DJ Mag Canada 013 - January 2014 | Page 12

NAME: DJ RHIANNON HOMETOWN: VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA CURRENTLY RESIDE IN: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA GENRE: OPEN FORMAT DANCE MUSIC (HOUSE, ELECTRO, HIP HOP, TRAP, DUBSTEP, ETC.) SOUNDCLOUD: WWW.SOUNDCLOUD.COM/DJ-RHIANNON TWITTER: @DJRHIANNON FACEBOOK: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/VIOLENTLIPSDJRHIANNON WEBSITE: WWW.DJRHIANNON.COM BEATPORT: WWW.BEATPORT.COM/ARTIST/DJ-RHIANNON/298291 was many a moment during my set when I had to crouch down, grasp my stomach and say, “No no no, not now, just 42 minutes left, you can do it...” Then I’d pop back up, smile, and fist pump with the crowd. Phew What a night. I’ve since become a vegetarian. Related? Not sure. 1.How would you describe your style? Eclectic. That’s the best way I can think to describe it.The type of lyrics I write, record, and make videos for is sometimes very different from the type of music I play when I’m DJing.At a show, my bottom line is giving the audience what they want so I have to be flexible.That doesn’t mean that I’m sacrificing my personal style there is always a way to inject that into a set. Whether I’m mixing dance anthem mash-ups or bassheavy trap and dubstep, I select tracks with energy that moves the crowd in an intense and uplifting way. In the studio, however, I honestly don’t really keep my audience in mind; I just write what I’m inspired to write in that moment. So I guess in some ways writing is a more liberating art form for me, but wow do I love DJing live! 2.How did you get into DJing and who are your musical influences? It was actually a really organic process for me.Looking back, I now realise that I was DJing before I knew what DJing was!I used to collect dance music, pick my favourite songs, and record them in the order in which I wanted to hear them onto a cassette tape. (Yes I said cassette tape, it was the early 90s).I didn’t think I was doing anything special at the time but of course now we would call that making a mix tape. If that means I’ve been a DJ since I was 9 years old then. Cool! My sister, DJ Veronica, bought turntables in the late 90s and that’s when I started collecting vinyl records instead of compact discs, which was an expensive transition I’ll say