Our interview for January 2002 was with DJ Dragn'fly, a Sacramento trance machine!

SISTER SF: OK, first off - mini bio: Where do you live, and what residencies or crews are you part of?

Dragn'fly: Right now I live in Sacramento, California. I'm currently affiliated with 2 underground party crews: Epiphany - San Francisco and M.C.U - Casper, WY. And I'm the current resident at one of San Francisco's most banging new monthlies, Generator. I also co-host a bi-weekly internet broadcast show: Radio Teknique.

SISTER SF: Why and when did you begin DJing? Did you have a mentor?

Dragn'fly: Actually, the whole idea of spinning came to me on a whim one night. It was at an over-capicity party in spring of 1998 and I found myself trapped on a balcony overlooking the DJ booth. In the time I had spent partying, I had never really even paid much attention to the DJ and for all I knew they just slapped on a record and let it play.

That night, for the first time, I noticed how the DJs were able to actually manipulate the crowd with the music, tables & mixer and the technical aspect of it intrigued me. After a few months of research, I bought my first set of equipment and in a mere month's time I was playing my first gig in front of about 200 people.

When I first got started, I didn't personally know any DJs - so I guess I can't claim a single person as my mentor. But I found myself paying more attention to the ones I saw at parties and I guess over time you kind of pick up things from various people.

If I had to pick anyone who had a major influence on my technical style, I think the credit would have to go to Ethan Miller of Friends & Family. When I first saw how he cut and sampled from track to track, my jaw dropped and I have to admit that much of my aggressive style came from that man.

Oh, but wait! Enormous credits also go out to DJ Zeel... who was a protégé of Ethan's and who also shared some of his mixing technique. Whereas Ethan was an acid techno demon, Zeel was a "journey" man and he could cut, sample and mix a Platipus track into from a Routemaster track to like no other - all the while creating a seamless flow of energy. So, if I had to pick someone who had the most initial influence on my musical, in addition to my technique, it would have to be Zeel.

SISTER SF: What styles of music do you play?

Dragn'fly: I'm pretty much a "journey DJ" and within a given set you can hear anything from progressive, tribal house and techno to dark, hard trance to thumbing dark NRG and even some breaks. What I play depends on who my audience is and the diversity of music I play allows me to blow up younger crowds at the more above ground *raves* as well as older ones at 21+ events. But one element remains throughout almost all my sets and that is a dark dark feel...

SISTER SF: Have you had any classical music training?

Dragn'fly: I started playing the trumpet at 8 years old and moved onto other brass instruments, finally settling on the French Horn up until my last year of high school. Yeah, I was one of them *band kids*, playing the melophone in marching band, the trumpet in improvisational jazz band, and the French horn in concert band and in the symphony. I think that all those years of playing music did have a lot to do with how quickly I picked up the mixing of wax... two tables and a mixer were just another instrument to me.

SISTER SF: How did you choose your DJ name?

Dragn'fly: I get this one a lot. See, my girlfriend, Terri, was an entomologist (one who studies insects) and her favorite insect was the dragonfly. One day I was playing around on the tables and she brought up dragonflies and I was cueing up the record and made some comment to her about how I had to drag back the record I was cueing up to find the beat before letting it fly (I like to make up silly puns sometimes). So, then I was like "See 'drag' and 'fly'". And then a light bulb came on and I was saying to myself "Drag and fly".

And it sort of made me think of my whole life: how at a younger age, I felt dragged down and had no idea what to make of myself and how as I got older the pieces were coming together and life for me was taking off: Like I was finally flying. And from there it all made sense: I was "Dragn'fly".

SISTER SF: I see... it's all so clear to me now, hehe. So, what type of music do you feel is really popular in the Bay area right now? Why?

Dragn'fly: I am beginning to see a large resurgence of house music in the Bay and I think it's all a part of the anti-trance backlash that started in the later part of 2001. In 1999, "trance" was one of the biggest sounds in the Bay and it was that kind of pop, *cheezy* trance that a lot of people listen to when they first start to party. And then in 2000, it was NRG and UK Hardhouse that was taking over the main arenas. Now people seem to be shifting back into house music. Maybe history repeats itself? Who knows. My hope is that people will start to appreciate what I consider "intelligent" music and not just hop on the train of what the *biggest* names are playing.

SISTER SF: How do you feel has the music scene where you live has changed since you began DJing?

Dragn'fly: Well, one thing I've noticed is an increase in the amount of crappy and I mean CRAPPY music out there - a phenomenon that spans all genres. And I blame that on the ease with which tracks can now be created. With the use of Pro Tools, Reason, Acid Pro and Soundforge, it seems as though anybody with a computer and a few bucks can cut a track and it's led the release of some truly awful stuff - mostly by DJs who want to have any 'ol record label at the end of their name. On the flipside though, I have found a few gems out there who were cut by people who had talent and whom otherwise wouldn't have had the money or know-how to run a big time hardware studio - but they are few and very far between.

SISTER SF: What do you think it will be like in the future?

Dragn'fly: Wow! Who knows?

SISTER SF: Where is your favorite place to DJ?

Dragn'fly: I love to play anywhere that has a decent sound system and a crowd that is there to get lost in the music. My roots are in the underground and that is where my best experiences have been thus far, but I have to admit that the crowd at Generator (the new club monthly at 177 Townsend in SF) kicks major arse. Massives are an entity of their own, but get me in front of a crowd of 7,000 jumping freaks and I'll be all smiles there too.

SISTER SF: What problems have you encountered as a woman DJ?

Dragn'fly: To be honest, I haven't really encountered any and if I have, they haven't been made known to me. But then again this is coming from the first girl in California to start as defensive tackle in the 1981 regional Pop-Warner Football championships. As for DJing - in 2001 alone I played out at 114 events and I seem to get a lot of respect from other DJs and the crowds as well. Perhaps it's because my style is very aggressive or perhaps its that I'm more of a tomboy and they aren't focused on parts of my anatomy.

SISTER SF: What do you do to make sure you're given and equal opportunities as a woman DJ?

Dragn'fly: I have a very professional promotional package and promote heavily. That seems to be working pretty well, so far.

SISTER SF: What woman (in general) do you admire most & why?

Dragn'fly: I admire any woman who can put aside whatever limits they may see as opposing to them and do what it is they love to do.

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

Dragn'fly: I think that would depend on what the event was all about. If it were merely a platform to showcase female talent, regardless of the skill level of the females being featured - then I think that sucks and at that point, being female becomes more of a novelty.

SISTER SF: What record labels do you look for in record stores?

Dragn'fly: I'm not much into labels and I have found some real gems by just starting at the "A"'s and working my way down to the "Z"'s. There are a few labels out there that I will listen to first if I see a new release by them on the wall and they are BXR, Chaos (which has recently quit production, I hear), Nukluez (especially the purple series), Alien Trax, Deep, Silver Planet and anything by Chab and Corvin Dalek. But my box is full of a lot of labels that not many people have heard of - and I like that just fine.

SISTER SF: When you're not DJing, what do you do?

Dragn'fly: DJing and all the behind-the-scenes work it involves is pretty much my life. When not actually on the decks, I'm usually found on the phone or answering emails from both 'fans' and promoters. I also organize a weekly announcement list and a monthly newsletter. And everyone who joins those lists gets a free CD, so I'm constantly burning & sending out CDs to new listees.

Other than that, I'm always updating & organizing my web site & promo packs and making sure my contact databases are kept up. There's also the message boards that I use to keep in contact with people from all over the world that are involved in the rave/club scene in some way or another. And on top of all that are the many many hours spent shopping for them records - a 10-hour journey that I try to make each Thursday that takes me from the stores in Sacramento to those in SF to San Jose and back. And if I'm not satisfied with what I found in the real world, I turn to shopping online - which can take another huge chunk out of a day. It never stops and it's A LOT of work - but dammit - I LOVE IT!!!!!!!

SISTER SF: Exactly what equipment do you use for DJing (Technics 1200 turntables etc.)?

Dragn'fly: I have 2 Technics MKIIs and a Vestax PMC 15MKII mixer.

SISTER SF: What are your goals for the future in regards to DJing?

Dragn'fly: My goal now is to start taking my sound outside of California and to eventually release a fully licensed CD within the next couple of years. I also hope to release some tracks of my own within the year. I've been hearing these songs in my head and I just have to get them out!

SISTER SF: Have you played anywhere abroad or anywhere weird or exciting?

Dragn'fly: I've played at some pretty cool places: Maui, New Orleans, and once over in Germany. One of the events in Maui was set in the most breathtaking place, during a full moon, on the ocean, with the music echoing from a nearby cave. And the highlight of my trip to Germany: having trance guru DJ Taucher ask me to spin at a Flash after party - only it was my last night there and I didn't bring my own, so the hell with it, I spun his. LOL

SISTER SF: Where would you most like to DJ in the world?

Dragn'fly: That's a toughie. I think playing somewhere in Iceland would be pretty cool.

SISTER SF: Gig horror story?

Dragn'fly: Oh my gosh. Well, it was one of the legs of the 2000 Caffeine tour and the party was to be held on an Indian reservation in Omaha, Nebraska. Upon approaching the party site you could could see cop cars EVERYWHERE, situated in what looked to be a road block configuration. To get into the party, you had to exit your vehicle and submit to a vehicle search. This search took place on the State side.

Once you got passed that test, the cops would let you cross the reservation line whereby you were told to pull over to the side of the road, this time by reservation police who kindly asked you to empty your bags and your pockets and you had to submit to a pat down by the reservation police. (Now I know the ACLU would have loved this one, and normally I would have spouted my rights all over the place, but I was trapped in the middle of a field in Nebraska surrounded by nobody I knew).

The party did go on, but as one could expect, a lot of people got tired and felt weird about the whole situation and left - so a party that was originally expecting about 5000-7000 got maybe 750 tops throughout the whole weekend.

But the drama doesn't stop at the searches. The highlight of my drama actually occurred during my set. Did I mention that the party was an outdoor and was taking place on a hot August night in the middle of a field in Nebraska? And what do you find in the fields of a hot August night in Nebraska? BUGS!! LOTS AND LOTS OF BUGS!! So there I was, trying my best to salvage the situation through the music when all of a sudden, these moths, beetles and other various nocturnal critters decide that a nice ride on the records is in order. It was horrible. I don't know how many perished that night, but it was many and their passing was signaled by the sudden *SCREEEEEECH* as the needle noisily jetted across the whole record. It was something I will never ever forget!

SISTER SF: That is truly the worst I've heard yet - bugs *shudder* OK, if you could steal anyone's record box and get away with it, whose would you run off with?

Dragn'fly: Probably Oberon.

SISTER SF: And finally, gimme 3 pieces of advice for DJs just getting started:

Dragn'fly:
1) Take a basic music class. Seriously. Knowing about how music is structured will help you a lot!
2) Play the records you like to play and not just what you think is popular at the moment. It will keep you from getting prematurely jaded.
3) Practice, practice, practice.

To contact Dragn'fly for bookings email her manager at S. I. Promotions: info@sipm.org
to read more about Dragn'fly visit her web site: www.djdragnfly.com

Dragn'fly was interviewed by XJS