DJ, Producer & Singer · Berlin, Germany
Cassy
Cassy (Catherine Britton) is a Vienna-raised DJ, singer and producer, a Panorama Bar resident who mixed Panorama Bar 01 and runs Kwench Records.
quick facts
- Real name
- Catherine Britton
- Also known as
- Cassy Britton
- Active since
- 2003
- Labels
- Ostgut Ton, Kwench Records, Perlon, Cocoon, Aus Music
- Genres
- House, Minimal Techno, Deep House
Sources: discopresents.com, vice.com, groove.de, rinse.fm, electronicgroove.com
Cassy is one of the few singers who became a headline DJ without ever losing the voice. Born Catherine Britton, she grew up in Vienna, learned to mix beside an Austrian techno pioneer, and landed in Berlin just as minimal house was becoming the city's lingua franca. Her residency at Panorama Bar, the upstairs floor of Berghain, produced the club's first mix CD in 2006 and made her one of the defining female names of that decade. Two decades on she runs her own label, Kwench Records, and is still booked around the world.
Early life: from Kingston upon Thames to Vienna
Disco Presents lists Cassy as born in Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, to a Caribbean father and an Austrian mother, while Vice's 2016 profile describes the father as Barbadian and says she was raised in Vienna and holds a British passport. Her exact birth date is not published in the sources we checked. Groove's September 2025 interview adds that she attended a Catholic girls' boarding school in Vienna and spent time around her parents' inn in Hadersdorf am Kamp in Lower Austria.
Music came first as a voice, not a mixer. Disco Presents says she was already working as a singer and actress when she was introduced to DJing in Vienna by accompanying Electric Indigo to her gigs and learning to mix so she would not have to pay her own way in. In the Groove interview she remembers moving to London in 1994 to study acting, after Kruder & Dorfmeister played her farewell party, and says her first serious DJ attempts came in 1999 and 2000. Around 2003 she moved from Geneva, where she had met Luciano at a friend's studio, to Berlin and began DJing professionally.
Panorama Bar and the Ostgut Ton years
Berlin gave her the platform. After playing at Luciano's Cadenza parties she was offered a residency at Panorama Bar, the upstairs floor of Berghain. According to Groove she was associated with the club's minimal sound in the mid-2000s but says she could always play what she wanted there.
When Ostgut Ton, the club's label, launched in 2005, Cassy was one of its early artists, alongside Ben Klock and André Galluzzi, according to Wikipedia's entry on the label. In 2006 the club asked her to compile its first Panorama Bar mix CD. Panorama Bar 01 (catalogue OSTGUT 002CD, 12 September 2006) was the second release in Ostgut's mix series after Galluzzi's Berghain 01, and Forced Exposure's review treats it as one of the strongest mixes of that year. For a sense of how the label has changed since, see RTS.FM's report on who runs Berghain, which covers Ostgut Ton's relaunch on 30 May 2025 with the compilation Klubnacht 01.
Her reach beyond Berghain grew quickly. Her second mix album, Simply Devotion, appeared on Cocoon in 2009, and RTS.FM's Cocoon Recordings timeline places her on the label's 2008 compilations alongside Len Faki and Dubfire. Collaborators named by Disco Presents include Ricardo Villalobos, Luciano, Steve Bug, Mathew Jonson and Swayzak. Her productions have appeared on Playhouse, Perlon, Ostgut Ton and Cocoon.
Residencies, Donna and Kwench
Rinse lists residencies at Panorama Bar, Trouw, Output, DC-10 (Circo Loco), Rex Club, Amnesia (for Cocoon) and Pacha, and says she contributed to mix series for Panorama Bar, fabric and Cocoon. Resident Advisor reported in April 2013 that she would become the first regular resident at Brooklyn's Output, and Dancing Astronaut's repost of that item adds that she had already played Ultra and Coachella that year. Groove notes that she left Berlin in 2010 after her divorce and spent time in Paris, Amsterdam and, on and off, about a decade in Ibiza.
Her debut album of original productions, Donna, came out on Aus Music on 24 June 2016. Vice described it as a move away from European techno toward what it called soul music. Her own label, Kwench Records, followed in 2017 with early collaborations alongside Art Alfie, Demuir and Pete Moss, according to a 2019 interview with the Oslo outlet Jæger, and it has since released Fred P and Ian Pooley, among others.
The pause, the return and 2025
In 2020 Cassy stepped back from DJing, moved to Austria with her mother and son, and, according to Rinse, rediscovered her enthusiasm through a drum and bass livestream with Ray Keith and long sessions digging through records. She then returned to the Berlin circuit, playing nights including Heideglühen, ELSE, Renate and Panorama Bar, and put out The Mission EP on Kwench in March 2023, which marked her 20th year in music and her first solo Kwench release since 2021, according to Electronic Groove. Her 2023 EP E.T. Ascension revisits her Berlin roots, made with a Roland 808 and a computer.
In 2025 she released "Be You" with Fred P on Kwench (KWR039, listed on Traxsource on 7 March 2025) and gave Groove a long interview in September. The magazine reports that her solo It's Time is the 40th release on Kwench, and that she describes it as the end of a collaboration phase. She told Groove she wants to put out more vinyl, play longer sets with more house and move away from commercial bookings. We found no confirmed 2026 release at the time of writing. For where Panorama Bar sits in the city today, see our Berlin club guide for 2026.
FAQ
How old is Cassy?
Cassy's birth date is not published in the sources we checked, so we do not give an age. Her professional DJ career dates from around 2003, and she marked 20 years in music in 2023.
Where is Cassy from?
Disco Presents says she was born in Kingston upon Thames, England, and she was raised in Vienna, Austria. She became known in Berlin, where she held her Panorama Bar residency.
What nationality is Cassy?
She was born in England to a Caribbean father and an Austrian mother and grew up in Austria. Vice reported in 2016 that she holds a British passport, while Groove describes her as Austrian. Sources therefore point to a mixed British and Austrian background rather than a single label.
Who is Cassy?
Cassy is the stage name of Catherine Britton, a DJ, producer and singer. She was a resident at Berlin's Panorama Bar, mixed the club's first mix CD for Ostgut Ton and runs Kwench Records.
What is Cassy's real name?
Catherine Britton, according to Disco Presents, Vice and Groove. Resident Advisor-sourced items also refer to her as Cassy Britton.
What is Cassy's best-known release?
Panorama Bar 01 (Ostgut Ton, 2006) is her most associated mix, while Donna (Aus Music, 2016) is her debut album of original productions.
What label does Cassy run?
Kwench Records, launched in 2017. By September 2025 her solo It's Time was reported by Groove as its 40th release.
How did Cassy start DJing?
Disco Presents says she learned to DJ in Vienna after accompanying Electric Indigo to her gigs. She moved to Berlin around 2003, soon after meeting Luciano in Geneva.
Is Cassy still a Panorama Bar DJ?
Rinse says she has played Panorama Bar since returning to the Berlin scene after her 2020 break. We could not confirm a 2026 date, so check the club's schedule before planning a visit.