Cherokee - Cherokee Rises Again
3D chats with Melbourne soulful house DJ Cherokee, spending the upcoming long weekend in Sydney at the SHE Easter special.
You completed your first international tour as a DJ last July – can you tell us about the experience-
It was amazing, gave me heaps of inspiration! Working in the European summertime was so much fun. Highlights were playing at some of the most amazing venues, like Cavo Paradiso in Mykonos and the White parties at Cameo Island in Zakynthos, to crowd numbers of 1,000 people. Whether the sun was going up or down, the people for my soulful disco and funky house sound embraced me.
On your website it mentions plans to move into music production also, does this mean there might be a Cherokee artist album in the future and would this be one of your personal goals-
Yep! Looking forward to that and will definitely be giving 3D a copy to review. Production is natural progression for me; I’m excited just thinking about it.
Who are the major influences on your DJing style and if you do have plans to start producing will you be sticking to the kind of funky soul and disco sounds you DJ-
I’m pretty old school, so mainly the guys who I have been listening to for years and that also produce so well: Dimitri From Paris, Joey Negro, Masters At Work, David Morales, Frankie Knuckles, John Julius Knight, Lenny Fontana, Full Intention, Bobby & Steve, Davidson Ospina, Steve “Silk” Hurley, Todd Terry and more. In regards to sticking to funky soulful and disco sounds with production, definitely YES! Because I love those sounds, they are my soul, but I’m open to producing different styles as well – will keep me fresh and keep me challenged.
There aren’t that many female DJs out there on the circuit, what’s it like being a girl in what is by and large a boys’ only club- What other girl DJs should we be looking out for-
I’m unsure of any new or upcoming soulful disco and funky house female DJs in Melbourne that are actively working and trying to make a go of it and I can’t really speak on Sydney’s behalf either. I’m sure they are out there, still to be discovered, but you should definitely be looking for talent, not just looks! I tire of the comment, “You must get heaps of gigs because you’re a good looking, sexy DJ!”
WHO: Cherokee
WHAT: Plays SHE Easter at Bungalow8 / theLoft
WHEN: Sunday 12 April
MORE: shesydney.com / myspace.com/djcherokeemelbourne