» DJ Queen Josephine
Keeping clubbers happy night after night is not easy. But Queen Josephine, one of Brighton’s best-loved DJs, has cracked it. Last year QJ was voted Brighton’s favourite female DJ at the city’s LGBT Golden Handbag Awards.
She plays at some of the biggest scene nights, including Mardi Gras, Religion and Pussy Party at Charles Street, Wild Fruit at Tru, Sunday Sundae at Audio, the roving Rebel and Miss-Shapes at Ghetto. QJ and girlfriend Kate Wildblood, another favourite Brighton DJ, are looking for a venue to host a one-off night with them both playing. They are also going to release another Secret Disco compilation on the Crazy Diamond label and, in QJ’s words, are: “looking forward to getting people out and partying this winter and cheering everybody up.”
How did you feel about winning a Golden Handbag?
I was totally gobsmacked. Someone could have knocked me over with a feather. I play a lot and get positive feedback but there are a lot of very good female DJs in Brighton. My Mum was very pleased.
What did you make of Pride this year?
I love Brighton Pride. I have been living here for donkey’s years and I’ve been going to it since it was a dribble of people. It is absolutely enormous now. The fact that it is still free and you can go to so many good things is great. This year was the first I can remember, apart from one, that the weather hasn’t been wonderful. That meant everyone came in to shelter from the rain. It was my first time in the Wild Fruit tent and it was quite busy, which was nerve-wracking but fun.



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