Category: Uncategorized

Unlike any other place I know at the moment, festival season up here in FNQ has been in full swing.  From the local intimate 500 people gathering at BMUP (Black Mountain Unplugged) in the shadow of a pile of magma boulders surrounded by fresh water springs, to the 3,500 electronic music gathering of Ori Naya just 10 or so k’s up the road at the feet of mountainous green giants, to Wallaby Creek Festival where 1,500 local lovelies (and a few out of towners) met in between the middle of both for music, theatre and cabaret goodness, it has been ON.

There’s a difference to the festivals up this way. I’m not sure if you have been to many large gatherings yourself and if so what types of gatherings they may be but I for one have had my fair share. Never have I seen anything quite like what I saw up here though and there’s something I just HAVE to share with you.

It’s tradition as we know to have some form of welcoming/opening ceremony and to end with a closing ceremony. Well at BMUP I witnessed a closing ceremony like no other. I’m not sure if this will translate into words as well as if I could share it in person and reenact the actions of this monumentally memorable event but I’ll give it a go.

Celebrating it’s 10th year the BMUP festival went on for 10 days which consisted of two weekends and some down time throughout the week in the middle. You can imagine the vibe of a bunch of friends and families who had stayed the whole time and were exhausted but excited to take their places for the closing event.

Everyone was called to the stage and a choir who had been learning gospel in a workshop gathered to serenade us side of stage. Almost as soon as their angelic voices started, so did the arrival of a cut up old Toyota Landcruiser of which the back had been replaced with a gigantic metal structure, wrought iron and tin, shaped with one very long appendage, perfectly fingernailed, jutting out to the heavens above. As it rolled delicately towards centre stage, three men holding large glasses of cold beer in the air (one sitting on the front bumper shouting ‘yeeeeeaaaah) all eyes and focus turned away from the sweet singing choir and onto this contraption of which no-one could entirely make out the meaning of until it was explained fully.

A husky rugged voice came on the mic from the direction of the stage and we were told that this structure had been built exactly to specs and had something a little extra to it. It was revealed that it was in fact a hand with a huge finger pointing up, the finger that entices trouble if you ‘give it’ to the wrong person. The very special addition to this structure was that it turned by a handle operated by the creator of this giant fingered hand. A huge roar went up in the crowd when it did so.

Then the commentary took a new turn. After further explanation and clarification of what the finger did and how it worked the voice on the mic said something like “Who do we want to give the finger to first? Lets give it to the band from New South Wales who pulled out of the festival at the last minute because they got a better offer. Spin the finger to face NSW (a mighty cheer from the crowd). Now everyone, give em the finger”. At this moment the entirety of the festival (except me who was in a state of disbelief and slight shock) lifted their hand, arm, face in the direction of NSW and all gave it the finger with such conviction I was momentarily stunned.

Bringing me out of my stunned state the voice on the mic continued “Now, who’s next?! Xavier Rudd (a cheer goes up) This one goes out to Xavier down there in Noosa or wherever he lives, spin it round to the Easterly Coast there will ya, this one is for you Xavier sitting in your 6 million dollar mansion eating KFC, everyone, give him the finger” and the entire festival again with total and absolute conviction and extra grunt raises everything they need to to give Xavier the finger.

By this stage I am laughing and revelling in the authenticity of this arid country and it’s interesting people and their even more interesting ways. “The next one goes out to all the governments in the world because they’re all fu%#ed up”. Now this I can relate to. “Lets spin the finger around full circle so we don’t miss any of them and everyone, lets give them all the finger!” I raise my own hand and with a smile I join in. There’s a guy standing in front of me, one hand holding his beer, the other shaking with the energetic verocity he is putting into this action while simultaneously letting out a crackly ‘yeeeeeaaaaah” in that ever so recognizable sound of a voice that has seen many a week long festival and the smoke of many a cigarette. At some point the finger is driven away on the old Landcruiser and the festival wraps up for another year.

The purpose of travelling is not to see new things, but to see the same things through new eyes.

Far North Queensland, I love you. 

Rasela x

G’day from the Top End of this glorious land we are blessed to call home. I haven’t been around alot of records of late and its hard to imagine even playing records up here in the full heat of the Summer but music is never far from my heart. I managed to make it all the way to the Kuranda Roots Festival, which as the name suggests is not actually in Kuranda anymore but further towards Mareeba in a sweeeet little spot called Emerald Creek.

Lots of rivers and red dust, waterfall pools and sunset soaks. It’s times like these i like to forget that i am usually DJing at such festivals and instead attend  as a good ol’ punter without a plan or expectation to perform. I think it’s healthy to step back and be on the other side of the speakers for a change. It gives you the opportunity to feel the dancefloor and the shenanigans that go on in all parts of it, including the people that are sitting down absorbing the energy of others kicking up dust and getting down in the dirt.

People don’t always need to be on the dancefloor to be appreciating your music. They can be laying round on a mat drinking coconuts, catching up with old friends they just met on the dancefloor, watching from afar tuning into your energy and presence, or just happily having a picnic on a rug somewhere waaay down the back to the sweet sounds of your tunes. 

What is a DJ anyway? I feel the answer to that is so wide and varied but essentially a DJ is someone who fills an otherwise empty space with good and groovy vibrations. Afterall, music is a vibration and if you are filling it with the right kind of vibrations then the people will come fill it physically, and then we have one big happy family.

I have to say, i didn’t spend much time at all on the dancefloor, instead i was one of those lingering lovers of music who was happy to absorb from afar and cool off in the waterfalls in between sets.

Roots reggae and a whole lot of goodness was on the lineup this year with many local bands and DJ’s coming out of the hills and valleys of Kuranda and the surrounding areas to share their magic. One thing I did notice (and something that triggered a Spin Sista response) was that there were very few female DJ’s up there sharing their skills and vibes. I noticed one quite late at night and she was giving it her all, dancing away to her beats. It’s the only thing that makes me want to get up there, to REPRESENT the female contingency of DJing. 

But for now I am a travelling vagabond on the quest for exploration and challenge, to see who else i am in this body, with this mind, without my headphones dangling around my neck. We all need a break from what we do and who we are seen to be because of it. I know that when I touch the turntables again it will feel as though it’s brand new again haha my fingers tingle at the mere thought of it!!

Keep your spin on sistas and stay groovy until our faces meet again (hopefully in person). 

 Rasela xx

Have you even used the Fx buttons or know what they do?

What’s your favourite effect that you would never do a set without?

It took me a while to get comfortable with them at first because when I started, all my attention went towards just getting two tracks aligning on the same trajectory and pulling that off in style. Then the focus went on to beatmatching. I did no lessons, so I was adamant to work it out for myself. For some that can take ages to master and others seem to get it in a very short time. There’s no science to this, it’s just a wiring thing in our brain. It’s not a race at the end of the day but when I did start nailing the beatmatch, fuckin look out, it was kinda like an orgasmic moment that I wanted to create over and over again.

Once the beatmixing is nailed then you free yourself up to start to get a little adventurous. If you’re like me, that’s when you start getting in bed with the Fx.

I am in bed atm with the low cut echooooooo and slip roll roll roll roll, in most of my sets.

The big mistake is to use too many Fx. Producers already make the music with their own version of effects, so sometimes adding or subtracting from their work can fuck with the whole track.

Once again, it comes down to practice. I have been doing sets at the moment just practising with using different Fx. I record them so I can listen back later on and hear how lame or awesome it sounded. Sometimes when you are using Fx, you don’t get a clear indication of what it sounds like in your headphones, so having monitor speakers or a PA system in your practice session is going to give you a much clearer indication of what these effects are sounding like.

I did a friend’s party once and I didn’t have a monitor speaker near the DJ booth, so I was relying on my headphones and the shitty speakers as feedback to what I was doing. At the time, I was using the flange button a bit. I couldn’t hear that it was working so I kept it on in places and just though maybe the button was broken. Ha, maybe the button was broken. Dickhead hehehe. When I listened back to the recording, the button well and truly worked and sounded so bad as I left it on too long thinking it wasn’t working. So, the moral of the story is making sure you can hear what you are doing when it comes to Fx.

Check out our Soundcloud page. I’ve put up the practice sessions on purpose even though some of them are roadkill so that the beginners here can have a listen at what works and what really doesn’t.

At the end of the day, there is no such thing as mistakes, it really comes down to what works and what doesn’t when it comes to DJing IMHO.

With passion for the music
Lainsta

“Don’t forget to record your set, Don’t forget to record your set, Don’t forget to record your set”

These are the words you will most often hear me mutter for the whole week leading up to a gig. Then for about an hour before my set, I’ll be looking for post it notes around the house to stick on my DJ controller, while still muttering the words…..

“Lainie FFS DON’T FORGET TO RECORD YOUR SET”.

Regardless of all this ‘mental note to self’ stuff, nine times out of ten I forget to record my set.

The truth is that there is always a level of nerves that follow me when I am about to play a set. When you are a DJ, there is so much that could potentially go wrong tech wise. You will generally have all these things on your mind before a gig:

Will the speakers work, do I have the right cords and leads, did I forget anything, did I bring my laptop, (in my case) did I bring my glasses so I can see the screen, will the internet be accessible (if you are only streaming – not advisable but people still do it), did I remember to bring a backup of my music.

I guess with all this stuff on a DJ’s mind, it’s no wonder that when you are about to start your set, the last thing you remember is to press record. You just want to jump into it and get your flow on and get people dancing asap.

Pro’s of hitting record:

1. You have evidence that you can DJ and you can show it off for all to hear and enjoy.
2. It is great to add to your Soundcloud page so you can send people who might potentially want to get you to do a paid gig somewhere.
3. You can listen back and find ways you can improve your skills.

Con’s of not hitting record:

1. The self-flagellation you give yourself for forgetting can be ruthless.
2. When you nail your set, there is no evidence of this for you to go back and see what worked so you can replicate the magic.
3. I can’t think of a third one because honestly, it’s not the end of the world, it’s just bloody frustrating.

When you record a digital set, the settings for where you will find it on your computer are different for each software. I’ve done a little video showing where you find the record button on a Rekordbox set up. You choose where the folder will be in the recordings tab of the controller tab in your settings.

Look at this short video by clicking on the link below which will explain more. The picture underneath shows a screen shot of the dashboard explained in the video.

https://tinyurl.com/yvbft7js

For Serato DJ Pro, here is a clip to explain how to record your set, keep in mind the free versions won’t allow recording. One of the many advantages of paying for the software.

Don’t fret Traktor people here is a relatively boring explanation but it’s easy to understand and that’s what we want!!

Whatever happens, whether you forget or remember to record your set, the main thing is that you show up and give it everything you have!

Peace Out Ladies

Lainsta