What’s Good? saint. (part one)

saint.

“Keep Calm and Just Dance” might be one of the mottos for her dance party Eclectic Circus, but “calm” is the last thing I think of when I hear this lady’s work. Just whom am I talking about? Zoë Renee Jackson, better known as saint. . Though her moniker was earned from her good behavior, her  mixing will lead you to some serious sinning.

She sent me an email way back in January to introduce herself and to promote one of her recent additions to her Chocolate City mix series (which you can listen to here), and I was quite impressed. Beyond being an excellent DJ, saint is also very creative. Makeup and styling are certainly among her list of many talents. Yet in an interesting twist, she doesn’t live in NYC, LA, or Miami. She calls Cleveland, Ohio her home, breaking many stereotypes about the Midwestern music scene (save Chicago and Detroit, of course). In a time when large major cities are experiencing a bit of a musical rut, it’s good to know there are always people out there who are pushing the envelope and using their music to move a dancefloor.

In addition to being a trendsetter in music, saint. is also serving to change the landscape of the music scene as being one of the few transgender DJs out there, particularly with such a diverse following. Her dance party was recently ranked one of the top music parties in Ohio, despite its newness, and I completely understand why.

I had the opportunity to speak with saint about her work as a DJ, promoter, and overall Renaissance woman. Take a moment to find out what she had to say and see What’s Good with saint. :

The mix that you initially sent us, “Return to Chocolate City,” spanned so many different musical genres. What inspired you to make it and what equipment/system did you use to put it all together? I also noticed that, unlike many DJs, you allowed many of the songs you chose to play out almost in their entirety. What motivated that choice? Are most of your mixes done in this way or was it an explicit choice for this mix?

The “Return to Chocolate City” mix is actually a part of a series of mixes that I release in a Chocolate City family.  My reasons for initially starting this series was that I could open a new avenue of playing a lot of music from a lot of DJs and producers that influence me, musically.  It’s really a great way for me to relax from some of the nights out I have when working.  It allows me to play music that really speaks to me and that I would gladly play for free any night of the week.  When I am doing one of these mixes, I envision a story of an epic night out in a city dripping in rhythm-from start to finish.  In respects to my mixing style in the chocolate city series, I choose to play the full length of a lot of songs because there is a story to be told within the beat, and there is a story within the transition to the next song.  I ‘ride’ a lot of the mixes out for 1 minute or more in the series, allowing the phrasing to speak to the listener, for them to close their eyes and project their selves in this adventure with me.  I have been known to change my style around, especially during really high energy performance sets, in which case I use the selection and the phrasing to tell the story.  I use a basic setup of two turntables, a mixer, and my scratch live unit-I also do al of my mixes in one take with little to no pre-determinations of structure made.   Every mix I release, I release live and on-the-fly, it’s a true reflection of what you may expect when you see me perform live.

Generally, what type of music do you play for your monthly party Eclectic Circus? Does it mirror the music of your mix in its diversity or does it generally find itself in one genre or another?

The Eclectic Circus sound is as the name implies; eclectic.  I approach EC sets as an opportunity to introduce new musical; avenues and a different style of nightlife that they experience in this city and other cities.  It is a balance of what’s familiar and what’s delightfully peculiar, haha.  It is really the craziest party in the city.  As a DJ, I feel, one has an obligation to the people to nurture them in the comfort of what they know but also educate.  I love, love, absolutely LOVE to give people that “what record was that? I don’t think I’ve heard anything like it but I love it!” feeling.  It was those feelings hat influenced me to further expand my musical knowledge and ultimately transformed me into the DJ that you see today

How has your crowd responded to the music? to the party? 

Eclectic Circus, or EC, has been received extremely well by the people.  We have a very loyal following of next generation club kids that are absolutely die-hard supporters.  We have a large EC family, all of us of diverse backgrounds.  I started this party in May of 2010 as a result of countless frustration with the lack of unity within the Cleveland nightlife communities.  I wanted to create a party that all people could come to and, as our motto states, leave your labels at the door.  Today, the primary EC family (myself, DJ Mike Filly, DJ techwizard, promoter Tom Gay, and other members of our support staff) work extremely hard to bring something new, different, and fun to our fair city   We have been able to expand the EC brand to other clubs and other parties at venues in and outside of Cleveland.  I am still in a state of disbelief when I realize that this is happening, it’s surreal but it’s a blessing.  The primary EC party is held on the third Thursday of every month at Bounce Nightclub.

I’m making this next statement in the most sincere manner-Cleveland, Ohio is one of the most special cities in the United States.  It is one of the most challenging cities for a DJ, promoter, artist, or other creative minded person-but these struggles are what I feel to be necessary to truly understand your own integrity.  It took me a significant amount of time to be recognized as a respectable DJ in this city, not that there are DJs for days in this town but the DJs that are established in this city or honestly world class DJs.  To gain the respect and recognition as ‘worthy’ takes more than just the hype of the hustle, it actually takes the goods to back it.  Yes, it can be crowded, it can even be cut-throat, but once you are proven, you reap all of which you sow.  I’ve played and still play in other cities, large cities in which the only effort to have a sustainable nightlife is to be open.  It’s nice but there is no challenge, you have a city full of as I call it-dollar bin DJs and the waters become so diluted in the nightlife that the people can’t actually discern quality from (word for garbage).  In Cleveland, if you are trying to run a night or a venue that actually gives a unique club experience, you (in a Rupaul voice) better work!! At the end of the day, we’re a blue collar town that isn’t primarily influenced by avant garde culture, to think outside of the curve can be dangerous here, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.    Cleveland is home, it will always be home, it will always be the city that allowed me to see just how talented of a DJ I am, I don’t plan on staying here forever (I actually have plans on leaving this city soon) but I will always appreciate and be grateful of where I’ve come from.

check back tomorrow for part two!

- Retail DJ

Tags: saint, what's good?, what's good? saint, zoe renee jackson