Minx - Minx Machine
Once Adelaide’s first lady of the dancefloor, the only way has been up recently for DJ Minx (AKA Rachel Phillips) – the fresh new face in Sydney’s club scene and the first-ever female DJ to feature on onelove’s Sound machine compilation series.
But it’s been no easy feat for this up-and-coming dancing queen who’s fast making a name for herself right among industry heavyweights like Ajax and Dutch house star Bart B More.
“It’s amazing to share the compilation with Ajax who is just amazing and a massive name like Bart B More who I’ve been a big fan of for years,” Phillips says. “But it became a bit tricky when it came to selecting the songs for my disc because it turned out Bart and I have a similar style and taste in music so it was difficult because the songs I selected for my disc he also selected for his! My emphasis was on really trying to chuck in as much Aussie stuff as possible, like Empire of the Sun, Chris Fraser, P-Money, TV Rock and Kaz James. I was also freaking out a bit about what to pick because this was all a few months before the CD was even going to be released so the songs that are popular at that time might be outdated by the time it came out. I had to predict the future in some ways!”
But then again, Phillips has always been one step ahead of the rest – starting with the decision to become one of the first female DJs of Adelaide’s growing club scene some five years ago.
“Now it’s starting to get bigger and bigger,” she points out. “The female DJ population has especially boomed in the last 12 months, I think. When I first started it was ridiculously hard to get a gig in Adelaide – the DJs would just straight out tell you that you’re only a chick. Honestly, it was really bad even four years ago, I copped a lot of crap. It makes it tough to continue and it makes you feel a bit resentful that you have to prove yourself. Looking back on it now, because there weren’t really any dominant electronic female DJs, I think they were all a little shocked and scared, like, ‘oh god, what is this chick doing, she’s going to ruin our industry!’ when they couldn’t realise I could help it.”
WHO: DJ Minx
WHAT: Plays onelove at Tank / Sound Machine through onelove / Sony
WHEN: Saturday 11 April / Out now
MORE: onelove.com.au