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DJ REKHA

Interviewed by Analog Tara in Brooklyn, May 2002.

Rekha Malhotra, a/k/a DJ Rekha, is founder of the successful Basement Bhangra and Mutiny parties in New York City, and a primary catalyst of the South Asian music scene in New York. Born in London and raised on Long Island, Rekha's involvement with DJing began about 10 years ago, rather "circumstantially," as she puts it, when she decided to form a DJ crew with two cousins. When the cousins moved back to India, Rekha took over the decks and hasn't looked back since. She's been instrumental in introducing new talent in British Asian music to U.S. audiences, and is frequently consulted as an expert on musics of the South Asian diaspora. Whether she's commanding the decks and mic at the monthly party Basement Bhangra, using her events to raise money for human rights and other nonprofit organizations, or breaking down the technicalities for aspiring artists at DJ workshops, Rekha's work consistently combines music with community activism, and the work is never done.

Q: How long have you been DJing?

A: That's kind of a relative question. Technically speaking, I became part of my DJ crew 10 years ago, but I don't think I was actually DJing. It took me 5 years to actually start DJing, so I'd say about 7 or 8 years. I started with my cousins, they were boys, and I was booking the gigs, I wasn't playing on the tables.

Q: What made you decide to start?

A: They left! I used to dabble, but I really put them forward, and then they left. Starting to DJ was somewhat circumstantial. Our roles were very gendered, like I was very involved in the music selection, and administrative duties. There were 2 of them, and they left one by one and moved back to India. The first one was really the DJ, he was really talented; he's still a DJ, actually. And it was fine - it was partly gendered, partly because he had an interest and a talent for it. Then when he left and the other cousin was there, you know, he was all right. But that's when I really got my hands on it, got started.

Q: And the actual skill of doing it, was that something you kind of worked out on your own?

A: Yeah, when I learned, it was very trial-error. I just feel like the simplest things, things that seem very obvious today, we learned very slowly and painfully. You know, there was no knowledge out there - this was pre-Internet, there was no written material, no documentation, no nothing - you have to learn from someone else. I felt like we were working very isolated. We decided, as a group of cousins, you know, kind of like siblings, to start a crew. Kind of like the Ramones - they had three chords, you know? I remember telling this family friend, who's older, that I wanted to be a DJ, and he was a DJ. And he was like, "Do you know how to mix?" And I'm like, "What?" I didn't even know what that meant. He's like, "It takes a really long time..." I was like, whatever, I didn't even care, I'm just gonna do it. 'Cause I had a lot of faith in my musical tastes and musical knowledge, and that's really what it takes.

Q: What music were you listening to?

A: Well, I listened to everything. I had a lot of Prince in my life... I felt like I always knew what was going on musically, like with the hip hop stuff, even before hip hop was cool and trendy. Some Indian stuff... So all of that, I mean, I felt like I had a reasonable palette to choose from.

Q: What made you want to be a DJ? Was it working the crowds, or presenting the music you liked to other people?

A: I was very excited about the music; and it was kind of like a family bonding thing with me and my cousins. We wanted to do something together, we wanted an activity, and we thought maybe we could make some money. We actually were inspired because we saw a lot of punk-asses do it, and thought they did a really bad job, or thought we could do this better, which made a lot of sense. And then before I knew it, one of my cousins all of a sudden landed upon some hot gear. It was like one minute we're talking about it, next minute, someone's selling me a CD player and mic, and I'm like, OK, cool, that's it, done, we're started! And I still have that gear I bought. It was a Radio Shack mixer, CD player, tape deck, microphone, like good shit, you know?

Q: I saw on your site that you got interested in radio, along with community activism, while you were in college. Was that around the time you started DJing?

A: It kind of happened together. But my activism stuff started way before I was DJing. And I think because of that, DJing gave me more opportunities. I got to do a lot of fundraisers, community events; it got me open to a great crowd, a good audience, and then I got involved in radio. And I felt like almost immediately, I became like this person who had to speak about bhangra, like, ad nauseum, you know? It just started almost immediatelyÑnext thing I know, someone's writing their Ph.D. and they need to interview a real person in the field, and it was me. It was really interesting, 'cause I remember back then people were just like slurpin' it up, because all the metaphors people use - "It's created in the diaspora!" - "It's old, it's new!" They just want to retro-fit their theories so badly. I helped them out so much!

Q: But that still goes on, right? You're so much the point person on bhangra for better or for worse. Do you feel pressured by that sometimes, or is it frustrating that you have to keep regurgitating the same information?

A: It gets a little monotonous. I think I just take it as part of my work. It's like if you're an actor, and you do this great part, everybody knows you, and you're happy, too, that you did it. But you know that as an actor, you did many other things, but they're always gonna talk about that! And I feel sometimes the same way; I'm happy and I love it, but I don't want to get musically typecast. So I try to create other things, events that hopefully break that. But Basement Bhangra is the thing that people know the most.

And I also feel like there's other things in play, with the mainstream media - or let's just say the non-South Asian media. I feel like they want the ethnic story. It's not exciting for them if it doesn't have that. We had a very known lifestyle, music/trendoid magazine come to Mutiny, which I think is just a great party. And they came to Mutiny and they came to Basement Bhangra, and they wrote the story on Bhangra. And I just feel like it's not fair. I think it's an interesting statement, because it's deep - they want the ethnic story, they want the twist. And it has to be very obvious; Mutiny is not necessarily so obvious.

Q: And to you, is Mutiny more musically exciting?

A: In many ways it is. To me, Basement Bhangra is just a fuckin' no-holds-barred, rock-on house party. You know, seriously. Work out and all that shit, you know? But Mutiny, you're gonna go and experience something. It is about dancing, but sometimes it's about listening. And I think that is exciting to me. And there's so many different people who DJ at that party, and so you're really getting open to a lot of different things, whereas at Basement, it's just me and Phil [Money], and we have our ways.

Q: When did you start Mutiny?

A: Fall of '97. Like 6 months after Bhangra. And it was me and Vivek [Bald, a/k/a DJ Siraiki], my partner.

Q: How would you characterize Mutiny musically?

A: Very hard to characterize. We used to say South Asian drum-n-bass, and I don't even think that's true anymore. Electronic music is such a vast landscape. And I feel like we draw on electronic music in every form, and we put in a lot of South Asian influences, and that's kind of where we go. Sometimes DJs will be doing a straight d-n-b set, or you know, everyone's on the electro kick now. I think it can go in lots of different directions. It's very eclectic.

Q: And as you start getting into your own productions, how are they evolving?

A: As an artist, I really have to assess my process and how I work. Production has become a real hurdle. I think the whole idea of producing something is very daunting, and I feel like the production work I've done, if it's an assignment, I can do it. And I still feel like it's just as creative an endeavor as if it was organically from my mind. Like I did this documentary, I did the music supervision, and I produced 3 music pieces for it, and it was great, I thought it was fine. It's an industrial project, so I'm not makin' any records off it; those pieces are very interstitial, theyÕre not tracks, full-fledged; but it was great, I learned a lot. And that worked for me. And a little over a year ago, same thing - a movie producer needed 2 tracks, and I banged them out with a friend. One of them was very commercial-sounding. But I still had fun doing it, and even within that, you want to still get your essence across. So what if it's commercial; make it fuckin' banging. So I've been trying to formulate ideas more - I'm trying to create the assignment now.

But I do feel like over the years I've learned a lot more about production, and I have the concepts down in a way that I didn't have a few years ago. And now it's technically just about executing them. And I think, for me, a lot of it has to do with having somebody to work with. I do not enjoy doing it alone, and I need feedback. Like I can't DJ in my own head, by myself; I want the response. So when I started DJing Basement Bhangra, when I really became more serious about being a DJ, I worked with my partner then, Joy. And he's since moved on; I felt like we were a good team. And I now I've made friends with this producer in Britain, and potentially we'll be doing some stuff together. Even if I work in the studio and he's engineering the stuff, I feel like, that's fine. It was really good 'cause I went there in January and I met with him and felt like he was talking to me seriously; he wasn't thinking I'm a dumb chick, you know? We were sharing information, and it felt really positive.

Q: We've talked about this before, but the business side of producing events...

A: Runs me into the ground! Quote me.

Q: You handle most of it yourself, right?

A: Yeah, it's 2 of us now... It's definitely eased the load up. But still, at the end of the day, it's the DIY problem of doing it all yourself, not having a tremendous financial backing - like no one's underwriting me; I am. You win some, you lose some. And you realize, when you do things in a business mode, things cost a lot more money. All of sudden, it's like, how many press kits am I gonna print up? How much ink am I gonna go through? Shit like that, you know, it starts adding up. Things like you can't have downtime on your computer, or you can't have things break on you. You're constantly hustling. You know, people think it's luxurious that I have a car in New York City, but I fuckin' use that thing all the time. It's an investment, it helps me get a lot more done.

Q: But doing all the business stuff definitely must limit the time you have to work on music.

A: I think it's about the kind of energy you need to do that stuff, and I think it really saps me. I feel like now that I have someone working with me who's very smart and doesn't need things spelled out. I think it's gonna free me up to work more on music.

I also want to figure out a way to integrate other things that I enjoy about being more of a creative director. I like producing shows. I do like breaking talent, I love doing it, I like being the first to do it in America and bring people over - that's exciting to me. So I want to keep doing it all, as much as I can.

Q: So should we talk about women and music technology? It's something I'm interested in getting people's opinions on - why there are still so few women producers, although it seems like progress has been made with DJing.

A: It's great. We are making lots of progress. It's not a big deal anymore. It's not like, "Oh my God, there was a girl DJ!" - you don't say that anymore. I mean, I think it's about socialization, fundamentally. Even with my gigs, even though I work with very sensitive males, the technology and the gender thing, it's so deep, and it's so right there! I do workshops, and all I need is one guy in the workshop, and 15 women, and he's up front and center! Did we do that thing together at CMJ?

Q: Yes. [Rekha, Analog Tara, DJ Lola, and others were on a panel at the CMJ Music Festival in 2000; while the event was intended as an introductory workshop on DJing and production, particularly for women and girls interested in learning, the audience consisted primarily of men who (when asked by Rekha) admitted they were already DJs.]

A: Well, I made a point of asking how many people in the room were DJs, 'cause the workshop was explicitly about kind of a "101" survey of how to DJ, and I guess because they were DJs they were interested in the topic, but I really felt like...

Q: It was more about testing our knowledge.

A: It was more about testing our knowledge than gaining anything. And I felt like I made it very clear there when I said: Oh, you just wanna know if we know what the fuck we're talking about.

Yeah, I think it's there, it's there a lot with all forms of technology, not just music and music production. I mean, I feel the way men share knowledge, share information, boast about knowledge - it's all part and parcel. And I think unless women are empowered more at an earlier age. Earlier when women are growing up, they do better at math; after a certain age, it drops off. Why? It's socialization, it's so cultural. And there's all these sexual, gender implications loaded with that, so if you are a women that's technically adept, then you have to deal with other stereotypes.

The one thing I try to teach in my DJ workshops is, I like to start with the equipment cased, and assemble the gear, do the setup, and make it as tactile as possible. I think that a lot of the hesitation is touching: touching equipment. You have to touch it! You can't be afraid of it; you can break anything, but you have to be able to not be afraid. It's a needle - it breaks, you buy another one.

But I think the gender stuff is still there; I walk into stores, or I go record shopping... it just doesn't stop. And because at my gigs often I am the promoter as well as the DJ, I totally get ignored as the DJ. They only see me as the promoter. Which, maybe that's just the trappings of being a promoter and a DJ. But I feel like there's never the credit due on the other end.

Q: What are your thoughts on the gender politics of bhangra, both in the lyrics...

A: They're horrendous! They're terrible.

Q: ...and on the dancefloor, when men often seem very much in control of the dance space?

A: Yeah, I struggle with that all the time, a lot. I don't know what to do about it. But I feel like in club spaces - and there are plenty of other club spaces that some of those issues come up, in hip hop spaces and stuff - I think it's part of clubbing, it's part of life. There are those politics, and I think they're cultural, and I also think they're about men and women in dance spaces and what happens and what our expectations are; all of that, alcohol, part of the nature of clubbing can be that way. That's the way it is, and we try to do our best to deal with it.

Bhangra, in terms of the content and the lyrics, it's a pretty male-dominated sport. I see a lot of similarities with hip hop, just in the way it's seen, consumed - all of that - valorized in the same way. What's the difference between the bhangra thug and the hip hop thug? Not much difference. That whole style, there's a level of machismo attached to it. And the lyrics, a lot of them talk about Punjab, and this idyllic homeland that doesn't exist, a lot of it's just about dancing, wooing the women; it's about many things.

Q: Tell me about the Your Attention Please fundraisers.

A: Basically how it works is, before Basement Bhangra, from 7 to 9 p.m., we do a fundraiser for a community organization. We program some talent, and the bulk of money goes to the community organization. The idea is that it gives them an opportunity to do a public event, where they don't have to put out any costs, and it gives us an opportunity to get people into our space earlier. And it gives me an opportunity to program talent. It's especially encouraging to program talent for someone for whom playing at S.O.B.'s is a big deal. It's a good venue. We've done about 15 of them. We try to do 7 a year. Your Attention Please is a good idea, it's been very effective; we want to continue doing it, definitely.

Q: So do you see yourself doing this kind of thing, DJing, promoting...

A: Forever? Yeah. Fuckin' 'til the day I die. I hope it gets easier; it won't. I hope it gets more profitable; it may, it may not. I'm just really happy walking away, creating things. That's the ultimate high for me, to have a hand in creating something. Part of me wants to have my run doing DJ stuff, holding onto my own, but also running things from a more "creative director" point of view, bringing it back into community work. I think I'm in this phase now where I'm still building it, and after a point, I can build it enough so it comes back to me being able to really pick and choose what I do.

More on DJ Rekha at www.sangament.com.