Liv Carmen aka Regularfantasy has become a staple of Vancouver’s tight-knit dance music community, affirming herself as a fine maker and selector of funky dance music—ranging from house to italo, UK garage, disco, trance and anything in between.

Immersed in music since the age of 16 with cover projects such as the cleverly named Cover-Girl, she encountered the electronic side of the spectrum in her 20s. It was an obsession with a friend’s MPC2000 XL sampler that lead her to explore disco samples and playful dance music, as a way to balance out the darker sides of her character.

Regularfantasy has released music on multiple labels, including 1080p, Mood Hut and 100% Silk. Her latest album Sunsets and Sublets comes accompanied with an eponymous music video. “I’d like to make more music like the kind that I DJ… but sometimes life doesn’t work that way!” Plush Management is an evolution of Plush Throw, her collaborative project with D. Tiffany, another successful BC music export. 

Vancouver was the city that shaped Regularfantasy as an artist, with its vibrant music community. “The underground scene is strong there because people invest a lot of their time and energy into it. It’s kind of ironic because Vancouver isn’t well known for its historic dance music scene (even though there was definitely stuff going on).” Having recently relocated to Montreal, Liv hopes to have a strong foot in both places. “I feel like Montreal has space for music that kind of walks the line between electronic and singer-songwriter, and je ne sais quoi” she tells me. “And as far as DJing goes, there’s lots of young people that like to dance, so that’s always good for DJing!”

Regularfantasy will DJ at NVA Solstice in Montreal on June 21. Discover her six picks from the NVA record collection: