Exclusive Interview with Janette Slack
Her debut album has been released, she’s headlined Ministry Of Sound & Torture Garden, and she recently hit our screens on SKY1’s Gadget Geeks and Top Gear’s Richard Hammond’s new show on the BBC ‘Secret Service’. And also appears as herself on new film ‘About Time’. And has just returned from a month long DJ tour of Australia. This past year has been a busy one for Hong Kong-born, London based, Eurasian DJ Janette Slack. She has finished her album ‘Torture Garden Session’, a driving dance LP of her own original tracks. She is also releasing a mixed version of the album, turning it a compilation with her original tracks and in addition punctuated tunes by Jimmy Mofo (fellow TG resident) and Tyrrell (Hed Kandi), as well as two official rerubs of D.Ramirez and Meat Katie. Drawing influence from rock, funk, progressive house, big beat, glitch, and electro with lashes of sexy vocals, the album is a window onto the glamorous and eccentric dancefloor of London’s world-famous fantasy night Torture Garden, where Janette has rocked a seven-year residency. Already in 2014 she has conquered yet another Australia tour during their peak time festival season. Not only appearing in sunny big stage festivals, boat parties and headlining clubs. Janette appeared on the cover of magazines and appeared on talk radio shows as well as a photo shoot on a salt lake with a skate board and stilettos.
Siam2nite had the opportunity to have an exclusive interview with Janette Slack, shortly before her performance at Nest Rooftop Lounge on 28th June.
Mixmag called you “a future hero”, you won the 2010 Pink Armada European female DJ competition and were nominated for “Best Breakthrough DJ” at the International Breakbeat Awards. How did you get in touch with electronic dance music in the first place and how did you get into DJing and music production?
After I finished high school and going into university in London, everyone had decks. I also helped to do decorations at raves in Hong Kong when I was a teen, so that helped me get my foot in the door.
When i moved to London the choices of record shops was beyond belief. They were cool hang out spots too. I got bored of just DJing after a year and wanted to know how to actually create and record tracks. So I signed up for and Audio Engineering course at SAE Londonm and got a job in a record shop (Vinyl Addiction) in Camden. Where they teach you good habits and how to use a lot of hardware and software. I originally wanted to be a foley artist making sound fx for cartoons and movies. However got into making records instead which helped me get international gigs around Europe and Australia.
You play and produce a mix of Mash Up, Tech Funk, Progressive, Electro and Breaks. How would you describe your own music in just a few words?
Cheeky, chunky, twisted and demented
In 2013 you released your debut album “Torture Garden Session” for which you set up your her own record label “Slack Trax” to be able to keep full creative control. What can you tell us about the album and it’s creation process?
Writing the album was definitely a journey and a half! When you have too much freedom as an artist it’s important to aim for a direction and purpose for an album too avoid to many tangents. Should this be a chill out album? A ‘back to mine’ album, or a peak time album? What genre am I going to demonstrate to express myself? I noticed that a lot of people were always asking me ‘What gets played at Torture Garden?’ and also TG regulars always asking ‘Why isn’t there an album that signifies TG?’.
So it became obvious to write an album based around what gets played there. But it’s just a window into what gets played there as there are other rooms and residents that have their own distinctive style too, yet we all gel together really well. It took a while to write as I was juggling touring and renovating my warehouse with no contractors, which was a journey in itself as you can imagine.
Here is a little youtube clip demonstrating that:
I found it tricky finishing the album, as when i got to track 6 or 7, I was already sick of track 1 and 2. Was hard to write as fast as one evolves. I’m glad I’ve done it now, it’s taught me to write faster.
What tracks, remixes or mix sets would you recommend as an introduction for someone that is not yet familiar with your sound?
It’s tricky to recommend those, as I’ve written tracks that are so different to each other, yet they are still very me. So here’s the best I can do to narrow it down!
If you wanna hear my more hip hoppy side, here’s my remix of Macklemore’s Thift Shop:
I have a love for Nine Inch Nails, so here’s my take on ‘The Perfect Drug’:
For originals, just type my name into iTunes or Beatport and a load come up. I don’t have a favorite I’m afraid! But if I had to pick it would be ‘Lost’ and ‘Take It’
For mixes, my more festival funky mash-uppy stuff, this fun one recorded in Australia hits the spot:
And for my more pumping stuff this one recorded in the main room at the Ministry Of Sound in London:
And an epic vinyl mix from tunes from 1998-2004 here for those who like to get a little nostalgic:
You were born in Hong Kong - to a Chinese mother and Scottish father – and started DJing at the young age of 17. At the age of 20 you moved to London to study sound engineering at the SAE. Besides being well adapted to the western culture, what aspects of your personality do you ascribe to the Asian origin?
I love my Asian for starters! Also can’t help but follow my mother’s Feng Shui tips. Love taking photos of EVERYTHING! I tend to curse in Chinese. Love cooking asian & fusion food. The list actually goes on, but I don’t want this to sound like some sort of list of character traits for a dating site ;)
You have performed in Bangkok in 2011 at Glow Nightclub. On 28th June you will return to perform at Nest Rooftop Lounge. Did you keep the previous Bangkok show in good memory? What can we expect of your upcoming performance?
I absolutely loved playing at Glow, Coran and the team there run a tight ship. Met a lot of great people during that gig and also bumped into old friends who’ve moved to BKK. Was such a lovely surprise. Coran and I played back to back towards the end which made it extra special. I remember the night well.
The Nest performance I have a load of new tunes I have edited and prepared especially for the occasion. So I’m looking forward to doing that. I remember visiting the venue a couple years ago and found it stunning. I’m looking forward to catching up with a lot of friends which I’ve made over the years in BKK, looks like it’s gonna be a nice reunion.