Mizeyesis

Interview:



When people think JungleTrain.com, your name regularly comes up. How did you get to where you are today?

Wow thank you. This is going to be a little long, lol...

I started learning to dj in 2002. I played nothing but house parties in the beginning until I was up to par. A friend named Mighty Mouse who threw parties under Drunken Monk here in CT saw me play at them and booked me for "100 % High Octane" @ The Municipal Cafe in Hartford. The Muni (as we called it) was a legendary spot in Hartford. I went to some of my first rave nights there, and many djs got their start there. They had a weekly where promoters would throw shows and kids would come out and support alike, from new djs to pioneers like Dieselboy, Grooverider, Panacea, Twisted Individual, Baby Anne, Dara, Reidspeed, and so many more graced that venue weekly until it closed its doors in 2005.

Also at that time worked a DNB night in Hartford called Threshold. Our night lasted from 2004-2008 at Sully's Pub and was geared towards DNB. CT had DNB nights before but nothing as consistent as this one. We were a crew of 3 that grew to 16 towards the end of our run at Sully's Pub. We booked Breakage, Remarc on his first US Tour, Tester, Archive, Twinhooker & Paulie Walnuts, Human, and so many more. After Sully's we did nights at The Heirloom Ballroom in Danbury, The Bradley Hotel in Windsor Locks (Now called something else), and the Whitney House. We also worked with other crews in the area, not just CT but NYC, MA, RI, VT, ME, Upstate NY and many of us during these years played other nights or collaborated with other crews on shows.

2007 I went to the UK and stayed there for 5 months living between London, Oxford and Cambridge. I met many folks over there through my connection with the forum, Dogsonacid.com which many of them are djs, label owners, radio show managers and the like. I came home in May, and in 2008 I started to get a lot of bookings out of state and build a name for myself. I was also experimenting with dubstep, garage and house more as well and I joined Bass Embassy in Worcester Mass as a resident so I was up there a lot. I was working at home with Threshold, then in NYC every other weekend playing a rave there, in CT or Upstate NY, looking back, it was a great time.

2010 I'd fully made the switch to digital and started to put out mixes, this caught the attention of Antidote who at the time was a Station Manager of Jungletrain. Antidote is a killer dj and producer himself so I was so happy and humbled when he and a few others asked me to host a show. My first show on Jungletrain was November 2011. It’s definitely improved my understanding of djing and the need to dig deeper. When playing out I will dj according to vibe, but I will always represent the more experimental and amen heavy side of DNB. Around this time and notably in 2012-2013 I did some work briefly with Wu Djs, which then led DNB Girls of Canada and also MIA DNB. DNB Girls began to take notice of what I was doing here back home. They had plans to expand the organization into the US and make a bigger collective. They brought me on as US Manager which has led to 8 members and plans to expand more on the US Side. It’s been great to work with other women in DNB, motivate another and build a foundation of women who love this music and culture, also inspiring others to do the same. There are now other groups in the UK, EU, and South America and beyond. It’s really cool to see a worldwide movement of lady's just as passionate of this music as I am.

I also joined MIA DNB the same time which has been great. MIA Dnb is a 60+ member group of DNB Djs, MC's and Producers. Our headquarters are in Chicago, IL run by Alfonz De La Mota. I've been blessed to be a part of a network and family like this. I have been able to travel to Minnesota, Texas and Kansas City during 2013 because of my affiliations with both groups. Later that year I had the honor of djing at Rupture in London for their 7th Year anniversary. I've known Double O and Mantra a long time and the sound they produce, play and represent with Rupture is pretty much after my own heart. It is the same sounds that I grew up on from finding DNB in the late 90's. That was definitely a bucket list moment. When I was there, Double O and I had a conversation about production. I started to mess with Ableton, but wasn't really inspired to make tunes I liked. I watched him work on a tune and can say after that trip and that talk, I took it more serious. I had samples on soundcloud, and it caught the attention of Faction Digital, and a producer named Skru. I started to work on an album for Faction and Skru and I made tunes together.

2015 seemed like it was going to be a great year, then I got very ill and had to slow my momentum down. I had uterine fibrosis and the complications from it caused a number of life threatening side effects like severe anemia, low blood pressure, constant fainting and other things. I took time out in late 2015 to get better through surgery and life changes... Happy to say it’s like night and day health wise. When I healed, a track I worked on with Skru was picked up by Zebedee's label, Hexagon Digital (United Kingdom) and featured on a 4 track EP, The Sea Jah Ep, and then more bookings started to roll through again. I met AwakeFM in March 2016 at a show Direkt Influence out of Utica NY booked me for and we immediately became homies due to our love for production, so we decided to collaborate on tracks. AwakeFM and I made two tracks for Omni Music (United Kingdom0 on The Convergence EP which was released in November 2016.

So at this moment I'm still Djing, Producing, and throwing events here in New Haven with Awake Productions. First night is Heady which is focused on 4/4 beats, live art, and creating a full on audio and sensatory experience, with active community involvement through the Artist, Music and Artisan communities in CT and New England. That night started in 2014 when I moved to New Haven. The other is Amen which is a DNB monthly where we bring locals, headliners like John B, MS Dos, Soulslinger, Pish Posh, Lovelace & Matos, Dig Doug, and many more. I'm a resident of both nights which are at Pacific Standard Tavern and it’s been awesome to live in a city that has the resources to keep the momentum of music going.


What can we expect from you in the future?

This year, actually 20 days ago I put out a 7 track EP on Faction Digital called, "Seven Systems". It’s a piece of music that's deeply personal as it’s based upon emotions through using the concept of the seven chakra system. The response for that has been really overwhelming and so positive. As an artist when you have something personal like that to share with others, it can be hard to let it go, but I wanted to tell a story using DNB, Jungle, Trip Hop and Bass music riddims so people I know that gravitate towards those sounds could elevate vibes in their sets. Another release just dropped on Yeska Beatz Ulimited's "Ruff N Rugged" called "Soundbwoy Haze". It’s a drummy, psychedelic jungle bit with 808's and echo vocals... The love from both projects has definitely motivated to continue production. I have another track that should be out soon on a special compilation headed by Archangel and plans to work with Skru, AwakeFM, Intrinzic, Siouxside, Elijah Divine, Meszenjah and many others. As well as making more EPs and solo tunes. Expect a LOT of production from me in the future. Also more projects with DNB Girls, MIA DNB, and the Amen Ra Trifecta which is a trio of myself, Elijah Divine and Meszenjah.


With the current competitive state of electronic music events, what drives you to keep pushing forward with DNB and Jungle?

Honestly the love. It’s been a 20 love affair, why stop now? People are influenced by your love of things in a need to understand something and eventually, they begin to love it too. DNB and Jungle are so diverse that there's something for everyone. My mother loves Marky and LTJ Bukem lol...


As an artist, what has been your most memorable event?

So many... Opening up for LTJ Bukem @ Afterlife in 2013, New Haven, CT; Elements @ The Phoenix Landing, 2012; Rupture 7th Year Anniversary @ Corsica Studios 2013, London UK; MIA Kansas City, MO 2015; Two:Tone Dallas, TX 2015; Bellyman Show @ Origin UK B2B Mrs Magoo, London UK 2017; Revolt Festival 2016 Maine; Beltek Festival 2012 w. MC Elijah Divine, Maine; Junglist Massive 2015 B2B Magenta, Holyoke, MA; and so many others to list!


What can you attribute to your success?

Keep it moving.


Where do you see Drum N Bass in the next 5 years?

Still going, still doing its thing. Expanding more on its boundaries with the footwork, halftime and other influences. Its non-stop and I don't see that changing.


One thing that stands out is your consistent support of local and up-n-coming artists. What advice can you give to everyone out there just getting into this music as a producer or DJ?

Don't give up. Keep it going... Keep making mixes, keep practicing, keep digging and finding new artists, do not play what everyone else is playing, learn EVERY format including vinyl, go out to all nights and meet new people/djs/promoters, keep your personal business offline, be grateful, be humble.


How did you come up with the name Mizeyesis?

I'm a student of Egyptology and have always loved the culture. Isis is the mother Goddess to Horus and wife of Osiris. I loved the story of her saving her husband with magic from Thoth and Anubis help to bring life back to her love so that their son could be born.. I wanted to make the name something that was me... At first the name was going to be just Eye-Sis but a good friend, Dj Snafu said, put a "Miz" in front of that as that is truly your flava, thus Mizeyesis was born.


Who would you say has been the biggest influence so far?

So many to list but LTJ Bukem, Equinox, Nebula, Double O, Peshay, Innervisions, Source Direct, Photek, Matrix, Doc Scott, Goldie, Storm, Giles Peterson, Lemon D, Bailey, Digital & Spirit,


Where can we see you next?

So many places, I'll be in the west coast a lot this summer and still east side with some more UK action. Keep in touch by visiting www.facebook.com/mizeyesisDJofficial.

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