Just returning from a 3 week tour of Asia, Missill is clearly enjoying her rise as a young DJ. Yet, as a graphic designer and graffiti artist her profession holds no boundaries – the same can also be said about her eclectic sound.
Contradictory to rise of French house DJs, Missill describes herself as “very urban style”, yet her sound is quite indefinable. “I like to mashup anything from electro raga and hip-hop to breaks with baile funk, grime, funk rock electro etc”.
Yet, she is quick to point out that so far she has been lucky musically. “At first it wasn’t easy because my style is so eclectic and mainly underground, which means it appeals to a broader crowd”, she explains. “France has a culture for live bands rather than clubbing, and there’s a huge network of live band clubs who don’t usually book DJs. this means I can play in clubs as well as on stages between live bands of all different styles… it’s opened the door to the biggest festivals in France and Europe”.
Creating her own bootlegs and re-edits, Missill says that new technology, such as Serato, has increased the diversity of her live shows. “Before I would only mix vinyl. I don’t play CDs because I need the vinyl feeling and touch, but recently I’ve started using Serato and it has really increased my possibilities. It’s a great system which means you still play vinyl but can play digital tracks from your computer linked to the vinyl decks. I have converted my record collection to digital including other producer’s promos, remixes, bootlegs and acapellas. It’s all on my hard-drive, which is a lot more than what I used to be able to carry in my record bag.”
“I can play all my re-edits (I edit most tracks that I play and only take what I feel is the best part and remix them) and beats without having to use CDs. It’s a revolutionary tool! I can play all of my own tracks and my own bootlegs without having to get dubplates pressed. It’s very economical and so practical”.
As such, Missill has created her own dynamic style, which also includes doing her own artwork for her CDs, website and flyers for her shows and festivals. “My main influences come from hip-hop culture (music and graffiti). I don’t have a mentor but am inspired by a lot of producers whose tracks I play. I first started as a hip-hop and raga dancehall DJ but then discovered electronic music and decided to blend it all together with different styles. I don’t like any boundaries which hold me back.”
This border-less philosophy on life is evident in her recently released mix CD, ‘Mashup’, which features 24 tracks in under an hour of party-starting mayhem.
“My mix CD has now been released all over the world and I have toured to promote it”, she tells. “I’m really looking forward to my Australian tour at the end of December”.
With such a rise at such a young age, what does the future hold for Missill?
“I need to concentrate on producing some tracks. I hope to release my first artist album as soon as possible, but it’s gonna take time, which I don’t have at the moment. I just hope the future is as good as the last few years have been. I’m very lucky and I enjoy and appreciate every moment of it.”
“I would love to combine my visuals with my music. I want to do my own animated 3D and graphic design video clip for my own track. I also want to work on my live video mixing for my DJ sets”.
With such strong ambitions and obvious talent, the world will certainly be hearing more of this young French mix-tress.
Missill’s Mash Up is out now through Shock.
Esty says...
I just found MISSILL at Breakfest this year, and let me say, MISSILL you are the bomb. I honestly could not get enought of her stuff, i'll be keeping an eye out for all gigs she has in Perth, as i won't be missing any of them. I took a friend to her first breakfest this year, and she loves MISSILL, bar the main suspects of Freestylers, Freq Nasty and Loose Cannons, everyone i've spoken to have been raving about MISSILL. Keep up the great owrk girl, your the bomb!!!