» 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.
What has been your best gig?
My favourite gig of all time was outside Charles Street at Pride a few years ago. It was supposed to last one and a half hours; I went on for about six.
What do you think of criticisms that Pride is no longer political?
I remember going on marches years ago and people used to throw things at you. It would feel like it was us against the world. Isn’t it great from the initial struggles to have a wonderful party? It brings so much money into the city, but I know we can’t lose sight of where it came from. We are lucky to have a large community but homophobic attacks still happen and we can’t close our eyes to it.
Why is there a link between the gay scene and house music?
Gay people have always been at the forefront of clubbing and music. Probably because of wanting to escape for whatever reason. There wouldn’t have been disco without them. House is a skip and a hop from underground music in the States that would have bled to the UK.
What do you like about DJing?
You get to play loud music to people and hopefully they will be dancing and you get paid for it! There are different genres of house music and it is really exciting to start playing some new stuff. It is difficult at the moment because of the credit crunch some club promoters are getting worried and saying: ‘Play stuff people know.’ It is nice to prove that adage wrong.
What does the Brighton club scene need?
A few more adventurous people checking out different nights that they
wouldn’t normally go to. There are loads of new people in town, with
that, maybe we’ll see promoters being more adventurous.
QJ’s top ten tracks of the moment:
1. Kaskade & Deadmaus – Move For Me – Original Mix
2. Brooklyn Knights feat Kym Mazelle – StandUp – Meyer Bros Mix
3. Axiom & Brandon Black – Kate Moss – Original Mix
4. Joey Negro – Love Hangover – DJ Spen Mix
5. Sovereign feat Sara Dayan – Hooky – Full Vocal Mix
6. Jada – Beautiful – DJ Spinna Mix
7. Syke & Sugastarr – Release Your Mind – JC David Mix
8. Axwell with Bob Sinclar feat Ron Carroll – What A Wonderful World – Dabruck & Klein Mix
9. Chicken Life – Ben Jamin Mash-Up
10. Seamus Haji and Paul Emmanuel – The Pressure – Vox Mix
