What’s Good? Shomi Noise (Part Two)

 . . . continued from What’s Good? Shomi Noise (Part One)

Do any other DJs that come to mind?

Other DJs in the scene I’m in that I’ve worked with and/or really respect include Sirlinda, who is really good! Also, I went to a That’s My Jam party recently where I saw a DJ named Noa D play, who’s amazing. I was really impressed. Also, there’s DJ Ender Wiggin, who is another queer DJ I’ve worked with who’s pretty cool! Another DJ I really like is Helen Harris of OMG Michelle.

Have you ever DJed any mixed-crowd parties or anything outside of the queer community? If so, have you noticed a difference in the response?

Yeah. I’ve DJed at the Rubin Museum, which is an interesting place to DJ because it’s mostly lounge DJing, which is completely different. But it’s good to step outside my box and see how things work out there in the “real world.” [laughs] For a long time, I just said I was only going to do queer parties. It was just kind of a comfort / safety thing for me because, you know, people probably won’t be as condescending, etc. But then I started DJing at the museum, which was interesting because I would get weird responses sometimes, but most of the time, I received really positive feedback.

What do you mean by “weird” responses?

Sometimes, I would get guys who would come up to me and say things like, “Why are you playing this crap? Play something good.” I’d ask, “Like what?” and he’d respond with something like, “Gorillaz.” [laughs] Ooooook… I’ve also had guys come up to me at the Rubin and be like,

“Are you really serious about DJing?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, you know what would make you a better DJ?”
“What?”
“If you took your shirt off.”

I would get really sexist comments sometimes.

Seriously? At the MUSEUM?!?!

Yeah! I mean, there are random crowds of people there, so . . . I’ve experienced sexism from the audience more than from other DJs. But, at the same time, sometimes I’d play something and the most random people would come up to me and give me a compliment. I got a lot of really positive reinforcement while DJing at the museum as well.

That helped me, and it made me think that maybe I should DJ other places, not just the queer party scene. It’s something I want to start doing more of.

So let’s backtrack. How did “Shomi Noise” come about, and how did you become a DJ in the first place?

Well, “Shomi Noise” was just something I used to call myself because people are always making fun of the connotations, if you will, that come with my name “Shomi,” like “Shomi the money!” [laughs] But I was not into any of that, so one day I just thought, “Shomi Noise!” I was really into punk and loud music, so it seemed like the perfect thing to call myself. I started doing my own music, DIY, lo-fi stuff, which was more rock and punk-focused, so it fit.

“Shomi Noise” was my alter-ego. I never thought about DJing until I was asked to make a mix for a party at a friend’s house. Everybody was dancing, and they were like, “Oh, you’re actually really good! Have you ever thought about DJing?” And I was like, “Nahhh, not really.” Then my friend Ariel, who was throwing a party called Anonymous at Mannahatta on the Bowery, [helped me get started]. [Mannahatta] is a cute Eastern European bar that’s really cool. All the bar people are very nice. So Ariel decided to start this party for queer punks specifically, and she said I should DJ because I’m really into RiotGrrrl and queercore music. She wanted me to be the opener. She also got Tikka Masala to come DJ as well as DJ Fucci, I believe.

That night was my first time DJing out officially. It was a complete disaster! [laughs] I didn’t know what I was doing! I was DJing off of iTunes! Now I’m like, “ooooh, how could I have done that?!?!?” BUT you have to start somewhere and learn somehow. My sound was weird. I had the wrong cables. Everything sounded like it was underwater. It was horrible! It was early, so there was no one there yet. But my friends were there and just like, “ooooohhh.” So my friend Sean said, “Let me run to Cake Shop and get you a real cable.” He’s an audio nerd too. He set me up and finally everything worked. So I started DJing, and at that time, more people had started coming. They were into it! I wasn’t even crossfading or anything. I was just playing songs off iTunes! [laughs]

But the other DJs had not shown up. It was eleven o’clock. No DJ. Then twelve o’clock. No DJ! Then a little bit after, Tikka Masala showed up, after a delay or DJing another party or something. She was so sorry, apologized, etc, but she heard some of my set and said, “Oh, you’re really good. You should DJ this party I’m starting.” It was just the beginning of That’s My Jam.

It was maybe the third party, and she had me DJ. I was like, “Wow! She’s asking me to DJ an actual party! A BIG party” [laughs] Anonymous was a little party, then they got more people to come in. I started DJing that party regularly, but I think they stopped doing it for logistical reasons.

That’s My Jam was the first big party that I DJed. I knew I could NOT DJ off of iTunes. That’s just embarrassing! So I started doing research about DJing, how you can DJ from a laptop, what equipment you need, what hardware . . . all of that. I just spent hours and hours figuring out what setup to use. I invested in a mixer, then got the software. I had to learn the software in a week because the party was coming up. I got this dinky software I downloaded from the internet. It wasn’t that great. [laughs]

So I go to this party . . . and there are a LOT of people. It was at Sputnik. Janhavi (Tikka Masala) was really cool. She said to me “You have the main slot of the party.” With DJ lineups, there’s the opener DJ, the main DJ (in other words, the headliner), and then there’s whoever goes after. She gave me the headliner spot. I was like, “REALLY?!?!?” [laughs] I was just a beginner. It was really cool of her to give me a chance and let me showcase what I could do.

check back tomorrow for Part Three (plus the photoshoot and exclusive mix!)

Tags: anonymous party, cake shop, dj ender wiggin, dj noa d, dj sirlinda, helen harris, manna hatta, omg michelle, sputnik, that's my jam, the rubin museum of art, tikka masala, what's good?, what's good? shomi noise