Female DJs in Kansas City: A thriving new species

People have been saying it for years, but lately it’s almost undeniable: DJs really are the new rock stars.

Need proof beyond Skrillex, Bassnectar and Girl Talk? How about this: Reports surfaced a few months ago that the casting agency responsible for Jersey Shore was planning a reality show in the vein of American Idol, but with electronic-music producers and DJs instead of pop singers. Every old rock dude’s worst nightmare has been realized: EDM is fully mainstream.

For decades, the world of DJs has been a private, sometimes elitist, mostly male-dominated subculture. But as EDM audiences have expanded, so, too, has the DJ talent pool. Look around town lately and you’ll see something you’ve rarely seen before behind the decks: women.

We recently talked with five (though there are more) of Kansas City’s more accomplished and visible women DJs. (Fun fact: All but one were trained in violin or another orchestral instrument.) The local DJ scene might still be a man’s world, but these five Kansas City women are spinning in it.

Amjanda

Born and raised in the Northland, house-music guru Amjanda played her first gig in December 2004, after spending three years honing her command of the decks in her bedroom. Though an admittedly weak self-promoter, she was persistent enough to win an opening slot before Chicago house legend Derrick Carter in the West Bottoms in 2008. She has been grinding ever since.

“Over the years, the misconception has been that female DJs get by on their looks,” she says. But she believes this stereotype is fading. “You are seeing big-name female DJs, who actually know how to mix records, showing up on the main stage at large festivals like Movement,” she says, name-checking the massive, annual electronic-music gathering in downtown Detroit each spring. She also points to another veteran Midwestern spinner, Chicago’s DJ Heather, as an inspiration.

WestEndGrl

WestEndGrl, a self-described “Army brat,” has been DJing since 1999. “At 16, I became obsessed with Cypress Hill, which really opened me up to rap and hip-hop,” she says. While still known as cQuence, she made a splash in the local electronic-music scene mixing drum-and-bass vinyl (in the pre-Autosync era) — not an easy beginner’s path for a DJ. For several years (2002-08),WestEndGrl held down a Wednesday-night residency at the old Cup & Saucer in the River Market, which served as a weekly hub for the city’s drum-and-bass faithful. But these days, she’ll play just about any kind of music to any crowd.

“My father exposed me to a lot of oldies — Motown, country, classic rock,” she says. “But as I got older, my influences drifted toward indie music — punk, alternative rock, ska, industrial, hardcore.”

She shrugs off gender politics and sexism in the DJ world. “I am rarely reminded of being a female,” she says. But noting that flat bills, hoodies and jeans constitute much of her wardrobe, she allows, “Then again, I am not girly at all, in most respects.”

DJ Kimbarely Legal

DJ Kimbarely Legal has lived in Lawrence for 10 years and has spent six of them gigging at the Eighth Street Taproom and the Replay Lounge, among other venues. “I haven’t had anyone really try to knock me down in this scene or hold me back from shows,” she says.

Kimbarely Legal recently made some waves at Red Bull’s Thre3Style U at the Granada February 1. The event pitted the best party-rocking DJs on KU’s campus against one another in a competition determined by crowd reaction and by judges looking for technical skill. Kimbarely Legal burned through tracks such as Missy Elliott’s “Work It,” plus a wide swath of the kind of exotic Afro-house and dancehall jams that she has become known for mixing. Her four opponents incorporated a lot of Trinidad James remixes and trap music into their sets, but Kimbarely Legal struck a chord with the judges. She took second place, behind Team Bear Club’s Tom Richman. “My gender is always going to be a part of how people judge me,” she says. “But when I come out to DJ, I’m coming out to rock the party, so people generally respect that.

DJ Kittie

Kansas City native DJ Kittie was a go-go dancer at local hot spots in KC before she decided to give DJing a try, picking up lessons from local DJs Vince and Highnoone. She cites such hip-hop stars as Eminem, the late Tupac, and KC rap king Tech N9ne as artists she related to more directly while getting her feet wet in the DJ pool. Kittie has been mixing and scratching for only about two years, but she recently moved to Las Vegas to up her career ante. A resident DJ at Tao and at Lavo, she also has been confirmed to spin at the Palms in mid-March. In her short time as a DJ, she has already weathered rumors and fallacies.

“They automatically think we’re not real DJs, or we flirt or mess with the club owners to get gigs,” she says. But with the advent of easily accessible DJ consoles and lighter gear, she says, “I have noticed more female DJs this year, but the boys still got the girls outnumbered.”

DJ Madame E

Seasoned DJ Madame E started spinning in Kansas City in 2000, after holding down the Breakfast for Beatlovers radio show on KJHK 90.7 every week for about three years. Of the DJs we spoke with (and perhaps the city at large), Madame E has one of the more diverse crates, encompassing hip-hop, bossa nova, disco, jazz, electro, juke and more. A career highlight so far: playing at the Om Festival in Hawaii in 2009. She’s also a burgeoning producer and makes instrumentals for singer Emily Frost as part of their group, Sweet Down Deep. She cites local male DJ Joc Max as a “DJ mentor on the local level.”

She acknowledges a certain amount of sexism in the game — she recalls a promoter whom she describes as wanting to literally pimp her out — but takes the long view. “There are people that really like you since you are kind of an underdog in the business or because you could be a hot commodity, or because they just genuinely enjoy what you do,” she says. “And there are people that hate you because you can potentially be competition or you aren’t interested in them romantically, or they just do not understand what you do.”

Chris Milbourn writes about local music at demencha.com.