For August 2003 we interviewed local favorite DJ Denise:

SISTER SF: First of tell us a mini bio, including location and residencies

Denise: My name & DJ name is Denise. I'm based out of Oakland, CA but play regularly all over the Bay Area. I primarily spin UK hard house/hard dance and funky house, with a pinch of other stuff in between, like hard trance, techno, deep/tech house, breaks, etc. Usually I play at raves, and I tend to play at all the annual and regular events: Metropolis, Cyberfest, Popsicle, Atlantis, Planet New Year, etc etc. In the club scene I have a residency with Euphoria Dreams (www.euphoriadreams.com), playing Fridays at 1015 Folsom, but usually I just get booked for various clubs and play where ever I get hired.

SISTER SF: When and how, did you begin as a DJ?

Denise: I sort of stumbled into DJing during the summer of 1998 when Thomas Trouble taught me on a whim at his record store, the Trance & Jungle Factory (in Berkeley, now owned by Skills). The moment I touched the record on the turntable I knew this was something that I was going to love, and for the next 5 or 6 days straight I came back into the store & practiced nonstop for hours on end. Once Thomas saw how quickly I caught on, he booked me for all of his following shows, which included 2 in the fall/winter 1998 and over 7 shows in 1999. The rest, as they say, is history! (Read all about it at www.djdenise.com/about/about.html).

SISTER SF: How would you describe your style of music?

Denise: Hard, bumpin', energetic, catchy... It's the bassline that attracts me to a good tune. If it can get my ass shakin' at a listening station at the record store, then it's on!

SISTER SF: Tell us what inspired/motivated you to pursue djing professionally.

Denise: I had just graduated from college and was working full-time in the biotech industry. On the nights & weekends I continued to DJ. Three months into the day job, I took a look at my weekly paycheck from my job & compared it to my weekly income from DJing: both were about the same. I figured, if I quit my day job & worked hard enough at DJing, I wouldn't have to be a slave to someone else's company any more. So I quit, and have been a full-time musician since January 2001. I created my own business in 2002 and named it after my pet lizard: Mizumo Music. Now I'm legal, and I have the tax returns to prove it!!

SISTER SF: Where are your favorite places to play and why? What has so far been your ultimate DJing experience?

Denise: I love playing at home in the Bay Area, because it feels like I'm among friends. You can't deny the hometown love! Still, I don't really prefer one gig over the other. As long as the sound system is clean and heavy and there's people out there enjoying the music, I couldn't care less! My favorite DJing experience to date was at the Moonshine Over America Tour in 2000. This was only about 2 years into my career, but I had somehow been assigned a midnight-1 time slot in a huge tent that was packed with over 2,000 people. The crowd was eating up every record I threw down, at one point in time I looked up during the build of a breakdown and saw nothing but a sea of hands in the air - fabulous! And, to top it off, my favorite DJ, Donald Glaude, played after me, and for about 15 minutes before his set he was standing behind me, rockin' out to my set! Ah, the memories...

SISTER SF: You are considered a staple in the Bay Area rave scene and have been consistantly booked as a premier hard house and energy DJ. And in the last two years you have also began to spin funky, groovin' house sets that have also rocked the dance floors. Tell us the secret of your sucess and motivation behind the transfusion of these two different styles.

Denise: I've always loved house music (doesn't everyone?), but I didn't decide to seriously play it "out" until early 2002. When I did, it was because I was trying to expand my horizons as well as my audience. When times got rough, I wanted to make sure to keep my name out there so I didn't fall through the cracks. Now I have more gigs in the clubs as well as at house-oriented raves, which in turn has increased my exposure and introduced me to new audiences! All in all, I'm more flexible as a DJ and it's working out great.

SISTER SF: What kind of difficulties (if any) do you confront as a woman in the music industry and what do you do to make sure you are given equal opportunity as a woman DJ ?

Denise: To be honest, I haven't been confronted with much sexism during my career, at least nothing blatant. It's more the politics involved with this business that make this job difficult. It can be frustrating, because a lot of times I'll get shafted because I'm not offering a promoter something in return... all I can offer is my DJing services. But the "You scratch my back & I'll scratch yours" mentality usually leaves me opening up the bigger events from 5-6pm, while the sun's still shining & most of my listeners are still stuck outside waiting in line. That's not entirely a bad thing, however. It challenges me to work harder to make my skills and reputation stand out. It's very rewarding to be able to prove your worth among a sea of DJs who get booked because they're chummy with - or an employee of - the promoter.

SISTER SF: Who are your favorite DJs and why?

Denise: 1) Donald Glaude - for his enthusiasm behind the decks. He rocks it 110% every time he plays, no matter how big or small the crowd is, or how good or shitty the sound system. 2) Superfast Oz - technically a very precise DJ, and serves as a role model for me because he is everything I want to be 5 years down the road: successful international DJ, owner of a respectable record label that consistently releases solid tunes. 3) Thomas Trouble - the man who introduced me to my fate! I'm forever grateful to this guy for all the advice he's given me. Although he's dropped out of the SF scene, he's doing so much huge international superstar stuff right now it's ridiculous. I'm so happy for him!

SISTER SF: Electronic music has moved out from the underground and gotten commercialized over the past few years with little positive media. Do you have a message you would like to share about the scene and why you are a part of it?

Denise: Here's what I think: Music makes people happy. It relieves your stress at the end of the day & makes you feel better. I've come to the realization that my role in life is to go around & make people happy through music. This has a rippling effect because my listeners go home happy (um, usually) and spread their good feelings onto others, and so on and so forth. Ultimately, this will lead to world peace! (I've got it all planned out, see?!) Unfortunately, as the electronic music scene has gotten bigger and better, we've gotten a lot of bad press. My message to those trying to hold us down is that we're not bad people; we're not all a bunch of drug-riddled crack whores that take your children and eat them for breakfast as we watch the sunrise and drink Red Bull. We have positive messages and are doing good things for the community on the local level and beyond. Me and a lot of other cats I know are contributing to the positivity and accountability of the scene by doing things proper. So leave us alone already, shit.

SISTER SF: What is the most important thing you've learned about the DJing business - something you need to know to stay in the business and might not know if you are an outsider?

Denise: The DJing business is no different from any other business. You need to keep a level head on your shoulders at all times. Even though it is a fun job that seems easy (lots of people don't even consider it work!), if you want to actually make a living at it, you need to be serious and dedicated. The competition is stiff, and not everyone is honest. But I'm learning that persistence, practice, honesty and determination will get you ahead and keep you there.

SISTER SF: What women (in general) do you admire the most and why?

Denise: My mom's probably the first lady on the list of women I admire. She is the most selfless person I have ever had the fortune of knowing. Everything she does, she does not for herself, but for her children, husband, family, and friends. She works hard every day in order to ensure a safer and more secure future for her family. She grew up in poverty as one of seven children with her mom and dad in Thailand, but had to stop going to school after the third grade because her parents needed help running their their restaurant. Even without an education, though, she has more common sense than most college graduates. She and most of her family immigrated to the US when she was 24, and after that she eventually met my dad (also broke at the time!) & together they slowly built themselves a comfortable living along with us pesky kids. The whole rags-to-middle class (!) story is commendable. I have so much respect for this lady I can't even describe it. She's the shit. Plus, she's like 4'10" with a very thick accent, and cute as hell! (I didn't realize all of this until *after* I moved out of my parents' house, of course!)

SISTER SF: How do you feel about all female events?

Denise: I don't have anything against them, but I don't really support them either. I've played at all-female events in the past and they do well, but I don't think it's necessary now with the number of female DJs out there to create an event that's centered around an all-female line up. It makes it seem as though female DJs are a rarity, like a circus act or something. Another point of view is this: It also gives the impression that female DJs aren't comparable to males, as if this were a sport and we were working on some sort of lower level. Fuck that, I know a lot of females who are waaay better than most of our male DJ counterparts! This isn't a sport, you don't need muscles or strength to DJ; you need common sense, wit, rhythm, style, creativity, and a bunch of other not-physically-related characteristics. Yeah, now that I think about it, I'm against all female events!

SISTER SF: What labels do you look for in the record store? Where are your favorite places to buy records?

Denise: I look for labels but usually I pay more attention to producers. Hard house labels: Tripoli Trax, Y2K, Nukleuz blue, Tidy Trax, Kaktai... basically all the big powerhouses in hard dance. Hard house producers: OD404, Andy Farley, BK, Steve Thomas, Paul Glazby, there's quite a few others as well. House labels: Subliminal, Solmatic House producers: Mac Zimms, Olav Basoski, Antoine Clamaran, Robbie Rivera, and of course the Solmatic boys (David Garcia, Jay Walker, Joey Mazzola)

SISTER SF: Gig horror stories?

Denise: Nothing too bad as of yet (knocks on wood), just your typical shitty sound systems, skipping turntables, parties getting busted before your time slot... argh.

SISTER SF: Any advice for DJs just getting started?

Denise: Practice, practice, practice & always play music that you like. Also you can check out this page for more advice: www.djdenise.com/misc/faq/faq.html.

SISTER SF: Do you have any streaming mixes on line?

Denise: I have about 8 full-length mp3s on my web site but no streaming mixes yet (working on it!).

Denise was interviewed by Elz.

Want to know more? Read the Denise bio in our Guest DJs section.

Contact Denise for bookings at: bookings@djdenise.com