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DJ Deanne Finds Her Own GruvBy Paul Pogue From IndianapolisMusic.net Feb 4, 2005 Watch enough DJs in this job and you get a sense of how to ID them. Fingerprinting and DNA. It's distinctive. DJ Deanne of Talbott Street is one with her board, her fingers flying and skittering over the board faster than most people can type. Remember those Star Trek episodes where Data would be tap-tap-tapping away at the console faster than anyone else could keep up with? There you go. When she's really on it, barely a beat goes by that she hasn't altered in some way. And she does it all with a satisfied smirk that shows she KNOWS when she's on it. That's what I wrote a year ago, the first time I saw Deanne spin. As far as she's concerned, her work is light-years ahead now.  "From that night to now, it's worlds apart. Technically, I'm in a different place and, as far as confidence goes, I'm in a different place. Some good things have happened. I've got a lot of great little feet in the door and I'm just trying to get my thing on its way. I think that the last year has been a great learning and evolutionary experience in many ways." Deanne left her day job as a bartender and event coordinator for Talbott Street last year, but she still frequently spins, with her next run at the turntable Saturday, Feb. 5. She also does a mix show every week on www.fusionchicago.com, every Saturday from 10 to midnight central time (11-1 screwy Indiana time.) "It's a great way to get out into that market and connect with Midwest listeners. That's been going on since August. I get some great contacts from that. Just to meet some of the listeners from Las Vegas, California, Miami, people in a totally different country, it's reaching some areas that I couldn't reach in Indianapolis." She'll also be DJing at the big Fireball party in Chicago Feb. 18-20, benefiting the Hearts Foundation. "That's a big opportunity for me that I'm psyched about. It's a big foot in the door and I'm very happy to help out a worthy cause, benefiting aids-related organizations." For Deanne, DJing is the culmination of a long quest for meaning. "I've always been searching for the thing that I've been meant to do with my life. I have two completely unrelated college degrees: finance and sports medicine. My involvement with Talbott Street kept me involved in an environment where I thrive. I enjoy the energy from the nightlife, whether it's gay or straight, being part of someone's letting it loose and just having a good time for the night experience. I've really been completely immersed in being part of that. The music thing came through this weird connection of people. DJ Wayne Shepherd, who's been here for 15 years, he was an incredible mentor to me, incredibly talented. Through my continual search in looking for new music, he came into my life and he helped me kind of hone in on the talent that I didn't know was there. What was once an interest, just a hobby, collecting music, became more of a reality. I'm a firm believer that every sequence of events that a person's life encounters is all part of a greater circle of events that is meant for that person. Everything has led me on the path towards producing music. I'm born to play music for people." She grew up in Kentucky, with a background that included Rick James, Earth Wind & Fire, Aerosmith and Queen. She spent several years in the Florida music scene before making her way to Indianapolis. "I've had great support around me. It's amazing how much music is around me here in Indianapolis, which you wouldn't think of as a mecca for house music or club music, but the amount of talent that has been around me has been nothing but sensational for me. I have a wonderful partner that supports me. Whatever road it takes me on, I'm happy to get to play for the people. The people that I experience, that experience me and my music may not know every song I play, may not know what house music or circuit music is about. My theory is, if you give it a chance, you'll feel my gruv. That's my thing. It's all about the gruv."  And that gruv can be found in the constant dance, the ins and outs, of sliding songs together in ever-more distinct ways."I think songs BELONG together. Things are meant to be together, and that's just about a seamless journey, and that's what I strive for. The underlying elements to that are a sexual energy - that's the key to a happening dance floor, and that transcends sexual orientation. Energy, period is the key. I use the term dance floor drama, and I define that as elements of a song that make the hair on your arm stand up, that you're not used to hearing. Synthesizer stabs or contrasting percussive elements. Intense buildups and dropouts - you want that beat to come back in. That's what I call dance floor drama. That's my groove. Deanne herself is a very physical DJ, pounding at the mixing board as vigorously as any drummer or bassist and dancing all the time. "I feed off the people around me. I'm as much a creator of the music as a lover of the music. And if people see the fun I'm having, they'll have more fun. I love to dance! I want them to see that I'm having as much fun as they are. That's not contrived. That's real. Love, passion, lust, romance, whatever they can get from the music, I think it's got to evoke some sense of emotion from the listener. That's the spirit of the music." -- Paul Pogue |
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Talbott Street Indianapolis, IN "Ascension" Saturday, Aug 1 Saturday, Sept 4 Saturday, Oct 2 "The Side Room" Friday, Aug 27 Friday, Sept 24 FortyFive Degrees Indianapolis, IN "South Beach Sunday" Sunday, Aug 29 G.I.R.L (Gay Internet Radio Live) FixXxation Mixshow Saturday - 4:00am (EST) Thursday - 10:00pm (EST) PartyRadioUSA.net Saturday Night House Party FixXxation Mixshow Sunday - 3:00am (EST) WDA1.com FixXxation Mixshow Friday - 1:00am (EST) |
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