This article is about Tidy Weekender 15 - NOW THATS WHAT I CALL A WEEKENDER! @ Pontins in Prestatyn (UK), Fri 03 Oct 2008
Hi Elle! Firstly, tell us about yourself and what you do when you‘re not in the DJ booth?
I've just bought a house in Leeds so all my spare time out of my day job, is spent stripping wallpaper etc…lol! I've just invested in a second hand SLR camera, so I'm loving getting to grips with that in my spare time with muchos help from Laura Sunderland (Chicca Photography). I’m sure some of you have seen me out and about snapping away in the clubs!!
When you were younger your musical taste was much different. How has it changed and why?
I‘ll listen to most genres of music to be honest. Through my life I have had so many different influences that I think it has been a progresive flow to where I am now. I started off listening to the likes of Kylie and Jason (sad I know, but they were great!), New Kids on the Block, then I got into Jungle at 14. From there I started raving and got well into Old Skool. When I moved to the UK at 17 I started listening to Trance. I lived in East london in my early 20’s and got into R n B and speed Garage for sometime, although I don’t think I was of sound mind at that time, lol… then after that moved to South London, where I developed a love for the hard house filth and its progressed from there ever since!
Who do you see as your muscial influence and why?
Karim has been my biggest musical influence… He played a set one Thursday night in Portsmouth at a night called Panik, I was totally straight aside from a couple of vodka & cokes, and he played a 3 hour set. The guy on before him played every possible released Karim tune, and when he came on, he started on Atomic kick!! OMFG!! Half way through I was overwhelmed with emotions I had never experienced through music before! It was just awe inspiring, his sets are just out of this world!
When you’re not DJ’ing (or working), you‘re…?
Chilling and spending time with my fella, travelling, playing with my cats. I like going out drinking with mates but sometimes you can't beat a nice pizza, a bottle of wine and a DVD tucked up on the sofa!
You’ve played at a number of events including b2b with Adam M main room at Sundissential, Hard House Academy, Convergence, Frantic, V14GRA, Cyberkitten and you’ve recently played in the Channel Islands! How did you feel and what did clubbers get to see when you were out there?
To be honest, it was lovely to be asked to go back to where it all began for me! I know that the clubbers over there aren't into the harder stuff, so it was a real challenge for me to come up with a set that was totally different to my usual thrappage! So on the night they got to see the cheese monster within…lol! I played pretty trancy playing mash up bootys of Silence and System F, but still about 152-155bpm! And it was probably one of my enjoyable sets. My feet never touched the ground the whole time!
You hold a residency at V14GRA which is a hard house event in Leeds. What do you enjoy most about playing at V14GRA?
V14GRA's a great night! The clubbers in there are up for it and are so welcoming. I love playing there as it's such a great vibe! I love spending time there be it a clubber or DJ!
If you could be anything other than a DJ what would you be?
I'd like to be a TV presenter on dance channels and travel channels, so I could travel the world and party hard! Lol!
Most enjoyable set and why?
Playing before LAB4 at Convergence. I played the hardest set ever!!!
What about your clubbing days? When and where did they start?
I was heavily involved in an underground rave scene at a young age. I started out at 14 listening to Jungle. I then got into dance/trance and used to help out organising underground rave in quarries and old disused german bunkers. That was back in the day with tunes such as Scooter, Night Train and Jon the Dentist, TDV.. a right mish mash!!
After that I got heavily into Trance and went to clubs such as Slinky and Crasher, by this point I didn’t own any decks, but tried to mix at every given opertunity on mates decks etc. The I met a London dj – Willis, at a party I was helping out at, and he introduced me to the sound that was London Hard House. I was moving to London that summer, and we hooked up and he took me to Frantic where he introduced me to Will Patterson. From there I got heavily into the likes of Karim and Glazby and was a regular at Convergence. I never made it to Insomniacs which is one of my biggest regrets!
Can we expect anything production wise from you soon?
Yes, I have two dates with Riggsy in October and I am going to book some sessions with Dean Richardson, Darrell White and Tom Parr very soon as well.
Where do you hope to be in 5 years time in relation to DJ’ing?
I’m not sure. I take it as it comes. I don’t think you can plan a career such as dj`ing to be honest. Theres a whole number of factors that could change or happen.
Obviously I’ll keep doing it untill it stops being enjoyable! I ve been doing it 5 years already, so I hope I’ll have another good 5 at least!!!
Describe your most embarrassing moment in the clubbing scene?
My old DJ name was DirtyBitch and I think the most embarrasing moment was when I turned up for an event and gave my name Louise Savage on the door, to which they replied "Sorry love you're not on the list", to which I replied, "Try DirtyBitch". I blushed greatly and had a whole host of comments made. That was pretty embarresing, and the point to which I decided I wanted to change my DJ name! lol!
A close second, is ejecting a CD!! I cried and swore I was giving up djing! Lol!
What are your top favourite tunes of the moment?
So many...errmm...
Karim – Sharona Tom Parr – Hip Hop and Change Darrell White - Tuskan Bake Rmx Dean Richardson – OCD – Clean House Lucy Fur – Vigilante And my remix of Lashes track – Looking Good!
What other gigs do you have lined up for the next few months and what can clubbers expect to see?
Obviously the big ones are Tidy Weekender and Hard house Academy. I've been approached by a few other nights like Crank and b2t, also Hardware would like me back to play in the next month or so! Expect lots of tuff vocal NRG thrappage! I’m also looking forwards to my 4clubbers Tidy interview that’s being recorded live at Tidy weekender by Chicca Photography.
If you were a porn star, what would your name be?
The Delectable Diva! Lol!
What wise words did your Mother give you?
Your smile will get you everywhere!!
You’re motto is…
Live each day like its you last! And don’t forget how to have fun!
Keep up to date with DJ Elle's latest gigs and productions by visiting the following links:
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