DJ Soul Sister talks with TW

Voodoo 2009

[Comment Below]

By Craig Magraff

Tiger Weekly recently had the privilege to chop it up with DJ Soul Sister, the queen of the New Orleans underground DJ scene. A well-respected DJ artist specializing in "positive soulful vibrations," she is a veteran radio programmer. She is also well known as a compulsive vinyl collector, habitual crate digger, top party promoter, and all around tastemaker - not only in her native New Orleans, but worldwide.

TW: How did you get started with DJ-ing?
SS: I have no idea. Seriously, I am a crate digger first, so I've been digging for crazy records since I was like six when my dad took me to the bargain bin at the old Sound Warehouse record chain back in the day. Then there was that time when I was five. The legend has it that I asked my dad and his friends to buy me "Oops Upside Your Head" (a popular Gap Band song in 1979). During high school, I kept buying records; I'd hit up garage sales on the weekends and I'd dig wherever I could.

I started volunteering at WWOZ and doing my radio show straight into college, at around 18 or 19. By the time I got to WWOZ, I already had about 1,000 records. Around that time, a great friend of mine named Sarah Fritz really pushed me to try what I did live in the club, so she promoted my first parties back in '97. I'm a fan of the disco mix, so it was always important for me to blend and match beats back then, because I wanted to rock it as true as the disco pioneers did it. It's been on ever since, and I am still true to the music I love and to the mix - and to throwing right on, free-spirited parties, the way Sarah inspired me to.

TW: You have quite a following both in New Orleans and around the country. What do you attribute to your success?
SS: Well, I'm thrilled and blessed to know that people dig the original musicians and underground music I feature, what I'm about and what soulful funky music is about. I'm just having fun and I think people vibe off of positive, fun energy. I'm not for everyone; I'm not a request DJ or anything like that. I call myself a "DJ artist," because I'm doing my thing and if you come to enjoy DJ Soul Sister or one of my right on party situations, then what you see is what you get. So maybe folks vibe off the individuality part of my parties. Or they just like to see someone gettin' on down and not caring what anyone else thinks. As long as they join in too, I love it.

TW: If people like what they hear at Voodoo, how can they get more? What's next for DJ Soul Sister?
SS: I'm celebrating my 15th year of being at WWOZ 90.7 FM and wwoz.org in New Orleans. I host the "Soul Power" show every Saturday from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Also, every Saturday from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., I throw the "HUSTLE!" party, upstairs at Mimi's in the Marigny (2601 Royal St.) in New Orleans, and that's been going real strong for five years. I'm throwing tons of additional, specially themed "right on party situations" at other locations, and folks can keep track of the jams at www.myspace.com/djsoulsis.

Other than that, I plan to keep having big fun on the one, hopefully for as long as the people dig the sounds and keep on getting down.

To read more of DJ Soul Sister's Interview, check out the Tiger Weekly Blogs at www.tigerweelky.com/theblogs.

Originally Published: Issue 821 - October 28, 2009

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