Hey Reeta, thanks so much for coming on the AMF blog. We’re super excited to chat with you today. We always like to start these discussions by asking our guests to introduce themselves and tell us a bit about their musical journey. So, when did you start DJ’ing and why and how did you get from there to where you are now?
I started DJing in 2016 when I was in my final year of University. I am naturally quite an impulsive person and I’d been going to club nights for a few years at this stage and I just decided that I’d give it a go. All of my mates were into dance music but no one DJ’d. Music has always been a massive part of my life, especially growing up.
My fondest memories are of the get-togethers my family used to have and the stream of ‘handbag’ and hacienda house that was played, sandwiched between Motown and Northern Soul and a 80s alternative New Romantic records.
It was ingrained in me from being very small how vital music is to our innate way of being as Northerner’s. I taught myself and then I took some lessons at a local school in Manchester to hone in on my skills.
When I felt ready, I started to send mixes to local nights and quickly got involved with the lads at USB Sessions. in 2018 I won a DJ competition to become a resident DJ at a night that no longer exists called Lost in Music. This really cemented my growth as a DJ. It opened a lot of doors for me and I am forever grateful for the opportunity it afforded me.
I then started getting asked to play at other House and Disco events across the North and just utilised every opportunity to network with promoters, producers, and other DJs. In 2019, I won another DJ competition to play a set at Defected Croatia, a complete career highlight for me. Off the back of this, I secured being signed to an agency and landing a gig playing the Toil Trees at Beatherder alongside names such as Alisha and ENDOR. Unfortunately, this hasn’t happened yet due to the pandemic.
I am now a resident of the Queer night Studio Honey that is based in Leeds but is coming to Manchester in the Autumn of 2021!
You were recently part of a MIF project in partnership with Sprechen. Can you tell us a bit about that? How did you get involved with the project and what did it entail?
In 2019, I started my journey into production. I am not a natural-born producer, the way that I would say I am a DJ. So my production journey has been long! I was quick out the gate with getting a tune that I did with Chris Massey called Feel The Rush that was signed to Hot Digits but I took my foot off the gas with production to focus on DJing.
In 2020 when the pandemic hit and naturally I had more time, I stuck my head back into making tunes. As I’d worked with Chris (Head Honcho at Sprechen) on Feel The Rush, he reached out to me to ask if I wanted to be involved in his new project with MIF. It was a complete honour to have been asked.
I sent Chris across a few unfinished projects that I was working on and he selected one that he believed had great potential and set about crafting the track into a club-worthy tune. As I am known for playing a lot of Disco, Chris was conscious about getting a more ‘real’ sounding bass on the track – something that I would not have been able to achieve on my own.
Dan Wainwright laid bass guitar notes down on the track and GOUX provided an insane vocal. It’s a very cosmic-sounding tune – I just love it. As this was all done over lockdown and therefore remotely, none of us were able to have a face-to-face session – something that we are now able to do. So whilst the project has officially completed, I am continuing to work with Chris on honing and improving my production skills. I am incredibly grateful for this.
You’ve also recently played a few gigs at Escape to Freight island, how have you found being back out and Dj’ing? AMF recently played a Ramona MCR and we were pretty overwhelmed. How did you find your first IRL gig in 18 months?
Ahhh! It was brilliant. I got the gig through Reform Radio and it was a real ‘pinch me’ moment. I think that my brain had almost blocked out the feeling of what it’s like to play in front of a crowd as a means of getting me through the pandemic (out of sight, out of mind vibe) – so to actually stand in a venue that’s already cemented itself as an ‘IT’ destination in Manchester for my first gig was overwhelming in the best way possible. I am back there with RebeccaNeverBecky in September – I cannot wait!
Let’s chat a bit about your mix? How did you put this mix together and was your approach to this mix how you normally tackle a DJ set? Do you like to rock up to the turntables with a clear direction in mind or do you prefer to go into a mix with as little planning as possible and feel your direction out from there?
For me, a recorded mix for radio or podcast varies slightly from how I approach my physical gigs. With a recorded mix, there’s no crowd to feed off so it becomes quite a personal process in that respect – it’s just me, the decks and my records.
My back catalogue of mixes is actually a brilliant documentation of where I was at in my life when I recorded them. I always have an idea of what tunes I want to play in a mix, for example, I knew I wanted to start this tune off with Pelago by Lena C – Lena was also part of the MIF project.
Based on the vibe of this tune (and the bpm) I knew this mix was gonna be a slower-paced vibe. Therefore, I single out tunes that I think could work on the same vibe and I organise them all into a playlist – this saves me from myself because I am so guilty of never knowing where ‘that’ tune is on my USBs when I am playing on the fly. In short, I take a blended approach!
Any standout tracks in the mix you can share with us? Any selections that you like to revisit again and again? If you’ve got any personal stories you can share about any of the tracks that’d be great!
As mentioned before, I love Lena C’s Pelago. It’s a very beautiful piece of music and is so original in comparison to other electronic music tunes.
J Kriv ‘The Queen On Her Throne’ and Folamour ‘I Know It Has Been Done Before’ are firm favourites – they’re solid tunes and are great go to’s when playing a lower paced set.
I end this mix on Borderline (Butch Le Butch 5am Rework) – Madonna and WOW this tune means a lot to me. I am guilty of loving a re-edit because whether it’s deemed as ‘cool’ or not, a great tune is a great tune in my book.
I discovered this tune a few years back when I was down a Soundcloud rabbit hole. A few months later I was at Gorilla with my girlfriend and best friend, maybe in 2017/18 and Horse Meat Disco were playing.
All of a sudden the opening chords of Borderline start playing and it was one of those dancefloor moments where you’re just like THANK F*CK I AM ALIVE RIGHT NOW.
Lastly, what’s on the horizon for Reeta? By the time this is published we’ll have been open and back to normal (fingers crossed) for over a month, whoop. What gigs or shows are in the pipeline?
My MIF X Sprechen tune is out in August 2021. In August I am playing at Good Custard’s day party at Brickhouse, Studio Honey at Distrikt, What She Said Club for Pride, and Multistories in Leeds too. I am playing at Multistories in Leeds in August and of course, Studio Honey comes to Manchester in November too! I do a monthly radio show called AFFIRM on Reform Radio.
Oh and before I forget, I’m super excited to let everyone know I’ll be playing alongside the rest of the Studio Honey crew at Homoelectric on the 28th of August. That’s next week. To say I’m excited is an understatement.
