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Interview: Miss Mindy Kinky Malinkis First Ever Female Resident
interview
One of the UK’s leading clubs, Kinky Malinki, launched a competition at the end of last year to find a female resident DJ for 2007. Four finalists battled it out at Turnmills in London and Miss Mindy was the lucky winner. We caught up with her to see how it feels…
First and foremost, congratulations on becoming Kinky Malinki's first ever female resident!
Thanks very much, I’m honoured! Seriously, this is a great opportunity and I feel really lucky.
What do you feel that Miss Mindy can bring to the Kinky Malinki family?
What can I bring? Wit, charm, grace… ah who am I kidding! No I think I can bring a fair bit of fun and energy to the KM family – not that there isn’t plenty of that already (I’ve seen them in action) but I’ll be bringing more of it… no half measures with me!
Describe Miss Mindy's style in 5 words?
Well without pinning my style down as far as genre goes, I would say really energetic, sexy, varied, kinky (of course) and just a little bit cheeky. I have the attention span of a gnat so my tunes have to have a lot of substance to them or I just lose interest…
You fought off stiff opposition in the final, was it nerve wracking knowing that the standards would be so high and that you would be in a 'live' environment where every part of your performance would be under scrutiny from the judges?
Yes and no. Any competition is nerve wracking at the best of times but when you’re DJing, you’re playing live and being watched and scrutinised all the time anyway… it’s just part of the job! Although the standards were really high and it was a competition, the vibe in there was still great and I really enjoyed watching the other girls play. I tried not to worry too much about the fact that we were all competing and just get up there and have a good time.
What was your preparation like for the final and what made you go with your particular tune selection?
Well it was an interesting week leading up to the competition – I had a huge amount of work on at the time and was pretty stressed out already! The tune selection was a difficult one and I spent a lot of time deliberating whether I should go with the crowd (and judge)-pleasing ‘safe bets’ or being a bit more adventurous… but at the end of the day it was more important to me to show a variety of tunes that I love to play, rather than using the tried-and-tested formula that I felt might help win the competition. It’s easy enough to adapt your style to an event when you know exactly what the promoter wants, but this was something where I wanted to show my personality.
The competition was supported by Company Magazine and Kiss 100 because they both believed that there is not enough women DJing. Do you agree with this and what are your thoughts on the subject in general?
There are so many amazing DJs (both male and female), there just happens to be fewer of us than the boys. I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault that it’s a male dominated profession – it’s up to the girls to get up there and show what they’ve got (come on girls!). That goes for any DJ though, male or female. I’ve had someone say to me once that girls often have to work harder to prove a point which I think is a good thing, but on the other hand I know promoters can get a lot of flack if they advertise specifically for female DJs. Either way, it should always be about a DJ playing good music well and making people want to dance and have a good time. Any girl who relied on her female charms rather than her abilities as a DJ wouldn’t last long in this industry and I’m pleased to say that’s not the case – all the ladies that I know simply do it for a genuine love of the music and they’re hired time and time again because they know how to rock the party!
So girls are clearly as good behind the decks but what can boys do better than you ladies and vice versa?
Loads of things! Guys are great at reading maps, they’re much more patient than women and they’re good for opening jars. I think women can tolerate pain and sickness better (man-flu, WHATEVER) and we’re also very good at getting our own way. In all seriousness though, I think it’s good that both sexes have their strengths and their weaknesses – it keeps things interesting.
KM have up to 10 parties in a month, what events are you looking to get your teeth into and why?
I know, KM certainly gets around! I wouldn’t know where to start, although Dubai is a really exciting prospect for me. I love travelling – it’s the reason most of us Antipodean types are over here - but to be honest, I’ve pretty much sacrificed all of that and put all my money into DJing. So this way, I get to combine two things that I really love. No matter where I go though, it is definitely about getting your teeth into the events rather than turning up, playing and leaving again. I’ve met some really cool people playing out and about and I look forward to going back and partying with them when I get the chance.
Give us a run down or your fave's in club land. Fave Club? Fave DJ? Fave Track of '06?
I think great tunes and great clubs are more to do with the memories associated with them... stand out memories for me have to be Pacha in Ibiza and mooching around the garden at Egg in London in summer. Fave track is a tricky one… I tend to listen to my favourites over and over until I’m physically sick of them so they never last long with me! I think one that rocked my world for a while in 2006 would have to be Mark Knight - Insatiable (MTV/MK dub). Fave DJ? That’s impossible to pick but one stand-out set for me this year was George Andrews at Turnmills… usually I’m quite happy bouncing away to any good house music but this guy made me stop in my tracks and watch – he was just brilliant! I think his creativity with his mixing really set him apart from the rest.
Finally what does Miss Mindy get up to when she's not rocking dancefloors?
Rocking my bedroom! I mean mixing, for anyone who has their mind in the gutter… I’m also a student so I split the rest of my time between having my head stuck in the books and trying to earn enough cash to feed my record addiction. And if I have any time left over, I like long walks along the beach and candlelit dinners… OK, not really – I’d rather be mixing!
