Misstress Barbara: Techno¹s A Really Boring Kind Of Music But. . .
Author: Jonty Skrufff
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
techno circuit, as well as being one of its most articulate and outspoken.
And chatting to Skrufff this week, the Italian born, Canada raised producer/
DJ is typically honest about the music she insists she loves.
³Techno is a linear type of music and I know why people hate it,² she
reveals.
³They hate it because they¹ve heard it from too many DJs who¹ve decided to
play techno because it¹s cool and trendy who don¹t know how to play it so
they mix it every 5, 6 or 7 minutes and it¹s boring. Techno¹s a really
boring kind of music, if you don¹t do anything with it.²
What Mistress Barbara specialises in is mixing and matching and working her
records over three decks, pouring her passion into eliminating linearity to
create something special. It¹s a philosophy that means she¹s remained
committed to vinyl despite the increasingly popularity of CD mixers and
Final Scratch.
³I¹ve used Final Scratch, they released a hundred pro versions that they
sold only to DJs and I got it straightaway but I decided never to use it
because I think the energy of a DJ is very different when you¹re creating a
mess with your records, always changing them and throwing them all over the
place instead of always selecting your track from a computer,² she explains.
³For a techno DJ who needs to mix quickly and on three decks, Final Scratch
really doesn¹t bring any advantage. Do you think Jeff Mills will ever switch
to Final Scratch- I don¹t think so,² she suggests.
Chatting to Skrufff this week she¹s upfront about drugs (ŒI cut all the
substances away and became a straight girl¹), getting started (ŒI was really
insulted by so many people¹) and techno (ŒI¹m devoted to it¹).
Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): What is it about techno that so inspires you-
Misstress Barbara: ³I¹m committed to techno because I love it, I don¹t think
it¹s a good idea to play music just because it¹s popular, because if you
don¹t feel it and you don¹t like it, you won¹t be good. You see DJs like
Paul Van Dyk and Tiesto playing trance and being popular; why¹s that-
Because they like what they do. I don¹t particularly like trance but they do
and that¹s one of the reasons the kids like them. The best thing is to stick
with what you genuinely like and then people will appreciate it, they¹ll
feel that you love it. So yes, I¹m very devoted to techno, because I like it
and also because ultimately, people know you for doing something and that¹s
what they want you to do. The internet exists and if people know you as a
hard techno DJ and you¹re booked and they come out of their house to see you
then that¹s what they want to hear, wherever you¹re playing.²
Skrufff: You learned to fly when you were 16 and attended film school, it
seems quite a different world from Djing and nightclubs, were your family
supportive when you gave all that up to become a DJ-
Misstress Barbara: ³Not really, not in the beginning though they we¹re
against it, saying Œdon¹t do it¹ they were more like Œyou¹re crazy¹. At the
beginning I was spending three or four hundred dollars a week on records and
I remember my father saying to me on day ŒOK, you spend several hundred
dollars a week on records, you don¹t have gigs every week and when you do
have them, how much do they pay you-¹ I was like $75 and he was like ŒOK, if
you do the maths this is not really good for you¹ and I was like Œsure,
you¹re right, if I do the maths. But this is now; one day I¹m going to earn
much more money and I¹m going to make all my money back.¹ He was like ŒOK,
but what if it doesn¹t work-¹ To which I said ŒDad, you don¹t understand,
it¹s going to work¹. He was looking at me with that Œyeah, right¹ expression
but I knew it would.
With another one of my friends, I called her just a week after I had decided
to become a DJ and I didn¹t even have decks yet and I said to her on the
phone, Œhey Natalie, I¹m a DJ Tags