Watching Ms. Sparks (aka Michelle Sparks) DJ to a crowd of club goers is a pretty epic experience.With her huge sound, boppin’ beats, obvious love of the music, and ability to take over a dance floor, Sparks is well on her way in becoming one of the best female DJ’s in the dance music scene.
AMANDA: “Where are you from?”
MS. SPARKS: “I grew up in Fountain Hills, so I’ve been in the valley for most of my life except a few years in college spent in NYC.”
AMANDA: “How long have you been DJ’ing?”
MS. SPARKS: “I’ve been playing since 2006, wow how time flies, 6 years already!”
AMANDA: “What got you into it?”
MS. SPARKS: “Well, I’ve always been heavily involved in music, playing piano and several other instruments growing up, so music has always been a huge passion of mine. While in college I was exposed to the extremely diverse underground electronic music scene in NYC which really made me discover electronic music in a whole new light. This really inspired me to find a way to combine my love for performing and sharing music with others with my passion for electronic music, and I haven’t looked back since!”
AMANDA: “How would you explain the style of music you play?”
MS. SPARKS: “I try to blur the lines between tech house, techno and minimal techno in order to create both something that is really interesting to listen to yet still being high energy with a really groovy bass-line to keep people boppin’.”
AMANDA: “Who’s your top 3 favorite artists?”
MS. SPARKS: “I feel like this is always changing for me, since I am constantly digging deeper and deeper to find cutting edge beats, but my major inspirations when I started DJing and still to this day, are Danny Tenaglia, Dave Seaman and probably Richie Hawtin.”
AMANDA: What’s a “normal” day like for Ms. Sparks?
MS. SPARKS: “Well my days are usually filled with LOTS of music! From playing piano (which is still a passion of mine), to listening to new music for my upcoming gigs, or working in Ableton live, my ears rarely have a quiet moment! Besides that, I’m normally glued to my computer doing some social networking, or working on my monthly mix “BOP!”.”
AMANDA: “You’re one of the founding members of “Circuit”, a tech-house/minimal/underground night that recently took Old Town Scottsdale by storm. What was the idea behind this?”
MS. SPARKS: “Well, Circuit was created with one main goal, to expose people to something different from what’s being offered everywhere else in the Valley right now. Currently with electronic music becoming very mainstream in the Valley and all over the US right now for that matter, you can barely go anywhere without hearing some kind of electronic music. Circuit on the other hand wants to give the listener something fresh, and unique to explore. We just want to bring like minded people together to share a common musical interest.”
AMANDA: “You recently brought “Circuit” down to Tucson, how was the turnout?”
MS. SPARKS: “Wow, what a great night that was! We brought Circuit to The Playground Rooftop in Tucson, which is the currently THE hotspot down there. We had an such an energetic crowd and we were so pleased that over 400 people made it out! It was great to have a crowd so receptive to some really dirty techno, Tucson definitely knows how to get down! Special thanks to Ronnie and Phat Entertainment for hosting us.”
AMANDA: “As you know, I represent Kristina Sky, a fellow female DJ. What’s your experience been like as a female DJ in a male dominated industry?”
MS. SPARKS: “I’m happy to see that currently theres a handful of quality female DJ’s making names for themselves. I’ve noticed that in this scene females at times aren’t taken as seriously as their male counterparts, and have to work a bit harder to gain that acceptance from fellow DJ’s and industry professionals. But I don’t necessarily think this is a bad thing, working hard is never a bad thing; the harder you work the more rewarding the end result is. In the end, male or female, we are all just DJ’s, sharing our passion for music with the world.”
AMANDA: “What’s up next for Ms. Sparks?”
MS. SPARKS: “In September I’ll be heading to Denver and Tucson , and in October I’ll be heading to The Netherlands to attend the Amsterdam Dance Event & Conference.”
AMANDA: “What’s the best piece of advice you can give to someone who’s thinking about becoming a DJ/producer?”
MS. SPARKS: “Learn, Learn, Learn, from as many people as you can!!! Experience is a valuable thing that no one can ever take away from you. With all of the new technology out there thats continuing to evolve I think new DJ’s/producers should be striving to push the envelope and to utilize that technology in creating something fresh to bring to the table. Anyone these days can mix together two tracks, push your boundaries and limits and see what awesome things you can do to make it NEW again.”
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For more on Ms. Sparks:
http://www.soundcloud.com/mssparks
