Watching her at work, I was reminded of a track by Martin Venetjoki that's blowing up parties right now--its soul-sista shout-out calls for the DJ to "tear da club up, tear da fucking club up!" After seeing Heather, I personally want to dedicate that track to her outrageous style.
Not surprisingly, DJ Heather got her start in Chicago in the early '90s, playing rare groove, acid jazz, and hiphop while developing an ear for what moves the dance floor. She's since moved on to specialize in house, and maintains a soulful, head-bobbing, 12:30 a.m. peak-of-the-party approach to every situation, which has carried her around the world to parties like Berlin's Love Parade and London's Bar Rhumba and Ministry of Sound.
Heather's track selection sends a nod of respect to the forbearers of house. She mixes hard funk, disco, classic house, and techno, and drops tracks by producers who understand the forward curve of the American electronic music scene. Her mixes keep the bottom line of dance music--commanding the crowd's attention and keeping their feet moving--in mind. Her mix CD on Afterhours, Tangerine, captures her leanings toward upbeat tech-house and features tracks by Freaks, TO-KA Project, Natural Rhythm, the Rurals, and Derrick Carter; the mix can only be classified as soul music for the technological generation.
Space will probably be tight, and you'll more than likely get burned by a couple of careless smokers on the way to the crowded Baltic Room bar, but tonight is your chance to hear one of the finest internationally renowned house DJs around. NICOLAE WHITE
DJ Heather w/Jeromy Nail, Sat Feb 1 at the Baltic Room, 1207 Pine St, 625-4444, 9 pm-2 am, 21+, $7 before 10:30 pm, $10 after.nicolae@thestranger.com
