DJ Thyrza (22) from Assen plays at TT Festival, Hello Festival and Hullabaloo. Now she is going to make her own music. ‘I want to go all over the world with my Macbook and USB stick’

Look, there she is shine . On stage during King’s Night in Assen. A swirling Koopmansplein in front of you. She has thousands of partygoers in her power, tries to feel the vibe as best she can. That’s every DJ’s secret weapon. She was there last year too. “It was super hot then and my hair was literally wet with sweat. So cool to do. A little later I was watching another DJ and I thought ‘there I was too’. It didn’t really hit me at the time.”

While her agenda was already well filled last year, this year she has a very busy summer ahead of her. The TT Festival in Assen, Hello Festival in Emmen and at the beginning of September for the second time during Hullabaloo in Groningen. She combines those festivals with other shooting jobs, because Postma has been a professional since April last year. At the beginning of this year she spent two weeks in a club in Gerlos in Tyrol, while ‘at home’ in the North she spends many hours in clubs such as Ocean 41 and Sunny Beach in Groningen as a resident DJ.

Thyrza is all-round and does everything according to her taste. ,,Commercial, female-friendly sing-alongs. Hits for the youth. But also Dancing Queen from ABBA or urban, dancehall, sometimes some hardstyle or techno. Lately I’ve had more and more bookings from 4 to 5 hours per evening, so I’m pretty wide-ranging.”

‘You are constantly scanning the atmosphere’

Packed with a laptop with a music library on it, she travels from festival to club. “You never know in advance what the atmosphere is like and what you’re going to play. You are continuously scanning the sphere. You are always switching between your routines and folders of music, thinking about what the next record is. And regularly the thought ‘oh shit, what should I play now’. I always watch the door. When do they dance, when do they sing along, when do they leave or go to the toilet. But it’s also a big part intuition. Do I feel the energy, do they feel it? Last year I was Star of the North at Hullabaloo, that was the coolest experience so far.”

Back to the past for a moment. Her childhood in Assen. Born in Leeuwarden, but as a baby she moved with her parents to the Drenthe capital. She grew up in a musical family and was aware of her musical DNA. ,,My mother sang a lot, while my father played the piano and clarinet. Singing and dancing didn’t appeal to me, I found out along the way. Still, I knew I wanted to earn my money in music.”

“Not that I saw Afrojack on TV and suddenly knew: I’m going to be a DJ”

At the age of 12 she had her first guitar. “Through YouTube I learned to play chords. Shortly afterwards I bought my first DJ set via Marktplaats for 50 euros. I didn’t know at all what a DJ or producer was, what they did with all those buttons. I wanted to find out for myself.”

A year later she started her own online radio station: ThyrzzzFM. Music made me calm and happy. Because I listened to the radio a lot, I wanted to make and mix music myself. Not that I saw Afrojack on TV and suddenly knew: I’m going to be a DJ. I learned about the difference between a DJ and a producer. The latter makes their own music, while a DJ mixes existing tracks together and actually performs. The combination seems the most beautiful to me and that is what I want to focus on in the coming years. Finding my own sound in terms of spinning, commercial, but still ‘Thyrza’ with of course my own produced tracks in the set.”

Sports or music?

Her older sister Danytha (24) makes alternative hip-hop and teaches dance and her younger sister Kyona (19) is involved in theater in addition to her studies in applied psychology. Thyrza stood at a crossroads for a while. Does she choose music or sports? ,,I played football for years and also did mountain biking and karate. But after two years of secondary vocational education in Sport and Exercise at level 4 at Drenthe College, we noticed that bookings were going up. Sport was an outlet, but I could no longer combine it.”

Does she have examples? ,,Not really. Formerly Freddy Moreira, because of his choice of music and the atmosphere around him. I look up to certain artists, but I’m always looking for myself. I don’t want to be a copy of someone else. When I see a video of Charlotte de Wit, I think ‘wow, she is doing great’. But she is in techno, a completely different musical world than mine.”

‘I’m not spinning in short tops’

Thyrza is a standout in the male-dominated DJ world. “Sometimes guys come up to me and say they’re surprised and that they think I’m doing so well. I try not to be too aware of it, I’m not really a feminine type. I love baggy clothes, have a girlfriend and be hot open minded . I’m not running in short tops to catch bookings. But a make-up, laughter and a quick chat are part of it. That is part of the show .”

Her girlfriend lives in Groningen, while Thyrza lives with her father in Assen. Together they divide their time between the two cities. ,,What my week looks like? Checking and producing new music on Mondays and Tuesdays, playing on Wednesdays and preparing for the weekend on Thursdays. Running on Friday and Saturday and sleeping in and resting on Sunday. Or do something with friends and family. It is a scene in which you quickly become overworked and I want to guard against that. Due to an autoimmune disease, my thyroid gland is underactive, which makes me tired more quickly. That’s annoying when you’re a DJ. Medication hardly helps, so I notice that I need to sleep more and I don’t get much time for that. After a performance I’m buzzing with adrenaline and then I can’t go to bed right away.”

‘I’m always tinkering’

Meanwhile, Thyrza is busy with his own music. She already participated in the coaching program Hit The North, but now she has also received a subsidy from the province of Drenthe as part of a talent development program. “As a DJ I am always tinkering. Between tempos and keys. You do the same with making music. What else would people like to hear? I look for that combination of commercial and my own style and sound. Also with real instruments, such as guitars, piano and drums.”

Where will she be in ten years? She really has no idea. “I think that’s a big step. I live the moment. Five years ago I didn’t know that I’m doing what I’m doing now. In five years I really want to be an artist. That people know me as Thyrza, that they know that I play and make music. Keep playing during TT festival and Hullabaloo, but also at major festivals such as Lowlands, Mysteryland and Tomorrowland. With Macbook and USB stick in my backpack all over the world, that is my aspiration.”