Janette Slack
DJ Janette Slack throws rock, funk and swing into a big blender marked “dance music” and serves it all up with a side order of block-rockin’ beats. The Hong Kong native returned from London earlier this year and she’s just released an EP, “Kut Me Sum,” on her Slack Trax label. Ahead of the EP’s launch party at Fly, she talks to Andrea Lo about coming back home and the life of a DJ.
HK Magazine: Why come back home to Hong Kong?
Janette Slack: The seed was planted in late December 2012. I had the launch of one of my albums at Fly. My parents asked if they could come. They came and even stayed for my 45-minute encore—and after! A week later, they came to my New Year’s Eve gig. I was watching the fireworks with my mom, and it dawned on me: I hadn’t spent a New Year’s Eve with my parents since I was 14.
HK: What’s it like to work as a DJ?
JS: I don’t have a job where I’m tied down by a contract. I can be anywhere in the world for it. So I have two extremes to my life. One is a lonely job: it’s me in the studio by myself, doing remixes and sound effects. But I enjoy it as well—I like my lady-cave. The other side is me DJing at special events. That takes a lot out of you.
HK: What’s the difference between listening to a DJ live and watching a YouTube video?
JS: First of all, you have the sound system that costs a fuckload of money. And there’s the energy: even before the artist comes on, the lights, the people cheering, the sound, even the smell of the venue—I get an adrenaline rush from it.
HK: How do you keep the crowd energized?
JS: You stay focused. Once a track comes on, you kind of know how people are responding to it— just by body language. And sometimes, you’re not there to entertain: you’re there in the background to create ambience.
HK: Do you find it hard, working in such a male-dominated industry?
JS: I imagine not many male DJs get told to dress a certain way. People have asked if I’m going to wear sexy clothes. That makes me want to wear a potato sack. If they want some eye candy, go hire sexy dancers! I’m going to focus on my DJing.
HK: What’s the endgame for a DJ?
JS: That changes all the time. Sometimes things happen to me that I didn’t even dream about. I played at [superclub] Ministry of Sound and was like, “Is that it?” I just wanted to do more.