She Can DJ Winner – DJ Minx Interview

BBMLive.com’s Alex McIntyre catches up with official She Can DJ winner DJ Minx to get the low down on the competition and what’s next in life after She Can DJ.

After clawing and cat-fighting through the ranks of the She Can DJ competition (that’s how we like to picture it) last week Minx was awarded the title of official winner and given a recording contract, masterclasses, a scholarship for a production course and a trip to Ibiza. We caught up with Minx and her hangover the next day to talk about the Swedish House Mafia, being a girl and some blunt tips about making it in the industry.

So you’re about to fly to Ibiza?
Yeah! Just chilling in a villa networking, meeting new people…I am taking music to play though because we are there for nearly two weeks so if an opportunity comes up I want to be ready. I’m going in the hope of playing.

You say being part of the Onelove tours initially kick started your careers, could you elaborate on that?
Well I started with them in 2006 and they started taking me to all of the Onelove nights around the country so I think that really helped being the only female resident for Onlelove made me stand out in that bunch a little bit more, people were like “who’s that?”

We’ve been following a lot of female DJ’s recently as a sort of ‘new phenomenon’ in Australia do you think your gender helps you get booked or is it the opposite?
I don’t think so. At the moment more people are doing ‘all girls’ nights so in that respect, yes but it general no because there are so many of us coming out of the ranks in the last few years so you just have to be on your game and as good as the next person, guys included.

You didn’t find the She Can DJ competition slightly patronising?
I’ve been asked that before and honestly I wouldn’t have entered it if I thought it was. I’ve been playing for 7 or 8 years now and been through that whole girl/guy thing, is this sexist etc.

But there’s not a He Can DJ competition?
There’s not but it’s a male industry so it is always a he, all the competitions are really male dominated that are out there so I guess they don’t need a push because they are getting pushed everywhere anyway. So that’s more what it was about, not necessarily separating the sexes as such just a recognition of females that are out there.

Were you threatened by or maybe secretly admired any of the girls in the competition?
Helena and I get put up against each other a lot, we play quite similar so she was quite a big threat to me and Alison Wonderland has got some hot skills so she was definitely a huge threat but having her doing some stuff with EMI now is great so it will be good to work with her.

Do you have a dream DJ collaboration?
In an ideal world someone like the Swedish House Mafia would be amazing because that’s my style and what I play and look up to and idolise. My first ever international gig was in Mykanos supporting Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso, two of my idols so that’s a moment I will never forget. I am going to their parties in Ibiza next week so I will be like…. that would be a dream collaboration.

You are with the 360 agency still do you have anything exciting coming up after all of this starts to wind down?
I’ve actually been working on a track before this stuff with a producer in Melbourne called Nordian and we’re getting the vocals written for it at the moment and we’re hoping to release it for summer.

Do you think it’s necessary these days for DJ’s to get into the production side of things?
Definitely there’s just so many DJ’s around everyone can DJ you need something to stand you out from the rest and it’s hard to get on the circuit to be a touring DJ without having something to make you stand out you need to have tracks to base that off, you know TV Rock touring off ‘In the Air’, they have that on a poster, everyone needs to have a poster. I want a poster, with Minx and my track and Number 1 on it.

It sounds like your career is a lot of do- it-yourself?
Definitely I do all of my online stuff myself and even before I started I knew people in the industry and it was just utilising those contacts, I mean that’s what people don’t do now they come up to me and say how can I get residencies how can I get out there? Well you go and meet these people, that’s what you have to do because it really is about who you know, how can you practice your craft if you’re not actually playing? So you need to meet people then they’ll give you a gig, then you’ll prove to them that you can hold a residency and then you can move your way up. Now people just think they need to practice and mix in their bedrooms for years and years and years and hand out mixtapes and that’s all good in an ideal world but if the person doesn’t even know you I guarantee you they’re going to give the set to someone they know over someone they don’t know.

By Alex McIntyre