DJ Flight Interview with Vertex FM 2006

DJ Flight is a lady that has been working very hard for many years. She is well known for associations with Metalheadz, Swerve, and BBC 1xtra. DJ Flight is proof that hard work pays off. She Flight grew up inWest London. When asked how old she is – she replied “That’s a question you should never ask a lady, lol”

DJ Flight can be heard spinning her beats all around the UK and the rest of the world. Vertex FM catches up with her to find out how she went from giving out mixtapes Kemistry & Storm to having her own weekly show on BBC 1xtra.

Where was your born?

Paddington,West London

Where did you grow up?

SouthWest London

Outside D&B, who would you like to work with if given the opportunity?

Loads of people. Musically artists including Bjork, Goldfrapp,

Waajeed/Platinum Pied Pipers, Jonny L, Marcus Intalex/MIST/Mistical,

D-Bridge, Steve Spacek, Dego & Marc Mac and their many guises, Bugz In The Attic…the list is endless…

What music outside D&B do you listen to?

Broken Beat, Deep House, some Techno, Underground Hip-Hop, bit of Reggae, Soul, Acoustic, 60s, Dub… Anything with a nice groove to it.

What are you listening to at the moment?

Some new Broken Beat I bought the other day, Steve Spacek’s LP, Jose Gonzales, some underground Hip-Hop, 1Xtra ;o) and some dub.

Who influenced you musically, growing up?

Too many to mention, fromthe weird to the wonderful! Prince, Michael Jackson, Erasure, DennisBrown, a LOT of Pop, New Romantic artists, Acid House/Hardcore/Jungle, A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets and other early 90s Hip-Hop, Bjork, Tricky, Madonna…I’m a real 80s kid at heart though!

How did you get into drum and bass?

I don’t remember an exact thing that got me into it; all I do know is that I was about 11 or 12. My friends at school used to bring in their older brothers’ and sisters’ tapes and we’d check them out at lunchtime. There were quite a lot of ‘dance’ records getting into the charts at the time, like The Prodigy, A Guy Called Gerald etc so that was also an influence. I began listening to pirate radio and the rest is history, I was hooked!

How long have you been a DJ?

Doing it ‘professionally’ i.e. getting paid (however big or small a fee!) it’s been nearly 7 years, since my 1st break with ‘Headz. I’d been mixing for about 2 years before that though.

How did you get onto 1xtra?

Through a woman I knew that used to have her own P.R company before working for Radio 1 on the Fabio &Grooverider show. When 1Xtra was being prepared for launch she asked me to submit a couple of demo mixes as she thought the executives would be into my style of play, which they were! I was brought on board to be the D&B mix DJ, then 3 months after launching I was offered my own show.

How are your shows ‘Next Chapter’ going?

They seem to be going very well thanks! I’m really enjoying it, especially as there’s so much great music around at the moment. I really enjoy interacting with the listeners- getting feedback on tunes they do or don’t like suggestions for guests etc. It’s an amazing feeling to know that people are tuning in all over the world and are really into what we’re doing at 1Xtra.

How would you describe your DJ style?

Mood music. Music for your mind, body and soul. The cartoon drawing of you for 1xtra is wicked, whose idea was that and what do you think of it? – The cartoons are great. It was an idea by a guy who used to work on the D&B shows ’til recently- he knew the artist that did them and suggested we have our own characters as a base theme for the tour and mini-site… Big up Uche!

The xtra bass tours seem to get bigger and bigger. What do you feel the reason for its success?

Each year has been an improvement on the last in terms of our reach and reception on the nights, I think this is largely due to the fact that 1Xtra as a whole is getting bigger and more widely known and accepted as a good radio station all the time.

This year with the cartoons, tour bus, TV trails and all the hard work by the live events team just made it a real force to be reckoned with, I think people were pretty impressed)

How did you get involved with Metalheadz ?

When I began learning how to mix I gave Kemistry & Storm some of my mixtapes for feedback. They encouraged me a lot and after some time one night at Swerve they told me they’d been speaking to Goldie about bringing in a new girl to the camp, and had told him they would ask me to do a tape.

I’m not sure if the tape was even listened to as in between me doing it and becoming a ‘Headz DJ Kemi passed away in the accident, but as he trusted their judgement so much I was brought in…Fabio has been an inspiration to many DJs and producers, how did you get involved with Swerve. – Around the same time I handed in a tape for Metalheadz I gave in a couple to Sarah at Groove Connection/Swerve, I was a regular face down there as well as ‘Headz so thought I’d try my luck at getting a booking! Fabio & Sarah liked my tapes and knew I’d been given a break with ‘Headz, so about 6 months later after the ‘Headz thing I became a resident on rotation there too.

For those who have never been to Swerve, what are the vibes like down there? 

It has a really nice vibe, especially for a midweek party. People go there either to chill, have a few drinks or have a complete blowout and party it up in a relaxed atmosphere with good tunes.

As there’s a no-MC policy and its a pretty small capacity room there is no need for DJs to tear it out and play big bashy tunes so its makes for a nice night out, especially for people who maybe wouldn’t normally go to a D&B night (you find a lot of different types of people there- from tourists to students to ravers to ‘suits’!)

What do you think about the D&B scene at the moment?

I think things are on the up musically, we’re not even halfway through the year yet but there have already been loads of quality tunes produced, both released and still on dub. I think things still have a way to go regarding seeing the same line-ups everywhere and DJs not experimenting with their track selection, but it is getting better slowly.

Put it this way- I’m still enjoying what I do and can’t see me stopping anytime soon, I’m only just at the beginning! As long as producers keep making good music I’ll keep playing it)

What have been some of your favourite tunes of 2006 so far?

Without trying to appear too biased my first choice would be Martyn’s “Virgo”/”Missing song” on my label play:musik, Klute’s Soul:R 12″,Breakage’s LP, Amit’s LP all on a released/promo tip. Unreleased there are more things by Martyn, Marcus Intalex, D-Bridge, Spirit, Visionary, Metalheadz bits, Bassbin stuff all to look forward to…too much really!

Who should we be looking out for this year?

DJ, Producer wise. – Producer wise listen out for Survival – he used to do stuff years ago on Partisan under the name Banaczech, took some time out but now is back with some wicked music. A guy fromBrightoncalled Insight is doing some nice stuff at the moment, also watch out for more killer robot funk from Martyn)

What are you views on the whole debate about liquid Vs the Darker side of D&B?

What debate?!

Vinyl Vs CD?

I use both, mainly for financial reasons- I can’t afford to cut every single tune I’m into, there’s too much! Also sometimes it isn’t worth cutting a tune as it’s either already or about to get mastered/pressed up when I’m sent it.

What do you think about the Internet/ Internet Radio and the affect it has had on drum and bass?

For the most part it has been good because a lot of people now have access to the music they may not necessarily have had otherwise, in the form of DJ mixes/radio shows/forums etc. There are bad points but I try to stay positive these days..!  )

Do you have any of your own tunes this year?

Maybe, Breakage is back here at the moment so we’re trying to get some bits finished up. I’m due back in the studio with Craggz & Parallel Fores soon too so we shall see what the future holds…

What have you got planned for the rest of the year?

My main focus for this year is play:musik- we have some tunes signed up that are waiting for flips to be completed, hopefully the next couple of 12″s will be out in the summer/early autumn. At some point this year there’ll be some p:m events, MAYBE the 1st batch of merchandise… no promises though hehe. I’ve also got the radio show to keep me on my toes, so plenty in store for the rest 2006………………………………………………………………………………………………

Check into The Next Chapter with DJ Flight

Departs every Wednesday at 22.00hrs GMT, Terminal 1X

1Xtra (BBC) DAB, bbc.co.uk/1xtra/drumbass

“…future funk…”