Intersessions is an education and activist platform putting a spotlight on gender disparity within electronic music. Organizing DJ workshops and practice sessions around the globe, DJ and founder Chippy Nonstop dropped by London along with panel guests Nadine Noor (DJ, founder of Pxssy Palace) and Peach (DJ and Psychic Readings label owner) to give an informative and hands-on DJing 101. 

Perfect for beginner DJs, the evening started with a discussion around many of the practical aspects of DJing, including file organization and best practices, Rekordbox, preparing for sets, and getting clued up on technicals like how to use CDJs and how they’re different from controllers.

Listen to the full recording below:

The evening started with a discussion around many of the practical aspects of DJing, including file organization and best practices, Rekordbox, preparing for sets, and getting clued up on technicals like how to use CDJs and how they’re different from controllers.

Some great advice was to not get too pigeonholed with genres, especially at the beginning, and just go with what music you like. Over time your own personal style will get clearer and more defined. They also addressed the topic of being a non-white man and queer in the DJ space, with some helpful tips on how to navigate situations from the outset.

“When starting out, I just kind of focused on anything that I liked. And then eventually as you mix and as you carry on, you do end up kind of developing a style for yourself and finding the things that are attracting you to those specific sounds.” – Peach

“The biggest advice that I could give is, once you start, the music industry is very white CIS and it is very male, and it’s very serious. You just kind of have to pick your battles when outside of your own little community. So it’s really about being prepared, knowing the system that you’re playing on, being prepared for anything that can happen.” – Nadine Noor

A big part of becoming a DJ is knowing how to set up your equipment and having the knowledge to troubleshoot issues when they crop up – which they inevitably do in live club contexts. Consequently, a lot of the discussion around becoming a successful DJ revolved around being self-sufficient in as many areas as possible. 

The DJ workshop part of the session gave everyone a great introduction to how the cabling and signal paths work, where participants were taken through many of the CDJ and mixer features. The DJs also offered some of their best performance and workflow tips.

Following the equipment walkthrough and questions, audience members got to have a go at mixing – an invaluable opportunity for a lot of people starting out. The atmosphere was very supportive and inspiring, with a lot of people walking away with some mixing practice experience and new knowledge.