DJ Soulus (Roost; Rebar; GOMP), rave scene pioneer

Interview Transcript: Alicia K (DJ Soulus)

Interview date: August 7, 2016, 11:00 AM

Interview location: Alicia’s house, ground floor, sitting room Edmonton, AB

Interview total time: ~45 minutes

Alicia spins liquid drum 'n bass under the pseudonym Soulus.  She is a photographer and graphic designer who produces flyers for parties and club nights promoted by, among others, Grumpy Old Men Productions (GOMP) and their associates. 

In addition to this interview, Alicia has contributed to this history project immensely, by having saved an archive of flyers from parties and club nights beginning about 1999.  Many of the scanned flyers in this project are from her archive.  For this, and for today's interview, the E-town Rave History Project would like to express its sincere appreciation.

Deejay Soulus has provided a mix to accompany her interview transcript.  This was her 2017 submission to DNB Girls of Canada, "A collective of talented female artists, producers, song writers, singers & deejays" for the program L.O.U.D (Ladies of Ultimate Destruction).  More of Soulus' music is available on her Soundcloud.

~~~ Interview Transcript ~~~

JP: Joining me now is DJ Soulus, Alicia. Thank you so much for agreeing to do this with me.

AK: Thank you for asking.

JP: Alicia, where did you grow up?

AK: Here [Edmonton], and a couple of small towns in the area. I grew up til grade 5 in Gibbons, here for junior high, Redwater for high school, and then back here in Edmonton for Grant McEwan. And been here ever since.

JP: What was it like to grow up in Edmonton?

AK: Good. Let's see, I don't think I have any crazy out of sight experiences here -- ooh, the Black Friday tornado of 1987 -- but otherwise it's been good.

JP: Did you listen to the radio, when you were growing up?

630 CHED.  Bringing Edmonton breaking
News, Traffic, Weather and Sports

AK: Yes, but not till high school-ish. I listened to a lot of classical because I was in piano, early on, so I didn't listen to pop music or anything like that until later. So, by high school there used to be -- and who remembers this? -- 630 CHED when they played dance music and they would play different remixes of Janet Jackson songs, and the like.

And so right away I was making mix tapes and always looking for the latest mix of whatever pop song was a hit. I was really into that for a while. I still have the cassette tapes somewhere in the basement.

JP: Help me trace the outline of your rave career. Do you remember your first party? That you attended? The very first. Can you take us back?

AK: I remember being in college and the Edmonton Journal running some big article about 'Rave.' And I remember asking an older but still young and hip friend like, What is a rave? So I went from knowing absolutely nothing -- and this is partly because, let's say I'd been back in the city for only a couple of years. I'd been living on an acreage up to this point so I feel kind of late to everything, a bit, because I wasn't going to bars or anything. I didn't do any of that all through that my college years or anything.

But I did eventually start going to bars.  I remember Club Malibu. That's where my love for dancing the night away started. I used to go to Club Malibu just off Jasper Ave ... and loved it! Danced all night. And this wasn't even really drinking or anything at all or that much. So it was really for the love of music.

And by then I'd been interested, I moved on from club music into more electronica, back when they called it all techno. [00:05:00]

I remember HMV used to have a 'techno' section and that was anything electronic. They changed the techno sign, it changed one day to 'electronica' -- And I remember laughing, thinking what a ridiculous word. What the heck is that? And then noticing that, oh now they're sub genre-ing what they used to just call techno into -- I don't remember what the subsections were, but I just remember that transition in the music store.

JP: Do you remember when that was?

AK: Mid-nineties maybe? ABC Sound used to be downtown near the college and I'd go there lots.

JP: What drew you to parties? Or what kept you going back?

AK: Just, I loved the music and I loved to dance and have fun.

A view inside Rebar, 10551 - 82 Ave.
The club logo is on the back wall.
Source: The Gateway, July 12, 2001. Photo by Chris Govias

From Club Malibu, those days there was also a bar called Rebar on Whyte Ave. And that was a major transitionary point because Rebar played a mixture of top 40 and more underground electronica. That has to be where I got my first exposures, moved on from the just the slimy Top 40 typical bar scene into a more underground thing which was Rebar.

JP: Can you paint us a picture of Rebar? Like, can you in your head walk into the club and describe to me what you see?

AK: Yeah, it was off of Whyte Avenue, just a black door in the wall, usually with a line up outside, and a bouncer. And you'd walk in, and I just remember door girls, coat check on the left, and then you come around the corner and then you see just the expanse of the dance floor, and the bars are at the far end, the washrooms -- and for a little while they had multi-gender washrooms, it was whoever could go in. It wasn't segregated.

JP: Really.

AK: The segregated ones, guys and girls, were at the one end of the bar, and I remember for a while on the other side were the mixed ones -- they were kind of sketchy though, there weren’t doors on all the stalls.  So, not always my favorite choice but I used them a couple of times.

JP: And in your head as you're going back, how many people are there in the crowd?

AK: Full, it used to be full, like there'd be a line up and I would go early to try and beat the lineup. And in its heyday that place was packed, it was absolutely packed.

JP: What nights of the week, weekends?

AK: Thursdays were the most underground, best nights. Fridays and Saturdays a little more of the Top 40 stuff came in to appeal to the bigger crowd. Thursdays, definitely, were the best.

JP: When did you say to yourself, I want to be a DJ?

AK: Well, ever since I was making mix tapes, I had the vision.  I don't know if I thought I would be a DJ, because where would I DJ? But I used to just imagine playing music for people. And then once I got into clubbing for sure, I would visualize what a set of mine might be.

I was always very conscious of the fact that there is a DJ. Some people are not thinking about where the music is coming from, who's playing it, or any background to that person. But I was always very aware of who the DJ was, and tried to hover around and watch.

JP: For the benefit of people who don't know what techno is and who don't have exposure to this scene, would you describe the role of the DJ?

AK: In the club?

JP: Yeah. In putting together the music and putting it out.

AK: Well, the DJ at their best is in control of the crowd, in terms of knowing when they want to rock out and knowing when it's time to let them slow down. And -- in partnership with the bar, letting people slow down and go get a drink. Being a club DJ is a little bit different than being a rave DJ, because at a rave there are no bar sales, there's nothing else but the music and the dancefloor, whereas in a bar you can't forget that they're there to make money. When you have a good, full understanding of the purpose of a bar, the DJ has a relationship with the timing of, and ebb and flow of when it's time for people to have five minutes to go get a drink.

[00:10:00]

JP: I never thought of that, that's really interesting.

How did you get started? What are the first steps that you took towards spinning two records in the classical style with a mixer between?

AK: Strangely it was a few years after I started DJ'ing with CD's that I got into vinyl. But my first true DJ mixing was, at the time, it was Denon boards I think, and they didn't even have a round knob for controlling the disc speed.

Denon DN 2000F CD players such as those on which Soulus learned to deejay.  "Note the lack of even a jog wheel!" 

There was a bar called 109 Discotheque [in the same building as Club Malibu: the Morgue --Ed.]. And they had 'open nights' where anybody could play.

"Y" adaptor

And one day, I wanted to know what the DJ was doing behind the decks so I brought my own set of headphones and what they call a "Y" adaptor so that I could plug into the mixer, and the DJ and I could both plug in and I could hear what he was doing in the headphones. I had access to that kind of equipment because I was taking audio-visual communications at Grant MacEwan, so I had taken a bit of audio production. So I had a little bit of a technical edge which I think is maybe why I got the opportunity I did.

I remember telling the deejay -- DJ Lefty -- that I'd worked on a mixer board before and that was like – oh, a surprise, you know? Like, I know what this is, I know basically what you're doing up here... but how you do it? So he was nice enough to let me plug in and listen and I just became friends with him and then I had enough CDs of my own and somewhere down the road was allowed to try, probably on one of those open nights, when nobody's in the bar before anyone gets there.

And I practiced. I practiced at the bar when no one was around. Like crowd-wise, the bar was open but it was quiet.

JP: How did you move from there to vinyl? Or let me ask you this, why did you move from there to vinyl?

AK: At that time, it was hard to get CD players at events. And I could see around me that back then -- this is 1996, 97, 98 -- most of the DJs did play vinyl. So, I kind of laugh that I have this reverse order of the way technology's gone, as I first learned on digital CDs and then moved into vinyl.

The Roost... Flashback's evil older brother.
10345 - 104 Street.

The Roost was where I got my first access to vinyl because they had an enormous in-house vinyl collection, a lot of disco and older classics. The Roost was one of the, if not the longest running gay bars in Edmonton. I'm not sure of its whole history. They let me practice after hours like when the downstairs was open but upstairs was not. They were kind enough to let me go up and use their library and use their turntables and that's where I was practicing and making the decision if I was really going to invest that in because it's expensive. And having that opportunity to solidify my decision, I eventually went out and got my own turntables.

JP: Can you paint me a picture of the Roost? Like describe for me the DJ booth where you got your break.

AK: The Roost. OK.

So it was a two floor thing. Downstairs was eighties classics and upstairs was the underground stuff. The upstairs sound booth was cool because it was totally encased and sort of sound proof with big windows looking out onto the dance floor. I first started having little guest spots with my boyfriend at the time, Code Red who was a fixture there at Rebar, and at the Roost. And, I got chances to start playing on my own, and succeeded.

So upstairs was the electronic underground rave-style feeling up there -- lasers, flashing lights and underground, really underground music.  And then with your typical Cher or Madonna remix or whatever, for the gay crowd. It was an awesome fun mixture of music.[00:15:00]

But obviously being female, not just because it was gay bar -- there were no other female deejays, so people really noticed that a girl -- a girl -- was deejaying.

JP: There were no other female deejays other than you?
AK: No.

JP: Not at Roost?

AK: No.

JP: Even at the lesbian night downstairs?

AK: Nope, nope. No women.

JP: All men?

AK: All men. I think I saw one girl deejay play once, before I had even started, but I never saw her again. And a short time went by and I started playing. And since that moment I was the only woman for a couple of years I think.

JP: Wow, that surprises me. What was the environment like?

AK: It was fine, but people noticed when a girl was behind the decks. Usually just surprise. Shock.

JP: When you were honing your craft, how did you hone your craft? Did you practice at home?

AK: Definitely. Yes definitely.

JP: How much did you practice?

AK: I was never a practice six-hours-a-day type, which some people are, and maybe I'd be a better deejay if I did do that. I just played. I got as many new songs as I could afford, and played for fun. I got a lot of experience while playing out live and the crowd was always forgiving of mistakes.

JP: Where did you get your records?

AK: DV8. Foosh. Treehouse. Those are the later ones. Colourblind had a tiny vinyl section for a while. They were mostly a clothing and shoe store, but they had this tiny vinyl section. And then online sometimes.

JP: When was this, about?

AK: 1998? Well, '98 is when I started actually playing bigger parties. So I had been collecting before '98.

JP: Describe, could you, what it was like to buy records online in 1998?

AK: Oh, we didn't buy online then. We didn't buy online until 2000 or something when the records stores started closing, because of the advent of digital deejaying. Record sales dropped off. And then I haven't bought records in quite a while.

JP: Do you use files now to do it, MP3's?

AK: No. I never did. So, I'm one of the few who never transferred over to digital -- it' s not that I don't embrace it or anything. I have a MIDI controller in my drawer right now like, I have nothing against it. It's just I didn't want to make the investment and, kind of let my records just sit there and not use them anymore. I felt like I was abandoning a huge investment of monetary and sentimental value. I don't want to think that I'm never going to play those records again. So I decided just to stick with it.

And, funnily enough, now, playing vinyl, people make a big deal about it because they think that's cool now. So it's like this weird circular backwards-ness. Now I have to make sure there's turntables at events -- there often aren't anymore.

[00:20:00]

JP: How do you plan your sets?

AK: I am a planner, for the most part. Some people say they don't plan at all. But for me -- because usually I know the venue and the crowd, because this is my home town, this is where I grew up DJ'ing, I have a sense of the crowd -- I do a visualization of a couple of different scenarios, and, plan three or four tracks together.  I can always mix it up live if I have to. I'm not afraid to, it's not that I can't break out of my set... Usually I visualize what I think the night will go like and visualize what piece of the musical puzzle I should play.

But I like to plan because I feel like I'm preparing something, for something important. Because it's like a speech. I'm going to pre-write my speech, right? But it's music.

JP: How do you execute? How do you -- How do you physically do it? Do you put your records in bags, do you order them, do you put them in a milk crate?

AK: I keep them in the order that I'm going to play them. And, I've got a record bag and I just throw them in, and then I fill out the rest of the bag with randoms for any other possible situation that could come up, and then always a couple of surprises if things go really crazy.

A kitten can spell disaster for a DJ.

JP: Has there ever been a DJ disaster that's a funny story? Like, like a cat jumping on a turntable or something?

AK: Two come to mind. One -- not quite a cat but it was at a party where you got the paper wristbands, and it was loose and I went to pick the needle off the record and the band caught on the needle and at full volume, I reached across and I snagged it. But I think enough people saw what happened that I was quickly forgiven. I just restarted the track I think. It was just like... people could see what had happened.

A funnier one, and one that I like to use to keep my ego in check if I need it is -- I did this awesome mix at the bar and there was a guy watching, and he was like, Great mix! and I said, Thanks! and then I lifted the needle off the record that was playing. It was such a good mix, and then I lift up the record I mixed into, not the one I had mixed out of. Classic.

Good times.

JP: Thank you for sharing all this with me. Were you ever invited to play a gig out of town? What was your first, do you remember that?

Flyer for deejay Soulus' first gig in Calgary,
"Dirty Decibels" (July 25, 2001).

AK: Yeah, DJ Chris Proph invited me to play down in Calgary. The furthest I ever got was Calgary, thank you Calgary!

I tried to, like with Facebook and stuff, try to keep an eye on the Calgary scene as well. So somehow I ended up being friends with a couple of deejays there, Proph, Lotus Queen, and some psy people Kruze, Nocturnal. So I've been down a few times. And I played a club night with Lotus Queen. I always had an awesome time. I think I've only played there, like, three times.

JP: Can you talk to me about Calgary, and the rave scene?

AK: Not much honestly because my experience was just from either playing or going to events down there.  But the events were always great.

JP: Can you tell us about those? Because, and the reason I ask is because you said, "Thank you Calgary" and I think Calgary and Edmonton were kind of like sister cities you know.

AK: Yeah, for always being fun when I went, and for giving me a new audience, on a couple of occasions to play to, which is the most fun, to play to people who I know for sure I have never heard my sets, like everything's a brand new track to them. Sometimes I feel like been overplaying the same thing. Actually I remember a lot of the events that I went to there being psytrance based. Back in the blacklight-room-era decorations and stuff. It was always good. [00:25:00]

JP: What kind of music do you play? How would you describe it?

AK: Liquid drum 'n bass. Melodic drum 'n bass. Usually 'liquid' was applied to me.  Intelligent drum 'n bass was an early term as well.

JP: Do you have an artistic vision? Why do you do it?

AK: To bring a positive soulful experience in the form of song. To make people feel good.

JP: Did you feel supported? Like at the Roost let's say.

AK: Yeah. Yes. They were also the ones that gave me my very first solo headliner night. They gave me Wednesdays. It was just me on the main floor on Wednesdays.

JP: What was it like to see your name on a flyer for the first time?

AK: Well, I made the flyer myself.

Flyer for deejay Soulus' first club night, at the Roost

I made myself these little, tiny little flyers.  At the time, [♫] Funk Soul Brother was the hot song, so I called my night "Funksoulsista Wednesdays," playing a little bit on the fact that I was female. I didn't draw an especially female crowd or anything. It was just a regular night, mixed music. So I had to dip into the Roost's library for like the 80s and 70s, ABBA stuff and Cher. I did not possess those in my collection. That was the house collection. Which, I can't think of any other bar who had a library like that, that you could pull upon to play. That was really unique, super important, to how I got as far as I did in my start.

JP: Records on a big shelf?

AK: Yeah, upstairs they had shelves and shelves. I don't know hardly anything of what's in it. I think a lot of it was disco, but that's out of my realm.

JP: How many women DJs did you know in Edmonton? When people talk about this they say you, they say Sweetz... can you help me fill in the list?

AK: Sweetz for sure.  Erin Eden. I'm trying to just think of the earliest names. DJ Bree.  Shortee, who still plays out.  [Also Fuuze --Ed.]

JP:  What about in Calgary? Wasn't there a DJ Isis?

AK: Yes, still is, yes. And, Michelle C. And Lotus Queen, of course. She's probably one of the longest-running. Also Honee Mustard...

JP: That's not very many.

AK: There's lots more I can add that are newer.

JP: The reason that I'm going this way is because the rave scene has a lot of men in it but it’s kind of -- at its best, at its most ideal, I think it was more egalitarian, and less sort of macho let's just say. Do you agree?

AK: Yes.

JP: Can you talk to me about what it was like to be a woman deejay, back when you were getting started?

AK: Luckily, I can mostly only think of support. Of everyone being supportive. So there wasn't, I didn't feel a major barrier. Sometimes a little more attention than if I'd just been another guy... more attention was given.

But for the most part I felt fine. Sometimes I think there was some disbelief, or a shoving aside like, that I probably still don't know what I'm doing. It's not that I was like some sort of an immediate expert or anything but like, I knew enough that I should be up there, just like you would expect anybody else. Yeah, it was good. It was fine.[00:30:00]

JP: You talked about more attention. Was this positive or negative attention? Or maybe both?

AK: It can be both. Maybe some people can say that women play a different style of music than men and that's another thing that makes it stand out. I don't know if that's true. But I do -- for a while, I remember I usually would play a more melodic, vocal type of music that, I remember guys saying, Oh yeah the chicks love it. So, the attention was not just because I was female ... but the expectation that, because I was female I was going to play this style of music. Which you know, would be good or bad to them whatever their flavour was.

The bad side of it is guys who oogle girls, right and, you're on stage. Sometimes guys can't believe it and sometimes it's ...sometimes it was slimy, sometimes it was just genuine interest in it, like, Oh, it's a girl! Occasionally I felt I had to prove myself a bit more, that it wasn't just because I was dating a DJ that I was up there.

But yeah, I mostly would say all positive.

JP: Was there ever -- did anyone ever tell you, directly or indirectly, what you could or could not do?

AK: Not directly but I think there was definitely a time of, like a judgment period to make sure that I was actually doing it.

I do remember one experience at Rebar. I didn't play there very much. But I did get a couple of opportunities to play a couple of tracks with my boyfriend at the time, Code Red and he was sweet enough to leave the booth on one occasion when somebody else was kind of judging me negatively. And I was alone in the booth when I did the mix and thank God it was a good one because people were listening, you know. And watching, to see what I am and am not doing. So, sometimes I had to prove myself.

But, I was lucky enough that I did, I guess.

JP: Do you feel that the rave scene lived up to its ideals of unity and respect?

AK: For the most part. As with anything, some people are going to abuse the intentions of the scene. You know, there were times where these events were no longer allowed in certain locations because they left such a mess behind. So that's not one of the ideals of loving everything and being respectful. That went out the window on certain occasions. But that's true with anything.

I feel that most of my experiences at raves were positive and made me feel like a part of a bigger community, with shared ideals. It was good. [00:35:00]

---

Two examples of flyers made by deejay Soulus, who is also a photographer and graphic designer.
Flyers shown for "Downshift" (September 9, 2017) and "Gathering of the Tribes" (June 4, 2006). 

JP: Let's talk about your graphic design, flyering. You made flyers for parties.

AK: Yeah, I did. It was awesome. I knew the people throwing parties and they knew I was a designer, and it was really fun to make a flyer that my DJ name was on, and that I got to design and be a part of the image, the marketing aspect of that party. That was fun.

JP: And, do you remember the first flyer that you made? Other than the one that you told me about, the little one with your name on it.

AK: Not really. It was a night at Lush, or something. The first rave flyer, it was probably for Grumpy Old Men. Probably a party for them but I don't remember which.

Soulus makes flyers for the
prestigious "Astral Harvest" music festival.

JP: How do you make it work? How does it work? How does it go from -- there's no flyer, to suddenly there is a flyer?

AK: Well, I will hear the name of the party. The theme -- I need to know the theme. And all the pertinent information, DJ's, this, that. Right away my brain just starts keeping an eye out for imagery that will go with the theme.

Usually I lay out all the typed information first. If I have a list of 10 DJ's, that takes less effort than 50 DJ's. So I need to take all that info and organize it. So usually I do that first and then with pictures, fit in the pictures, and add my fancy sparkle, and hope that who I'm making it for likes it, and if not we make changes.

JP: You kept a collection of flyers that dates back years.

AK: Yes.

JP: Can you talk about the importance of a flyer to a party?

AK: Back then, like in the early 2000s, late '99's, that was how you got word of a party. You come out from the night and the entire parking lot would have flyers under their windshield wipers. Sometimes at a party, somebody would be flyering.

Back in the day when you'd go to the record store, there'd be a table set up at the door and it would be full of the event flyers because this was before Facebook. Oh gosh. Even before Nexopia, probably before posting online was a thing, it was flyers, printed flyers on the table at record stores or cool hip places like that. You would just see the table.

And if I liked a flyer, I picked it up. And if I went to a party, then I'd like to have one as a memento.

I remember at some events, like at Rebar, someone would be going around, looking for the good dancers or good looking party people, and I would see him choose them -- he'd be selectively giving out flyers.

Flyer for "Ravin' Bran," a favorite of DJ Soulus

JP: Do you have a favorite flyer of all time?

AK: Wow I hadn't considered it. I'd have to flip through them.

JP: Mine is the "Good Vibes" flyer. Remember that party? The jungle party.

AK: It was more than jungle wasn't it?

JP: I always thought of it as the jungle party, but...

AK: The flyer is quite the busy one. That is a beautiful flyer and it's absolute chaos typographically and design-wise but that was the flavor then, so psychedelic-looking. Yeah I like that one too. Oh and Ravin' Bran.

-------------------------------------------

Photo from SEE Magazine, February 10, 2002. Article by Prosper Prodaniuk:
"The Decibelles are taking over Decadance (10018 - 105 St) [for] 
'Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend' (February 12, 2002)."

JP: One thing that I want to ask you about is the 'girls night' parties.

AK: Sure.

JP: Was that kind of a drag generally or was that a positive experience if you had to categorize it as one of the two? What would you say about it?

AK: Well they were, they were positive experiences. But I had mixed feelings about the whole concept. Just the battle between marketing value -- Oh look, all girl DJ's. There's five of them now! All of them will be in one room at the same time! I'm not a fan of capitalizing on the sexes like that but they were usually well intentioned.

Yeah, all the girls were wonderful. I never had any issue playing with the girls or anything like that. And I never said no to any event that I was invited to.

--------------------------------------------------------

[00:40:00]

JP: You've talked as well about certain imagery on flyers. I recall the word 'booty.' Can you talk to me about the occurrence, like how, when did that start? When did you notice it?

  

Three typical examples of club flyers featuring sexualized imagery (all circa 2007).  Honorable mention: woman sucking on a lollipop.

AK: Well, I don't know that it was a steady long term thing but I would have to differentiate: these were more club flyers than the rave ones. But the capitalization of women's behinds has been around forever, right? So just design-wise I always just wished for something more thoughtful than a close-up of boobs or a butt in a bikini.

JP: This was quite late in the scene too, right? I'm going to guess 2007, '08?

AK: Yeah. Like Maxim pictures on the front of the thing. But that's more club, club-y, rather than rave-y.

JP: Right. And it sounds like it kind of died out as well?

AK: No, I'd say it's still there. It's always going to be there, it's like a sexy woman on a car, there's always gonna be a sexy women on it. Especially for a bar.

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JP: I want to remember that you did open for Toronto’s Freaky Flow. Whose date we can find in the flyer archive, I'm sure. Nexus productions at Rebar.

Deejay Soulus, opening for Freaky Flow at  Parliament (10551 - 82 Ave), June 7, 2001.
"I brought the candles.  I always try to bring something for the deejay table."

AK: Yes I think so. Rebar had turned into Parliament by then.  I don't think there's a flyer for it. I have pictures though, I should be able to find the date.  [See "Drum 'n Bass will rattle your face," Edmonton Journal, June 7, 2001. --Ed.]

JP: Tell me more.

AK: Well I did start with an empty dance floor and it ended with a full one. And Freaky Flow himself complimented my set!  One of the greatest achievements as a DJ is when you're opening onto an empty dance floor. It is the greatest challenge to start getting people on that dance floor. That's what your job is. So, luckily, it worked that night.

JP: That's really awesome. That's a claim to fame that not many of us have, to have opened for Freaky Flow. [00:45:00]

I think we've had a great interview and I think we can wrap it up. Before we do though, A quote that I wanted to share with you -- it's Prosper [Prodaniuk], he's saying, and I quote: “Mindy [DJ Sweetz] and Alicia were really pioneers in the Edmonton scene.”

And that's why I wanted to interview you today, I feel quite honoured to be speaking to one of the people who, you know, forged the way.

AK: That is really kind of Prosper to say that. Sometimes I wonder, I flip-flop, between thinking that anybody notices or noticed what I did. But, like, what did I do, really? All I did was play records.

But I have had, sometimes, some girls say that it kind of inspired them to go for it, so that's awesome.  I'm definitely glad. It's easier. I don't think it's such a big deal for women to be DJ's anymore.

JP: Do you want to leave it there?

AK: OK!

JP: Great. Alicia, DJ Soulus, rave scene pioneer, thank you so much for giving me your time today.

AK: Thank you so much.

Flyer by deejay Soulus, c. 2005.  Notice the use of photographic source material (Alicia is an accomplished photographer) and the strong geometric motifs which are typical of Soulus' work as a visual artist.

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Index of this interview

• Calgary -- @22:30 “Thank-you Calgary"; @23:52 playing to a new audience 
• Club Malibu -- @4:27 love of dancing; @11:11 Club Malibu aka 109 Discotheque: dj’ ing start, open mic
• Code Red -- @14:23 a “fixture” at Rebar
• Criticisms of Rave Scene -- @15:33 no female dj’ s; @27:30 names of women dj’ s; @30:25 reflections; @31:30 extra attention; @32:59 limited? / judgment; @38:45 selectivity; @40:05 girls night parties; @46:06 Mindy an Alicia were“pioneers”
• DJ’ing -- @16:34 practice; @15:33 no women; @21:00 dj disasters
• Drum ‘n Bass -- @24:24 liquid dnb 
• Electronica -- @4:58 emergence of term 
• Firsts: Raves, gigs, etc -- @4:00 first club nights
• Flyers -- @37:25 flyer collection; @37:40 flyer table at record stores; @38:14 importance of flyers; @41:10 booty and sexual imagery
• Grumpy Old Men Productions (GOMP) -- @35:40 flyers designed by Soulus
• K, Alicia (aka Soulus) -- @8:45 desire to mix music; @9:08 technical ear; @9:40 club dj; @10:37 started dj’ ing on CD’ s; @11:11 Discotheque 109; @12:45 CD vs vinyl; @18:23 not mp3’ s; @19:30 set planning; @24:24 liquid dnb; @24:40 “to provide a positive soulful experience”; @35:10 flyer desining; @35:40 first flyer design for GOMP; @37:30 flyer collection; @46:06 “pioneers”
• Online Record Stores -- @17:58 bought online beginning in 2000 
• Philosophy: PLUR -- @34:12 Sometimes not adhered to 
• Rebar (10542 Whyte Ave.) -- @6:44 played underground and top 40; @7:18 descr, through to @08:43; @7:48 multigendered washroom; @33:30 Alicia played there 
• Record Stores -- @05:10 ABC Records near Grant MacEwan Community College; @17:13 Foosh, Treehouse 
• Roost, The -- @13:00 record collection; @13:34 Soulus’  start as a DJ; @14:00 description; @15:33 no female dj’ s; @25:36 Alicia spins on Wednesdays; @26:00 “Funk Soul Sista”; @26:40 record collection

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