*note* title of blog is the usual answer given to the question; "What kind of DJ doesn't carry a microphone?" a little humour for y'all** Hiya! First and foremost, I want to thank all the wonderful feedback and support I have recieved thus far in my blogging adventure, it means the world to me!! Well, yesterday I talked a little about my background in my continuing discovery of being a transwoman, so I think today I will discuss exactly how I became a DJ. I am 23 years old and have been DJing now for nearly 7 years. I started as a battle DJ when I was in high school and began to quickly earn the respect of many contemporaries, most if not all, much older than me. I competed in contests such as the DMC regionals as well as other battles. The battle scene was fruitful but once I graduated from high school, I also realized it was limited. That is when I learned the fun and exciting life of nightlife party-rocking. Growing up, I always had a strong passion for music, I was trained on the trumpet as well as the piano and grew an ear to learning how to play other instruments as well. I always kept an open mind to all generations and genres of music and carry that passion to this day. Even during my battle days, if I wasn't practicing battle routines, I was making mixes and mixtapes for my close friends and schoolmates (which were excellent by the way haha). Anyway, back to college, I started to grow slowly in the club scene in college, primarily doing house parties, frat parties, the bar or nightclub in town, and occasionally the private event or function. I earned a radio show as well with one of my best friends, he was more of a vocal person and I was more of a 'speak with your hands' kind of person so we were the perfect combination. Every Friday I would perform live 30-40 min mixes, genre jumping through some of my favorite tunes as well as a handful of songs that were great but not nexc 'mainstream' and my best friend would rant about this and that and then make up accents so he can conduct 'interviews with our exclusive guests'.
About halfway through my sophomore year of college, my big breakthrough in nightlife and true party-rocking occured. Word of our mixshow got out in the community and through the state and we grew a large fanbase. I recieved a call from a neighboring university and they had heard one of our broadcast where I was performing a set of some of my favorite electro, house, and baltimore jams and loved what I was doing with it and my techniques. They asked me to perform their biggest bash of the year in the spring and I humbly accepted. The party was a success and my career began to flourish-the rest, well, is history. I have been blessed enough to have been able to use my turntable talents to help pay my tuition and to be able to allow me to travel across the country as well as the planet and share with eager crowds my skills and my uniquely eclectic approaches to music that I love to share. Unfortunately, I have always had the burden of supressing my true identity while I pursue my passion. Fortunately, due to my wide range of playing styles and ability to perform virtually any set with success; there have been a few instances in which I was able to show some of my true colours (LGBT venues)-but it was never within my comfortable element of musical performance.
I'm not saying that there is 'crappy' music in that scene by any means, but the range is so limited (in my experiences at least) that I not only feel that I am doing myself an injustice but also the happy clubheads. I do have recorded sets of some of my live performances, if any of you want to hear what I'm about exactly please don't hesitate to message me and I will gladly get you a copy! Ooh and if any of you wonderful people want a refreshing taste to your nightlife, feel free to invite me to your town! hehe. I would love nothing more to do what I love, be who I am, and share it with the masses-but in this world so heavily compiled of by men; can a girl like me make it? The idealist in me says yes; who cares about how you look when they hear you all doubts will be dismissed but unfortunately the much more experienced 'realist' (bka pessismist) begs the differ. Well, that's all for now, thanks for reading and any feedback, comments, suggestions, advice, please submit, I'm looking forward to it!
4 comments:
btw, the icon in the picture is not yours truly (en male) but the infamous DJ Premier, just making that clear, just in case
very cool!
is there a particular sound to "Baltimore?"
do you mainly do live spinning, or do you, I dunno, try to market your own mixes on the Interwebs, or...I only know how it works as a consumer, I'm afraid, don't know the best way to actually make money off the gig. I do know a lot of DJ's and artists from surfing Youtube, say, or even myspace.
thanks for the message! To answer your question, yes there is a typical sound to the baltimore style of club music, usually built off of a couple recognized drum breaks and usually rendentions of recognizd songs. Better yet, here is an ideal example of a well executed bmore (baltimore) remix: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Dvul1wIO0p8 I make money off of live spinning (clus, concerts, events, etc) and some studio projects but I also rely heavily off of making mixes and distributing mixtapes as well for marketing purposes (I'll be happy to send some listening materials your way if you want) they're esentially my business card/press kit/stress release when it comes down to it.
*sigh* you couldn't be any more correct, that esentially hits the nail on the head. There are a small amount of female DJs within my element (ironically some of those I mentored and trained) but it is a dense and heavily competitive/limited minded/cutthroat world. And You are not an old woman! :) We can do just about anything (even make the boys play nice) and I need to re-affirm that to myself, thank you for your response and thoughtful wishes! Have a great weekend hun!
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