By day she's a teaching assistant to special-education students at a Ballard high school. By night she educates bar patrons and clubbers with her diverse, impeccable song selections, attending to the special musical needs of people seeking release from their tedious jobs, existential horror, or the bland offerings from less adventurous clubs. No matter where she's spinning, MissKick (AKA Rebecca West) opens your mind to electronic music's myriad pleasures with a style that's more artistic than didactic.

A music obsessive since childhood, MissKick started DJing in 1996, inspired by fellow Seattle decknician Brandy Westmore. MissKick nabbed her first residency at the Backdoor Ultra Lounge in 1997 and has been augmenting headspaces in public ever since. She holds regular gigs at Cobalt Cafe and Chapel Bar, playing an endorphin-raising blend of downtempo, electro, funky breaks, tech-house, and IDM. "I like anything with funk and a soulful groove, whether it's hiphop, house, or breaks," West says. "The feeling of a song is more important to me than genre, which is probably why my sets tend to wander. I also have a deep love for songs with a touch of melancholy. Röyksopp is especially good at hitting that note with me, as well as I:Cube, Funkstörung, Norken, and John Tejada."

By law, every story about female musicians and DJs has to include this subject, so let's get it out of the way: Does MissKick encounter sexism? Have we finally reached the point where gender isn't a big deal in the DJ world?

"I have never really felt any anti-woman DJ sentiment," West admits. "Perhaps, rarely, [I experience] a little jealousy tempered with [remarks like], 'She gets more gigs because she has boobs.' But mostly I have felt an incredible amount of support from men and women alike. I am involved in Sister DJ, which connects women DJs around the world. It's a great way to touch base with other women and hear their perspectives. Locally, we have SisterSea.com, which is related to the original SisterDjs.com started by Dazy."

As one of the few Seattle DJs scoring out-of-town gigs, MissKick has graced decks in Detroit, Vienna, Paris, New York, and Las Vegas, and plans to hit Mexico City and more of Europe later this year.

"Detroit and Paris were the most inspirational in terms of audience response," West recalls. "I played in Detroit during the Movement Festival [formerly known as DEMF], and to see thousands of people from all ages and backgrounds grooving together was amazing. Playing Batofar in Paris was the highlight of my trip to Europe. The people there were yelling and cheering. In Vienna, people were a little more blasé about the music, but many of the DJs I met would say, 'Wow, you're really mixing!' I thought, 'Duh,' until I realized that many DJs there don't really mix. They play great songs, but the focus isn't on mixing. And, of course, what can I say about New York? So much going on, so many cool venues."

That's all well and good, but what we really want to know is this: What's the stupidest thing anyone's said to you while you were DJing? "The list is long, but last month a guy came up and asked me to listen to the ring tone on his cellular to see if I had that song." DAVE SEGAL

For more information, go to www.aural-fixations.com.

segal@thestranger.com