Ladies on Mars plays hedkandi

Wahine. Firstly I want to congratulate you on such an incredible feat - flying over from Atlanta at such short notice to be at ADE and wow, you absolutely rocked it. It was super cool to see you DJing and having the time of your life behind the decks.  We are so happy you were able to travel over to Amsterdam to ADE this year. It was a huge international journey to make, how was it with all of the covid restrictions? Was it worth the long haul trip? 

 It was absolutely worth the trip and I was only there for about 72 hours because I was able to meet so many of the wonderful connections that I had made online over the last 2 years during lockdown, including several of my fellow Deck-O-Dance DJ's like Derrick McKenzie, Richard Earnshaw, Sean Benton, and Greg Middleton. Getting to see everyone do their thing live was really special as someone from the US who doesn't typically get to see this kind of talent unless I come to Europe. Plus, having the opportunity and honor of closing the 2-day house and disco event put on by NDC Radio was a dream. We had a packed house with a young audience that was really up for the funky disco and world sounds that I love playing the most.  The covid restrictions were a little anxiety-producing before the trip as I was worried that getting something wrong with the testing or not having the right documentation might keep me from making the journey, but like I said, it was all worth it. You just need to have all of your ducks in a row and be thinking a few steps ahead. It's all very doable and once you get through the first few testing hoops, you get in the swing of things. Thankfully, Holland is a very efficient country when it comes to handling these types of large-scale logistics, so they really ramped-up testing for the event and had tons of very convenient locations all over the city center. Also, the test results are very fast. It usually takes no more than 30 minutes for your daily QR code to be sent to you.  Please could you tell us about your time at ADE?

  Did you get to hang out with fellow DJs and producers?

  I did! And that was a real treat. Perhaps even one of the upsides of attending this year was that attendance was probably slightly down from other years, which made everything feel a bit more intimate. I had a wonderful time at the iCulture event with Moodena, Derrick McKenzie, and Richard Earnshaw and got to chat and dance with them quite a bit. Moodena and I have chatted online several times as he's been a past guest on Spin City and I'm a huge fan of Tropical Disco, so it was a real pleasure to spend some time with him after his set. Derrick and I got some good dance time and a few laughs in, which was really nice since he had me on as a guest to his show on Mi-House several months ago. He couldn't have been more lovely in person and was even kind enough to come watch my NDC Radio set.    At the same event, I also ran into DJ Miss Deedy who is a local Amsterdam DJ and fellow Defected Croatia 2019 mix contest winner. As it turns out, she and Derrick are friends and he's been a big supporter of hers. We're both grateful to have him as a champion of what we do as female DJ's. We had lots to chat about and have a very similar story of taking a big break from DJing and returning in the last couple of years due to the Defected opportunity. Hopefully we can team up on something in the future. 

 Did you go to any other events whilst you were in Amsterdam? Who did you see and who would you say played your favourite Dj set?

  I went to a couple of events where my friend Shady Lady (a local Amsterdam DJ) played. One was at a cool bohemian bar/restaurant called Feed where she was playing disco. Then I followed her over to her next gig at the restaurant at the top of the Volkshotel, which has 360 degree views of the city. She played a loungey down-tempo mix of global funk that was just perfect as the sun was starting to set.  My favorite set of the trip was Richard Earnshaw. I have been familiar with his production work for many years, but this was the first time I've ever had the opportunity to see him spin live and he played a really fun and energetic classics set, while still managing to keep it interesting with this superior mixing skills. I was quite impressed and danced until my feet couldn't handle it anymore. 

  Where did you play? What kind of set did you play?

? I played at two venues. The first was a chill upscale restaurant vibe at George Bistro as part of the ADE Club Nights series which ran all week, hosted by my station-mate at MyHouseRadio.fm, SylvioN, where I played deep, vocal house.  The second was the closing set for the NDC Radio disco and funky house series at 50:Hertz House Cafe in Rembrandt Square. I played a mix of peak-hour disco and world music edits with a lot of African and Latin influences. 

 What was the highlight of your night at NDC? 

Getting to close the event to such a young and enthusiastic crowd, especially one that responded to well to the world music vibes was really gratifying because I don't often get to play those kinds of sounds to the audience back home in Atlanta, but they are core to my sound. The peak moment was playing the Donna Allen classic by Urban Blues Project, "He Is the Joy," because it was a moment that really brought the DJ's who know this classic well, together with the younger generation who may have never heard the song before. With the resurgence of the disco sound, it still sounds fresh and relevant as ever.  Also having my dear friend Jessica there with me at the event. She is a Dutch native, but used to live in the US, and was one of the first people to see me DJ live so many years ago.

  How did it feel to be playing and thanks to new technology, having it live streamed to your family and friends who were cheering you on in the chat box?

 That was such a wonderful surprise as I wasn't aware that we would be livestreaming the event, nor that so many of my family and friends from home and around the world would be tuned in for it. But I could feel the support of everyone watching and it was really meaningful and felt rather natural. This is how my friends and I have been connecting over the last 2 years--in livestreams and chat rooms for various online radio shows. In fact, I would not have been in attendance at ADE, nor playing this event, if it wasn't for all of the online connections made during lockdown. It's really a full-circle moment in many ways.   

So, what is next for Wahine?

 I will be returning to Europe for my first tour in mid-November, which is really exciting. I am excited to be visiting and playing in so many cities that I haven't been to previously, such as   Glasgow, Liverpool, Warrington, Dublin, Gutersloh, and Lisbon. I'd also like to squeeze in some time working on music production, so that I might tour with some of my own edits and mashups. In January, I will be touring coastal and central Mexico for the first time, and hope to return to Europe again in the spring and summer for festival season.   I think you definitely have the Disco Waltons already booking their tickets for 2022. We would love to see you play there again

. Do you plan to return to ADE next year? 

 Yes, I plan to be back again next year representing the Disco Waltons, but also hope that more of the crew will be in attendance, including yourself, Karen! Having more of the crew at ADE will make it even more special. So many of us are really having a lot of success and there is unlimited talent in this group, in addition to being a bunch of big-hearted, fun-loving folks. I predict it will be a total blow-out with the bigger group at ADE.  

 Any advice you would give to anyone thinking of going to ADE 2022?  

 Here's a tip for anyone that might be heading to Holland that I didn't learn until my last day there: You must make an appointment for your daily test, but know that once you make the appointment and pick a time, you can really go anytime to test. They don't cross-reference the time of your test with your appointment time, so that allows for a lot more freedom.

   Where can we find you playing out / radio shows in the next few months?  

Unfortunately, many of the nightclubs that I would have been playing at pre-pandemic are now permanently closed, but I do a weekly lounge set at The Garden Room in Atlanta. On the radio, I'm on the first Sunday of every month for Spin City on MyHouseRadio.fm with various guests from the disco scene. Not a radio show so much, but I have a video interview show that I do monthly for Only Good Vibes Music, called Island Time with Wahine, which you can find on Youtube and Soundcloud, with upcoming guests Cloak Dagger and Never Dull. I will be making appearances on NDC Radio for the Disco Waltons Sunday Service. I also have several guest mixes coming up for the BPM collective out of France, Crossfade based in Puerto Rico, as well as for Spain's Spa In Disco.