1. How did you first get into DJing?
I started doing radio in college, and when I graduated, I picked up a shift at a local station at home doing an alternative rock show every Saturday night. It was the 90s, so just about every bar had an alt night of some kind, so when one of the DJs went on vacation, they gave me a buzz to fill in, since I had so much of the music already. But spinning for a radio audience and spinning for a club are two different things, so it was very much trial by fire! After that, I started doing my own nights, and eventually moved up to full time DJ and promotions director at a local hot spot. The rest, as they say, is history.
2. You not only DJ at clubs, but also at Sci-Fi Conventions – how does your DJ style change? What noticeable differences are there between the two?
I find I can be a lot more adventurous at Sci-fi cons, because the crowd is so much more musically diverse – I can mix up industrial and mainstream dance, electro and techno, old-school and new-school. Plus, anything with a geek spin goes over fabulously! Locally, my nights tend to be themed for a particular crowd or interest, so I focus mainly on one style for those.
3. Tell us about Sprockets. Where else can we see you in action?
Sprockets takes place on the third Friday of the month at the Roxbury, the 80s/90s club in Uptown Charlotte (and it’s what the Breakfast Club morphed into late last year). It’s my monthly tribute to 120 Minutes, a show that ran from 1986 to 2000 on MTV and was dedicated to alternative music. That’s when I really discovered music and began DJing, so it’s my chance to pay homage to an era that defined a lot of who I am. I do a quarterly dark alternative music night at Upstage in NoDa called Bats II: Electric Boogaloo, which focuses mainly on goth, industrial, synthpop and EBM. I’ve spun for Big Mamma’s House of Burlesque for a number of years, for those who like their music with a more retro-retro vibe (think swing, big band, and lounge). The Charlotte Roller Girls have me worked into their schedule for home bouts so there’s a good chance you’ll hear me there as well.
4. Along with the DJjing, you are also an avid cosplay queen – what are some of your current projects?
The wish list of projects is oodles bigger than what I have time to work on each year, but I just finished up the Xtreme Xmen version of Dazzler and the 1950s Batwoman, Kathy Kane, both ready for HeroesCon! Then I’m moving on to Troia from the Teen Titans, set to debut at DragonCon. If I’m lucky I’ll squeak another one in there, but we’ll see, as I’ve pulled a couple of commissions into the schedule as well. I have a tendency to gravitate to more obscure characters of costumes from popular characters, because I love the challenge of doing something few have seen in person, especially if it’s particularly awful or dated in some way. I love seeing the look of mild horror on people’s faces , and it’s even more fun when you can show it off to the artist that created it in the first place.
5. This year’s Geek Gala theme is Alien Invasion. What tips would you give an Invading Alien if s/he were to come to one of your shows?
If it’s a convention gig, I doubt I’d be able to tell it was a real alien – with all of the costumes, they’d blend right in! But I’d tell them to go take on Antarctica or Siberia first – let them do battle with walruses and penguins (and possibly catch a nasty cold!) while we get our act together to defend ourselves. I’d also probably show them what a crowd of people using light sabers ad giant glow sticks can look like in full-on dance frenzy…THAT should make them rethink their attack a bit!
For more information about DJ Spider, visit her websites…
DJing page: https://www.facebook.com/
Nerdy mix: http://thatdjspider.podomatic.