We’ve been hosting a FLINTA DJ course at 3o6 studios where 20 fashionable future DJs have been learning all about the craft. The workshop series is hosted by Talia Andrea (@talia_ama) who is, of course, a DJ herself and also the founder of HYPERLINK: a platform for FLINTA individuals to get more into the music they love.
Before the first session began, we sat down with Talia to discuss her own journey in the music industry, how different cultures can influence musical identities, and her ambitions with HYPERLINK and this workshop series with 3o6.
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Q: Let’s start with where you started. How did you get into the industry and where did HYPERLINK begin?
A: I started off in music when I was around 19. At uni I was the editor of my student magazine where I was writing a lot about concerts, and going to lots of different festivals. I covered everything from pub gigs to national events, and it made me realise that I was very often the only woman in the room and definitely the only woman of colour as well, especially backstage and in the press tent.
So I thought to myself, what can I do that would make the music events sector a more equal place for women, where they feel more comfortable to showcase their creativity and feel empowered? What does it mean to create an event where women belong? And that’s where HYPERLINK started.
Q: What’s the ambition and intention in creating space for FLINTA people in the music industry?
A: I envision HYPERLINK as a platform really. A lot of progress has been made in the last few years to equalise music access for FLINTA communities; however, I do think that there is still a long way to go. I find that electronic, hyperpop, and club music are sectors that are still quite male-dominated and inaccessible for women.
In terms of timings for example, if you love club music but you live far out of London, it’s very difficult to go to a club and enjoy it without thinking about how you’re gonna get home. Transport doesn’t run really late at night in London at least, so that’s a consideration that I’ve always had to make. I’d often think, I love club music but there’s nowhere that I can really listen to it, and so I thought that’s what HYPERLINK needs to be now.
I want to strive for even more change in making clubbing and club music more accessible for women. I’ve spoken to a lot of women who’ve told me about their experiences as DJs and how they might have felt secondary to other people on the lineup or treated poorly, and these are still concerns that are very relevant, so basically it tries to tackle these things one step at a time.
Q: What helped you to develop your style and what are the different things you’ve found yourself being drawn to over the years?
A: I would say coming from a multicultural background, I’ve always been drawn to global music even when I wasn’t DJing. I found that there is this real treasure trove of global electronic music that isn’t necessarily being tapped into. I think people are quite used to one particular sound of techno and there’s no issue with that, but I find that language doesn’t often play as much of a part in dance music as it could. I like to think of it as like electronic music across borders and across linguistic boundaries, which happens to be what I studied at university - my degree was in Comparative Literature.
I also think it’s a nice step forward into opening people’s minds into other languages. In the HYPERLINK launch party set I played in July, there was some Afro-electronic, and then it moved into more Latin electronic and Caribbean influences. I try to make my sets a doorway to access lots of different languages and cultures. As long as people are dancing, in my mind, why does it matter what language the music is in?
When it comes to hyperpop specifically, I’m quite immersed in the culture of it through the work that I’ve done already, so I keep track of who’s played at my events before and their collaborators, and I always find something that’s really current and refreshing. It’s quite an exciting scene that I think maybe the commercial sector hasn’t really caught up with yet. I think it’s very fashionable as a music style, and there’s equally a fashion subculture attached to it, which is really interesting to me.
Q: When it comes to more commercial DJ or curation work, how do you balance what a company wants with what you want in a set?
A: I find that when brands give a brief, sometimes it’s to your benefit if they don’t specialise in music, when they put their trust in you as a curator. For example I’ve worked with brands like IKEA, who are not a music brand; when they were opening their Oxford Street store I was asked to recommend performers for a series of launch nights they were doing. Their only stipulation was that they wanted great performances which were family friendly and suitable for all ages, so I had creative scope to think “what would people listen to in a furniture store?”
I find that if you’re planning on doing something with partnerships, it’s good to align with brands that match your taste and who understand the culture of music moreso than trying to enforce some sort of regulation on it. Quite often lately, I’ve received a brief like, “we want to hear great music and we want it to be representing different cultures”. Which is great, as I get the chance to capture and showcase the value of multicultural and multilingual music, to a more mainstream audience.
Q: With this set of workshops with 3o6, what are your expectations and hopes for this series and what do you want the people to take away from it?
A: The main thing I want it to be is a safe and inclusive space for everyone. Sometimes when you’re learning a new skill it can be quite challenging to feel like you’re keeping up with others, or that you’re in a space where you can ask questions, but I really want these weeks to feel like people can feel comfortable to ask whatever they like and that they can learn a skill they can take away with them beyond the course. The idea is to give a holistic view of the beginner steps of DJing, so if you come for all four weeks, hopefully then you can go off on your own and have all the skills and knowledge you need, and maybe even go on to teach other people. So that’s my hope, and I want to unleash another 20 fashionable DJs into the wild after this. I’m really excited to work with 3o6 Studios, I think it’s a really important partnership and I’m so pleased that we could make it happen.
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If you want to speak to Talia in person about her thoughts on music, culture, and inclusivity - or maybe just learn more about what DJing actually is - come along to one of our FLINTA DJ workshops! And if you prefer enjoying the music from a distance over being behind the decks, come and join us for our open decks at PIRATE Studios on September 15th, where several new 3o6 DJs will make their debut.
Written by Poppy Gordon-shute