Smelly Feet Records Is A Music Platform Which Showcases Both Established And Up & Coming Artists.
No Specific Genre, Just Real Underground Music.
Smelly Feet Records Is A Music Platform Which Showcases Both Established And Up & Coming Artists.
No Specific Genre, Just Real Underground Music.
Exclusive Mix & Interview
October 7th, 2018
Barbara Boeing
City: Curitiba
Country: Brazil
Genre: Disco / Electronic
Label: Alter Disco
Barbara, welcome. Introduce yourself to our audience. Anything special you would like them to know?
Hello, I am Barbara and I am from the south of Brazil. I am a civil engineer, which means I build buildings from Monday to Friday but on weekends I am a party producer and also a DJ.
Take us through your life in music.
Music has always been a part of my life and even though it was never my main job, I was always in it in different ways. I used to play a little bit of drums and guitar and I was also part of a band for a little while.
Right now, I have been DJing for more than 10 years. When I started, it was always difficult for me to play at places I wanted to. I used to play Minimal House and people were not really into it in my city. Years later, my music changed into a place where I cannot really fit it in any genre. I believe good music has no genre and if you are a good DJ, you can mix anything you want and make it beautiful.
"...the construction of my DJ sets will always be a roller coaster, going up and down. Never
walking on a straight line, with tracks full of energy and others a little bit more introspective."
Talk to us about your current style and sound. What genre do you feel best describes you as an artist?
I do not really like to put tags on my music and say that I play this or that. I believe I can do a nice warm up set in a place with easier vibes like a boat party with Balearic, pitched down House and some Brazilian gems, or I can mix some heavier stuff like Techno, Old School House with faster BPMs in warehouses full of people.
There are two things that are certain about my music. The first one is that I will always dig and play music from all over the world. The second one is that the construction of my DJ sets will always be a roller coaster, going up and down. Never walking on a straight line, with tracks full of energy and others a little bit more introspective.
Is there any process you take to narrow down your selections when choosing which music to play in a set?
I believe that playing is a connection into what I like to listen to and how the crowd reacts with what I want to play. Thinking about that, I try to create an atmosphere where that can actually happen. When this kind of reciprocity works, it is magical.
So, every time I am building a DJ set I ask my manager the main genre of the party. Most of them are divided in 2, which would be House or Techno. There are also some parties on which you can play whatever you want and people will understand and will like it, those are my favorite.
With that in mind, I start to build folders in my pen drives that will make sense regarding those genres each party will prefer. But obviously, sometimes I arrive at the party and the feeling of it, is something I could’ve never previewed - only by knowing their favorite genre.
I am a person who always plans everything in advance (thanks to the engineer inside me) but in music, that is not particularly true. So, this is one of the the moments that my mind has to run free and start to innovate. Sometimes this feeling is scary for me because I am not used to it, but it feels really good at the same time.
Tell us about Alter Disco. What is the history there? Where is it now, and where is it going?
Alter Disco is a gathering of me and my three best friends. Before Alter Disco began, we used to get together and play as a band, but we were never really pro about it. It was only a pleasant hobby for all of us.
The party began when we started playing Electronic music for intimate friends. The “events” always took place at a friend’s house and used to happen by daylight. We used to share the costs of the party, including the sound system - and because of that, we were able to provide an experience to the crowd (around 50 people) that was completely for free. People would bring their drinks and we would play at a beautiful garden with a nice jacuzzi and a charming view of my city.
One day, we decided to bring our first international guest, and because of the elevated costs, that was the first time we started selling tickets and charging for drinks and beers at our bar. The party was a success and we agreed to bring guests on every party we produced. The size of our crowd started growing and now we have parties for 600 people and we can say we brought admirable guests like Move D, Max Graef, Palms trax, Eric Duncan, Noema and others!!!
"I believe good music has no genre and if you are a good DJ, you can mix anything you want
and make it beautiful."
Lets talk traveling. Where have you been and where do you want to go? Both visiting and playing.
I love traveling and being able to know people through my music. This is one of the things I get more excited about in being a DJ (other than music, obviously!).
In Brazil, I have been playing in Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre and a lot in São Paulo.
In the past, I have played in Argentina (Buenos Aires), Peru (Lima) and this year I decided I was going to spend my vacations in Europe. When I started planning I thought it could maybe be cool to play at 1 or 2 places just for fun, but I was not sure if people would want me to play in Europe as it is hard to get gigs over there. I started sending some e-mails and in the end I did a mini tour on which I performed at 5 gigs and 3 radio shows in Berlin, Dresden, Milan, Amsterdam and Paris.
For the future I have some lovely places to travel to. I will be in Bogotá (Colombia) in September, which is an unknown place to me and I will spend New Years Eve playing twice at a festival called "Xama 2019" which will happen in Bahia (North East of Brazil), where we have the most beautiful beaches on the Brazilian coast. I will be playing on a boat and the other at the beach. I am looking forward to it.
Oh, I also have Montreal and NY in November where I will go to visit my family and spend 9 days there. I am already starting to look for places where I could play at.
Any upcoming projects you wish to talk about?
I have received some cool invitations to play at parties this year. One of them is Time Warp in São Paulo. I was really happy about it because there are only 8 Brazilians booked for this gig and I was one of them. This is huge, and a big step for my career as a DJ.
Barbara - we want to know a little more about you. Speak freely on any topic you want.
It took me a lot of time until I started believing that being a DJ could also be a job for me, or at least a second job in my life. Right now it feels a little bit weird because I am traveling a lot from it and I’ve started to play at cool parties I’ve always admired. So, yes, I can now say I have two jobs and love both of them.
I believe now that I am living something so new and beautiful, with so much reciprocity in being a DJ that I never had in my entire life. Working with music is something that makes me feel free in every way and I am grateful about it!!!
Barbara Boeing, in a few sentences. Tell us about this mix you made for us. Where did you get your inspiration? Is there anything special you want the audience to know?
Every podcast I create I try to discover artists from all over the world. This always makes me dive into new and peculiar genres. Particularly on this DJ set, I am bringing a mixture of some Synth Pop, Disco, Pop Rap, House, Funk and also a brazilian gems from the 90s.
