I wanted to show everything. «
If DJ Kicks is the acoustic equivalent of the Walk of Fame, then Cinthie now has her fully deserved star on it.
Her entry into the series focuses on the qualities that have made her such a vital force in house music: An eclectic selection and a line-up culled from a network spanning the globe. Tobias Fischer spoke to Cinthie about her perspective on mix-CDs versus Youtube videos, her production work and DJing without records.
Beat / You‘re about to release your entry into the DJ Kicks series. For me, these releases have been markers in my life. How about yourself?
Cinthie / For me, too. A DJ Kicks was always a statement for very well established artists. I had the feeling the market wasn‘t so saturated with music yet. For a DJ Kicks, artists would dig deep in their collection. That‘s what I always loved about it: to discover great new tracks.
Beat / Kruder & Dorfmeister‘s DJ Kicks was playing just about everywhere in the 90s and it‘s one of the key albums from that time I still play. Same goes for the Kid Loco and, more recently, the Kamaal Williams. Which were your favourites? Cinthie / The Kruder and Dorfmeister is a killer DJ Kicks, maybe one of the best for me, too. I also loved Motor City Drum Ensemble, Andrea Parker, and the Kid Loco was great as well. Phew … there are so many around. I collected them like crazy back in the days. And to now have my own feels just unreal. I really hope people will like my selection.
Beat / The era of the mix-CD is over, the era of the youtube mix is here. Would you say, in terms of the quality of the mixing, things are better now? Cinthie / I‘m not a big fan of those youtube mixes to be honest. I did do some myself, but most of them feel really cringe, If I‘m allowed to say that. No hate of course but most of the time these days, I feel like the harder the music the better, and the weirder the performance the better. I mean some people made a whole career out of that. Or the people that dance fucked up next to them and entertain the listeners without being aware of it. I sometimes wish it was a bit more about skills or a nice track selection. But it almost feels like it‘s a forgotten art. I sound like an old grandma‘, don‘t I?
Beat / No, you sound like someone who‘s still really passionate about what they do. Already by the tracklist I can see a lot of thought and emotion has gone into this mix. What role does digging for music still play for your work as a DJ? Cinthie / With the playlist I wanted to highlight my old heroes and also shine a light on the new kids around, combining the past with the future. Digging still plays such a big role in my life, both for myself or my Elevate record store or my weekly Spotify playlist update. It still excites me just like 25 years ago when I started playing or even a few years before when I started to shape my music taste and looked for cool music. Unfortunately the market these days is quite saturated, so it takes a bit longer to really find the pearls.
Beat / Which means that the DJ as a selector is becoming more important again.
Cinthie / Actually, that‘s why my record store focuses on “selected vinyl”. I only sell what I would also play myself. So I‘d say I play 90 percent tracks that excite me and then in each set one or two crowdpleasers - but not really any functional tracks.
Beat / You were recently on an episode of “B-Sides” on Youtube. Is there something in general that you like about B-sides or the less “obvious” tracks? Cinthie / Yes I love it, because sometimes you have the more obscure tracks on the B-sides. Or stuff that you would maybe not expect from an artist. At least that‘s how I put EPs together. The first track is the best track, the sure shot and then B2 is always the one no one would expect, just to show a slightly wider range of your production skills. With the move towards digital releases, this might have gone lost a bit because there are no real B-sides anymore.
Catching Vibes
Beat / The inner photo for your DJ Kicks was interestingly taken in front of your equipment in the studio. Can you talk a bit about how production and DJing mutually inspire each other in your own work?
Cinthie / For the DJ Kicks I kind of wanted to show everything I do. So you get to see me on the cover, my studio on the inside and on the sleeves
for the records, you‘ll find the shop. DJing has always inspired me to create my own music. It‘s just the vibes you catch after a gig which I‘m trying to recreate.
Beat / With this in mind, why aren‘t you interested in adding instruments or more effects to your DJ sets?
Cinthie / It‘s funny that you ask this question because I just talked about it to my long time friend Anil Aras - whom I also featured on the DJ Kicks - because he used to play records and brought his 909 here and there to slam a beat on top of it. I was asking him to get a few tips on how to set it up as I might want to give it a try myself. He suggested that once I‘m confident doing it in the club, I should add a device for a bassline, for example. Could be fun and I‘ll definitely try it soon.
Beat / I noticed that some of your 12inches only have a few words written on them, like “jazzy” … Is that really enough for you to remember the track by?
Cinthie / I believe for my humble self it only works in combination with the cover of a record. Otherwise I‘m lost. Or if the two labels on the record look the same, I put a sticker on them or leave a little note there. Like the “jazzy” record in the B-Sides feature by the amazing DJ HMC. That‘s usually enough for me to recognise it.
Beat / No interest in recordbox?
Cinthie / I recently put it on my USB key. Out of 50 gigs there is always one, maybe two, where it‘s impossible to play records. Hence I thought: maybe it‘s time to become a tiny bit more “professional” and have a proper back up. But once I had it, I wasn‘t able to find the tracks or remember track names. For the super famous ones, I could still do it, of course. But when I don‘t have my usual organisation, I was totally lost. I guess it‘ll be a new form of memorising tracks.
Beat / Let‘s imagine you lost all your music for one night and all there is left at the venue is a crate of records containing a random selection of music. How would you approach this set?
Cinthie / This actually really happened the last time I checked in my records! Nowadays I only bring a small bag in hand luggage which is plenty of stuff for a 2 or even 3 hours set. Anyway, I had a gig in Nantes, in the North of France and the next day in Milan. I had to check in my bag because I took the big one and we had a little delay, so I almost did not catch my connecting flight in Paris to go to Nantes. I was waiting at the luggage belt for ages and then was there all alone and my records did not arrive. I was so pissed and sad but either way, I was booked for a back 2 back with my dear DJ Steaw. So it was okay to use his records and it was quite fun to discover a few new ones. I just randomly picked records and played them and it worked really well. Same thing the next day in Milan because of course my bag also did not make it to Milan. So I went record shopping, tried to rebuy a few records I already had, but in the end I ended up playing the records from the guys that booked me. And I loved it! It was a nice surprise package. I mean, there is nothing you can do about it - just flick through them and make the best out of it. ⸬