HAAi

London-based DJ and producer Teneil Throssell, known as HAAi, seeks to highlight the psychedelic essence embedded in dance music through performances that draw on obscure global recordings. Following time spent in the psychedelic outfit Dark Bells, she turned to DJing and initially held a residency at Ridley Road Market Bar. Her profile rose sharply in 2016 upon becoming the regular selector at Brixton’s Phonox, where the opportunity to perform extended sets each week allowed her to craft unpredictable, hallucinatory journeys that cultivated a dedicated audience. This phase preceded her own studio work, such as the 2018 release Motorik Voodoo Bush Doof Musik, which reflected her wide-ranging international influences. After joining Mute she delivered well-received EPs including Systems Up, Windows Down in 2019, before unveiling her first album, Baby, We're Ascending, in 2022. In 2023 she contributed a dynamic installment to the DJ-Kicks series.

Raised in a remote stretch of Australia between Perth and the Margaret River, Throssell occupied her early years mastering guitar until she took a chance and flew to Sydney, where she immersed herself in the local punk scene. She later relocated to London with bassist Ash Moss, forming the psychedelic rock group Dark Bells that performed at several U.K. festivals before disbanding. A subsequent visit to Berlin awakened her enthusiasm for electronic dance music after experiencing the Berghain floor. She soon channeled this interest into a residency at London’s Ridley Road Market Bar, where her selections gradually blended rare Turkish funk, African rhythms, and Middle Eastern grooves.

Her exploratory choices drew notice from Joe Coghill, manager for Jacques Greene, who invited Throssell to open for Greene on select U.K. dates and connected her with club owner Andy Peyton, who needed a replacement for Jasper James at Phonox. Beginning in 2016 she hosted weekly all-night sessions there, which generated further international opportunities and spotlighted Coconut Beats, a venture that started as a Dalston party, grew into a recurring club event, and eventually became a record label. These developments also prompted her first singles “Be Good” and “FEELS,” followed by the 2018 EP Motorik Voodoo Bush Doof Musik. By year’s end she had appeared at festivals including Glastonbury, Field Day, and Nuits Sonores, while her BBC Essential Mix was named the show’s standout of the year.

HAAi joined Mute in 2019 and released the six-track EP Systems Up, Windows Down. The four-track Put Your Head Above the Parakeets followed in 2020, paving the way for her debut album Baby, We're Ascending in 2022, which expanded her sound through collaborations with Jon Hopkins, Alexis Taylor, Obi Franky, and spoken-word poet Kai-Isaiah Jamal. She later reworked Warpaint’s “Champion” and issued “Wall of Sleep” alongside Daniel Avery. In 2023 she delivered a remix of Kylie Minogue’s hit “Padam Padam” and compiled a DJ-Kicks volume that traversed house, techno, dubstep, and Goa trance.