Smokin' Jo: The First (Female) Superstar DJ

"I broke my brand new Jimmy Choo's (shoes) the other week because my record bag was too heavy, so no more carrying it for me. I've been trying to get other people to carry them since then; I've learnt my lesson."

Ever since she blagged her first gig at London's infamous Trade in 1991, Smokin Jo has lived at the top of the DJ tree, touring the world, making music and even signing to Storm modelling agency as one of their first faces in their "celebrity section". These days based in Ibiza, she continues to maintain her profile, releasing records for Defected and continuing her prestigious residency at Ibza's biggest superclub Manumission.

Flying into Kuala Lumpur last weekend, and despite being seriously jetlagged, she took time out to chat to Skrufff's Angie Ng at the Wow FM studios.


Skrufff: You said recently that you prefer life on the road instead of the studio, what's better about touring-

Smokin' Jo: "I used to feel like that because I had so many gigs and I like being in front of a crowd and seeing their reaction, whereas in a studio you're in a tiny sweaty room, listening to the same thing over and over again. But now that I've released a few tracks; I realize that studio work is more universal. You can go to somewhere like Poland and discover that everyone knows about you and your track which is fantastic. Being in a studio is more about delayed gratification."

Skrufff: You also said DJs don't just work at weekends and sit around all week doing nothing; there are meetings and photo shoots and countless interviews"; how often do you live a "normal life", watching TV or cooking dinner-

Smokin' Jo: "Actually, quite a lot, I have to make time to just have a few days rest otherwise I'm literally always working. It's hard because everyone else is out or at their mates but when it's the weekend you're always working. I would love to cook more but I hardly get the time. When I'm in Ibiza, I try to cook and watch loads of movies (she lives there)".

Skrufff: What are you plans for this year's season in Ibiza-

Smokin' Jo: "I'm doing my residency again at Manumission every Monday which is going to be absolutely crazy as usual, Friday's at Pacha, I think once or twice a month for Ministry Of Sound and then quite a few sets at Space on Sundays. And I suppose I'll be at DC10 at some point . It will be a CRAZY summer! I'll have no time to do anything but work."

Skrufff: You're travelling almost constantly, how easy is it to stay on top of new records and new trends when you're on the road-

Smokin' Jo: "That's exactly the problem. When you're away for more than a week, you've obviously missed a week's worth of records and I think labels are pressing up less copies these days because if you go in a record shop looking for a track they'll say "well it was out last week and you can't get it anymore'."


Skrufff: Have you ever been tempted to stray from the soulful house vibe, for example, towards hard house-

Smokin' Jo: "Oh no. I don't like that sort of music, I play a little bit of other stuff but I'm out to play a set that goes from one place to another rather than staying at the same vibe all the time; It makes it a little bit more interesting. If people want it a bit more pumping, I'll give it to them, but the music I play has always got something funky about it, definitely."

Skrufff: What were you doing before DJing and what made you choose it as a serious career option-

Smokin' Jo: "It wasn't even a choice, it honestly just started as a bit of a laugh; I really wanted to DJ because I thought there were no other females doing it so I thought 'Right, I'm gonna' be one of the first women DJs, I'm gonna be right up there and show people that women can do this as well'. So I started doing it for a laugh, made some tapes then I got work straight away. Within a matter of four months I had gigs everywhere and it just snowballed so I gave up my job and it wasn't until a few years later that I ac Tags

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