music: interview: Miss Blitz
As a DJ you've had two strands running, I think. One is Mohak and the other is Blitz. Like to tell us about them?
Mohak is the one I started Djing with in Barcelona, in the parties I always
went to. I was looking for a name for a long time, and Mohak finally came to
me as a mixture of my surname and something ethnic, like the American
Indians Mohawks, I also had that haircut. Mohak signifies the connection to
roots and nature, something ethnic, as the music I started to play with, a
mixture of Latinbreaks, Brazilian music, Balkan, Asian Underground and Dub.
When I came to Berlin, where the scene is more electronic and cold, I had
the feeling MOHAK was not really appropriate for that, so Miss Blitz came
up. Blitz is the other site of myself, quick, elctronic, a harsh lightning
like a "Blitz". When I'm angry I can react really like Blitz & Donner
(Lightning & Thunder). It's also aggressive as the electronic music I play is
- a mixture of BaileFunk, Bmore, Rave and other electronic derivates -
ghetto music. Apart from that Miss Blitz reminds me of "Blitzkrieg Bob" from
the Ramones (my Punk background) and from the sound of the word "Misfits".
MOHAK I use for art and some grafic right now.
The Latin side of things is something that a lot of people know nothing about. What main genres are there and which are more popular in clubs?
Right now the Cumbia Electronica is really big in clubs, because Cumbia
is very danceable and in combination with electronic breaks even more. It's
almost a hype and every DJ tries to include it in his set, be it a Techno,
Dubstep or Latin DJ. There are lots of producers in Argentine where Cumbia
comes from, like the Zizek crew, Random Club, Toy Selectah from Mexico and
some really good DJ's and producers in New York like Uproot Andy. But of
course there is still Reggeaton, Rumba and Latinbreaks, Latin Funk in more
electronic versions, BaileFunk and Brazilian Beats from Brazil.
The name 'Latin Dub' conjures up some interesting sounds in my head. Like to point us to a track?
There is actually a band from London which is called Latin Dub Sound System,
which just released their first EP with five songs. They work together with
the singer form Ska Cubano and did a Latin Dub version of the song "Babalu",
which is originally from Ska Cubano!
Listen to it here.
You've played mostly in Barcelona and Berlin - like to give us a run down on the scenes: where to go, etc.
Barcelona has a really active band / street / live scene, but a lot of
places get shut down, so it's getting complicated to do things there. Squats
are torn down and clubs like the huge theatre La Paloma are closed by now.
Bands that play in the streets get a "multa" of 200€ for playing on the
streets and the instruments are conficated. In clubs it's mainly Minimal
Techno and Rock. However, there are Spanish parties which always last and
some global electronic/triphop/hiphop/dubstep parties here and there, which
include different styles in their concept. Barcelona is a very multicultural
mixed place and lots of artists pass through the city. A must to visit is
def. Sala Apolo and Sala Sidecar, apart from that you have to watch out for
private parties or warhouse stuff, which are the best. There is also a boat
from a theatre company in the port, where they throw great parties once in a
while. Berlin in contary is very electronic, technoid and there are lot's of
places to go, from squats to warehouses or bigger clubs such as Maria,
Berghain or Tape. People are more cool here and it's more about the attitude
then about the music.
Is trying to pursue a career much different in these places?
Mmm, maybe. Barcelona is small and if you play in the bigger clubs there, you
are easily recognized. And Barcelona has always had a global connection. The
scene is small, so people know each other, also because you meet many of
them in parties or on the street. Also how you act is different in both
places. In Spain it's normal to have an attitude, to overdraw things, to
push things forward. Spanish people are quite upfront verbally and in their
way to react, they are more rough. In Berlin it's the other way round. It
seems that everyone tries to be nice to everyone to not spoil possible
opportunities. Apart form that the city is bigger and full of DJ's from
everywhere, so it doesn't really matter what you've done before or where you
are from, because no one really cares.
... continues below ...
As a female DJ, have you had any problems, or do you think any doors have been closed because of that? Or maybe, in a still predominantly male field, it's an advantage... in some places!
There is always some competition for everyone I guess, and I certainly learned my lessons. Since I started DJing people that where my friends have turned into competitive idiots: I've had the electricity cut off in a well-known techno club, while the crowd was dancing like mad, and another time the other DJ I was supposed to play with went off with the CD players.. this sort of stuff. It seems that people get really afraid that they are losing something, which they don't even own. And in the end all of us have a different styles anyways. On the other hand it certainly opened up some doors as well, at least I don't know anyone who is doing what I do, so people remember me for sure. Also because of my work as a journalist, I've been doing lots of interviews with really good bands and DJ's from around the globe.
Where do you source most of your tracks - in special stores or on the internet?
Lately I buy some vinyls to get Bootlegs and Mashups, which I get mainly in Oye Records and a small shop here in Friedrichshain in Berlin. And I also buy and download lot's of stuff from the internet from special dealers such as boomkat or turntablelab. Apart from that I get tracks directly form artists, because I run a radio show on www.sonett77.com once a month called Blitzbeats, and a blog called www.heartinmigration.com, where I publish songs and articles.
What have you got coming up?
I'm working quite a lot on drawings/ streetart lately and I started to do my own music productions - Global Mashups of songs that I really like with techno beats.
Thanks
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