JoJo De Freq Interview
Dalston's finest spills all, from life in the studio to industry sexism.
Bugged Out! resident and former promoter of the legendary Nag Nag Nag club night, JoJo De Freq, is a clubland pioneer and something of an End stalwart. Bugged Out! called her up for an interview and got all the info on her MYTHIC label, her burgeoning studio work and her thoughts on the gender divide in the music world.
Bugged Out!: Your new tune ‘Welcome To Dalston’ is causing a stir. How did it come about?
JoJo De Freq: It's a bit of an homage to the area of East London I've lived in for over four years. The place I live has a big effect on the things I create, music being the most prominent creative outlet for me of course. I feel Dalston has seeped into my music and influenced this track. Essentially it's a house track I made with summer in mind, while dreaming about getting out of the studio into the sunshine and all the while soaking up the Dalston vibes. The African gospel choir samples, the hand claps, the cheesy Euro synth cords, the high tuned hand drums, they're all inspired by Dalston and the summer.
Bugged Out!: It’s the third single you’ve released on your download label MYTHIC this year. Tell us the ideology behind the label.
JoJo De Freq: The label was formed mostly so I could get my music out quickly and independently, so I could have complete creative freedom without the constraints of having to wait for the manufacture and distribution of vinyl or have to queue up on a label’s release schedule. And there is also a loose concept behind MYTHIC. The vision I have for MYTHIC is inspired by early UK rave and acid house, and acts like the KLF, a few early tracks on Warp Records and loads more. It's not nostalgic because I didn't experience those records or acts the first time around, it's more of a fantasy of the myth they left behind. It's also meant to be futuristic, never directly referencing the past. I'm really into the production sounds in a lot of hip hop at the moment, especially the producers from the southern states of the US, the Durty South as it's called. I just want to have the freedom to experiment with loads of new sound design and production techniques, and just put things out whenever they're ready. It's all about freedom and independence. That's what MYTHIC is about essentially. Although saying that I am trying to keep up with a release a month! It's not a long term project, I'm not going to run it forever. The time limit I'm looking at is about a year, so I'll be wrapping it up next February-March. In the end it will be like a collection of tracks that will all work together, like an album or a story I guess. That's where I'm at right now.
Bugged Out!: We still keep hearing ‘Make Some Noise!’, from 2006 around and about - it’s never left Simian’s box. Not bad for your debut…
JoJo De Freq: Oh really? Great. I know Simian have really championed it and pretty much broke it really. It was out for quite a while before they picked it up, nobody really played it at first. So of course I just figured it was too weird or whatever for people. But I suppose in retrospect, maybe it was just a bit before its time.
Bugged Out!: ‘Saturn Returns’ cropped up on Felix Da Housecat’s Global Underground mix this year too. Did you enjoy playing with him at The End in July?
JoJo De Freq: Yeah, again that was licensed to his compilation nearly a year after it was released, so I guess it's nice to have a bit of longevity in my music. Again I'm really pleased that he's picked it up and got it out to a much bigger audience than I could have just with MYTHIC. Yeah, playing with him at The End was funny. It was the first time I'd played with Felix in July, he is a real character. A lot of fun, charisma and chaos; which is not always a bad thing in music. Organised chaos is the best, it gets the creative juices pumping, or maybe that was the big bling bottle of tequila!
Bugged Out!: You now compose, produce, mix and master your own tunes. That’s still quite rare for a woman in this business. Why did you choose to go this route rather than just get an engineer to do all the hard work?!
JoJo De Freq: Well I tried that already! But it didn't work for me. It just didn't satisfy what I really want to achieve, which I guess is the thrill of trying to create my own sound, the freedom to do it however I want, and the satisfaction of being skilled. It's not to say I'll never work with anyone, and I'd still love to work alongside someone who is more skilled than me to learn faster, and get a perspective from someone with more experience. But when you're working with an engineer I'm not so sure that it works like that. If you sit in a room with someone else at the controls, you don't learn what does what. You may have a good perspective on the bigger picture of what's being done, but you can't do it yourself. This is the challenge for me now, to be a producer and an artist, to push the buttons whilst maintaining my artistic vision. I want to have the skills to translate what's in my head, without losing the bigger vision in all the technical details. But right now it's a very laborious job. I work between 8-13 hours a day by myself in front of the computer just trying things out. I'm still getting used to that. I'd like to bring some other people into the equation eventually, once I feel I've mastered a tiny bit of what I want to achieve on my own.
Bugged Out!: Is it harder for women to get the credit they deserve in this biz?
JoJo De Freq: Yes. I used to try to deny it to myself because you can't walk around feeling sorry for yourself; you can't walk into situations being paranoid. But the reality is there ARE less of us. And it's a simple psychology that if people don't see a lot of any one type of person doing something they're more likely to have certain prejudices. This is why we have to work harder to prove ourselves. Sometimes it's hard to just be feminine, to be yourself, because the business is still run mostly by men, with male tastes. But we have to be ourselves otherwise what's the point? Then you have women pretending to be like men so that they fit in? Not a good look. Of course there are all kinds of grey areas, and I've come across loads of really cool unbiased men in this biz. But sometimes it's the women who have supported me the most because we get each other. I still feel quite passionate about breaking stereotypes and staying true to myself while doing it.
Bugged Out!: You have started doing remixes this year, with rejigs for Miss Kittin and Man Like Me. How did you approach this?
JoJo De Freq: I really enjoyed doing both of these. I'm finding that I love working with vocals. There is just something that resonates when I'm working with a vocal that I really like. For this reason I plan on doing a lot more remixes, especially with tracks and artists I really like! With the Miss Kittin remix I composed completely original music under her a capella and tried to create a really dominant sounding vocal for her. I thought it fitted the song and her personality. In the track I imagined her to be like a kind of fantasy witch and her voice was like her spell that totally enraptured you. I played with a lot of effects on her a capella. I think it worked out pretty well in the end and we had a very unique sound. It was my first remix, so I was lucky to get a chance to do what I wanted with it, and that they trusted that whatever I gave them would work. Not all artists / labels give so much freedom to the remixers! But these are the kind of people I like to work with.
With Man Like Me I cut up his voice into single words and even just syllables and used it more percussively, the idea was to make it really punchy and energizing, because again I feel that fitted with the meaning of the song. The feeling I tried to achieve was a bit heavier and then really like "get the fuck up!" I spent a long time on that one experimenting. I'm always wanting to improve, it seems to get more complicated the more I learn. Once I've learned as much as I can stomach, I guess the best thing for creativity is when you can just forget everything you've learned and just get simple again!
Bugged Out!: You use your voice sometimes as a tool on your tracks. Do you ever plan to sing full songs?
JoJo De Freq: Yes, good guess! I've had some vocal training in the past. But luckily I've almost forgotten it all! I love singing and I love writing with words and with chords. So I guess it will be a natural progression to work with songs in the future. But for now I'm doing the MYTHIC stuff and remixes and just working on being a producer. But I will admit there are some songs in the works.
Bugged Out!: What do you like about playing Bugged Out! at The End?
JoJo De Freq: It's always full of friends and familiar faces. It has that home-y residence quality for me, a bit like Nag did. It's hard to believe I've been playing there for almost five years. I just had to double check that! It just seems like yesterday when I played after Dave Clarke's banging techno set in the main room and I nearly evacuated the club! But it's not like it was five years ago, and a lot has changed. I really enjoy doing the late night sets just as much as the more peak-time ones. In fact sometimes it's better when you can go deeper and more intimate in the late slots, I love it when you get a real connection with the crowd at those hours. But then I like to rock out with some party bangers at peak time too. I’m not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe sometimes I'm TOO versatile!? But I have to be, or else I'm bored. I'm not into linear music. The excitement for me is the clashing, making it all work together in contrast, or in harmonic mixing. I like surprises and expansiveness. It's a much more difficult way to play, so I'm always impressed when I hear other people being versatile and making it work too, because I know how tricky it can be, especially without Ableton! Bugged Out! at The End has a more clued up crowd that really appreciates this kind of thing, they've built up a real following. That is mega important to me. That people are a bit more open to some different sounds.
Bugged Out!: Nag Nag Nag closed its doors this year after six years. How was the last hurrah? How will it be remembered?
JoJo De Freq: We had a great night. Loads of old regulars came, everyone made an effort. The original spirit and ideology of the club was alive and kicking! So it was a mix of sad nostalgia and also a huge relief to let it go and be able to move forward. Nag took up a huge chunk of my time and energy every week for 6 years. So I'm happy to be able to have the time now in the studio. There is no doubt that it was a legendary night, it was intense, we were trailblazing for the next decade, and it was a catalyst for many of the smaller electro clubs around now. The last Nag was a chance to acknowledge that. But to be completely honest, right now, I'm a bit bored of talking about it. I'm tired of reminiscing, I want to look to the future and to what I'm doing right now. I wrote some pretty in depth personal stories on Nag in my blog, so if anyone is interested they can go and check it out.
Bugged Out!: How did you find playing your old electroclash records off vinyl at that party having switched to CDs in the last year?
JoJo De Freq: I really noticed a difference in the warmth and even emotional quality of the music, but then that may have been pretty colored by the fact that it was a really emotional night! But vinyl is also slightly less accurate than CDs, less precise. And there are a few new techniques I've picked up using CDJs which you can't do with turntables. At the moment I still prefer CDs, less romantic maybe, but there are too many benefits in terms of technique and too many conveniences when travelling. I now think the majority of professional DJs have made the switch.
Bugged Out!: Where else have you enjoyed travelling to this year?
JoJo De Freq: I played in Brazil finally for the first time this year, in Sao Paulo. I loved it. Great people, great vibes, a really sophisticated city. I hope to go back and spend some more time there next time.
Bugged Out!: What has been your favourite festival set since you’ve started out? Are you comfortable playing to big crowds?
JoJo De Freq: Yeah, I love playing to big crowds at festivals. I don't get to do it that often and it's a completely different experience to playing at clubs. Of course it depends on the festival. There are a few I'd rather miss! And there are a few I adore, like FIB in Benicassim and Glastonbury. My fave festival set is a toss up between FIB last year, closing the main stage, I had punters flashing their wristbands for the entire year afterwards! And Glasto in 2003 / 2004 which were both pretty special. In fact there is a similar vibe at both those festivals I think.
Bugged Out!: What else other than music has inspired you this year?
JoJo De Freq: Honestly I'm pretty all consumed by music. I don't have time for much more obsessive compulsive behaviour! But I get a lot of pleasure from cooking, finding great clothes, I think I've developed a bit of an Ebay addiction actually. I read, I get to do a lot of it when I'm travelling, and I love doing yoga when I get the chance.
Bugged Out!: What do you have coming up before the year’s up?
JoJo De Freq: I've just started working on an idea I've got for an EP. Can't say too much more about it yet though, but it won't be a MYTHIC release. Then I'll continue with the MYTHIC stuff and my side song-writing projects that are still in development. I'm going to have a lot of activity on my new blog, and hopefully lots more great DJ gigs!
Published: 15/09/2008
