Spinner Sonique's boom in popularity

Sonia Clarke's transformation into Sonique - one of Britain's most innovative house DJs - was as easy as stepping into a Porsche. 'It was my first time in a Porsche. A friend suggested the name and it stuck,' recalled the 28-year-old DJ and vocalist from Crouch End in London who will spin in the SAR this week. By entering the traditional domain of the white male, the black female has built up a successful reputation as a DJ who spins and sings at the same time. 'It's not easy, but singing and deejaying come naturally to me. I figured since I could sing and I could play, why not sing and play at the same time?' With glowing write-ups in British music and DJ magazines, appearances at nightclubs throughout Britain and rave reviews for her energetic performances, the striking entertainer oozes confidence in her abilities. 'There are a lot of people who are into the type of music I'm playing. It's hard to describe what I play. If you take something and try to label it, you start to backtrack to someone else. 'House is something that if you pick the right tracks, it's universal, everyone will dance. It's not something you can talk about, you have to experience it.' With only two years of deejaying under her belt, Sonique is already resident DJ at Manumission, the notorious club in Ibiza, Spain, which is also home to a nightly live sex act. 'It started off very gimmicky. A man and a woman got drunk and began doing their thing . . . and people kept coming back. 'I've never seen it; it doesn't interest me. It was strange at first, it was a bit of an awakening. Now, it's like 'what's the big deal?' 'There are two people in love doing their thing. I don't have to look,' she said from the island last week. The crooning spinner made her first foray into the music industry at the age of 17. 'Singing comes naturally to me, but it's not something I was looking to do. I used to sing along to records and someone would say 'you've got a really nice voice'. 'I decided to be brave. I didn't have too much self-confidence, so it really was going against my character. It really changed my character.' With Let Me Hold You, which the singer wrote herself, Sonique had a club hit. However, it was not until her discovery by Mark Moore of S'Express that Sonique became a recognised house music name. In 1990 Moore enlisted Sonique to work on S'Express' second album Intercourse, which led to the chart and club hits Nothing To Lose and Find Em Fool Em Forget Em. Sonique regards her work with a group synonymous with Britain's early dance scene as a turning point in her career. 'S'Express was wonderful. It was a great way to grow and learn. I still see it as an honour that Mark [Moore] wanted to write an album with me. 'I hadn't really done anything before that. I really learned a lot from him.' Despite their success, Sonique plans to stay solo. 'I don't think I'll do more work with S'Express. I've learned that when you bury something, it's not good to reincarnate it. 'I like to move on, I'm a very forward-looking person. Probably if it did happen, I don't think we'd use the name S'Express,' she said. Sonique's days of just being a vocalist are well behind her. She is content to pursue the DJ-ing aspect of her career, which she took up partly because of her own frustration with the DJs around her. 'Deejaying is instant, there is an instant response. You're much more in control out there. 'I play a record and sing and instantly see what people think of the record. It's a bit scary really, because if you put the wrong one on, you have to rush to change it. 'Dance music today is worse in many ways than it was when I got involved in it. It can be so soul-destroying. 'That's one reason I started to be a DJ. I'd be there in a club moaning and it got worse and worse. I knew that there would be a DJ who would make me move for one song and then completely destroy the night. 'That makes you lose confidence in a DJ. I want every record to do something for the people in the club. It's usually up, up, up, or down, down, down. I like mine to be like a roller-coaster ride.' Sonique believes the success of a global house music explosion lies in who conveys it. 'Whitney Houston doesn't do house music because she doesn't know it. House music has got to be carried by someone who is singing and understanding and writing the music, that's how house will really explode.' Surprisingly, the transition from the domain of singer, where black women artists are commonplace, to the male world of deejaying, was without obstacles. 'If there had been any difficulty in becoming a DJ, I wouldn't have bothered. The question was: 'Am I brave enough?' 'You start off by playing in a small place and you make thousands of mistakes and you feel really embarrassed but you do it because you think it would be nice if you got it right. 'You have to want something enough. 'I think if you have talent, you'll get there eventually. 'Some will say I've made it as a DJ because I'm black and female . . . that it's a gimmick. That's really not important to me.' Sonique believes the dearth of female DJs will be remedied soon. 'I think a lot of women are still developing their style, they're just beginning to find the time to enjoy other things. It's still early.' She plans to continue on the same route, taking her distinctive deejaying style to clubs around the world. However, future plans include going back to song-writing and an album. 'I want to go into the studio and put out some tracks. Song-writing is not difficult for me, it's something I learned early. And it took me so far. 'I will bring out a record soon, which will make people understand what vibe I'm on, a taste of me. But for now I like making people happy in clubs.' One Nation Holiday Special: Sonique, Wednesday, October 1, Bar City, Second Basement, New World Centre, 20 Salisbury Road, TST. 11pm to 7am. Also featuring Christian, Janva, Abby and Roy, Eddwin, Paul Wong and Sharat. $250 in advance, $300 at the door. Tickets from Midnight Express, Works Records, Fetish Fashion. For more information call 2526-6013