Paula Schopf is a Chilean

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

producer and DJ, born in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

in 1970. Sister of musician and producer Dandy Jack (Martin Schopf) and DJ Adrian (Adrian Schopf), she has developed her own career as a DJ and producer in both

and Germany under the name "Chica Paula".

Biography

Paula Schopf was born in

, Chile. The daughter of academics Federico Schopf and Marta Caballero Santacruz, Paula and her family were exiled to

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Germany when she was three years old after the

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

of 1973 and the political persecution that followed. Paula returned to Chile at the age of seven though her brothers and father stayed in Germany. Despite this, she maintained contact with the rest of her family, especially her older brother, who used to mail her electronic music cassette tapes. The tapes sent by her brother were part of Paula's formative musical influences. Her brother introduced her to some of the

that would strongly influence her and she was turned on to the genre by acts such as

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...

Chris & Cosey Chris & Cosey, sometimes known as Carter Tutti, are a musical duo formed in 1981, consisting of couple Chris Carter (electronics) and Cosey Fanni Tutti (voice, electronics, guitar, cornet), both previously (and as of 2020 the sole surviving) ...

and Cabaret Voltaire. Other influences came from the classical and

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

music that she heard at home. "I have always listened to classical music. My stepfather was a German hippie and I got to know a lot of psychedelic music from his old records. Not like "The Doors", more cutting edge, more underground:

Soft Machine Soft Machine are an English Rock music, rock band from Canterbury, Kent. The band were formed in 1966 by Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen and Larry Nowlin. Soft Machine were central in the Canterbury scene; they became o ...

Paula studied in the "Colegio Latinoamericano de Integracion" or "Latin American Integration School", known for its opposition to the military government. She says: "I loved my school, but hippie music quickly started to bother me, all these " peñas" (“in

, Folk music encounters”) seemed boring. The Left identified with that kind of music: " Canto Nuevo", "

charango The charango is a small Andes, Andean stringed instrument of the lute family, from the Quechua people, Quechua and Aymara people, Aymara populations in the territory of the Altiplano in post-Colonial times, after European stringed instruments we ...

" and "guitar". I love Brazilian music, I've heard amazing modern Latin American stuff. I love cumbia. By then I started to develop my own taste". Paula was more interested in the avant garde

sent by her brother than the politically charged music of her peers, and found little else to interest her in the limited music scene under the military dictatorship. In 1990, Paula went to university to study philosophy, but before the end of the first year she was back in Germany, attracted and fascinated by the development of what would become techno culture. It was her first time visiting Germany since she moved to Chile with her mother.

Career

At the age of 25, Paula began her career as DJ in Germany. In 1995, she met

Gudrun Gut Gudrun Gut (born 20 May 1957) is a German electronic musician, DJ, presenter, music producer and founder of the Monika Enterprise record label. She grew up in the Lüneburg Heath, Lüneburger Heide and moved to West Berlin in 1975, where she st ...

, founder of Berlin electronic music collective Oceanclub. Paula joined the collective and got a residency at the Tresor club for the Oceanclub's Sunday night events, alongside DJs and producers such as

Thomas Fehlmann Thomas Fehlmann (born 1957) is a Swiss composer/producer who lives in Berlin, Germany, and has been active in electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based m ...

(The Orb), Mike Vamp and bands like Sun Electric. As well as frequent gigs in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, she has played sets from Detroit to Moscow to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

and extensively through Europe, at places such as Rote Sonne (

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

), Culture Box (

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

), Zukunft (

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

) and Le Triptyque (Paris) to name just a few. She has also played at a wide range of international festivals such as

Festival Internacional de Benicàssim The Festival Internacional de Benicàssim (), commonly abbreviated as FIB, is an annual music festival that takes place in the town of Benicàssim, in the Valencian Community, Spain. It focuses mainly on pop, rock, and electronica artists, as ...

Valencia,

MUTEK MUTEK is a Montreal-based festival dedicated to the promotion of electronic music and the digital arts. Its central platform is an annual six-day event in Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and ...

Popkomm Popkomm was an international trade show for the music and entertainment business during the 1990s and 2000s, and also integrated a congress and festival. It was held in Cologne for most of its existence, later moved to Berlin with entries from at ...

Love Parade The Love Parade () was an electronic dance music festival and technoparade that originated in 1989 in West Berlin, Germany. It was held annually in Berlin from 1989 to 2003 and in 2006, then from 2007 to 2010 in the Ruhr region. Events scheduled ...

and Detroit's DEMF. Paula didn't return to Chile until 1996 when her brothers, managed by producer "Microman", began to schedule some events in Chile. Some of the DJs taking part included

Ricardo Villalobos Ricardo Villalobos (born 6 August 1970) is a Chilean-born German electronic music producer and DJ. He is well known for his work in the minimal techno and microhouse genres, and is one of the most significant figures in the minimal techno scene. ...

, Luciano (Lucien Nicolet), and the German Uwe Schmidt (Atom Heart), all key figures in the development and spread of the electronic music movement in Chile. Her first release for

Monika Enterprise Monika Enterprises is a Berlin, Germany-based independent record label. In 2001, Wallpaper magazine described the label's musical style as " cupying a twilight zone between electronic pop, easy listening and bedsit angst" and " earheading a new g ...

(Gudrun Gut's label) came in the shape of a 12", the "Foxy EP" in 2003. Also in 2003, with years of experience as a DJ and several records and remixes, Chica Paula released her first album, "42 mädchen" (42 Girls), again on the German label Monika Enterprise, under the name "Chica and the Folder". Her main supporter was German producer "Max Loderbauer", a member of the electronic music group Sun Electric. The album "42 mädchen" include some collaborators and sounds from a variety of different genres:

Punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

, traditional Tibetan music and

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

. One of the tracks includes the last words of

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...

La Moneda Palace Palacio de La Moneda (, ''Palace of the Mint''), or simply La Moneda, is the seat of the president of the Republic of Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency, and General S ...

, the voice of Jorge Gonzalez, and a remix of

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

's "I'll come running". After the release of her first album, Paula kept performing as a DJ and took part in the German-Chilean lineup of the 2004

Mutek MUTEK is a Montreal-based festival dedicated to the promotion of electronic music and the digital arts. Its central platform is an annual six-day event in Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and ...

Festival in Valparaiso, and the same year participated in the Techno-Femenino festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Four years after the release of her first album came the second Chica Paula and the Folder album "Under the Balcony", along with a 12" called "Mixes From The Balcony" featuring remixes by Paula's friend, the Chilean

, and Swiss DJ Sonja Moonear. She said in an interview: "As a DJ, I play more dance music, more of the moment, music with groove. The rest (making music) is a different story... Being a DJ is a public thing, making music is something more personal".Chica Paula at Musica Popular (ES)
"Cuando soy DJ pongo más dance, más del momento, música de baile, de groove. Lo otro es otra historia. Hacer música es un paso. Está vinculado porque es música, pero la parte más emocional la vinculo más como un mundo privado, no lo veo como un desarrollo lógico de DJ a músico. El DJ es una cosa pública y la música es más personal". David Ponce, Musica Popular, retrieved on 23 October 2014 Paula also took part in a performance of Chilean-born German artists at the 2006 Sundeck Festival in Muelle Barón,

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

, along with Max Loderbauer, her partner in the project "Chica and the Folder". On top of her work as a DJ, producer, performer and remixer, Paula is currently also active as an advisor on the subject of electronic music to the Goethe Institut in Mexico, for whom she is managing a new radio project.

Discography

As Chica Paula

;Remixes: * Roman, “Traffic” (Chica Paula's Super Emo Mix) – Kalk Pets, 2011 * Maluco, “Right Time la del Barrio Mix” – Kalk Pets, 2009 * Donna Regina, “Playing free” (Chica Paula & Tobias Mix) – Kalk Pets, 2008 * Contriva, “Dust” (Chica Paula Mix) – Monika Enterprise, 2003

As Chica and the Folder (Chica Paula and Max Loderbauer)

;Releases: * Mixes of the Balcony, feat. remixes from Ricardo Villalobos, Sonja Moonear and Pikaya (EP 12”) – Monika Enterprise, 2007 * Under the Balcony (CD, Album) – Monika Enterprise, 2007 * Schatulle, feat. remixes from Luciano, Pink Elln, Dinky and Thomas Fehlmann (CD, EP 12”) – Monika Enterprise, 2003 * 42 Mädchen (CD, Album) – Monika Enterprise, 2003 ;Remixes: * Hauschka “Ginko Remix” (CD) – Karaoke Kalk, 2006 * Laurenz Pike “Drums for Fun and Fitness (Shakesbeer Mix)” – Monika Enterprise, 2006 * Shakebeer Mix (10”) – Monika Enterprise, 2005 ;Compilations: * Music for Children (CD, 12”) – Bruchstuecke, 2003 ;DJ mixes: * “Schaukeln 2” DJ Mix (Digital) – Monika Enterprise, 2007 * “Schaukeln 1” DJ Mix (Digital) – Monika Enterprise, 2004 ; Appears on: * M.A.N.D.Y – Renaissance: The Mix Collection, “Perfect Day” (Pikaya Remix) – Renaissance, 2009 * Dj Marcelle/Another Nice Mess – Meets Her Soulmates At Faust Studio Deejay Laboratory, “Kleines Hoppla” Klangbad, 2008 * New Trade Order, “Soufflé” – Monika Enterprise, Rubaiyat – Monirubi 01, 2008 Gustaff Ina Pill Vol.6, "Días Amarillos" – Gustaff Records, 2008 * La Planète Blue Vol5, "Perfect Day (Sometimes)" – Radio Suisse Romande, 2008 Dinky – Get Lost 03, “Soufflè” (Sonja Moonear Dans Ma Casbah Mix) – Croston Rebels, 2007 * Monika Bärchen: Songs For Bruno, Knut&Tom, “Kleines Hoppla” Monika Enterprises, 2007 * Monika Force, “I’ll Come Running” – Monika Enterprises, 2005 * Back To Glamour, Der Wolf Und P – Hi-Lo, Tunez, 2004 * Monika Enterprise 10 Years Compilation, “Kleines Hoppla”- Monika Enterprise, 2007

References

External links

* http://paulaschopf.de/
Chica Paula on Discogs

Chica Paula Bio at Resident Advisor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chica Paula 1970 births Living people Chilean musicians Musicians from Santiago, Chile Chilean DJs Chilean people of German descent