Growing up where did your musical influences come from?

Initially it came from my father because he was a musician who played in a band. He played guitar and would tour around the pubs, back then there was a real appetite for live music and particularly playing cover versions in pubs. So my first memories were listening to Jimi Hendrix, although I didn’t know who he was, I would pick up the record and put down the needle then write down the lyrics for my dad. Then in my late 20’s early 30’s I started to really understand a bit more about Jimi Hendrix and particularly what he did for the guitar. I started seeing his live performances and that’s when I made them connection, like oh my gosh I was listening to that when I was like at primary school. So that was my first influence and first love, particularly paying attention to the lyrics. So when I was in school pop music was a huge thing, then disco of course had an impact but I came into age as a teenager when it became electro and that totally blew my mind. Totally excited me. That’s when technology was changing, you had the first computers and then the synthesisers and the bass that was made. Everyone talks about the first time they heard the 808 bass, I still love it. I still go nuts for that bass, it’s got that depth that hits you somewhere else. So i’ve always been seeking that beat, even now it’s the bass for me, that’s the key influence I think. I’ve gone through lots of genres and seen electro moves into  Hip-Hop. That was so cool for me because I got an education through listening and really respected what they had to say and what they were trying to do for their music and how it could be a positive influence.

I’ve always kind of gone with the time I suppose, with what was new and exciting. From Hip-Hop it went into Neo-Soul and stuff like that which everyone loved and then Dancehall came, a cold change from reggae, it got digitised and speeded up and then that speeded up to jungle. So I guess I was at the beginning of that and when it was really hitting the UK scene, for me I started to slow down with it when it moved to Grime. I’m a teacher so that’s when it became my students music, still enjoyed it of course but wouldn’t be out dancing to it. So my musical influence has always been this eclectic mix. I love all different bits and i’ve been there for Britpop and Nirvana so i’m happy to dip into all these different elements. I’m sitting by my CD’s now and there is an absolute mixture of all these things i’ve spoken about. There’s a saying that goes Born in the seventies, Raised in the eighties, Raved in the nineties - that’s me summed up.

When did you begin to DJ and get to playing at Notting Hill?

As I said my first handling of records was through my dad and going through the ritual of playing and cleaning a record. Then my brother was seriously into reggae music and dub in particular, he had a massive collection so I always around records. But for me I started to experiment and play with it when electro came out. I’m still not sure but I think it was through my best friend who introduced me to her brother who knew Tempz who was running Disya Jeneration Sound System around 1984. We would go to the sound system lock up where they had crates of records and the pioneers and prove that we could DJ. Just trying the two decks was a new thing and then rewinding and scratching because before I had handled them so carefully. I wouldn’t sound amazing at it but for me it was about controlling the crowd, playing that song that everyone wants to hear and taking people to a whole new level. I know when I go out I want to hear the songs that make me happy, the ones that will bring good memories and keep the vibe going, so that’s what I tried to do. When I got to carnival it was a big moment we had done so many rehearsals and then we were actually on the street. Even though it was children's day there were adults and it was a bit of a scene because of us being girls people were paying attention. It was a lot of pressure like one real shot on the proper decks but it was just a lot of fun once I realised what I could do with the power of music. Later I went to art college and would DJ at the student union, putting on some gigs and being a little promoter as well. I’ve moved into more supporting others to create and DJ. 

How has Carnival adapted for new audiences while also keeping tradition to stay true to its roots?

I mean first and foremost it’s the music for us. With Disya Jeneration we are about innovation and being at the forefront of whatever the new music form is. But I think the foundation is still coming back to Dancehall. When I look back we’ve been quite consistent but we’ll play afro beats, we’ve played Grime, Drill, South African House but still will go back to Dancehall. So yes we’ve innovated things and things have changed but whatever the hottest type of music is of the year you’ll hear it on our streets which is why I think we’re so popular. We keep a very snappy turnaround of the styles and we read the crowd and all that. What’s changed? Obviously fashions I guess but if we talk about how people respond to the music itself then it’s the dancing. I always love to look at the dancing and see how it’s changed over the years. A group called Onyx bought out a song called Slam and it was kid of like Hip-Hop but also had an attitude of getting the crowd to moshpit. That was new, we hadn’t seen that before and now we still have moshpits on our street where people make circles and go for it. You won’t always necessarily see that because of the music being played but we allow that in our space and our sound and our street. Every Dancehall track a big part of it is the moves. The artist Elephant Man is very well known for the amount of new dance moves he’s introduced through his music. So there’s all these dances and I’m so excited to see them when we play that record. There have been songs that came out and didn’t have their moment because we weren’t on the streets. The songs that become the anthems become that because of the way the crowd reacted when it was first played. There are some songs we can’t really play because the crowd would cause problems.