In Canada female djs are thriving but they still do not get the as much buzz and the males. In Toronto Miz Megs is one of the most busy, skilled djs around. Being from the core rave scene and earning her stripes over the years she has become one of the best in Toronto underground scene. We ask her a few questions while doing her east coast tour.
How did you get started as a DJ?
I have been immersed in electronic music since 1996 and wanted to learn how to DJ since the beginning. Many of my friends were (and are still) DJs. I felt really passionate about house music and knew so many tracks so it only made sense to learn. When I was in university, I lived at home and my parents went to Europe, so naturally, I had a house party! My friends set up 4 turntables (Technics 1200s) and when the 3 day marathon house party was over, they left their equipment and records there. When they left, I played around with them and that was the day when I matched my first beat. I will never forget that moment and I never stopped matching beats since then.
How would you describe your style?
Tech house. Not too housey, not pure techno. It is a fusion.
What are your main influences?
Luciano, Green Velvet, Loco Dice, Paco Osuna, Marco Carola, Deep Dish (Sharam & Dubfire),
Joseph Capriati, DJ Sneak, Gene Farris, Flipside.
What can people expect from your sets?
Expect a fusion of house and techno. I am an old school raver from the 90s so there are always hints of the old school and quite possibly a classic sample or two!
As a house/techno DJ, what do you think of all this edm craze?
Ha! Don’t get me started. All good genres eventually go mainstream and diluted. Look at 90s hip-hop compared to a lot of hip-hop now (barf). In some ways I feel like EDM is a gateway to other music. For example, someone goes to a festival to hear EDM and they wander into the techno stage and a techno fan is born (which is the case quite often). But also, it allows clowns who are making music for commercial gain and not from the heart, to take music that is sacred for many of us and turn it into a cake-throwing gimmick, which actually makes me sick. I honestly see EDM as separate of a genre as rock n roll is to house and techno. It is a different music, with different principles, and really the complete opposite of anything underground. So I try not to compare. In EDM it is OK to press sync, have a gimmick, throw cakes etc. Where house and techno is about the music and we don’t need that nonsense. It is usually about the skills, music and the DJ and/or producer.
How do you see the Toronto scene vs other scenes in Canada?
Toronto’s scene is on fire right now. On the weekends, there are usually thousands of people, in a few big clubs, hearing different genres of electronic music. For my taste in music, I either go to Nest or Coda, which are always banging. Electric Island is on the Monday of 4 long weekends on one of our Toronto islands – this is my favourite festival of the season because it feels like it did back in the day.
Summertime is insane in Toronto, you have options for outdoor daytime parties and more options at night at any given Saturday or Sunday.
As for the other Canadian cities and provinces I have played in, they are quite small, but thriving and tight. The one that blew me away the most was Kelowna, BC. I played there a few times in 2010 and 2011. I played the Sexy Sounds Festival 2 years in a row and it was insanity. It was a 2 day camping festival and the vibe reminded me of Toronto in the 90s. It was also an ALL female DJ festival which was pretty cool.
There is a lot of awesome female DJs in Canada that don’t get as much exposure as the males. What’s your take on that?
I think it is a catch 22 situation. On one hand, some female DJs get a little more exposure because it can be rare and many guys would much rather watch a girl than a guy, it is just human nature. However, there are a lot of girls out there who want to DJ, but instead of learning the skills, they buy a bunch of Instagram followers or Facebook fans, take a bunch of “DJ selfies”, get booked and literally shit the bed when they are in the booth. They either fake it, use a generic computer program that does all the work, press sync, or crumble and screw up their mixing. Every time they do that, it makes it harder for the real female DJs out there who know what they are doing. I see it happening more and more, especially with social media and the boom in electronic music. It is unfortunate. I also blame the models and porn stars who think they are DJs. It just makes us all look bad and look like clowns. It is about the music, not how you look! Unfortunately, there is a stigma now and people are just waiting for girls to screw up. I hope I am not coming off as jaded, I am not. I am happy for all the opportunities and I am glad I was able to prove myself as a DJ many years before social media and all this stuff started. You have to rise above it and prove that you are not one of those girls. So in a way, it makes me work harder and keep improving so I can prove them all wrong!
What are your future projects?
Keep plugging away and do what I do – make people dance. I have a couple of big bookings coming up and I just locked down another show in Whitehorse in February (brrr). I am also well overdue to get my ass in the studio. Time to make some fire!
Looking forward to the weekend! Follow me on my social sites!
www.soundcloud.com/MizMegs
www.instagram.com/MizMegs
Miz Megs will be playing on:
Friday 16 @ Reflections in Halifax
Saturday 17@ Vault 29 in Fredericton
