cycles is the first track that I’ve recorded lyrics for, and it wasn’t really something I planned to do initially but the track just seemed to call for them. I don’t consider myself a singer or know very much about recording vocals so my first instinct was to hide my voice behind a lot of reverb, which I then had to scale back to make the words more comprehensible. Now I’ve gotten used to hearing my voice this way I’d like to learn more about recording and mixing vocals so I can try it again.

How different is it for you to perform as a dj rather than a producer? What are the differences, for you, in each context?
I’ve been djing for much longer than producing, and I think that experience has definitely influenced the way that I put together my live sets. So even when playing live I think about timing and transitions and how to sustain/build energy in a continuous way between tracks. Performing a live set can be more complicated than djing, there’s a lot that I have to manage at the same time – machines, sequences, effects – so I sometimes have notes with me to remind me what is where. It always feels closer to potential chaos than a dj set, so I’m really focused and immersed in what I’m doing. I get immersed in djing as well, but there are more opportunities to step back and just enjoy the music for a minute.

What are your thoughts on recent initiatives to diversify representation in festival/club lineups?
I’m glad it is happening because it indicates that wider awareness is growing about the systemic inequalities of the electronic music industry that have resulted in white male dominance of the field. Looking at representation in festival/club booking, label rosters, and the music press gives us a window into the power brokering behind the scenes that influences what we hear and see. In some ways representation offers the most direct and public-facing site of critique, so it is a good starting point. But the critique needs to go further than this, and the pandemic for example has highlighted a lot of systemic issues related to nightlife and labour that are critical to sustaining artistic communities.Related to this question, I want to add that a new FACTS survey of gender representation in electronic music lineups will be released on March 8, 2022 by female:pressure (full disclosure I joined the volunteer survey team in 2021).
All FACTS surveys can be found online here.

Imagine the perfect party of the future. What are the musical features of the music at that party?
Hard to imagine a party of any kind at the moment, but we have to dream right? Musically, I’d love to hear a night of bangers I haven’t heard before ;) I’m less interested in hearing music I already know, unless it surprises me somehow, which has definitely happened and I love it! I’m especially happy when djs/performers can take some chances musically and the crowd is open enough to follow them in different directions. The crowd is a big part of what makes a great party for me, when people are absorbed in the music and in the collective experience then it is really special.

Interview by Gabriel Vigliensoni

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From the beginning of your solo career to where it is now, quite a few things have evolved in your sound. One thing seem to remain though is a strong Chicago sound (Larry Heard especially). Is this deliberate or does it just comes to you naturally?
First of all, that’s a very flattering reference. I guess it’s a little bit of both; I’m obviously inspired by everything I listened to, but also I don’t have the intention or desire to make a specific genre of music. By that, I just mean that I don’t like categorizing the music I make or even the music I listen to. I don’t like it when people ask me “what kind of music do you make?”, I always say “it’s music that you would probably dance to…” or “listen to it and see how you feel about it”. Genres in music are not that important to me; I like something or I don’t like it, it’s that simple. I get the whole idea of defining styles in music and I relate to that but I don’t like getting too deep into it.

I really can’t think of anything I’ve ever heard that sounds like the way you mix vocals with instruments. It’s very front and center while retaining an absolute dance focus energy. I imagine it isn’t an easy balance to achieve. Did you have any reference point on that?
That’s such a nice compliment. I actually hear that quite often and it makes me feel very good and confident about what I make. It’s hard doing everything yourself… I’m not gonna lie; I don’t have a lot of experience with mixing in general, even less with recording and mixing vocals. So for me it’s been a huge deal to do all the work. I would usually work with someone else for the recording and mixing part, which is fun cause it’s always good to have a second opinion. But for this record I just needed to accomplish something and prove to myself that I could do it. I think my main reference for mixing is “Everything but the girl”. Tracey Thorn has become a big inspiration for me in the last few years. I just love how her vocals are mixed in and she has such a unique voice.

There seems to be a bit more of a Euro dance feel to your latest releases. Also a lot more Acid sounds. What music has been floating around during the writing and producing of “Where’s The Party?”
It was really fun to write those tracks but also so strange; it was the beginning of the pandemic (early 2020). Right before that all started, I was DJing a lot and partying pretty hard. I listened to a lot of techno and late 90s/early 2000s tech-house. It’s funny cause the music I make is far from being techno. I think “Where’s the Party?” is the interpretation of everything I feel when I go out and play/party. It’s all the excitement and joy I feel that I turn into music. I always loved being at parties and taking a moment to take notes in my phone and writing down everything that goes through my mind. Most of the time it’s really funny stuff, but it also can get really sad sometimes.

You sing on all of your tracks except the remixes, do you see yourself as a songwriter primarily? Could you describe your creative process?
I actually never really thought about that… I don’t consider myself a good writer that’s for sure, but I do like the aspect of vocals and electronic music together. It can often create a sound that’s a lot more unique. I will always write the music first, make some loops and try to come up with some vocal melody, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t… I also don’t use any external gear, I make everything with Ableton Live and I just crack a lot of VSTs. But when I started making electronic music (around age 15 I think), I was dedicated to making instrumental music only. I was never a singer, I played drums for 10 years and in high school I really got into Kraftwerk and The Postal Service (haha). All that to say that at some point, I gave a shot at singing, and it first sounded terrible, but I guess I did figure it out in the end!

What themes are you touching on lyrically with that new EP?
With lyrics you never have to look too far to find inspiration. I think it’s important to laugh and to not take yourself too seriously; that doesn’t mean you don’t care about stuff, it’s just adopting a more modest attitude towards music. I remember my ex bought a bunch of random graphic t-shirts on Mont-Royal and one had writing all over it that said “tonight my dance is all about you”. I immediately wanted to make a track out of it, haha! And when I think about “Go Home”, I remember I was kind of struggling emotionally and I was talking to my friend who was also going through stuff, and I told him “we don’t have the time to be sad anymore; all we have to do is make music all night long”. That night I went to the studio and recorded all of the vocals for that song; I was so hyped. So I guess you could say I am inspired by stuff that happens to me… it’s not that complicated in the end.

When I think of you, I always see you as part of seemingly loose crew consisting of Lis Dalton, Regular Fantasy, the n10.as family, Priori, etc. You guys seem very tight knit, are you just friends or do you see this more as an entity/collective?
Oh we are definitely friends! We just all happen to be part of this same community/scene… I think it’s so awesome that I get to be surrounded by all these talented people; that’s definitely something that keeps me going.

Berlin? Quebec City? Montreal? Could you tell us what each of these cities brought you both artistically and personally?
I am gonna start with Quebec City since this is where I was born and that’s where I started making music. It was pretty interesting to start playing shows so young; Quebec City was thriving back then, people would go out to shows all the time. I felt the need to leave at some point just cause I needed to experience something different. I can’t imagine what would have happened to me if I had stayed there… I moved to Montreal in 2011 and met all the friends I have now and I’m so grateful for it. It brought me so much love and open-mindedness… great parties too, haha! It’s funny cause at some point I really wanted to move to Berlin and I was kind of tired of being in Montreal. I ended up just going there every year for 3 months (longest time you could be there without a visa). So it was honestly the perfect balance. I had my “real” life and long-term friends in Montreal but also was able to party in Berlin and play shows. It sort of started feeling like home at some point; I just felt genuinely comfortable there. I really miss it and cannot wait to go back to dance for 24 hours straight.

Could you tell us more about joining forces with La Rama for this EP; is this a ‘one off’ (for now) or do you already have more releases planned in the series?
In the first place I was going to release the EP on my own label “Your Approval Isn’t Needed” in a digital format only. In the back of my head I still really wanted to release it on vinyl but obviously had absolutely no money, haha. I talked to Jeanne (Gene Tellem) and she told me I should talk to Kris. He was really into the tracks and just offered me to release the whole thing. I feel super lucky to be working with a local label/record store that I respect so much. Hopefully this isn’t the last one I’m putting out with them!

How did you approach the mix accompanying this interview?
I literally just picked a bunch of tracks and records that I hadn’t had the chance to play yet. I wanted to make a really upbeat mix. I always have a lot of fun doing that; it makes me feel hopeful and excited for the parties that are coming in the future…

Can you tell us what comes next for you in the future?
Hopefully a lot of gigs, haha! But who knows what will happen; everything is so uncertain. I try to live day by day; I wait and see what will happen the next day and I go from there. It’s pretty stressful being unemployed and trying to make music. I’ve been going through a hard time lately, I don’t feel very creative… But I know that it will come back at some point. A lot of friends around me are going through the same thing and it’s always good to know you’re not alone in your struggle. I really want to start working on new stuff in the fall, it’s usually a good time for me to write music.

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Interview by OJPB aka Bowly