Barbara Butch, The Lesbian DJ and Fat Activist Who Will Make You Dance

Leaving Paris for Montpellier to start a career in catering, Barbara quickly turned to music. She came back to Paris to pursue DJ'ing in 2013. And has come a long way since then, having participated in numerous local and international events. She notably mixed at an event supporting the strike of the Paris Ibis hotel workers.

Activism is an integral part of Barbara’s life and work. In February 2020, she appeared in a Télérama article focusing on fatphobia and she regularly uses her Instagram account to fight against fatphobia - especially fatphobia in the music industry.

In addition to this, Barbara is openly lesbian and has participated in many queer events - including but not limited to the 2021 Geneva Pride. She also fights against discrimination against sex workers and the negative judgments and stigma society projects on them.

More good news: Barbara recently played in a short-film, ‘Extra-large’, directed by Marina Ziolkowski. The movie will depict a (not so) fictive society, in which fat women are forbidden to dress, effectively ostracizing them. Marina's goal is to show how absurd society's thinness expectations are, and the movie should come out in 2022. In the nearer future, however, Barbara has officially announced the release of her first EP, and it should be available by the end of 2021. We cannot wait to discover her new projects!

Psst… We have selected one of her mixes just for you and it is available down below!

Photo credits: Florian Saez