As women continue to reshape electronic music from the ground up, Saint Ludo discusses the new generation of girls building culture, making space and pushing sound.
On any given night in London, it’s no longer unusual to see women shelling it out behind the decks. Yet, with the way that they are framed, credited and advertised, their presence still feels disproportionate.
Ludovica Guerrieri, more famously known by her stage name Saint Ludo, is an East London-based DJ and producer. She started delving into the world of music after moving to the city for university and exploring the electronic dance and nightlife scenes.
In 2016, her own record label Femme Culture was launched, championing women and LGBTQ+ individuals in music, as well as securing her spot at some of the biggest festivals in the world; all while hosting a monthly show on the iconic Rinse FM radio station.
She is just one example of the flourishing community of female DJs who are making their mark in a historically male-centric culture. This shift isn’t just about who is booked to play, but who is shaping the new generation of line-ups, running labels and creating space to champion female talent.
Born in Italy, she details not being raised in a typically ‘musical’ household, growing up listening to the sweet sound of Italian radio.
“My introduction to music was definitely through clubbing, a lot of techno music; also, Italian rap was blossoming at the time,” she told me.
“My first setup as a DJ was a controller, it was £100 and connected to my laptop. I had little shitty speakers at home, and they just did the trick for the first few years.”
Access to professional equipment came later, through shared community spaces. “There’s a studio called Hub 16 in Dalston that gave me access to my first pair of professional decks; you could go there to rent them out and practice.”
Eventually, she managed to invest further in her setup, buying a more professional controller in 2020 during COVID; “I needed to record mixes at home, and honestly, I just needed to keep busy in those months.”
However, like many women working as producers and DJs, Ludo spoke candidly about she still faces scrutiny; questions around the authorship of her music are persistent. “People really question my work, questioning where my music comes from,” she told me.
“It’s the first question people ask when they meet me: did you actually make that song?”
Saint Ludo
The doubt from some listeners has become such a routine that she has started posting her music diplomas and works-in-progress online to intentionally make her progress visible. “Just to show people that it is me behind my music,” she adds.
The growing visibility of women in the electronic dance music community is long overdue; dance music has long relied on the talent of women since its rise in popularity circa 1980.
From house music’s nameless, faceless vocal samples, to female selectors, to Sound System pioneers like Lady TT and DJ Adibah from the Bass Booty Crew, much of the culture was built on the love and labour of women.
Historically, statistics show time and time again that female artists and DJs often have to work harder for their recognition.
A study by music tech company, A2D2, collected information from DJ Mag’s top 100 data, and found that although only eleven female DJs appeared on the list, they accounted for nearly 40% of the top ten hardest working DJs.
On average, female DJs played around 23 gigs in 2023, compared with just 13 for male DJs. This was also echoed by DJ Mag’s top 100 list for 2025, with just a measly 15% of the list being women.
Saint Ludo recently came to Instagram to discuss her experiences with misogyny in the industry. “Something has become painfully clear this year, that whilst being the best year of my career, the misogyny I faced in the music industry feels disturbingly similar to what I first experienced when I started 10+ years ago,” she said, going on to detail the abuse she had received relating to her appearance.
“My face, body, facial features, age and the size of my breasts have all been dissected to a degree that had never crossed my mind […] people suggest that I have to quit music because I have wrinkles or telling me I have to get a nose job […] I personally haven’t seen any of that for my male counterparts, and I know you haven’t either.”
The responses from artists and fans alike were overwhelming, with the comments being filled with similar anecdotes. Sim0ne, a female DJ also based in London, was among the replies.
“Gotta work twice as hard to get half as far, tale as old as time,” she says. For Saint Ludo and other women industry-wide, success has not insulated her from misogyny, even in her strongest year yet.
That being said, 2025 saw her consolidate her position as a fixture in London’s vast electronic music scene, a presence shaped equally by community and career milestones.
Although always living North of the river, Ludo credits spaces further south with shaping her sense of belonging. “I want to shout out Rye Wax in Peckham,” she says, speaking fondly of her time hosting the weekly Keep Hush club nights held there.
“I feel like that really shaped a lot of my friendships, the DJ I am, the artist I am. It was some of the best years in clubbing and community, in my opinion.”
From releasing her hit track ‘Subliminals’ with Kasst 8, to playing Rinse FM’s summer terrace party, Ludo’s presence has truly blossomed, ending the year with her first headline show at South London’s finest, Venue M.O.T.
She was clear about her intentions for the set. “I want it to feel like a live show as opposed to a DJ show,” she told me.
“I just want it to be one of the most memorable nights of my life, and therefore hopefully one of the most memorable nights of the punters’ lives too.” Effortlessly blending UK garage, bass, grime and jungle, her sets take listeners on a journey, ranging anywhere from 140 to 170 bpm.
She’s in great company, with 2025 being a huge year for female DJs and events rising to notoriety. From the Malix sisters blending afro-tech to Latin house, to Miggs traversing through electro, breakbeat and dub, last year saw women pushing their way to the forefront of the electronic dance scene.
Female and LGBTQ+ events have also been on the rise, with some of London’s hottest nights being led by the artistry of women and queer people. Jungyals and Gays started in 2023, emerging from a creative university project by founders Chloe and Daya, bringing the best of hardcore, jungle and breaks to rave heads across the city.
They are quickly becoming one of the most momentous raves in London, nabbing a spot in the Time Out ‘Top 50 best nights out’ 2025 list, alongside other notable names, like Mums Against Donk and HOWL.
Across the global electronic scene, the increasing visibility is being tracked by both industry platforms and audiences.
Independent charts and rankings dedicated to female DJs, such as DJane Mag’s annual ‘Top 100 DJanes’, have spent the past decade documenting the breadth of women’s contributions across genres.
Its most recent editions reflect not just established names in the industry, but also a number of rising artists spanning across techno, melodic, bass and house.
Mainstream indicators show a very similar shift. In 2025, Irish DJ ‘Jazzy’ became the most-streamed female DJ globally, translating her huge online momentum into festival slots and international tours.
While representation across line-ups and industry structures are still disproportionate, these forms of recognition prove that women are no longer operating on just the margins of electronic music culture, no longer emerging in isolation, or framed as anomalies. They exist as part of a very real, organic, expansive network of DJs, producers and organisers.
What often begins quietly in bedrooms and community spaces is, now more than ever, evolving to be louder than before. As we look to 2026, the excitement sits in what’s already unfolding, a scene shaped collectively, carried forward by women.
Featured image courtesy of Jordan Core via Instagram.