Thursdays we like to promote local female DJ’s and we also would like to get to know the powerful women who are behind the decks 

This week we have Charlotte from Thirsty Girls Collective joining us and would love to get to know all things music with them 

Summed up in a sentence what will we expect from your DJ set here at deaf?

Most of the time I just vibe it, I don’t plan ahead too much but you can usually expect a variety of funk and soul, disco, indie and saucy pop.

What was the first ever Tape/CD/vinyl you bought? the more cringe the better!

The first CD I ever bought was Busted’s first album, from a WHSmiths in Warrington. They were my favourite band and I was devastated when they split up! I’m not even ashamed to say that I still listen to them from time to time as a lot of their music still stand up as really strong pop songs. I wish I could remember the first vinyl I bought, but I was in a time in my life where I was listening to anything anybody recommended me, just to discover whether I liked it or not. I’m pretty sure it would have been an old garage punk band that I’d found in Vinyl Exchange.

Who’s your most influential woman in the music industry and why?

I really look up to Lauren Laverne – I think she’s cool as fuck and I used to listen to her 6Music show religiously. She was a big inspiration to me when I got into music journalism and radio presenting. When it comes to DJing I am inspired by the likes of Paulette Constable, Shell Zenner and Hattie Pearson, who I have been lucky enough to work with a lot over the years, and Rebecca Swarray (Rebecca.Never.Becky) who I would love to work with soon. I am also constantly inspired by the amazing women I work with as part of Thirsty Girls Collective. Everything they do inside and outside of the collective is just constantly life-affirming and I’m in awe of them all of the time.

What was the first gig you came to see here at the Deaf Institute?

I think it might have been Warpaint in 2010. It was when I first started going to gigs on my own as a teenager and I absolutely fell in love with the venue. My dj collective Thirsty Girls have been lucky enough to put our own night on in the music hall and being able to play where I’ve seen some of my favourite bands play was pretty exciting.

Do you recommend any new Bands and/or DJ’s to see live and why?

For DJs, all of the people I mentioned above are worth checking out. They always throw the best parties, you can’t go wrong with a night with them. When it comes to bands I’m into at the moment, I’m listening to a lot of Lizzo, Self Esteem, Bill Ryder-Jones, The Orielles, Confidence Man, Giant Swan, International Teachers Of Pop, Matt Maltese, Anna Calvi, The Tuts, Working Men’s Club, Baxter Dury, I could go on! I’m also big into discovering older music that I’ve not come across before – I often find myself in a bit of a Spotify / Youtube black hole listening to anything I can find!

What are your top tracks to DJ?

Bubblegum by Confidence Man, Raw Vis Vision by NO ZU, If You Can’t Dance To This by Dennis Coffey, Scandalous by Mis Teeq, Sports by Viagra Boys, Love Shack by The B-52s. I basically like anything with a heavy bassline and lots of pop hooks. It doesn’t matter what genre, I think it’s silly to limit yourself to playing one genre when anything can make people dance. I also found out thanks to Sheffield band The Crookes that the combination of Dancing In The Dark by Bruce Springsteen into Locked Out Of Heaven by Bruno Mars makes for an incredible combination. They routinely played that pairing whenever they DJed at The Great Gatsby in Sheffield and it always went off.

Do you have anything music related coming up next for us to watch out for?

Thirsty Girls don’t have anything major planned just yet but chances are we’ll be popping up around Manchester every so often as per! I’d love to do another Halloween party as last year was a wild one. I live in Warrington and I usually play once or twice a month in a bar called Hop Co which is always lots of fun. My next set there is on 22nd June. It’s only a small bar but it’s filled with the most wonderful, friendly, up for it mix of people. My emo night there has gone down in Hop Co history…

 

Thank you Charlotte ! We cant wait to here your set here in the main bar!

Charlotte will be DJing here on the 16th May 2019 6pm-11pm, it’s free in and you can book a table with us here