Storm in a D ’n’ B cup

THE WORLD’S finest female Drum and Bass DJ heads for Dubai for the first time this month to play at the latest incarnation of GlobalFunk: Dubai’s best and most committed Drum and Bass night.

We spoke about her music, life and loves, her coming to Dubai to play at Alpha and just generally shot the breeze.

Here’s what our girl had to say...

Has music always had a strong presence in your life? What are your oldest musical memories?

Yes music has always been involved in my life. When I was two and a half I started to learn ballet and tap dancing. At that time my parents also bought me my first vinyl; a Scottish jig record and a record by The New Seekers called ‘All Aboard for Morning Town’.

Ever since then I’ve always been involved in music. I learned a musical instrument when I was 8 and started Irish Dancing when I was 7. In my 20s I was a backing singer in a band; we were a cross between Roxy Music and Japan.

What inspired you to get into DJing?

Being obsessed with the music and wanting a job that would involve me being in music 24-7.

Where was your first paid gig and how did it go?

It was in Wolverhampton, in the Civic Arts Centre in 1992. It was nerve-wracking and hilarious at the same time. Goldie was our MC and there were 3 of us at the time. We were called Mach 3.

Vinyl junkie, Seedy CDs or Laptop Dancer?

Vinyl junkie and CD junkie.

You’ve travelled quite a bit around the world do you have any favourite cities as far as D ‘n’ B goes? What venues stand out from the rest and why?

It doesn’t really matter where you are in the world, if you’ve got a crowd that’s into what you are playing you could be anywhere. I am resident at a party called Pressure in Germany and it’s my longest residency apart from Metalheadz and it’s always been amazing for me.

If you had to choose, would you take a huge open air gig to 20,000 people or the perfect sound system in a small room to 200 people?

That’s a difficult dilemma.

In an ideal world I’d like both of those gigs on the same night. You get two different feelings. In a small club it’s more intimate and you can engage the crowd.

The bigger event is nice because it’s open air, but there would be less contact with the crowd. You can maybe play bigger tunes at the larger event. In either situation I would be happy and content.

Where is D’n’B going from now on in? What direction are you and other leading spinners / producers taking it in? Or what direction should they be taking it in?

Drum and Bass is always moving forward. I feel that right about now Drum and Bass is even more exciting as it becomes global. Not only am I playing fantastic productions from UK producers but I’m also able to incorporate tunes from around the world which, again, adds another dimension to drum ‘n’ bass as people bring their individual histories and their culture into their productions.

Who are your favourite D’n’B artists?

Too many to mention. I love everybody that makes a commitment to the drum and bass scene, DJ or Producer.

What genres do you turn to when you’re all D ‘n’B-ed out? What’s on your ‘most played’ list on your iPod?

I like Bjork, Prince, or Jil Scott. But I listen to drum and bass more than anything else.

Excited about Dubai? What have you heard?

I’m very excited about Dubai. I’m always interested to enter into a place which has a very different culture. I’m looking forward to being engaged by the culture shock and I’m excited to bring my music to a part of the world that I’ve never been to before.

Storm plays Alpha on Friday, August 22, as part of the Puma Powered Global- Funk series. Last time we were there some expensive Puma trainers went missing for an hour. Who knows? Maybe this time around people might lose an entire wardrobe. Either way, we’re sure the music will go down a Storm (even if this pun doesn’t).