AUSTRALIAN REPORT

Jumping through Hoops: (from far left) DJs Nina Las Vegas, Bad Ezzy and Anna Lunoe. HOOPS Thank sass & bide. If the designing duo had never hired three Sydney friends – Anna Lunoe, Bad Ezzy, and Nina Las Vegas – to DJ one of their parties, Hoops, now one of the country’s most

beloved DJ trios, may never have

S

R

TOP existed. “I had been booked to do the OLD

CAN S WEA ; G R RI gig on my own,” recalls Lunoe, 27, one ) T F

USK of Sydney’s premier DJs. “But they WEA AME LE ) H Y

R wanted more girls, so I brought along B AT

A I GHT TS

(F Nina and Ezzy. It was the first time R AN I (RI we’d ever played together, and it just OE OWN SHO

N ; S

’ worked. We were a bit of a hit.” N R IOSSELL

A LU Indeed they were. Since that fate- NNA Y BO

A LAS VEGAS B A

N ful night, they have spent the best ANN . NG NI WAS

part of three years bringing their ; RI RY. RY.

ACELET party-startin’ tunes to the nation’s TE OODOO F A

; BR clubs and festival stages, and even sup- Y V OODOO N R I ROMANCE B porting hip-hop legends Salt-n-Pepa Y V NA Y B B RY RY RI

E along the way. “We were so excited,” I RY RY KAT OUBOUT E TOP

I remembers Ezzy, 26. “At the end of

HOS Y L S ; B R their show, they let everyone come AN HOS I ; UP - COM ST on stage, and we got to dance with WEA . ) RI E CA H

I the whole crew. It was amazing.” R MAKE Y C

F. F. The three first met years ago, when B OHNSTON

CENT CLEKT (

Y J they were all working at FBi, a Sydney KOP E L HOES RZ AT ZZY community radio station. And while

E ; S they’ve now all moved on to careers of EL Y KIRRI CHWA ALON R B BAD

. their own (DJing for Lunoe and Nina S Y F R S PPA B FF O Las Vegas; promoting for Ezzy), there’s A U F S ; C

OODOO something special that comes when N CAN I RRI RI Y V they work together. “We’re best friends, BANGLE B

MO É ME

E and we have really similar tastes in RY RY I E Y A I OUBOUT B CK music,” explains Las Vegas, 26 (who I

L V AMANT ; TS HOS

AN hosts Triple J’s House Party show). ; I R ; DI

ST “We each have strong opinions, so it’s USK SHO RI

H H THNELL

I always interesting, but fun.” AULCH AT W AND

Y C

R “It can be a pretty lonely existence B F B A

R O ANT

B TTA if you travel by yourself,” adds Ezzy. R ; G BI “We travel together, we play music S Y SHOES OUSE ; B XI HOES together, we have fun and share every- EL IR Y H LE S R B

HA thing together. We even show up to Y A . TAN B I PPA

S gigs in the same clothes. Our relation- A OUP É R

BANGLE ship goes further than just the clubs, G

CAN

É RI

ST and what’s better than that?” ! I OSMOPOL AMANT I T ME C D R

A

AMANT AT Y A I

TH B I D

N

I W THE DANCEFLOOR FAVOURITES

/ TS R

NG 1 “Bad Gal” – Savage Skulls LACK ALMA RI CANT SHO They’re our latest hot export I; B & Douster ; Y B E B

OLD R and a new breed of DJ, sharing 2 “Clockworks” (Teki Latex & NS ; G GUCC I JAMES Para One remix) – Canblaster SISTERS Y Y DE the stage with everyone from B B

CHA HEODO

3 “Love Ting” – Anna Lunoe &

& BI Salt-n-Pepa to Lady Gaga. & T Wax Motif GOLD SHOES ASS APHED

;

R Ti!any Bakker talks to the 4 “Lights On” (Girl Unit remix) TH Y S EL I B R

W CANLAN – Katy B feat. Ms Dynamite

women taking to the decks NG Y S 5 “Take Me Over” – Cut Copy B APPA RI TOP PHOTOG – and taking the world by storm

80 OF SPIN www.marieclaire.com.au 81 AUSTRALIAN REPORT

DJ HAVANA BROWN If you asked DJ Havana Brown when of classic rock (“I love a bit of AC/DC”) things started to go her way, she’ll thrown in for good measure. And the tell you the same thing every time: crowds are lapping it up. “I love having when came calling. The that connection, and seeing that they’re -based DJ was in the midst happy,” she smiles. “I love it when of a tour with there are no inhibitions and everyone’s (a good fit for her, considering her free. That’s what I do it for.” penchant for leather corsets and thigh- high boots), when she received word GO-TO SONG FOR she’d been recommended as a tour DJ A LAGGING CROWD: for Spears by the Dolls’s manager. The “Show Me Love” – Robin S. “A true 25 year old was gobsmacked. “Britney classic that still goes off in any club.” said yes. I couldn’t believe it. The first show I did with her in France is one I’ll never forget,” she says. Like a lot of DJs, Brown came to the EMILY SCOTT profession almost by default. She’d If Emily Scott’s childhood is any indica- been living in London, pursuing a career tion, a career as a DJ was always on the as a musician. When the band she was cards. “My younger brother and fronting broke up, she took solace in I always used to play ‘radio station’. the city’s booming club scene, but We’d create our own mixes and play was frustrated by the DJs she found them on our boombox,” giggles the 27 there. “I wanted them to play music year old. “If only I still had those tapes!” I wanted to hear,” explains Brown. But the road from lounge room to “Music people could dance to.” live show wasn’t exactly immediate. Within weeks, she had moved back The Gold Coast native took her first job to Australia, hell-bent on pursuing a as a lighting technician at a club, some- life behind the decks. It was a challenge, thing she says was helpful because, “It at first. “Guys were very bitchy and pro- got me up there with the DJ four nights

AT tective,” she states. “The attitude was, a week, really seeing what kind of posi- BY

‘She gets gigs just because she’s a girl.’ tive effect you could have on people, UEEN PPAREL Q A That’s infuriating because I work my and how satisfying that could be.” C M little tush off. Being a girl doesn’t mean Scott headed to London in her early ARRINGS it comes to you on a platter.” Still, it’s 20s, where she forged a successful ; E MERICAN ANDER X A COM not difficult to see how Brown quickly career as a model (in 2007, she made . LE BY quieted the doubters and became an FHM UK’s top 100 sexiest women in A BY

SUIT

international sensation (she has shared the world), but the music bug wouldn’t the stage with everyone from be kept at bay. Soon, she was practising CLEKTICA E ODY SHOES AT

; B to Lady Gaga, and has just signed a on the decks at home. “I didn’t even ; 12-month contract to play at Chateau have a proper table to put them on. But ONES ANNIJO Nightclub & Gardens in Las Vegas); her I would still just sit there for hours and J URBERRY D AN sets integrate everything from hip-hop hours playing the same song.” B BY D

BY and R&B to – with a touch She knew, however, that she would BY

RING need to come home to pursue a full- DRESS JACKET OLD

blown career. “Once I did, things

started to move really fast.” Indeed, in ; G IVA WEARS

the two short years since she played her D

FEATHER

BY TT first professional gigs, she’s already O C

become one of the region’s most S

RING

WEARS Y

L

in-demand DJs, regularly playing at I WARZKOPF. EMILY SCOTT’S HAIR EMILY BY JAMES PEARCE/NAMES. WARZKOPF. MAKE-UP BY KATRINA DANCEFLOOR FAVOURITES M WN E O venues across Australia and Asia. In CH .

FINGER 1 “Body Language” – Booka Shade

2009, Pioneer signed her as a ProDJ, BR USK

A 2 “Pogo” – Digitalism OLD N joining international heavyweights H A ; G

AT 3 “Intro” – and V

Roger Sanchez and Armin van Buuren A H 4 “The Human Bond” – Kevin Saunderson

on the company’s roster. For Scott, it’s OUISE MORRIS FOR S 5 “Who’s Afraid Of Detroit” E a dream come true. “I love having music L

ISS – Claude Von Stroke OSSELLIANI M I as the thing that drives my life.” ! PHOTOGRAPHED BROWN’S BY HAIR HAVANA JAMES BY CANT/THE GRANT ARTIST WITHNELL; GROUP. VICKI RAFTERY. REPORTAGEAUSTRALIAN REPORT

DJ MINX Standing on the stage at last year’s Stereosonic festival, DJ Minx (aka Rachel Phillips) took a moment to reflect. There she was in front of thou- sands at one of Australia’s premier dance events, sharing the stage with DJ heavyweights like Paul van Dyk and Calvin Harris. “It was bizarre,” muses the 27-year-old DJ. “I couldn’t stop thinking, ‘How did I get here, mixing it up with the big boys?’” What started as a hobby in an Adelaide club, seven years before, has turned into a profession and club-goers tout her as one of Australia’s best. Still, she’s come across some doubters, usu- ally because of her gender. “There are a lot of punters who haven’t seen female DJs play, because we don’t always get the opportunity,” says Minx. “But we’re there to work as hard as the boys, not to just be a novelty act.” Now, Minx is making waves on the international scene with a regular gig in Dubai, while she’s currently in talks to tour India. The Sydney-based DJ also has a regular spot on Nova in Adelaide, making her one very busy DJ indeed. And she’s loving it. “The more

receptive the crowd is, it really does ;

NX

make what you’re doing worthwhile. It I

makes it worth staying up until 5am,” J M D URBERRY

she laughs. “Sometimes, it’s not easy B BY AULCH dragging yourself out of the house – especially in the middle of winter when B OF

it’s pouring rain and freezing cold. SHOES ; JE You think, ‘This is what I do it for.’” ! OUSE A H BY

BY

DANCEFLOOR FAVOURITES BOTH PANTS

1 “Strange Talk” (Nordean Mix) RING

– Eskimo Boy

2 “Full Stop” – Cirez D AND

EQUINNED

3 “Blow Up” (Hook N Sling & ; S

Goodwill Remix) – Hard Rock OOT ANGLES Sofa & St Brothers G ; B OSH 4 “King Of My Castle” – Bastian EZI J M

van Shield BY

BY 5 “Umbungo” (Chocolate Puma TOP

MORRIS FOR SCHWARZKOPF. MAKE-UP BY KATRINA RAFTERY. MAKE-UP RAFTERY. BY MORRIS KATRINA FOR SCHWARZKOPF.

Remix) – The BeatThiefs E ECKLACE 6 “Lame Brained” – Bingo Players HOTOGRAPHED BY HAIR JAMES BY CANT/THE GRANT ARTIST WITHNELL; GROUP. N P VICKI WEARS AUSTRALIAN REPORT ;

DJ HELENA ; For any aspiring DJ, the Spanish island BY

of Ibiza – legendary for its mega dance- INTAGE V clubs and parties – is like Mecca. And ULTSTATUS C CORSET AT ;

that’s exactly how it felt for British-

born DJ Helena, who decamped to the MERICAN HOES UEEN A Q island at just 16. The budding DJ (who’d S BY C UCCI

M

previously enjoyed family holidays on G ANK BY

the island) knew this was where she ; T

had to be. And noting her passion for ANDER X MORRIS FOR SCHWARZKOPF. MORRIS FOR SCHWARZKOPF. E LE OSMOPOLITAN BOOTS

music, her parents agreed. A C URBERRY AT “My parents are very loving, but BY

B BY

they knew I was a free spirit and very EATHER

; L BOTH much let me do my own thing,” says ALMAIN B Helena. “In hindsight, I may have USK JACKET

H BY RINGS

grown up too quickly, but I knew this AT

was what I wanted. I was never going KULL WEARS

JACKET ; S A to be a nine-to-five girl.” EAMON N E B L

Soon, she found herself promoting COM . E

gigs for the clubs she frequented and, ARIBOU J H D M .

a few years later, returned to the UK UNWAY RICKSON R where the events got bigger and her E COM . BY WEARS

promoting duties heavier. Sometimes, A FFTHE T E O

she’d find herself DJing back rooms of V AT S

J CLEKTICA

the clubs she’d promoted. “I realised, ECKLACE D E ; N

‘Hang on, I can do this, I’m good at it’, AT ORGO

and it progressed.” Three years ago, B DDIE DJ Helena, 29, moved to Sydney and, OUTURE ANNIJO E C D within a month, found herself head- S BY

BY M DANCEFLOOR FAVOURITES lining clubs around the country. She’s BY UFF 1 “Royal T” – Crookers feat RING

since become one of the ; C Roisin Murphy nation’s most respected É 2 Sweet Dreams – The Eurythmics. DJs. Her secret? ORSELETTE IAMANT ORDELLE 3 Somebody To Love Me (Holy Ghost HOTOGRAPHED BY HAIR JAMES BY CANT/THE GRANT ARTIST WITHNELL; GROUP. VICKI C “I want to create P MAKE-UP RAFTERY. BY KATRINA B D Remix) – Mark Ronson & Boy George an experience.” I DJ SVETA GO-TO SONG For a music-obsessed kid growing up in hasn’t been out of work since. Her FOR A LAGGING what was then the Soviet Union, getting sets cross all genres, including electro, CROWD: “We any access to Western music wasn’t just electro-clash, rock, lounge, vocal house, Run The Nite” difficult for Sveta, it was forbidden. deep-tribal house, funky tech-house, – Tonite Only That is, unless you had an elder brother progressive house and techno. Sveta’s au fait with the black market. “My manned the decks at everything from brother is 10 years older, and he used Mardi Gras to the Big Day Out, and has to buy a lot of music [on the black mar- now done yearly club stints in New ket], so I would listen to his stuff.” York. (She’s also been fashion designer When the family emigrated to Alex Perry’s go-to DJ since 2005, DJing Australia, the budding DJ headed to all of his Fashion Week events.) her local record store and never looked After 20 years behind the decks, the back. While studying film and TV pro- 38 year old says she’s seen more women duction at uni, Sveta started DJing on a come to prominence, an evolution community radio station in Sydney. that has been a long time coming. “It Listeners often rang in to suggest that used to frustrate me when people she branch out and DJ parties (“I’d would say, ‘You’re great for a girl.’ explain it’s a different thing – DJing on And I’m like, well, what about for radio is not beat-mixing”). a human being?” Not that gender Eventually, though, she was per- politics concern her too much. suaded to do a night in Sydney and she “My job is to make people dance.”

86 www.marieclaire.com.au