‘Tis a big weekend coming up for the Queensland music scene as the Big Day Out descends onto an expectant Gold Coast and Brisbane’s The Met Nightclub celebrates its first birthday. Brisbane sees a great many gifts dropping in for south east Queensland’s rollercoaster ride and particularly, femme fatale of the decks DJ Miss Match will be alighting The Met’s birthday stage on Friday January 18 with her glowing persona and luminous smile. She’s sure to captivate and charm with her music selection currently poised on pause, ready to infiltrate the ears of the Brisbane populace.
Whilst Miss Match will be a new face to Queensland, her fresh approach is certain to turn many a head as she promises to “get Brisbane up and rocking on the dance floor and having an absolute wicked time! If it’s hot enough up there – maybe a set in my bikini too,” Miss Match cheekily declares. Pointing out that “she is not afraid to push the boundaries and take people a little further than they imagined,” Miss Match is prepared to shake things up. “My personality shines through when I play,” she promises. “I LOVE all the tracks I choose to play and this comes out in my energy and performance. I dunno if I have never seen another DJ who dances as much as me and is literally dripping with sweat at the end of every set. But it’s also the composition of the tracks I play – which keep my audience coming back,” she promises.
Having grown up on a diet of Michael Jackson, Miss Match notes that The Beatles, Bee Gees and Salt & Pepa were always car travel favourites on long road trips with the family. With a musical background playing piano – and no doubt nimbly churning through her Hanon exercises – the then little Miss practised very hard in order to achieve excellent results. “I really had to work hard at it,” Miss Match states. “I also love bongos! I am absolutely obsessed with anyone who can play them. Before I started DJing, whenever I was in a club, I could always be found standing next to the bongo player completely absorbed.” Such interests would prove profound, as an inclination towards meter and tempos from percussion and piano came together into an abiding love for the decks. “DJing has felt so natural to me,” Miss Match asserts. “I have always had the passion for music but just hadn’t applied it to a format which worked – until I hit the decks. I have to say the decks chose me,” Miss Match points out. “I was always around them, watching other people, slowly picking up bits and pieces until I thought ‘I could do that’.”
With a Michael Jackson/ Quincy Jones influenced childhood, Miss Match notes that pop legends including Justin Timberlake – “my MJ replacement” she giggles – Fergie, Black Eyed Peas, and The Veronicas vie with Cypress Hill, Groove Armada, Armand Van Helden, Micky Slim, Kaskade, Axwell, Fedde Le Grande, Dave Spoon, David Guetta and Tocadisco for her attention. With Sydney currently such an electric place overrun with household names in electronica, Miss Match notes she is “also inspired every day by my close friends Jonny and Dave from The Potbelleez.”
Looking back on her career, Miss Match notes “I started out playing deep house. I was obsessed with the Naked Music label, but since have expanded my style to jackin’ funky house too. As I progressed to playing main sets, I expanded to big house anthems, electro house, electro and more recently minimal tech house. The Miss Match style is exactly that – mismatched; but every set is always concise and created for the right time slot, mood, venue and crowd which keep me on my toes and bringing out the freshest, unique sound that I can. When I am behind the decks I am completely at home – nothing else matters and I am in my element. It’s taken me many years, different careers and a lot of soul searching to get to where I am now and I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
So what sets her apart from her many contemporaries? “My sets are never planned but are created for the people around me. I like to educate people with new music – I can get an entire place dancing to a completely unknown track just by the raw and honest enthusiasm I give to everything I put out there. I love playing new music but am also not afraid to pull out an old classic if it’s called for. Overall – I offer entertainment! All you have to do is open your mind and come and hear it! I want to be the best at what I do – pure and simple.”
As a female DJ in a male dominated industry, I asked Miss Match what she thought ladies bring to the DJ scene. “Females bring a breath of fresh air to the scene with a varied angle of entertainment and performance behind the decks,” Miss Match firmly states. “Obviously there are differences in what people see, but personally, I think females have a better concept of being able to read a crowd so the energy and what people hear and absorb is slightly different. Technique, musical background, preparation, music choice, personality and experience are always dependent on the individual though – no one is purely a better DJ due to being a particular sex.”
And this weekend, the Madame of variance and clash will be bringing bringing a slice of her special self to Brisbane’s clubbing precinct. As the first to blow out the candles on The Met’s First Birthday cake and with a stellar performance promised for Friday January 18 in the main room, Miss Match will strike the first match for a weekend of musical heat. With the year ahead planned to develop her production skills working with The Cut and hopes to DJ around Europe for the summer, we can only hope Miss Match becomes a familiar face to Queensland’s sunny shores.
Catch Miss match doing her thing at The Met tonight, Friday 18th of January and help celebrating its anniversary in style…
