Manic, Fantastic, Hypnotic! ⋆˙⟡ (Hannah)
On the unsettling feeling of normalcy, and living in a post-'Brat' world
When I asked Hannah in late 2024 to guest for POWERHOUSE’s mix series, she was in the middle of a rebrand. Most people know her as Tiffany Brittany, a drag performer who frequents Manila’s sapphic parties – one who also happens to be a DJ. One booking after another led her to realize she was being typecast as the Y2K-inspired, girly pop blondie — a persona she loves, but one that, at times, is hard to break. She hoped to express a different side of herself through Hannah, which is both her real name and her second DJ alias.
By February, Hannah was temporarily living in her suburban Los Angeles home, where she recorded this “Manic, Fantastic, Hypnotic!” mix. Being in L.A. was a quite the turn of events for Tiffany who, in theory, would've loved a trip to silly little trip to La La Land, but Hannah had mixed feelings. “I remember recording this during the day, probably around noon,” she tells me over voice note, five months after making the mix. “I was just living a very normal life, and a part of me was missing that feeling of community and being united by dance music.”
This idea that normalcy can feel unsettling speaks to the broader concept of what a “powerhouse” is: a machine that, with its promise to turn electricity into energy, will inevitably face its limits. Hannah describes the mix as both a timestamp and a release — a way to process personal issues she was dealing with at the time. As such, her selections contain the same bottled-up energy many women experienced following the release of singer-songwriter Charli XCX’s seminal album Brat last year.
In fact, the idea for POWERHOUSE first came to me in late 2023, out of a craving for more unapologetically bitchy dance music. So when Charli dropped her first Boiler Room set for Brat in March 2024, it was as if she was channeling exactly what I’d been imagining. A part of me also felt like she was stealing my rizz… but ideas just float in and out of the ether, and artists are vessels for those messages to come to life. When Charli was recording Brat between 2022 and 2023, little did Hannah and I know she was giving shape to an evolved form of creativity, but also to a kind of femininity that confronts what it means to be (un)acceptable today.
Hannah’s circumstances have changed since recording this mix, now back in Manila, living in her own apartment, and recovering from one bratty year. Nowadays, she describes, rather cryptically, feeling “unsettled in a different way.” I’d like to think that’s what being a Powerhouse means: staying a little frisky, and a little close to the edge. I hope you find that same running hot energy in Hannah’s selections.
The following interview was conducted in February 2025.
Can you tell us the ideas behind your mix? How and where was it recorded?
I wanted something that sounded a little bit like if The Fast and The Furious was remade with an all-female cast and a glitchy, cybernetic soundtrack. I wanted this mix to sound unapologetically feminine, nostalgic, futuristic, deconstructed, raw, chaotic, and hypnotic.
This was recorded in my L.A. suburb home. I was alone in my room, wearing sweatpants, fuzzy socks, mixing on the humble DDJ-400 that I brought to tide me over. I was insistent on recording this mix from the comfort of my bed, so I used an old JBL portable speaker, instead of the more "professional" Yamaha sound system in our living room.
I didn't think much of it. It took me two tries to record this. I needed a release at the time — call it getting stir crazy from living in a quiet suburb for two months. I remember feeling discombobulated at the time and needing something to make me feel alive ;) Then this came out.
As an artist, what is one dogmatic idea you've had enough of?
I have two DJ personas. One is myself. The other is my bubblegum pop, 2000s-inspired drag persona, Tiffany Brittany. One is "darker" and one is "brighter" — up to you to decide which one should be which. As I was recording this mix, I found my blonde persona's energy peeking through; after all, we are the same person. I'm pretty tired of distinctions and differentiations, but in that tension I'm inspired to be playful too.
What are you most looking forward to in the future?
I'm looking forward to moving out to a place of my own, getting my cat groomed, and recording more sets for fun.
00:00 - Salute - go! (with なかむらみなみ)
01:04 - Charli xcx - Club classics ft. bb trickz
03:56 - Mochakk (ft. VTSS) - Locomotiva Ibiza 2099
05:08 - Miisa - All or Nothin'
06:42 - t e s t p r e s s - ibiza2024
08:30 - Indecorum - Sims 2000
09:38 - A.G. Cook - Britpop
11:46 - COBRAH, VTSS, MCR-T - TITS, LIPS, HIPS, KISS (1010 Remix)
12:53 - Jensen Interceptor, DJ Fuckoff - Boy U Nasty
14:31 - Jensen Interceptor, Assembler Code - Lean Before The Interview (Mixed)
17:04 - Maara - Lezzies In A Jacuzzi
19:16 - Vel - You Taste Like Zaatar
21:13 - DJ これからの緊急災害 - Modular Ghost System (Jensen Interceptor remix)
23:56 - Sedef Adasi - Mermaids on Acid
26:25 - Guy Contact - Ultraviolet Freqs
27:45 - Young Lychee - F33lings2
29:41 - DJ これからの緊急災害 - Fuck the Pa1n Away
31:48 - Joey Valence & Brae - 365
33:49 - Mukkaa - Kiss My Acid
37:11 - vladimir dubyshkin - ticket to childhood
38:09 - Charli xcx - Everything is romantic
40:50 - Zero Gravity - Neural Deception (1993)
44:28 - Charli xcx - 365 (feat. Shygirl)
45:56 - Charli xcx - Springbreakers (moistbreezy remix)
50:32 - Da Hool - Meet Her At The Loveparade (Nalin & Kane Remix)
52:55 - Paula Tape - Panamericana
53:47 - Charli xcx, Lorde - Girl, so confusing (Säfira Remix)
56:18 - Mietze Conte - 2000
Hannah is a lesbian DJ whose eclectic and visceral approach to sound creates a world where emotion and energy collide. She thrives on dualities—melding the bright with the dark, the minimal with the maximal, the polished with the raw, the nostalgic with the futuristic. Blonde and brunette… (IYKYK). Her sets are immersive, weaving together textured, pulsating rhythms, exploring tension and release, reflecting her instinct for storytelling through music. You might also recognize her as her blonde drag persona, Tiffany Brittany, inspired by 2000s pop nostalgia.
