Simon
2004-08-25, 12:47 PM
Misstress Barbara is one of the biggest names on today's international
techno circuit, as well as being one of its most articulate and outspoken.
And chatting to Skrufff this week, the Italian born, <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> raised producer/
DJ is typically honest about the music she insists she loves.
³Techno is a linear type of music and I know why people hate it,² she
reveals.
³They hate it because they've heard it from too many DJs who've decided to
play techno because it's cool and trendy who don't know how to play it so
they mix it every 5, 6 or 7 minutes and it's boring. Techno's a really
boring kind of music, if you don't do anything with it.²
What Mistress Barbara specialises in is mixing and matching and working her
records over three decks, pouring her passion into eliminating linearity to
create something special. It's a philosophy that means she's remained
committed to vinyl despite the increasingly popularity of CD mixers and
Final Scratch.
³I've used Final Scratch, they released a hundred pro versions that they
sold only to DJs and I got it straightaway but I decided never to use it
because I think the energy of a DJ is very different when you're creating a
mess with your records, always changing them and throwing them all over the
place instead of always selecting your track from a computer,² she explains.
³For a techno DJ who needs to mix quickly and on three decks, Final Scratch
really doesn't bring any advantage. Do you think Jeff Mills will ever switch
to Final Scratch? I don't think so,² she suggests.
Chatting to Skrufff this week she's upfront about drugs ('I cut all the
substances away and became a straight girl'), getting started ('I was really
insulted by so many people') and techno ('I'm devoted to it').
Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): What is it about techno that so inspires you?
Misstress Barbara: ³I'm committed to techno because I love it, I don't think
it's a good idea to play music just because it's popular, because if you
don't feel it and you don't like it, you won't be good. You see DJs like
Paul Van Dyk and Tiesto playing trance and being popular; why's that?
Because they like what they do. I don't particularly like trance but they do
and that's one of the reasons the kids like them. The best thing is to stick
with what you genuinely like and then people will appreciate it, they'll
feel that you love it. So yes, I'm very devoted to techno, because I like it
and also because ultimately, people know you for doing something and that's
what they want you to do. The internet exists and if people know you as a
hard techno DJ and you're booked and they come out of their house to see you
then that's what they want to hear, wherever you're playing.²
Skrufff: You learned to fly when you were 16 and attended film school, it
seems quite a different world from Djing and nightclubs, were your family
supportive when you gave all that up to become a DJ?
Misstress Barbara: ³Not really, not in the beginning though they we're
against it, saying 'don't do it' they were more like 'you're crazy'. At the
beginning I was spending three or four hundred dollars a week on records and
I remember my father saying to me on day 'OK, you spend several hundred
dollars a week on records, you don't have gigs every week and when you do
have them, how much do they pay you?' I was like $75 and he was like 'OK, if
you do the maths this is not really good for you' and I was like 'sure,
you're right, if I do the maths. But this is now; one day I'm going to earn
much more money and I'm going to make all my money back.' He was like 'OK,
but what if it doesn't work?' To which I said 'Dad, you don't understand,
it's going to work'. He was looking at me with that 'yeah, right' expression
but I knew it would.
With another one of my friends, I called her just a week after I had decided
to become a DJ and I didn't even have decks yet and I said to her on the
phone, 'hey Natalie, I'm a DJ now'. She obviously laughed at me and said 'Oh
yeah, you're a DJ? Where?' I was like, what do you mean, where, nowhere?' I
said I might not have work yet but I'm a DJ now and I'm going to get work
later. She was like 'right'. I was really insulted by so many people, I
remember thinking 'fuck, they don't know what I'm talking about', but I knew
it was going to happen. Nowadays my father speaks about me to all his
neighbours and so many articles have come out in local magazines and on TV
shows. My friends are also always calling for guest lists.²
Skrufff: Did you know any established DJs when you decided to become a DJ or
where there DJs you were looking at thinking 'I want to be like them'?
Misstress Barbara: ³I was looking at DJs who at the time I considered to be
huge and well established whereas now I realise they were only known in my
home town. The main guy who gave me some tips was a local DJ I remember
thinking he was earning so much money I can't wait to get to that level one
day and he was getting $500. Internationally, I had listened to Sven Vath
and <st1:PersonName>Lauren</st1:PersonName>t Garnier and that was about it and I remember thinking they were
hot. So I was quite pleased when I learned more about international DJs to
find out that these two really were big DJs.²
Skrufff: How did get started?
Misstress Barbara: ³It was just a matter of me going out to parties,
dancing, taking substances (drugs)- myself too, like everyone else- then
very quickly not enjoying that vibe anymore and finding myself always
wandering up to the DJ booth and watching the DJs work. Eventually I cut all
the substances away altogether but kept going to clubs then decided
eventually that I wanted to be the person making everyone else dance. I
became a straight girl, sold my drum kit, bought some decks and started
doing it. I wanted to do it with a straight head to buy the records I really
liked, rather than those I was feeling goosebumps for because of the
substances. Before I stopped the substances I used to dance to trance and I
understand why trance is so popular because it's got such gorgeous melodies,
drums and build-ups so when you're fucked up you go crazy. But if you're not
and you just want to dance and move your butt, then for many people it's
house, which is the sister of techno musically. With a straight head I
quickly understood that what I needed to play was house and techno. And
that's what I've always played.²
Skrufff: Coming from <st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>, how do you view <st1:country-region><st1:place>America</st1:place></st1:country-region>?
Misstress Barbara: ³As soon as I get out of <st1:State><st1:place>Quebec</st1:place></st1:State> I feel like I'm in
<st1:country-region><st1:place>America</st1:place></st1:country-region>, the rest of <st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> is the same as <st1:country-region><st1:place>America</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <st1:State><st1:place>Quebec</st1:place></st1:State> is very French
and very European, techno is popular here, not like in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region> or <st1:country-region><st1:place>Spain</st1:place></st1:country-region> but
I play here regularly as do DJs like Dave Clarke. Outside <st1:State><st1:place>Quebec</st1:place></st1:State> it's
difficult to get gigs. When Tiesto comes here for a tour he plays 26 gigs on
26 dates, nowadays techno DJs can't do that anymore in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> or the <st1:country-region><st1:place>US</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
even DJs like Jeff Mills and Richie Hawtin. There aren't enough clubs to
book them.²
Skrufff: And how about the American mentality?
Misstress Barbara: ³In <st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> and the <st1:country-region><st1:place>United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> the mentality is the
same; there's that kind of by-the-book mentality where you can't really
reason with people. For example, say there's a rule saying you're allowed
10kg on a plane, in <st1:place>Europe</st1:place> you can talk with them and say 'I've got 12kg,
I've got a new laptop and I need to bring it' and they'll accept it whereas
in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> or the <st1:country-region><st1:place>US</st1:place></st1:country-region>, instead of listening to you, the employee is so damned
scared to lose his job that he's like 'no, sorry'.
And everything is so by-the-book that sometimes the rules make no sense.
People can have a gun in the <st1:country-region><st1:place>United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> but they can't go out to bars
until they're 21. What the fuck is that? But then again, in those countries
where people don't always follow the rules everyone screws everyone, the
governments take people's money and puts it in their pockets, the
bureaucracy is slow, everybody takes a nap from 12 'til <st1:time Minute="0" Hour="16">4pm</st1:time> and the stories
are closed. If you want a country that works perfectly you've got to come to
the <st1:country-region><st1:place>USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> or <st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> but what comes with it is the by-the-book mentality. For
me being Italian, I sometimes argue with them so much but then you go to
<st1:country-region><st1:place>Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region>, nothing works. I don't think you can have a perfect world.²<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
techno circuit, as well as being one of its most articulate and outspoken.
And chatting to Skrufff this week, the Italian born, <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> raised producer/
DJ is typically honest about the music she insists she loves.
³Techno is a linear type of music and I know why people hate it,² she
reveals.
³They hate it because they've heard it from too many DJs who've decided to
play techno because it's cool and trendy who don't know how to play it so
they mix it every 5, 6 or 7 minutes and it's boring. Techno's a really
boring kind of music, if you don't do anything with it.²
What Mistress Barbara specialises in is mixing and matching and working her
records over three decks, pouring her passion into eliminating linearity to
create something special. It's a philosophy that means she's remained
committed to vinyl despite the increasingly popularity of CD mixers and
Final Scratch.
³I've used Final Scratch, they released a hundred pro versions that they
sold only to DJs and I got it straightaway but I decided never to use it
because I think the energy of a DJ is very different when you're creating a
mess with your records, always changing them and throwing them all over the
place instead of always selecting your track from a computer,² she explains.
³For a techno DJ who needs to mix quickly and on three decks, Final Scratch
really doesn't bring any advantage. Do you think Jeff Mills will ever switch
to Final Scratch? I don't think so,² she suggests.
Chatting to Skrufff this week she's upfront about drugs ('I cut all the
substances away and became a straight girl'), getting started ('I was really
insulted by so many people') and techno ('I'm devoted to it').
Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): What is it about techno that so inspires you?
Misstress Barbara: ³I'm committed to techno because I love it, I don't think
it's a good idea to play music just because it's popular, because if you
don't feel it and you don't like it, you won't be good. You see DJs like
Paul Van Dyk and Tiesto playing trance and being popular; why's that?
Because they like what they do. I don't particularly like trance but they do
and that's one of the reasons the kids like them. The best thing is to stick
with what you genuinely like and then people will appreciate it, they'll
feel that you love it. So yes, I'm very devoted to techno, because I like it
and also because ultimately, people know you for doing something and that's
what they want you to do. The internet exists and if people know you as a
hard techno DJ and you're booked and they come out of their house to see you
then that's what they want to hear, wherever you're playing.²
Skrufff: You learned to fly when you were 16 and attended film school, it
seems quite a different world from Djing and nightclubs, were your family
supportive when you gave all that up to become a DJ?
Misstress Barbara: ³Not really, not in the beginning though they we're
against it, saying 'don't do it' they were more like 'you're crazy'. At the
beginning I was spending three or four hundred dollars a week on records and
I remember my father saying to me on day 'OK, you spend several hundred
dollars a week on records, you don't have gigs every week and when you do
have them, how much do they pay you?' I was like $75 and he was like 'OK, if
you do the maths this is not really good for you' and I was like 'sure,
you're right, if I do the maths. But this is now; one day I'm going to earn
much more money and I'm going to make all my money back.' He was like 'OK,
but what if it doesn't work?' To which I said 'Dad, you don't understand,
it's going to work'. He was looking at me with that 'yeah, right' expression
but I knew it would.
With another one of my friends, I called her just a week after I had decided
to become a DJ and I didn't even have decks yet and I said to her on the
phone, 'hey Natalie, I'm a DJ now'. She obviously laughed at me and said 'Oh
yeah, you're a DJ? Where?' I was like, what do you mean, where, nowhere?' I
said I might not have work yet but I'm a DJ now and I'm going to get work
later. She was like 'right'. I was really insulted by so many people, I
remember thinking 'fuck, they don't know what I'm talking about', but I knew
it was going to happen. Nowadays my father speaks about me to all his
neighbours and so many articles have come out in local magazines and on TV
shows. My friends are also always calling for guest lists.²
Skrufff: Did you know any established DJs when you decided to become a DJ or
where there DJs you were looking at thinking 'I want to be like them'?
Misstress Barbara: ³I was looking at DJs who at the time I considered to be
huge and well established whereas now I realise they were only known in my
home town. The main guy who gave me some tips was a local DJ I remember
thinking he was earning so much money I can't wait to get to that level one
day and he was getting $500. Internationally, I had listened to Sven Vath
and <st1:PersonName>Lauren</st1:PersonName>t Garnier and that was about it and I remember thinking they were
hot. So I was quite pleased when I learned more about international DJs to
find out that these two really were big DJs.²
Skrufff: How did get started?
Misstress Barbara: ³It was just a matter of me going out to parties,
dancing, taking substances (drugs)- myself too, like everyone else- then
very quickly not enjoying that vibe anymore and finding myself always
wandering up to the DJ booth and watching the DJs work. Eventually I cut all
the substances away altogether but kept going to clubs then decided
eventually that I wanted to be the person making everyone else dance. I
became a straight girl, sold my drum kit, bought some decks and started
doing it. I wanted to do it with a straight head to buy the records I really
liked, rather than those I was feeling goosebumps for because of the
substances. Before I stopped the substances I used to dance to trance and I
understand why trance is so popular because it's got such gorgeous melodies,
drums and build-ups so when you're fucked up you go crazy. But if you're not
and you just want to dance and move your butt, then for many people it's
house, which is the sister of techno musically. With a straight head I
quickly understood that what I needed to play was house and techno. And
that's what I've always played.²
Skrufff: Coming from <st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>, how do you view <st1:country-region><st1:place>America</st1:place></st1:country-region>?
Misstress Barbara: ³As soon as I get out of <st1:State><st1:place>Quebec</st1:place></st1:State> I feel like I'm in
<st1:country-region><st1:place>America</st1:place></st1:country-region>, the rest of <st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> is the same as <st1:country-region><st1:place>America</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <st1:State><st1:place>Quebec</st1:place></st1:State> is very French
and very European, techno is popular here, not like in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region> or <st1:country-region><st1:place>Spain</st1:place></st1:country-region> but
I play here regularly as do DJs like Dave Clarke. Outside <st1:State><st1:place>Quebec</st1:place></st1:State> it's
difficult to get gigs. When Tiesto comes here for a tour he plays 26 gigs on
26 dates, nowadays techno DJs can't do that anymore in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> or the <st1:country-region><st1:place>US</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
even DJs like Jeff Mills and Richie Hawtin. There aren't enough clubs to
book them.²
Skrufff: And how about the American mentality?
Misstress Barbara: ³In <st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> and the <st1:country-region><st1:place>United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> the mentality is the
same; there's that kind of by-the-book mentality where you can't really
reason with people. For example, say there's a rule saying you're allowed
10kg on a plane, in <st1:place>Europe</st1:place> you can talk with them and say 'I've got 12kg,
I've got a new laptop and I need to bring it' and they'll accept it whereas
in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> or the <st1:country-region><st1:place>US</st1:place></st1:country-region>, instead of listening to you, the employee is so damned
scared to lose his job that he's like 'no, sorry'.
And everything is so by-the-book that sometimes the rules make no sense.
People can have a gun in the <st1:country-region><st1:place>United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> but they can't go out to bars
until they're 21. What the fuck is that? But then again, in those countries
where people don't always follow the rules everyone screws everyone, the
governments take people's money and puts it in their pockets, the
bureaucracy is slow, everybody takes a nap from 12 'til <st1:time Minute="0" Hour="16">4pm</st1:time> and the stories
are closed. If you want a country that works perfectly you've got to come to
the <st1:country-region><st1:place>USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> or <st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> but what comes with it is the by-the-book mentality. For
me being Italian, I sometimes argue with them so much but then you go to
<st1:country-region><st1:place>Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region>, nothing works. I don't think you can have a perfect world.²<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>