Pick up one today & turn to page 48, yo!
It’s the special SD Music Issue! Red Sonya is getting noticed in San Diego! 
You can view the mag on line @ www.revoltinstyle.com
I also made a screen shot of my interview. view it here!
Check it out! Click on the blurb below to view the full article!
This Review of Jefferson Jay’s 24 Hours of Music tickled me. I love it.
DJs Alien Tom, Dr. Indulgent, Alex Villalobes and myself kicked this party off at 2am on Saturday Morning and rocked out till 6am. Thank you Jefferson Jay for having me be a part of this epic event!
To view the full article online, visit sdcitybeat.com
Red Sonya Interview for discoversd.com :
Queens of Nightlife Series (11/2007) by Cynthia Lewis
Red Sonya is featured in June 2007 Riviera Magazine
in the Sexy San Diego! article..
view full page here
Nice Decks!
“San Diego just might be the female DJ capital of the world and it seems everywhere we go, we run into some sexy new woman on “the wheelz.” Our favorites, Red Sonya can’t be missed- and with her mane of red hair, we mean that literally. From spinning trip-hop at Zenbu Lounge to funk at Aubergine, this scarlet diva is packing them in wherever she is. Need a house call? Chef Niki G is the S.D.’s hipster’s answer to the ipod shuffle. If she’s not serving up a mean sake bomb or fresh remix at Ono Sushi, then she’s at your cool friend’s house making people sweat. Someone turn the fan on!”
photo credit: Ethan Pines www.ethanpines.com
Vinyl Fetish:
Djing gets the chick makeover courtesy of Chef Niki G and Red Sonya
other pix from the shoot:
Red Sonya got mentioned in the union tribune July 14, 2006….
“Women add to the mix | Colette and DJ Heather transfer club vibe to CD”
The San Diego Union - Tribune - San Diego, Calif.
Author: Gerald Poindexter
Copyright Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Jul 14, 2006
It’s a safe bet that, tomorrow night as usual, attractive women will occupy the head of the line at downtown’s On Broadway Event Center. Inside, the headliners will also be women — specifically, Colette and DJ Heather, beloved and respected DJs on the global dance-electronic scene. “House of Om: Colette and DJ Heather,” a double disc released last month, offers an energetic, continuous mix CD from each. “Each CD represents what we do live,” said Colette from her Los Angeles home. “That’s what you want to do on a compilation — capture that feeling of being at a club. When I play live, I go through a wide range of songs. I tried to have that be the main focus of my mix.” Heather’s approach, she explains from her home base in Chicago, was “whatever works, whatever feels comfortable and whatever feels natural. I try to keep that in mind — that fine line between taste- making and groundbreaking.”
Each CD is an hour-plus journey through funky, chunky and techy house music, highlighting their skills not only as selectors but also as artists and producers.
Colette’s mix — like her live sets — prominently features her vocals on several remixes from last year’s album, “Hypnotized,” including “Feeling Hypnotized,” a track featured in the film “The Devil Wears Prada.”
Heather’s mix is a moody and melodic exploration of grooves that includes her collaborations with underground faves Brett Johnson and East Coast Boogiemen.
Both CDs emphasize house music, that post-disco phenomenon that marries an insistent, electronic 4/4 beat with soulful vocals and jazz, gospel, Latin and other styles. This is no coincidence, since Colette and Heather cut their teeth in the late ’90s as club patrons and performers in the Windy City. They’re among many DJs from there, including Mark Farina and Derek Carter, who carry on Chicago’s musical tradition.
“Because house music originated in Chicago, the culture is deeply rooted there,” explained Colette. “You’re exposed to it at a young age, and it’s such a wonderful form of music that it’s hard not to be attracted to it and want to be part of it.”
Colette and Heather are female standard-bearers of the genre, even maintaining their involvement in Superjane, a nearly 10-year- old female DJ collective. But unlike those aforementioned women-at- the-head-of-the-line, their emergence as headliners is attributable more to perseverance than to personal appearance.
“(Looks) can get you in the door, but you won’t get to stay,” says Colette. “For anyone to have staying power, you have to do more than look cute. That’s just the facts of life.”
Indeed, we’ve come a long way from the late ’80s, when the most visible female DJ was Spinderella, third wheel of the rap duo Salt- N-Pepa, or more recently, a celebrity model/DJ like Sky Nellor. Today, turntablists like Sandra Collins, DJ Irene and Misstress Barbara are prolific forces, and locally, the likes of Miss Lisa and Red Sonya come to mind.
For their part, Colette and Heather have demonstrated the proverbial “skills to pay the bills,” while gaining a diverse, worldwide following. So it’s not surprising that their compilation marks the first time Om Records, the San Francisco-based dance label, has given its popular “House of Om” series what it terms “a well-deserved ladies touch.” According to Heather, it probably won’t be the last, either.
“DJ-ing is (traditionally) not known as something that women do, but I’ve definitely seen more women get interested (in that), as well as in making music. It’s all a natural progression in electronic music, and eventually the anomaly of being female will disappear.”
Gerald Poindexter is a San Diego writer and DJ.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Red Sonya Interview for Raver’s Digest (2006)
Throwing a party must take a lot of time, and from my own personal experience, most events just break even. so, the first question is why do you do it?
I enjoy bringing people together, it’s so rewarding! I was more of a promoter before I started djing. In 2001, I had an opportunity to do an event, and I pulled together some of my closest dj friends at the time, (Skutech, Knottyboy, Jersan, and Frizz), and the rest is history really. 4 years later, I’m still working w/ the same crew. We just like to have fun. We’re blessed w/ a very supportive and loyal group of friends that come out to our events a lot. I feel like people trust that are parties are going to be fun and unique. We’re not about making money. We usually try hard to budget right so that we don’t have to charge so much at the door.
How many events do you help vinyl elements put together each year?
Well, first off, Vinyl Elements has been rocking a monthly event called REACTION at the honey bee hive for over 3 years now. Currently, we are holding down every 3rd Saturday of the month there. We mix it up a lot @ REACTION. We have 2 areas to fill, so we always change up the music to make sure there’s a variety, and we like to bring in live artists to perform alongside the dj. Annually, we throw a park party called COMMUNITY in the summer, and a new year’s party is usually a tradition of course. Knottyboy and I hold down GROOVE on Tuesday nights at the Red C Lounge downtown, and Knottyboy also djs there on Sunday nights for a night called LIQUID which is a liquid dnb night. I also dj @ Kava Lounge every thursday nights w/ Mark E Quark and Andy Boswell for a night we like to call DIG!. Seperately, Vinyl Elements Crew members may hold different residencies, but as a group we promote each other as much as we can. I send out weekly emails regarding anything my crew and I are involved in.
Has the price for booking a DJ changed much in the last 4 years?
what is the range in dollars? I prefer not to talk about money issues involved in putting on events. But I can say, It depends on who the dj is really. It seems they’re more expensive the further away they are. I find most Djs from Cali are down for the cause, and can be reasonable.
How much do you count on email to promote each event, vs paper fliers, vs web listings and myspace?
Email is very important, but I’d say just as important as web promotions and flyers. I try my hardest to do promote any way I can to get the word out there, and I never really have a way of knowing which method is the best. The hard part about email is building the list up. For the first few years of hosting events, I was the girl at the party w/ the clipboard signing people up. I think that’s the way to do it, to get the crowd while they are there having a good time, then invite them to come back!
When i throw a party, i am usually pretty anxious the night of the event. in fact, i always have a nightmare that nobody shows up. does that happen to you?
Yes! I sometimes resort to frantic text messages the night of, to get that last reminder out to my homies! But I learned not to really stress it too much. It’s not worth it, I just have to remind my self to relax and have a good time. It helps to have a crew to work w/. All of the Vinyl Elements djs play different styles of music, have different crews of friends from different scenes, so when we call come together and party, it’s usually a good time, and a decent turnout I’d say.
Besides your own parties, where do you like to go in san diego, and do you ever go to LA?
It’s tough to say, ‘cause I work so much at night… I’m into the local-dive-bar-w/-djs scene. I like spots like Landlord Jim’s & Bar Dynamite (both are fun on Wednesdays). Occasionally I’ll hit up A C Lounge, Kadan, or The Whistlestop… I know for a fact that If I wasn’t djing every Thursday at the kava lounge, I’d be rocking out at DEEP, san diego’s longest running dnb weekly, that now resides at the Honey Bee Hive. The Red C Lounge is also a fave spot for me, the bartenders rock, and I know the djs every night of the week there. It’s def a locals hang out (funny, ‘cause it has a mainstream crowd there too)…I honestly think there’s a lack of cool venues in this town…. And no I never make it up to LA. Lame, I know.
What would you say is the best event you have ever attended, and what is the best event you have helped produce? what made those parties so special?
Hands down, my absolute favorite event is Coachella. I go every year, and have the time of my life. I love everything about it, the location, the music, the people, etc.
& One of my favorite events that I helped produce would probably be COMMUNITY last year. It was the coolest day park party I can remember. I’m sure it was because everyone I knew and have met and love in this underground scene was there. It was such a beautiful thing. I love seeing people come together.
What do you think about people who take drugs at parties?
As long as you can be responsible and respectable, then do what you choose.
Who are a few of your favorite djs?
Crazy, the first few names that popped in my head were my friends. My local personal heros are: Skutech, Andy Boswell, Mark E Quark, and Jersan….Other than that, there’s way too many good djs to even try to list especially since I love so many different styles of music.
Red Sonya Interview for Psuedo-tripp.net (12/2005)
