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Ceri
Jaded resident DJ, quality track selector, with releases on Save You, 3am, Hot Creations, Viva Music & Nathan Cole’s Wiggle. Just a few reasons as to why Ceri is up there as one of my personal favourites and her talents are adored by so many others. The london based DJ/Producer has a real ear for music and at times her mixes can give you that real old school
house and techno feel. If you can, think back to the days of The End, Public Life or Retox at Sosho’s, think back to the days when the techno was just nothing but stripped back grooves and you will not be surprised to feel a sense of euphoria whilst listening to a Ceri DJ set. Audiation magazine decided to catch up Ceri and get an insight into what makes her tick musically.
How did you get into get into DJ’in and producing?
It’s weird, when I was younger I always felt like I never really belonged anywhere, but when I discovered dance music I felt like i’d finally found somewhere I could finally be myself. I instantly fell in love with the music and felt at home. I was going to The End, The Key, The Cross, T-Bar, Fabric etc every weekend for years (very underage) and eventually decided to have a go myself. I started off just offering to play for free at smaller bars and clubs so get my name out there and it must have worked because eventually people started asking me to play for them instead of me offering to play for free. Once i had been playing out for a few years and starting to play at my beloved Jaded (which was a dream come true for me at the time and still is!) and getting more regular gigs, I also started to think about starting to take another step and start making my own music too. It was, and still is a slow process, i am quite indecisive and also extremely self critical. So it can take me a long time to finish a track but i am getting better at this. I did a music production course at uni, mainly so i could have access to free studio time while i was there. the course gave me the theoretical skills but it's also important to learn that you can break those rules and that music should come from the heart. Those rare moments that happen, when you are taken over and the music is coming out of you, rather than you making the music, are the best times and when you know you are on to something good.
What’s your preferred set up for producing?
I use logic pro, although i keep being told i need to move to Ableton Live (by the way i know everyone calls it Ableton but the actual name is live - calling it Ableton is the equivalent of calling logic; apple. just saying. It doesn't really bother me but it does bother a few friends of mine so thought it worth mentioning for them!) by a lot of people so maybe i will soon (although i've been saying that for years!). I have a mixture of soft and hardware synths i use; my favourite soft synth is the arturia mini moog and the new roland aira range is good although you can't beat the older versions either. Since I finished my uni course and didn't have a free studio to use anymore, I have been begging, borrowing and stealing time in other peoples studios up until now but am finally getting my very own studio which will I will be moving into in a few months. So I am really excited about getting it finished and making it a creative space and also getting some new equipment to get to grips with too. I
am hoping to get the new roland JD-xi and Korg's reissue of the Oddesy as well as some older vintage stuff too. That's the great thing about making music, especially electronically, you're always learning new things and there will always be new things to learn, thats one of the things that makes it so exciting.