Sonic Kiss
Working in a male-dominated industry doesn't sweat these ladies
DJ Maya Amack of Sonic Kiss
More I Am A DJ
Denver's Sonic Kiss formed six months ago with the idea that women can turn a party out just as well, if not better, than their bleached-and-bearded male counterparts. With a penchant for mean and dirty house beats, the all-female crew—consisting of DJs Jamie Kent, Maya Amack, Miz Astrid, Miss Audry, and Alala.One—spin at a regular monthly gig at Bar Standard. (For tomorrow night’s edition, Sonic Kiss will be distributing free copies of their individual mixes.) Decider caught up with Amack and Miz Astrid, a.k.a. Megan Koval, to talk funeral parties, lesbian dance clubs, and, naturally, Burning Man.
Maya Amack
Decider: What sets your new mix album apart from the other members of Sonic Kiss?
MA: I haven't actually heard the others yet! But we all have different styles. Audry's is a little more on the house side, I'm more on the tech side. Energy-wise, I'll go from something dance-y in mood to something more sit-on-your-couch-and-unwind. I tend to like the weird and quirky stuff.
D: It's refreshing to hear DJs throw left-field records into sets.
MA: Sometimes I'll play old Aphex Twin records or some minimal techno like Richie Hawtin. I like to tell a story with the set.
D: Is there one artist you'd never dare play?
MA: I don't want to call any terrible music out, but I avoid depressing music. [Laughs.]
D: Like funeral marches?
MA: Unless I was playing at a funeral. You never know.
D: Have you had any rough DJing experiences?
MA: I was playing in Chihuahua, Mexico, which is in the middle of the desert, and there was kind of this feeling of lawlessness. It was a little scary. I was playing at this techno club, and about 45 minutes into my set, all these police came in and raided the club because of underage kids and drugs. I had to pack up all my stuff and sneak out the back door, because there was an angry mob of clubbers demanding their money back. It was pretty intense.
Miz Astrid
D: How did you get involved with Sonic Kiss?
Miz Astrid: Females are definitely under-represented in the DJ ranks, so I've always enjoyed promoting other lady jocks who are good at what they do. When Jamie Kent proposed that we band together, it sounded like a good plan.
D: How is your new mix going?
MA: I'm a slacker. I haven't finished it yet. It's going well, though. I'm planning to start it off with some 2-step, and then get into some funky house, and then tech house towards the end.I'm definitely a house-head.
D: When did you catch the DJ bug?
MA: I fell in love with house music in 1992, but for about six years, I was just an appreciator and dancer. Then I finally decided that I was going to try my hand at mixing, and I was a pretty quick study. I made a couple of mix CDs in the first year, and by the end of that year I was playing at 60 South, which at that time was a lesbian club on South Broadway. I did that for about nine months. It gave me the chance to learn to play on a big system.
D: Any particularly strange DJing experiences?
MA: My husband is also a DJ, and we were playing down at Burning Man in 2002. It was actually, for me, one of the top five crowds I've ever had. This was a big room, probably four or five hundred people, and I had that place rocking. My husband was supposed to go on after me, so he got on, played one track, turned around to dig for his next track, stood up, and the room had completely cleared out. His face was like, “Was it that bad?” It turns out there was a guy there with a Tesla coil, and he had this whole show where he, like, bounced lightning bolts off his head. So that's why everyone left. It was strange.
Maya Amack
Decider: What sets your new mix album apart from the other members of Sonic Kiss?
MA: I haven't actually heard the others yet! But we all have different styles. Audry's is a little more on the house side, I'm more on the tech side. Energy-wise, I'll go from something dance-y in mood to something more sit-on-your-couch-and-unwind. I tend to like the weird and quirky stuff.
D: It's refreshing to hear DJs throw left-field records into sets.
MA: Sometimes I'll play old Aphex Twin records or some minimal techno like Richie Hawtin. I like to tell a story with the set.
D: Is there one artist you'd never dare play?
MA: I don't want to call any terrible music out, but I avoid depressing music. [Laughs.]
D: Like funeral marches?
MA: Unless I was playing at a funeral. You never know.
D: Have you had any rough DJing experiences?
MA: I was playing in Chihuahua, Mexico, which is in the middle of the desert, and there was kind of this feeling of lawlessness. It was a little scary. I was playing at this techno club, and about 45 minutes into my set, all these police came in and raided the club because of underage kids and drugs. I had to pack up all my stuff and sneak out the back door, because there was an angry mob of clubbers demanding their money back. It was pretty intense.
Miz Astrid
D: How did you get involved with Sonic Kiss?
Miz Astrid: Females are definitely under-represented in the DJ ranks, so I've always enjoyed promoting other lady jocks who are good at what they do. When Jamie Kent proposed that we band together, it sounded like a good plan.
D: How is your new mix going?
MA: I'm a slacker. I haven't finished it yet. It's going well, though. I'm planning to start it off with some 2-step, and then get into some funky house, and then tech house towards the end.I'm definitely a house-head.
D: When did you catch the DJ bug?
MA: I fell in love with house music in 1992, but for about six years, I was just an appreciator and dancer. Then I finally decided that I was going to try my hand at mixing, and I was a pretty quick study. I made a couple of mix CDs in the first year, and by the end of that year I was playing at 60 South, which at that time was a lesbian club on South Broadway. I did that for about nine months. It gave me the chance to learn to play on a big system.
D: Any particularly strange DJing experiences?
MA: My husband is also a DJ, and we were playing down at Burning Man in 2002. It was actually, for me, one of the top five crowds I've ever had. This was a big room, probably four or five hundred people, and I had that place rocking. My husband was supposed to go on after me, so he got on, played one track, turned around to dig for his next track, stood up, and the room had completely cleared out. His face was like, “Was it that bad?” It turns out there was a guy there with a Tesla coil, and he had this whole show where he, like, bounced lightning bolts off his head. So that's why everyone left. It was strange.
