When was the last time you checked-in to a popular hangout, only to see a bevy of party girls taking charge of the turntables? Nope, that ain’t a DJ giving deck duty charges to wide-eyed music enthusiasts. They are the music women themselves! Given the rise in the number of female DJs in town, we take a deeper look at the trend...
There’s a lot to understand with music and in a society where most women either become doctors, software professionals, teachers or housewives.
“Djing is predominantly a male industry and women being able to step up to that standard is a lot. It’s quite like women and cars! There’s a lot to understand with music and in a society where most women either become doctors, software professionals, teachers or housewives, DJing is looked at stepping into an avenue that breaks the idea of DJing.
But now there are many women DJs, because music has become a very important aspect most venues can’t overlook anymore,” reveals DJ Vanessa Wilson, a 25-year-old, who performs regularly at popular night clubs across town. While asserting it’s a burgeoning trend of sorts, Wilson believes there’s a long way to go. “I’m unsure why, but despite clubs hosting female DJs frequently nowadays, many people give me an awkward look when I say my profession is that of a DJ. They ask me questions like what I use do otherwise. And this happens in Bengaluru, Chennai, Kerala everywhere that I have played. My dad was extremely excited that this is something I want as a career, but it took sometime to grow on my mum till she saw what the whole industry is all about,” she adds.
DJ Vanessa
For music woman DJ Arpitaa Kedarnath, using those colourful keys to keep the crowd pumping on those high beats and have them raise their hands over the bass is what egged her on. “Irrespective of the gender, there are a lot of mushrooming DJs, who are young and looking for opportunities available. In all honesty, it has never been a partial moment when it comes to gender preferences of Deejays. But, the crowd seems to be a little more attracted to female DJs. But again, to thrive and carve a niche for yourself, your understanding of music and discretion of what vibes well with the crowd must be good,” says DJ Tanvi.
DJ Tanvi
While the yays are aplenty, DJ Tanvi believes, “There’s no easy way to the top. There might be some people who think DJing is an easy way to popularity or money. As glamorous as it may look from the outside, it takes real passion to put in hours and days of work to put together a good performance! A good set needs to have a story/ journey to it so it can make memories and make the crowd have an amazing time. When someone pays you, it’s because they believe that investing in you would get people to come back again. Women are so capable in any profession, it’s only a matter of attempting and one can never get bored of music. Be patient and work on your music and everything good will come to you!”
