VISCONTI

Interview by Phoebe Stubblefield

Photo by Eden Carter

We sat down with DJ Visconti and she dropped some DJ wisdom on us.

Who is Visconti?

My name is Pauline, I am from Paris (I was born in Paris), and I'm almost 30; it's very sad. I play Saturday nights at C&A and I also DJ for clubs.

What do you love about being a DJ?

I think what I most enjoy is to make people dance, and especially making kids dance, because they are so innocent and happy and so into spreading the joy, and that is the ultimate goal for me. I sometimes have to DJ for clubs where they have a lot of expectations about what they want to hear so that you're like a jukebox. Most people think that being a DJ is just enjoying yourself and being selfish. I tend to be the opposite; I try to come up with things based on the people- what do they like, do they interact with my songs or not? Otherwise I adapt. It's kind of a difficult balance because on one hand you want to go explore your artistic direction -your identity- and on the other hand, you have to make sure that people enjoy it.

The good compromise is to bring them into dancing with things they know and enjoy, and then little by little introduce them to things you enjoy and let them discover. Because at that point they are in the mood to dance, they aren't shy anymore. When I compromise too much, you can see on my face that I'm not happy and that I'm trying too hard to please, and it's not a good set. So I try to please myself and the crowd at the same time. That makes me happy.

Where do you get your material?

I have been collecting my material since I was 12 years old. I used to study music, but I was dismissed because I was too crazy and during the classes at the french conservatory I just wanted to sing and clap my hands and they were like, 'No, be good!' and I just wanted to be spontaneous. Another issue is that my great uncle is a famous French classical composer, Maurice Ohana, and so all of my teachers were like 'Oh my God, she's the neice of Maurice Ohana, we are expecting SO much from her,' and in the end I was so bad compared to what they were expecting that they were really disappointed. That was just too much for me, so instead of learning how to make music, I started listening to music. Because I do need music, otherwise something is missing in life.

What music did you first love?

I have to thank my parents because they were Woodstock kids. I listened to Frank Zappa, Lou Reed, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, when I was 5 or 6. Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Neil Young. Very American. I didn't listen to French music when I was a kid - like Jean Jacques Goldman? Never heard of him. I listened to Pink Floyd when I was five and I feel like it opened my chakra. Later, I was lucky because my high school was right in front of Gibert Joseph, which is a huge book store but also had a ton of vintage secondhand CDs and they cost ten francs at the time (about a euro fifty now). All of my pocket money went into buying CDs.

The first group I was so in love with was Queen. Freddy Mercury, I was so in love with him. But at one point I realized he was gay - I learned what gay meant...Well, first I realized he was dead, so he was dead for me, and then I realized he was gay so, in the end, he would have been dead for me anyway, so, two disappointments. When I was a kid, I lived in London for four years, and actually Freddy Mercury was the neighbor of my dad's best friend, and he held me in his arms. I got to meet him, but I was one or two, so I don't remember. But maybe something happened, the magic happened.

So I went crazy on Queen, and then later I went crazy for reggae music, like Zouk-Love. My parents were like 'Our daughter is becoming dumb, you don't even smoke pot, you can't get it!' But at the time I was with a guy who loved that music, and he made me love it. I discovered Zouk-Love and then it was part of my life. It's such cheesy music! But it did give me a good sense of rhythm and I learned from that actually because if there is a common point for all of my tracks it's that I love sensuality, like, erotic tracks. Sometimes I'm like … 'Yeah that's good, I want to be alone!' But I love tracks that make you shiver, and you recognize that it's erotic! I love this.

Is it hard being a woman in this business?

I haven't found it difficult to work as a 'female DJ' because my first job was in investment banking. Lot of males looking down at you thinking 'What? You can be good at math? But you're a girl! What, you can handle pressure? But you're a girl!' I was raised by a dad who was super strong and in a way kind of treated me like a boy. He wanted me to be first in my class, listen to good music, and always be free. So sometimes I have a strong temper. I do have guys come up and say ' Oh it's a nice track FOR A GIRL' or 'Can I look at your CDs and give you advice?' And I know they would never behave like that with a man. It's a lack of respect. There's sort of this idea that music belongs to men. I don't have respect for someone who lacks respect for me.

And I mean, yeah, some brands want a girl because it's cute, but, if you have an asset, use it. I won't lie, sometimes I have been the DJ because I am a girl. But, why would I refuse to use that asset? I don't want to do it having to prove anything, but, yeah, I can wear a nice dress and look cute, but more than that, I can play good tracks and make everyone dance. It's a good challenge. I go there as a girl, and I leave as a good DJ. It's a good way to make the mentality change.

Music needs to spark something in you. If there is no melody, no break, nothing that really gets into your body, I think it's boring. I think sometimes that female DJs have a different sensibility. I think female DJs want to shiver. You know we want to feel something strong. It's not about impressing people, it's about feeling something, and making others feel, and the difference, well not all male DJs obviously, but a lot of them, they sort of are there to show off. Like, 'Yeah, I'm the DJ, look at me!' And the female DJs will be be thinking : 'I'm going to look at you (the audience) because I want to make sure you feel something.'

In a relationship you'll often see that women pay more attention to the little things, and it's the same in a DJ set. We are trying to please the 'other' whether a romantic partner or an audience, and then always trying to please a little more. It's cliche as well, but I see the difference! You look at a male DJ and sometimes they are really into it, but they are also looking at themselves, at only what they are doing, and you see female DJs and they are kind of watching the crowd, trying to please you a little harder. It's just a different attitude.

What makes you stand out as a deejay?

What would differentiate me is that I don't care if I'm playing so-called 'bad' tracks. If I love the tracks, like, 'La Lambada!' 1989! Like bad 80s tracks – if it makes you want to move, I'll play it! I don't care. Sometimes cheesy is super good to create the mood, and at least you make people laugh, you put them at ease, they have no guilt because you already played the cheesy 80s track!

What are your hopes and dreams?

I dream of having my drivers licence; That's a big dream!

I also like to draw and I'm making a book for kids... I'm a godmother now, so, that's important to me.

I'd love to create a school for kids, to awaken their sensitivity for music and for all of their senses. Helping them to understand the essentials as well as DJing skills. I love having parents celebrate with kids. I would love to share music with kids, really.

I would love to see more girls in DJing. Challenge the establishment. You have to go for it, your sensitivity as a woman brings something to the table. Also, I want to say that the purpose of music is to be universal. I don't like that popular things can't be cool. It's stupid. People who succeed should be celebrated. DJing is a job, you have to do the work, stop bragging about it, do the job, make people dance. DJs who take themselves too seriously have forgotten that they are here to make people dance and without the crowd, we wouldn't be there. So you have to be thankful.

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