DJ INTERVIEWS:
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DJ BABYANNE

Hands down Florida's most popular female DJ is set to make her mark on the nation. Her legendary sets of breakbeat energy fused with heavy doses of Miami Bass has rocked many a dancefloor in the South at clubs, raves and parties. Babyanne aka the Bassqueen has always loved music and dancing, so the transition to DJing came quite natuarally. She puts on a high energy show that people can't get enough of. Don't miss her the next time she's in town.

INTERVIEW by Graham Robinson

Why did you first get into DJing?

It was an accident... Honestly.. I used to go out and dance a lot and I had a lot of guy friends that were learning how to mix. I was very into the music, so I knew a lot of the names of the songs. So they would practice and basically have me listen to their mixes and every time they fucked up I heard it. So I learned by accident. When I tried it was almost like I was practicing with them.

What has been your biggest gig so far?

Well.. tonight was a big one, but I'm from Orlando and I do a Tuesday night weekly. I've done it for 3 years and we have a radio sponsor. That's kinda different, but coming up we're doing another 4th of July, and last year we had 10, 000 people. And we're doing it again this coming week, but it's a little more commercial than normal. It's a street party..

How long have you been a DJ?

Almost 10 years now.

What's your favourite track that you like to play?

Go bang.

What was your first booking?

Like I said, when I started spinning it was an accident, so when I first played it was a joke kinda for fun... A place that doesn't exist anymore.

When you are up there do you have a play list or do you read the crowd?

Read the crowd definitely. Every crowd is different. I live in Florida so they only like funky breaks and actually here's a little story for you.. I played in Seattle last week and that was like last Saturday I think and on Tuesday I went back to work and there was a guy there and he was like "I was in Seattle, why don't you play that stuff every week here?" I said, well, this is a weekly thing, it's different, it's radio sponsored. And when I do something like Seattle, it's a big rave, so I can't play the same kind of music. So it's always, always different.

(( HEAR )) her response in Real Audio.


Best DJ experience?

I would have to say New Years Eve 2001 at Daytona Beach. I had a lot of fun there. I did it 2000, and then 2001. But I really had a lot of fun this past year.

Do you prefer playing at clubs or bigger events like raves?

90% of the time I prefer clubs, but if it's a really good crowd and I am reading the crowd right then that's fun too, but... Well I play breaks, I'm not a trance DJ, I'm not a house DJ, so I'm not a late night DJ. So I'm earlier, I like high-energy stuff. So really, really, like clubs that close and go to bed you know..

(( HEAR )) her response in Real Audio.


Future plans?

Keep doing what I am doing.

Who have been your biggest influences?

You know what? Right now I really like Jekyl and Hyde. My biggest influence is DJ Icey, but he is my friend so when I say that it kinda sounds biased but actually he is my biggest influence. But before him, before he was putting out all of his own music.. I was really influenced by the Miami bass sound, but to you guys that might sound kinda cheesy, but I really like it. I like Miami bass, I like Icey, I like Jekyl and Hyde, and I like industrial sounding stuff. Like dark bassy metal, that kind of stuff. But I can't play it too much only a little bit.

When did you start producing your own tracks?

95, as a joke.

Did Icey help you with that?

What happened was he started making his own music because the kind of music he wanted to play wasn't being made. So he had a studio and one day he's like your going to come into the studio and make a song. So I went into the studio..

What song was it?

Abercrombie. And it was called Abercrombie because I thought the name was funny. There was a commercial when I was little about a little puppy named Abercrombie but... that's a big line of clothing (laughs); I did not know that at the time. At one point it was no longer a joke, and now it's kinda part of the game.

(( HEAR )) her response in Real Audio.