The Sorceress

A Nanaimo local that really hits the crowd "hard". The Sorceress aka Mackenzie Clarke has one truely awsome sound. Her connections range from the Nomad Collective to Teamharcore.com. Kenzie is really laid back when she is not on stage, but when she gets behind the decks she is totally focused. She is soon going to be getting into producing her own tracks. I personally can't wait to hear what she comes up with.





What type of music do you normally spin?



Normally its hard house, hard trance, and Im getting into a little bit more techno, and on good days drum and bass.



Are you under any production companies or labels?



Im under Teamhardcore.com, the Nomad Collective, Lofty, and ENTaT Entertainment.



How long have you been a DJ?



I think probably a year and a half now. I gotta think.... Its just over a year and a half.



Why did you get into DJing in the first place?



I dont know, you know? Ive been going to parties since like 97 and all of a sudden its like Hey you know, lets do this! And I met my boyfriend and hes said "Im really interested in doing that" And we sort of collaborated and we bought tables. He didnt buy groceries, and he just spent all his money on tables, and I took food from my moms fridge.



How were you were you discovered?



There was DJ Vega, and now its DJ Jimy Cardah, and DJ Lucas they used to put on a Sunday night at a bar in Nanaimo. And they just would have whoever spinning so just sort of asked if I wanted to come and spin at the bar. I used to do that every Sunday and I sucked so bad! (laughs) But you know, you keep playing right. Your playing progressive trance with happy hardcore and your like, yah sweet I rock! But really its awful. But they were like come out next week, and next week, and it just got easier and easier. I dont know when it was but I talked to Clint, he just sort of came up and asked me if I wanted to be under teamhardcore. And the rest is ... well thats how it goes.



What was your first booking ever?



It was SIP 1. I got to play first, and I dressed all nice. I was so excited!



What DJs inspired you the most?



There werent very many girl DJs so whenever I saw a girl DJ I was like oh my god! The first girl DJ that I saw was Crystal Dawn from Courtney and then there was Anne Savage and Lisa Lashes, I saw them and love the fact that there were female DJs and everyone was loving it, which pretty much inspired me. I thought to myself that I can do this and just decided to go for it.



Do people recognise you in the streets?



Ya all the time, it is a pretty weird feeling to go from a hardcore candy kid and so I understand when people come up to me and pour their heart out to me. Its awesome!



What is your favourite track that you play?



I have a track that I bought a few years ago, its a progressive trance track, and I might play it tonight. You cant even really read the label; I think it is called Landslide or something like that. But its so good! This guy from Whitebird Studios when they first opened, JC recommended it to me. I bought it pretty much when I first started playing. Its one of those tracks where youre just like aaahhhh anthem.



What was your best DJ experience ever?



Party wise it was up in Prince George because it was such a good vibe and atmosphere, meeting the people was so much fun. Everyone was just like, this is great lets have fun and they danced all night. I got to meet ill-esha and now we hang out and Colleen and I play tag and get each other gigs and everything, same with ill-esha, we still talk and hang out, it is still good, you know, that is the best way to meet people. I dont know thought, experience wise it was probably Stargate because I got to play on the main stage because I got there and they said I had missed my slot, after I freaked out they told me I could take a spot on the main stage, I was so nervous.



What was your worst DJ experience?



2 Fresh was a party where I had a lot of fun but I played like shit. So I feel really bad, it was one of those moments where you wish you could go back and do it again. I could have done so much better, but you know when you get in one of those moods where you are kinda doubting yourself, and you kinda go up there and your like "uhh that was awful!" And train wrecked.... It was on the main stage of the Plaza of Nations at nine oclock and I was hoping that nobody heard but really they did. And your thinkin ooohh... just ignore that OK.



Do you play any clubs? Or is it mainly raves that you play at?



I have a residency at Sushi in Nanaimo, it is a nomad collective night that we put on every Thursday and we sort of play in rotation, we have another night at a different bar, we also used to have a radio show, but that kinda fell though, so just in Nanaimo right now.



When you DJ, do you just play by heart or do you have a play list before hand?



Straight from the heart, yup, there are no two sets that are the same ever. I read interview with Grooverobber once and he said that he never plays that same set twice, you know you cant get up there and freak out because they are not responding to my set, you have to be able to go in any direction, you have to read the crowd, if they are not dancing then you have to be able to say okay, lets play this.



What do you think about the rave scene in general?



Its definately expanding, its a wierd feeling because youve been in it so long. So you almost have a "oh its going to hell, everythings going bad"....... I mean for all the people that are coming into the rave scene its awsome! They are getting the highest quality in shows, the best venues, sound, and lights. And Everyone is trying to do this really amazing experience for everybody you know. So in some senses its really good and in some senses it is straying away from what it origanlly was, but overall its great..



What do you think about the negative image the media is giving the rave scene these days?



You know it is bullshit, they have no idea what is going on, they just kinda skim the surface. I actually brought my mom to a rave here a couple months ago here and she had a great time, she had so much fun.



What do you say to people who are just getting into DJing, specially girls getting into DJing?



Be prepared, it is interesting, definitely, you cant come into this thing just thinking that this is going to be great, you have to practice your ass off, and go through the same thing as everybody else, if not a little bit more. You have to deal with people saying, she only got that because she is a girl, it is really hard you know, you take a lot of blows to you ego.



What do you like best about being a DJ?



I love music, so you know this is the perfect job. Everyone is like, oh yeah hows that for you? Its awesome, I get to go places, I get to meet people, I get to do one of the most amazing jobs you could get, and everyone is completely intrigued by it.



And youre a celebrity..



Well no. You see this is the part that I get really uncomfortable with. You know I just cant come to grips with that. If people want to come and talk to me thats fine but they dont have to get all shy because I am just a normal person. It is not like I am any kind of celebrity at all, because when you go out and talk to people in the "real world" people just dont care if you are a DJ. So its not like you are any kind of celebrity, its just nice to meet people and see what is going on.



What do think about Napster going down?



Its sucks! Just when you start getting into it and your like YEAH! And then you have to spell it all different. I spelled Weezer, Wuzzer the other day. I was very unimpressed.



What are your future plans?



I want to go and take an audio engineering course, so that I can master my own music and others. I really, really want to start producing my own tracks. Even my mom was saying that I should start writing my owe tracks and records.



Last but not least, the shout out, are there any shout outs you want to make to your friends?



To the nomad collective, to Clint at teamhardcore, Terra at ENTaT, Anne and Ger in Courtney, Kelly, Kim, Macy. Oh my god, the list is gonna go on and on. Symbience, Brent, anybody else that I forgotten I feel really bad, but fuck Id be here all night. Id have to give shout outs to everybody, but everyone know that I love them and I totally appreciate everything that they have done for me. And my family, cuz its mothers day, I gotta give a shout out to my mom.



Interview by: Graham Robinson