Decks: Lady Bass

By Jennifer Finjan

Daydream if you will, of a crowd of happy-go-lucky partiers bouncing to a hard electronic beat. At the helm, stands a lady DJ who is not only easy on the eye, but a master at the decks. Dreams do come true…her name is Lady Bass. This cool chick’s sound is best described as hard dance – a mix of trance and bouncy UK Hard House with the edginess of techno. She prefers a sound that is harder and more in your face and her fans couldn’t be happier.

By the age of two, Lady Bass was dancing to electronic music. She shared her brother’s love for 80’s electronic bands like Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode, AH-HA, and New Order. Her first introduction to the electronic music scene began during the infancy stage of the Toronto rave scene. Friends brought her to her first rave, which in turn changed her life forever. The music, energy and vibe drew her in and kept her attention for years to come. She was fortunate to be able to combine her love for electronic music with a career as an electronic music representative at now defunct internet radio station called Woofur.com. It was there that she met her DJ partner, Ken Finch, who taught her the ropes.

Presently, Lady Bass is working for E1 Music Canada as a New Media Marketing Manager. She also hosts a weekly internet radio show on www.party934.com every Saturday from 5-7pm EST called “Lady Bass presents Saturday Sessions”.

Do you think raves are becoming a thing of the past? Can anything be done to bring back that great vibe? Are there other ways to reach the masses?

When The City of Toronto brought in heavier restrictions on hosting raves, it pretty much depleted our scene. Even though there are a lot of great promoters out there that find new venues to use, often times they are only one-off events which makes repeat audiences difficult. Raves are still viewed as “illegal” and therefore, attract unwanted police attention. With the downturn of the economy and the police watching over clubs and closing so many of them, finding venues is even more difficult. While it’s great to use underground venues – often times they aren’t well ventilated, can be difficult to find, or are in residential areas which causes them to get shut down early. I don’t know if the raves of the past are gone -– there are still companies like Destiny and clubs like Circa that are able to host larger raves and rave-style events. I think our scene is in a bit of a holding pattern right now – until new venues open up and make themselves available. There are other ways to reach the masses… through radio and internet radio shows. There are also unique events that are being hosted by people like Newmindspace who take creativity to a whole new level by including art instillations and other interesting activities into their events. I think in this day and age if people are creative, professional, safe and keep it cost effective for the consumer, there are ways to reach them. It’s all about knowing your audience and what will bring them out to the event and keep them coming back for more.

Can you recall a particularly memorable set?

One set that stands out in my memory would have to be playing PRIDE in 2007. I was lucky enough to get booked twice… on the Saturday and again on Sunday. My Sunday set started just as the PRIDE parade was finishing and everyone came over to where I was spinning. I got to play to thousands of people who were there enjoying PRIDE, the weather, life, and my music. It was such a mixed crowd… I’ve never experienced playing anywhere like that before and to that many people. It was amazing. I played 1.5 hour set and between each band performing on the stage that day. The Global News Sports crew even came to the stage and broadcasted live with me in the background. I’m lucky enough to get booked to play again this year.

Have you ever experienced barriers in the electronic musical industry because you are female?

Back in the day it use to be a lot more prevalent than it is now. There used to be certain promoters who would only talk to my DJ partner and not me… it was pretty funny. There were also times when I walked into gigs with a guy carrying my records and they automatically assumed it was him who was DJing. Nowadays, you don’t really experience any barriers because of being female. There are so many amazing female DJs in the scene now.

What advice would you give other DJs wanting to get into the business?

The best advice I can give to any DJs looking to get into the scene is to do it for you and not for some popularity contest. Make sure you are getting into DJing for the right reasons – because you love music and are passionate about it. DJing is a lot of fun – it has completely changed my life! But just like anything, it takes work and practice and develops over time. Just stick with it and keep promoting yourself both online and in person (no one minds getting a mixed CD) and people will soon come to know who you are and start booking you. I love seeing new DJs putting themselves out there and promoting themselves. I always give their demos a listen and suggest them to other promoters if I like their sound and their mixing is clean. If you are in it for other reasons (especially illegal reasons) it won’t take long for people to realize it. You’ll burn out and people will forget about you. You are being paid to do a job… so do it the best you can and leave people with something to remember.

What are you listening to now? watch troy in divx

Right now I’m listening to the new “Invaders Must Die” album from The Prodigy. I just saw them recently in Toronto and they were amazing.

What are your future plans?

My future plans are to keep DJing, producing and working in the music industry. I am really excited about the direction that DJing seems to be taking right now with all of the new evolutions in technology. I’m also hoping to travel over to Europe and Australia to play at some events there in the next 12 months.
Check out Lady Bass’s web-site (www.ladybass.net) for updates, information, mixes, where you can see her play next and also to subscribe to and listen to my weekly radio show (it’s also available as a podcast… just search for “Lady Bass” on iTunes).

For Lady Bass’s exclusive Alternavox mix visit:

http://www.ladybass.net/music/Lady_Bass_Alternavox_Mix.mp3

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