DJ Colette - Fèmmme Fraîche Guest Mix 002 Headle DJ FF#16

It's time for our second instalment of our Fèmmme Fraîche guest mix series, celebrating and highlighting some of the amazing female DJ's we're booking, digging, following, dancing and loosing our shit to on a regular basis. Bringing some beefy beats to your Wednesday is Chicago raised legend DJ Colette, who will also be headlining our forthcoming Fèmmme Fraîche party this Saturday night at Dalston Superstore. We had a quick chat with Colette prior to her arrival in London from LA to get the lowdown on her musical journey and what we can expect to hear from her in the basement on Saturday night. 

DJ COLETTE INTERVIEW

Hi Colette, thanks for having a chat with us and super exciting to have you with us this weekend. So let’s start from the very beginning, how did you first become a DJ? What made you take to the wheels of steel?

I grew up in Chicago and began listening to dance music when I was ten. I started singing over DJs when I was sixteen and thought if I learned how to play records, I could sing whenever I liked. A friend of mine left his turntables at my apartment one weekend and it went from there.

So back in May last year we had another of Chicago’s finest, DJ Heather come play for us and the two of you, along with Lady D and Dayhota were part of Superjane, one of the original all-female DJ collectives. How did this come about? And what did it mean for you guys to be in a female collective?

When Dayhota and I first met, we’d both just started playing vinyl. We forged an instant friendship and started practicing at her loft whenever we could. Heather and Dayhota were roommates at the time and Lady D was another friend of ours that was also djing and promoting events. We thought if we started throwing parties that had an all-female lineup, it would show that it wasn’t such a rarity for women to play records. Our main focus with Superjane was to prove that women DJs were more than a novelty act.

Chicago, stooped in House music history, of course is one of the mecca’s, but how was it for you establishing yourself as a DJ there? Does its heritage make it easier or harder to make a name for yourself?

One of the things I love about Chicago is that most people can play records and can play them really well. To this day, I find it inspiring to watch anyone from Chicago on the decks. I was really lucky that I had the support system of Superjane. They were a constant source of inspiration and also helped me navigate through some of the more difficult moments when I was starting out.

There’s tonnes of great female DJ collectives today, from Discwoman to Siren, Rhythm Sisters, to TGAF, what’s your thoughts on these ever-expanding female forces within the dance music industry?

I love that there’s such a plethora of women out there making music and djing. I think it’s important that women support one another in the industry. The average lineup at most festivals or clubs is still predominantly male. Women have been at the forefront of dance music culture since its inception and all of the DJ collectives composed of women continue to prove that making music and djing is not gender-specific.

So let’s chat a little about your latest release Butterflies. The original EP came out back in September last year, and is a tasty Jakin house banger, but the remix EP just dropped last month both on your own label Candy Talk Records. It’s a collab with Gettoblaster, how did you decide on remixers for the EP?

I ended up doing a remix contest through Metapop. We had over 200 submissions, it was amazing. I’ve never listened to so many remixes in a row! We picked the remixes by Numbers Game and H2G from Metapop and then also commissioned a remix from Rubb Sound System. There’s definitely something for everyone on the remix package.

What other releases do you have in the pipeline?

I have a new track with Rubb Sound System that’s coming out in a few months on the King King compilation. I also started writing a new song for a collaboration with Gettoblaster. I’ve been friends with Paul Anthony (Gettoblaster) since the 90’s, but we never worked together until a few years ago. He’s quickly become one of my favorite producers.

What can we expect to hear from you on Saturday at Femmme Fraiche?

I play a variety of house cuts from jackin’ to deep. The direction I take musically for the night is always spontaneous. I also perform a few of my own songs as well as some live mashups.

And finally, as we like to support female artists here at Femmme Fraiche, name some of your favourite female DJ’s and producers you think we should look out for.

Some of my favorite DJ/producers are Lauren Flax, Alinka, T. Mixwell, Sista Stroke, Christi Mills, Juliet Mendoza and Lacey IQ

Incredible. Well thanks for the chat and now time to press play on the fab mix below, also follow Colette on the social links below and come see her play at Fèmmme Fraîche this Saturday

DJ COLETTE GUEST MIX

TRACKLISTING: 

1- Colette “Physically” (Local Options Remix) Candy Talk Records
2- Sonny Fodera “Got Love” Beatdown
3- MichaelAngelo “Make You Move” (Scrubfish Vox) Caliber Sounds
4- Colette “Crush” accapella over Cajmere "Shake and Pop" instrumental
5- Hapkido “Think” House Call Records
6- Colette “Hotwire” (Sonny Fodera Deep Dub) Candy Talk Records
7- Claude Von Stroke “Lay It Down Re-Smoked feat Sacha Robotti & DJ Nehpets" Dirtybird