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Features
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What Curious did next: an interview with Lizzie Curious aka Starlet
Reported by EvilDave
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Submitted 22-10-05 14:51
There are many people in this industry that have an aspect of their personality that really stands out. Some people give you an overwhelming impression of professionalism, dedication and understanding of what they are involved in. You come across others who have an ability to make you laugh and smile due to their humor and infectious enthusiasm for what they do. There are those who entertain you due to the natural talent that they possess in their chosen field. There are even those that have been blessed with some degree of success and still manage to remain down to earth about things and retain a bit of humility. However, DJ/producer/promoter Lizzie Curious aka Starlet is one such person who ticks all of these boxes.
With a career that kicked off in 2000, Lizzie has become well known for her enthusiasm, infectious energy and obvious passion and dedication for DJing. With her Lizzie Curious hat on, she spins dirty funked-up house and breaks cutting up tracks and dropping in cheeky acapellas. and whilst doing so she aims to be a real entertainer
Lizzie also can be seen DJing pumping uplifting trance under the name of Starlet. This alter-ego has also developed a reputation all of its own. Again that now well known contagious enthusiasm comes into play and those in the know have often been known to comment on her impressive technical ability. Be it playing a well programmed warm up set or a strapping herself in for a peak time stormer, it has been her ability to read a crowd and give them exactly what they want that has got her noticed by numerous promoters across the UK and overseas. Whenever Lizzie is behind the decks, she has a strong reputation for interacting with the crowd and whipping them up into a frenzy, all wrapped up with a contagious grin.
Due to this Lizzie has become one busy lady. She holds a residency at Knowwhere in their funky room, she is the rosta DJ for Kurruption and has played at countless gigs up and down the country including some of the UK’s biggest promotions such as: Slinky, Convergence, Riot, Logic, Heat and numerous smaller successful promotions including becomeone, Milk, Twist, Zoology, one, En Rouge (Cardiff), flatspin (Bristol), Cyberkitten (Milton Keynes) and even Glastonbury, as well as performing a live vocal PA at Menthol. Lizzie has also DJ’d abroad in Ibiza, Finland and to 3,000 clubbers in Majorca.
Alongside her blossoming DJ career, her production career is now taking off, with her tracks receiving support from Paul Van Dyk and her first three trance tracks having been snapped up by respected labels. On top of this she also co-promotes her own successful club night *relish* in her hometown of Cheltenham. And yet, with all of this going on, Lizzie remains one of the most down to earth, charming and smiliest people that you’re ever likely to meet!
It has been over six months since Harderfaster last caught up with Miss Curious and she was kind enough to spare some of her time in order for us to find out what she has been up to… and as always with Lizzie it was a good excuse to have a good giggle as well!
Well then, summer is all but a distant memory for all of us now. How was yours and what were the highlights?
My summer was absolutely fan-f**kin-tastic thank you! I had so much fun I have to admit my memory is a bit hazy in places, but there are some definitive highlights that make me grin like a Cheshire Cat when I think about them. I had my first taste of DJing out on the legendary White Isle this summer, which was every bit as much a brilliant as I thought it would be. I played at Vicky Devine’s night Charlys Angelz in San Antonio and had an absolute ball. Vicky and I played back to back trance for 3 hours, with lots of classics thrown in for good measure! It was so much fun, a proper hands-in-the-air, big smiles all round kinda night. I love Ibiza so much, it was great to actually play out there.
The second highlight for me was jetting out to spin at Angelz of Funk, at the world-famous BCM club in Majorca. This was a house gig of the feel-good funky variety and I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed DJing to 3,000 clubbers — talk about adrenaline overload! I was on a high for about a week afterwards. Another highlight for me was DJing at a huge free party somewhere in the Malvern countryside. Whilst I accept that running an event is a business and like any business it needs to make money to survive, I find it really enjoyable to play at a party where making money is not the number one priority of the promoters. The party was set over three massive barns, with huge rigs in all rooms and the organisers had put massive amounts of effort into the décor. We pulled up in the car to the sight of a big fire-maze in a field (don’t worry it was safe!) with people running around it and to hear loads of drums being played, with booming sounds coming from the barns — it felt really magical! There were about 1,000 people there, who had come from all over the place: Bristol, Wales, Birmingham, Cheltenham, Worcester etc. I played in the TrueBreaks room, it was rammed and the sound system was appropriately booming with thunderous bass. I was DJing alongside some superb scratch DJs and I integrated my tunes to complement their scratching which made for a more ‘live’ feel to a DJ set and was a whole lot of fun.
Before you became a DJ you discovered the whole clubbing scene as a regular party-goer. Do you still find the time between gigs to just go out and have a mad one and if so does it feel the same as it always did, or do you find you take a different perspective since you became a pro?
I still love going out clubbing, those that know me will know if I am not behind the decks I will be on the dancefloor (or at the bar). I consider it part of my job to be out there clubbing when I am not DJing/in the studio/throwing a laptop out of the window or sleeping. However I certainly don’t have as much time to go out as I used to when I was a fresh-faced clubber all those years ago… when I was in my clubbing heyday I didn’t have the responsibilities that I do now (all I had to do was get a degree). Nowadays I have to be a bit more restrained as I just don’t have time to get ill or need to have a day off to recover, though fortunately it seems that I need less and less sleep as time goes by. I usually make a night of it wherever I do DJ and get all my friends to come along if they can, which makes it more fun for me (and enjoyable for them too I hope!)
In terms of perspective, yes, things have definitely changed. As a promoter of a night, I’m very much aware of all the hard work that goes into putting an event on. When I go to a night where a lot of time and effort has gone into the night and the promoters really care about putting on a good party I appreciate it even more. I also tend to stick up for DJs a lot more when ‘mistakes’ happen! After years of DJing I now know that 9 times out of 10, when a record jumps, or the beats clash suddenly, or the sound suddenly cuts out it is not the fault of the DJ. For example: wrecked clubbers trying to get your attention; drinks being spilt on decks by said wrecked clubbers; idiot sound engineers who take it upon themselves to adjust the mixer while you are mid mix and consequently knock the needle; and even a deck needing to be changed mid-set can often be the cause of the f**k-ups the crowd hears. That said, I’d be the first person to say that DJs of course aren’t perfect either! As a DJ I am a lot more critical these days of other DJs. I’m sure though that this would be the case even if I was still purely a clubber — as after years of clubbing you are much more clued up to what is going on. I expect a whole lot more that your standard 32 bar mix in and out. Equally when I see impressive stuff, I am much more appreciative as I know all the other things that are going on behind the scenes that the DJ is doing. For example at Pacha I saw the warm-up DJ jamming over his tracks with a trumpet — perfectly in key and it sounded great. This got a big thumbs up from me!
Playing out, production and running your own night, that’s quite a lot of balls to juggle at one time! So is there one thing that you are concentrating on the most, or are you able to multi-task?
I love music so very much that I practically eat, sleep and breathe it, so for me these three things go hand in hand. I seriously could not live without music. I love the way that it unites people, acts as a communicator, evokes memories and can even change your mood within seconds of hearing it. I love that feeling of euphoria you get when you first get on the dancefloor and the tunes hit you.
It’s fair to say one thing I am not good at is doing nothing! So I just see it a necessity to be very disciplined with my time to fit all the things I want to do in. I know it is the same for practically everyone in this industry, you work all week and then you are out all weekend too. But I just feel very privileged to be spending so much time involved in something I am so passionate about. Recently I’ve taken a good hard look at my health, I’ve improved what I eat and have started lots of kick-boxing and body-combat which I think that is really improving my stamina and ability to keep going when the pressure’s on. I’m a list maker too (though I never seem to tick everything off a list before making one) and a very organised person so yeah, I think fortunately I can multi-task quite well.
In terms of production, I think you learn much faster if you are able to play your own material out in different clubs on varying sound systems. Equally, as a DJ you have a firm idea of what will and won’t work on the dancefloor which can stand you in good stead when composing, so I really value both production and DJing. The event promotion side is always super-stressful, even when you organise every last tiny detail you can’t prepare for the unexpected! I do get a huge buzz out of putting on a successful event, and when you see people having the time of their lives with a smile on their face, it makes it all worthwhile. At *relish* our main focus was really putting on a good party for friendly like-minded people and I’m very happy that we have achieved that. Co-running my own night also means that I have a huge input into the musical programming of the night and the DJs that we book, then of course getting to DJ myself is the icing on the cake!
Okay so let’s break it down. What’s new on the production front for you?
This summer has been amazing for me, as I feel like my work is now beginning to reach fruition. The remixes have been finished for ‘In A Trance’ and they are blinding! The vocal version is due its release on Inspired Records at the end of the year. The instrumental is due out on Inspired Digital at the end of this month, which is also great.
‘Moonchild’ (the follow up to ‘In A Trance’, by Anthony Dean and myself) had huge support from the moment we sent out a few test reaction CDs. Adam White has been playing it regularly on his Ministry of Sound radio show, Mixmag charted it at number 6 and then Paul Van Dyk played it twice on his radio show. To have one of my tracks supported by a DJ I have been following since I first discovered the scene, whose tracks have very special memories for me and who continues to play mind-blowing sets all over the globe is a huge, huge honour. We have now signed ‘Moonchild’ to Flux Delux (part of the Recoverworld stable) and the label is currently putting together the remix package ready for release early next year. My first solo track ‘Reflection’ was charted in Mixmag at number 16 and is now set for release on Brisky’s Monster Tunes Sampler label. This autumn I am looking forward to getting back in the studio with Anthony and also working on new solo material too.
Where will people be able to see you play in the near future? Any new residencies that we should know about?
I have to say I am soooo excited about the Autumn. On the Lizzie Curious front I am playing on the same line-up as one of the most respected house DJs in the world, Jon Carter, on 22nd October for Dirtygroove. I’m looking forward to my first set at Knowwhere’s new home, Heaven, on November 4th. I love Heaven as a venue and heard so many great things about the first Knowwhere party there, I can’t wait to be back behind the decks! I feel very privileged to have a residency at a night where the promoters are so passionate about what they do — but still know how to have fun!
Kurruption is also holding their first solo party of the year, at Hidden on 12th November. This is going to be a great night, I cannot wait to see Aston Harvey from the Freestylers play as I am a huge Freestylers fan. I know I will be glued to the dancefloor for all of his set and am looking forward to DJing and partying with the Kurruption massive. Zoelee has also pulled out all of the stops and booked two live house bands which will make a refreshing change. Hats must really go off to Zoe – one of the hardest working and reliable promoters I have the pleasure of working with. I’m also looking forward to getting back behind the decks in Twist’s electech arch on the 13th November. Finally, in particular I must mention PINK, which is being organised by Lucy Fur. It’s a huge night on 9th December at Heaven, all for charity, with all profits going directly to the Breast Cancer Care charity. I’m very proud to be a part of this and hope we raise a ridiculous amount of money!
On the trance front I’ve got two new residencies which is absolutely fantastic. The first of which is, of course, *relish* in Cheltenham, where I have the opportunity to build the music from house through to trance and I love being able to DJ in my hometown of Cheltenham with all my friends there. It’s great to have somewhere that’s a ‘home’ as a DJ, and whilst on the house front I have Knowwhere and Kurruption, I’ve wanted somewhere to really develop musically under my trance name of Starlet. As I mentioned before, I also have a lot of input into the musical direction of *relish* which is really rewarding.
I have also been asked to come on board as part of the Flatspin DJ rosta which I am extremely excited about! When I DJ’d at the new venue launch party in Bristol (Thekla, a boat no less!) I was bowled over with the attention to detail that had been put into the night. A lot of care and thought had gone transforming the venue with a quality sound system, lights, decor and superb visuals and I had a great night there. I have been very impressed with the caliber of DJs they are booking too and the fact that they give their headline DJs 2 hour sets to play. Sadly, that seems to be a rarity these days and I know DJs relish playing a longer set as it gives them more time to really build their set and not have to cut everything into one hour, which is just goes by so quickly it’s a travesty. I’m really looking forward to working with Flatspin, I know talks are already underway for more gigs abroad, so I can’t wait!
Tell me about *relish* the new night that you’re running in your hometown of Cheltenham…
The main driving force behind the concept for *relish* was that we were fed up with having nowhere to go in Cheltenham that was friendly, sociable and had good music to dance to. (We being myself and my partner Rebecca, with whom I used to run a big trance/hard house night in Cheltenham called ‘come’.) I was also pretty much going mad not having anywhere to DJ regularly in my own town, as all the clubs tend to be sewn up with resident DJs playing the latest charts hitmix! Also people kept commenting that things weren’t the same in Cheltenham since we sold ‘come’, so we just decided to go for it! After the experience of running a successful relatively large night (500 clubbers) we also knew we wanted to do something a bit more intimate and friendly and also less stressful this time round!
On an unplanned night out we stumbled (yes, quite literally) on The Hub in Cheltenham and knew it was the perfect place for a party. It’s a lot smaller than our old venue, but I actually like that as it ticks the boxes of a) being less stressful and therefore more fun and b) it makes for a more friendly, sociable atmosphere. The vibe of the club is great, recently refurbished with lots of comfy sofas so it has the potential to make that transition to sociable night out at a bar to sweaty underground dancing! We decided on a music policy that is pretty unique to Cheltenham and one that I have seen work very successfully in larger cities: starting off with house, then building through progressive house through to trance and ending with a banging uplifting set at the end. We like to do something different for the last set, so this month we have got a psytrance set for the finish which will be awesome! Upstairs we decided to go for breaks all night, ranging from the more funky laid back breaks to the full-on bass driven breaks. Cheltenham hosts some amazing scratch DJs and we are very privileged to have them come and play for us.
On our first night we were full to capacity by 11pm and the atmosphere was totally electric — I had goose bumps when I was DJing. Since that night we haven’t looked back and *relish* is going from strength to strength. Another nice thing about our night is that we don’t have flyers and just rely on word of mouth and the Internet to spread the word. This makes for a good atmosphere full of like-minded people and also we can pass the saving of not having flyers on to our clubbers with a cheaper entry price for them. Everyone’s a winner.
I can’t wait for our next event on 28th October, not least because I am celebrating my birthday. We have the best line-up we have ever had, with Vicky Devine playing b2b with me in the main room and one of the UK’s finest scratch DJs, Tanz, headlining in our superphat breaks room. It’s going to be fancy dress (superheroes, cartoon characters and famous faces) and I very much expect that madness, mayhem and mischief will all be in full attendance all night long!
For people that don’t know can you elaborate on the whole Lizzie Curious/Starlet phenomena and how has this been working out for you?
I’ve been DJing trance in one corner and house and breaks in the other for several years. Last year I started to get busier with more gigs and also following my BTEC in Music Technology to move seriously into production so I decided (with some advice from people in the industry that I really respect) to use two different names to differentiate from my two styles. Its kinda like an “it does what is says on the tin” approach. So if you see Lizzie Curious on a flyer you know you will get filthy, electro house mixed up with superphat breaks. If I’m on the bill as Starlet then its trance all the way — depending on the time of night it might be a nice chuggy warm up or it could be dirtier harder trance which still incorporates a strong uplifting element. So far it’s working really well and I quite like having 2 personalities! I also do like to crossover the styles when it’s appropriate and I think I’m constantly learning a lot about music as I’m so strapped into different styles. The only downside that I have come across is that apparently if you Google Starlet it brings up lots of wife swapping sites *waits as reader scoots off to search Google*…. Hindsight eh?
So finally, hit us with your current top 3 Starlet tunes.
Fatkid — ‘Voca Me’ (Adam White remix)
Carrie Skipper — ‘Time Goes By’ (Anjuna Beats)
Anthony Dean & Starlet — ‘Moonchild’ (Flux Delux) (hey, if it’s good enough for Paul Van Dyk!)
And from Ms Lizzie Curious?
Audio Bullys — ‘Get get down’ (white)
S’Express — ‘Theme from S’Express’ (King Roc remix) (white)
The Autobots vs Screwface — ‘Flesh Eater’ (broke) I can’t get enough of this label!
Thanks for your time
You’re more than welcome – see you on the dancefloor!
You can catch Starlet on 28 Oct at *relish*
Thanks to Dave Adlam, Lizzie Curious and James Rae for the photos. Not to be reproduced without permission.
*relish*
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On:
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Friday 28th October 2005
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At:
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The Hub [map]
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From:
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0930pm - 2am
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Cost:
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£3 b4 1030pm, £4.50 after
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More:
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*relish*
Halloween fancy dress: superheroes, famous faces & cartoon characters!! The most friendliest party people you could ever wish to meet!
In the main room we take you on a journey, from underground house through to trance ending with a uplifting banging hard special psytrance set!! We welcome back Boggers and Ben Park to the decks. Both are known for their quality house and tip-top tuneage selection to get everyone on the dance floor. Starlet will then comence dirty trancing for you all....and as the 28th Oct sees resident Starlet (aka Lizzie Curious) celebrating her birthday we've asked trance uberqueen Vicky Devine to come and grace the decks at *relish*!! Vicky has just completed a hugely successful season in Ibiza with a weekly residency at non other than San An's busiest club nite: Judgement Sundays! Not only this, Vicky has a weekly residency at the world famous BCM club and has jetted to the four corners of the world to DJ. Vicky Devine & Starlet will be playing a special b2b set with lots of Ibiza hands in the air classics thrown in! To end off the night, Wayner, one of the Cheltenhams most talented psy-trance DJs, will bring the roof down with an uplifting banging psy trance mix.
DJs:
Boggers
Ben Park
Starlet b2b Vicky Devine
Wayner
Meanwhile our Superphat breaks room just gets busier and busier and we welcome a very special guest to the decks this month: DJ Tanz. Tanz is one of the very finest scratch DJs in the country, this DJ is not to be missed, he will amaze you with his scratch trickery and awesome tunes selection. Tanz is joined by *relish* favourites: Just-In, Jase and EvilTwin & Jay AK.
...and did we mention its fancy dress?? GET IN!!!
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Region:
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SW England
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Music:
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Trance. Hard Trance. Tech Trance. Psy Trance. Nu NRG. Funky House. Prog House. Vocal House. Breaks.
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DJ's:
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Main room:
Boggers
Ben Park
Starlet (aka Lizzie Curious) (*relish*, Flatspin)
Vicky Devine (Judgement Sundays, Angelz of Funk, Charlys Angelz)
Wayner
Superphat breaks room:
Jay AK b2b Evil Twin
Jase
Just-In
Tanz
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Other Features By EvilDave:
Cox rocks Brixton
Gettin Kurrupted Down at EP!
You dirty people you! DirtyGroove reviewed
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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See you on the 12th xx
Love you hun!
