Lucky Fi

One of LuckyMe's resident DJs Éclair Fifi talks to The Skinny about stolen records, what was cool when she was 15 and her favourite record to drop into sets

Feature by Neil Murchison | 31 Oct 2011

Éclair Fifi regularly brings the P.A.R.T.Y. to LuckyMe’s shows with a killer ear for pulling out tunes from across the spectrum and dropping them with maximum effect. Witness any dancefloor she is put in front of and be prepared to fight for a space on it as she constructs an audio collage from hip hop to bass rumbling dubstep. Later this month she teams up with LuckyMe’s ultra hot ticket Hudson Mohawke but not before she gamely returns fire on the following pressing issues...

 What were the first records that you bought that remain cool now?

The first record I ever owned was The Ghostbusters theme tune which is obviously still cool but the first 'dance record' I ever bought was Joey Beltram's Energy Flash when I was 15 which is still an amazing record to me.

What makes an Éclair Fifi set different to anyone else’s?

Oh, difficult question. A lot of people tell me my sets are different but can never pinpoint why, some say that I scan over a lot of different bpms and some say my sets are varied, going from r'n'b into italo into hip hop into house etc, without being too clichéd.

When you’re playing you always seem to be having a lot of fun. What comes first to you when DJing, making yourself happy or the audience?

It has to be a mixture of both, it goes hand in hand. If you love it and portray that you are having fun then audience (usually) enjoys it too. I also enjoy it more when I see the audience happy, it's symbiotic.

Do you have a golden rule of DJing that you never must break?

I never plan sets out, I always play freestyle. I'm not knocking DJs who plan sets but it's just my personal rule. Doesn't matter whether it's in front of a Sneaky Pete's crowd of 100 or a Sonar crowd of 10,000, I like to keep it fresh

At the moment what is the record you are most likely to be drop into sets?

Anything by Nguzunguzu!!

Do you have any confessions over records you’ve ‘borrowed’ from other DJs that they will probably never be seeing again?

I borrowed Dave Clarke's Electro Boogie unmixed Compilations (for the ghettotech tracks) from someone about ten years ago who I haven't seen in ages. I also borrowed a bunch of rare Detroit records, Direct Beat records, Fernon Flowers, Blake Baxter, Jay Denham, Dopplereffekt (I lost my own copy) etc from another friend... (if either of you read this, then holler!).

 

Éclair Fifi plays LuckyMe 6 with Hudson Mohawk and The Blessings at Sneaky Pete's on Sat 26 Nov 11pm-3am, £5 http://www.sneakypetes.co.uk