INTERVIEW
You
were on stage at the age of five with the Los Angeles Ballet
Company. Do you remember what it felt like to be performing
with the greats at night and at kindergarten the next morning?
It was
very inspiring to perform in huge decadent theatres, but it
made me very nervous too. The children rehearsed and dressed
in a different area than the adults, so there was not very
much interaction between us. I remember the first time I went
into the audience after the show and these girls behind me
were so excited that I was in the show and asking me all these
questions...it was my first taste of fame--and I was such
a doof! The dance world is in general very pretentious and
cut throat, when the company moved further from my home, I
decided that as much as I loved dancing, that the ballet life
wasn't for me. I wanted to have more fun with my talents and
my peers. Horses brought this to me; there was more team work
involved, we would ride the canyons together, and competitions
consisted more of a community also, like borrowing someone's
horse pick or a brush left at home--there was more dependency
on each other. I'm sure the love and compassion for horses
had a lot to do with the attitude that humans had around the
sport.
It
didn’t hurt that you got to work with some of the greatest
trainers in the industry.
My horse
mentors were two really amazing people; Sigrid and Eagon Mertz,
they were sister and brother. They had weekend workshops in
Malibu and we would ride all weekend and take the horses down
to the beach. They were very sincere people and they treated
us all like family. Eagon was a huge inspiration in the horse
world and he was the funniest guy! It was a special time in
my life, I won many blue ribbons at their shows. I believe
they taught the love of horses and relationships with horses,
and it was this theory that I apply to any thing that I do
now; to truly love it, or it's not worth it.
The
opportunities in your childhood were tremendous...your talents
were recognized and nurtured by exceptional mentors. What
was the most formative experience from your younger years?
It is
difficult for me to single out one in particular, but moving
from Los Angeles, California to Jackson Hole, Wyoming at the
age of 9 was a huge formative experience for me. Moving from
a huge city of great population to a small town of 5000 where
everyone knows who you are was quite a difference. We lived
on 4 1/2 acres of land 15 minutes from town and my horses
lived in our front yard with a small creek running through
it. I went from playing in parks to playing in fields, lakes
and rivers. Mornings consisted of feeding my horses and walking
to the bus stop in below freezing weather. I attended a red
schoolhouse with an actual bell on top of it! Talk about culture
shock! Contrary to the city, the countryside in Wyoming is
endless. It was from this experience that I was blessed with
the opportunity to discover the benefits of living both in
the city and the country and the vast inspirations that they
both have to offer.
You
were there at the birth of the rave. What's different, what's
better?
Well,
when I started going out they weren't even called raves, raves
didn't exist yet. At that time we called them "Undergrounds"
and they were wild beyond belief! Anything could happen; most
of the time the parties were held at warehouses in downtown
L.A. that were broken into and there would be ropes hanging
from the rafters and people would be swinging from them and
kicking windows, while the glass would be falling from the
windows on the people below. The visuals usually consisted
of different movies playing on a screen silently to techno
music playing as loud as possible. Movies would include Dr.
Seuss, Tron, Bladerunner, a lot of cartoon and sci-fi. Everything
was highly illegal back then, but of course inevitably the
cops began to catch on and the parties began to become far
more controlled and permitted. I can remember many nights
driving all over downtown from one map point to the next trying
to find where a broken up party had relocated to, usually
ending up nowhere. It was so exciting then because it was
all new; the music, the psychedelic clothes, the secret of
it all. When the parties became more legal, I remember many
of us feeling "watched" and sometimes the news or
other media would show up, it was difficult to adjust to the
changes. But the positive side was that the Dee Jays and the
music began to become more well-known and new genres of music
started to be more widely recognized and developed further.
Now there are so many different scenes going on when back
in the day it was all unified.
What's
the future for this scene?
There
are many of us from the old school days that are dispersed
among the different genres and scenes that have been developed,
and it's always fun to run into people from the past. I think
that the future of the scene is going to continue to develop
into more recognized genres and become more and more available
to the masses of the world. Everyone knows about electronic
and dance music now, it is more common that someone off the
street would know the difference between house to drum-n-bass.
I believe we will all still be connected to each other through
parties that feature different styles of music, but someone
who knows the top drum-n-bass Dee Jays are less likely to
know who's dominating the German techno scene. Though it's
small, there still is an "underground," and that
will always exist due to the creative minds that find a way.
It seems like right now there are so many more Dee Jays than
ever before, I think it's the new thing, but eventually the
hype dies and the true ones will survive through this. There
are people about the music and community, and people about
doing what they think is cool. The people about the community
and music are the true rock stars of this scene; they are
the ones in it for a lifestyle of evolvement and artistic
experimentation. I think that is the future; that it is not
so much of a scene as it has become a community and a way
of life. It goes beyond the parties, and has now expanded
to family, raising children and learning how to grow and evolve
in such an artistic and experimental culture.
And
although it was in this culture that you were inspired to
start creating your own music, being the diva you are, you
first indulged your photography talents at school in San Francisco.
How did you realize that music was your "true passion?"
I think
moving to San Francisco was a big part of it—at the
time I was really looking within and asking myself what my
calling was. In San Francisco, I gave myself the freedom to
open up and explore my artistic ability in every way. I started
taking voice lessons and realized that wherever I went, I
found myself surrounded by people involved with music. I think
it just clicked--I just realized that this was my true passion.
What's
your favorite Dee Jay gig?
So far,
playing at El Circo last year at Burning Man was really special
to me. I always love it when I know that people get what I'm
doing as a Dee Jay--that they are a part of it, 'cause for
me it's not just about playing fine tunes, it's the whole
experience--a hypnotism--and it becomes complete for me when
the dance floor understands they are the colors of the painting,
the poetry. When I play for an experienced crowd that understands
the music and the energy, and we are in sync with each other,
it is like flying.
Your
"time in the forest" of Northern California definitely
influenced your poetry and lyrics. How else did removing yourself
from an urban setting affect your work?
I lived
in the forest for a year with my friends. It was very quiet.
The life was simple. The winters brought frogs that sung me
to sleep in the rain. It was magic. I felt the earth speak
to me and I wasn't alone. I believe that it was around this
time that I discovered so many other people that I felt connected
to that were sensitive enough to listen to the forest, the
ocean and all the other creatures that exist on our planet
besides humans. People that came to visit would spend a lot
of time in silence and I witnessed this time as a development
of a new relationship with nature and all of life. A deep
appreciation was established. It was inspiring to find that
there were so many others that cared about all species and
the well being of us all. Wholeness seemed possible. With
less interference, I was able to focus more intently on my
own art and music, and it still is a reference that forever
lives inside of me.
Any
plans to return to the wild again?
Yes, definitely,
but right now I am addicted to cities. Having everything close
by makes it so easy for me to be multi-taskful. Everything
is still in formative phases right now, so all my attention
is required. Once Mystik Alchemy and SoulSonic have become
more developed and a strong working teams, I will probably
move to the canyons, or maybe Spain!
I
love the image of your gift of precious vinyl among a bunch
of Malibu Barbies at some eight-year-old's birthday party.
What's the best part about owning a record store?
Pretty
much everyone loves music. One great thing about owning a
record store is that pretty much everyone comes through at
one point or another. I run into all kinds of people from
the scene and get to meet people doing a lot of incredible
things with music and art. I also love getting the promos
and all the new music that comes in every week, especially
the breaks (which as a Dee Jay is my chosen style). There
is still a lot to experiment with as far as SoulSonic goes,
but my goal is to continue to incorporate everyone connected
to our music community and display a platform for them to
share their talents in music and art. Right now we feature
local producers and Dee Jays' CDs and mixed CDs, as well as
clothing, videos and jewelry that have been created by people
in our community. I want to continue to expand with that and
have SoulSonic speak for itself in this way. It has always
been a passion of mine to bring artists of every type together,
and both Mystik Alchemy (my production company) and SoulSonic
reflect this passion for me. Through these platforms, people
are able to come together and further evolve themselves as
artists and musicians. I am honored to be able to provide
an outlet toward the accomplishments of such beautiful dreams
that all the artists that I know are achieving.
And
as the ultimate affirmation of your diverse and varied talents,
you're currently combining all of them, and bringing together
artists and admirers, through your event production company,
Mystik Alchemy. You've done some huge events...what are they
like?
They are
so fun! It's our job to assure our clients that they are going
to have a fun party. I know the position of hosting a party,
it can be stressful. I love being able to go up to our clients
on the day of the event with a huge smile of assurance and
know that we are going to give them something that they are
going to love, there's no doubt in my mind. We're hired to
have fun, and it's interesting too because I get to meet and
converse with many different types of people from many different
worlds. Each event is different, and as all performers know,
it is most fun when you are working or performing for other
performers/artists. Mystik Alchemy and Mystik Family Circus
have been carrying a love affair on with Cirque Du Soleil
for over a year now--we really enjoy each other and have found
co-inspirations through our experiences together with the
premiere parties that we've done. After we did the L.A. party
with them, they rented a bus and invited us all to go with
them to Las Vegas to celebrate the premiere of Zumanity with
them! I didn't go, but a lot of the Mystik kids did go and
they said it was amazing!
The in-house events we do are really great too, because so
much inter-action happens in these intimate environments.
People share and connect; we perform with and for each other.
Coming together like this helps us all become inspired and
fueled to go out into the world and display our art to others
that have never witnessed what we do or have to offer.
