Schoolmistresses are hardly regarded as the epitome of cool. Club DJs, on the other hand, tend to rank rather high on the trend-setter scale. So DJ Mrs Wood, whose moniker conjures up images of a bespectacled school teacher spinning techno tracks, does cause a bit of a stir.
'The name just started off as a joke really, it would look funny in the listings in a magazine,' said the woman known in the non-DJ world as Jane Rolink. 'I was a late starter. I had no idea what to call myself, and I couldn't call myself anything young and trendy. I thought this would be the opposite, never thinking that I'd really get anywhere,' said Rolink, who is scheduled to spin in Hong Kong tomorrow night.
The gimmicky name aside, Rolink attributes her success to the music - 'hard and funky techno' - and her style: 'It's a bit more physical.' Muzik magazine ranked her as the number nine top DJ in the world, while DJ Magazine has crowned her as best female DJ for the last two years. Her 1993 single, Joanna, made it to the UK top 40 charts last year. She has also just released her debut artist album Woodwork, a follow-up to the 1993 compilation Mrs Wood Teaches Techno.
'We've tried to do something a bit different, a bit more experimental, rather than just doing straight 12 inches at all the same bpm (beats per minute). So we've got tracks on there that are 110 bpm, right up to 140. I've got the space of an album to do what I want. There's a lot more freedom.' Rolink's DJ career was launched in 1990 when she was coaxed into spinning a few tracks at London night-club Turnmills. Although her one night turned into a six-year residency at Turnmills nightclub FF, she found that, as a female, breaking into the industry was difficult. Yet, she says, the male-dominated world of record spinners is changing.
'At first, it was very difficult to be taken seriously. But if you hang in there and work hard and do what's in your heart, then you don't have any trouble. And in the end, being a female has actually helped me. It's something different. When I started, there weren't any women DJs around. There's no problem at all now, we've worked hard and got over all that. It's being able to do what you do, obviously women are just as good as men.' However, even if she has won over fellow DJs and ravers, some members of the media have been a little more difficult. Rolink prefers not to have her age revealed, arguing that there is a different set of standards for male DJs.
'Do you ask all the men this? To be quite honest, I usually find that people only ask me my age because I'm a woman. I have so many arguments with men about this, honestly they don't bother asking them. Just because I'm a woman they think it makes a difference that I'm older. Everyone seems to make an issue of it. It's always picked on.' The Yorkshire-born DJ has played extensively across England, has done several stints in Australia and New Zealand, and spots in Asia. Over her eight years on the DJing circuit, she has found that she prefers playing overseas. She ranks her stint in Hong Kong last year as one of her most memorable nights.