This feature article appears in the August 2024 issue of X3 magazine, a publication dedicated to capturing the genuine personalities, passions, and stories of emerging and established stars. X3 magazine is published by XBIZ Media.
It’s nighttime in Berlin. You’re wearing black — oh, the long shadow of those Matrix trench coats — with BDSM gear accessories and asymmetric hair. You’re looking for the real shit: the underground, uncut techno.
But are you cool enough for Catherine Knight?
“On OnlyFans and social media, I have fans from many places, all kinds of fans,” Knight says, chatting with us from her new base of operations in Budapest, though all roads lead back to her beloved cultural epicenter of Germany. “But my Berlin fans will start talking to me about some techno party, like a specific event. They ask me when was the last time I went to this one club, or if I have gone to this other place. It’s the fantasy that we go dancing together.”
Others ask Knight for music recommendations, or what’s a good place to go on weekends.
“They know that I’m out and about — and that I know what’s up,” she says, merely stating facts.
“I love techno, but not all kinds of techno,” she clarifies. “I like the really underground, really industrial techno, straight-up Berlin, extremely intense. And there are actually so few places in the world where I can go listen to that.”
Knight makes a monthly pilgrimage to Berlin to renew her musical and social affiliations.
“All the people in that scene, I’ve known them for a long time,” she shares. “We all know each other. I have to go back to them to get my fill.
“Berghain is the one everyone knows,” Knight says, referencing Berlin’s current trendy-to-edgy-
tourists techno spot, which has turned away world-class billionaires for failing to measure up taste-wise. “It’s really exclusive. But things are changing. Last time I went to Berlin, people were getting really political about which club you go to, about whether going to one or the other means that you supported one country or another in a conflict, or political groups. Techno is always very political.”
She says that’s why she prefers the vibe at another venue, RSO.
“It’s like Berghain but much more relaxed,” she shares. “People don’t give you side-eye, they don’t look at you in a hateful way like ‘You can’t go in.’”
She admits, however, that part of the reason the energy at Berghain is so very intense is the anxiety release once Berlin’s pickiest door staff finally lets you in, after standing in line six hours.
“That’s six hours of you panicking and thinking, ‘Did I dress OK? Am I dark enough? Is my hair
alternative enough? Are my eyelashes OK?’ If you have tourist face, forget about it. It’s locals only. Out!”
To view the full article and exclusive pictorial, click here.
