The latest featured broadcaster, DJ Polished Solid, is one of the first Mixlr broadcasters out there, and with over 170 shows under her belt she’s also one of the most prolific.
Entitled ‘No Turn Unstoned’, the shows are based on a weekly theme and feature a spectacularly diverse mix of musical genres and eras, a refreshing product of the belief that “music should NOT be categorized. Good music is just good music.” Even more impressive is that this huge breadth of musical tastes is also underpinned by a encyclopaedic knowledge of the labels, producers and artists behind each record.
This year also features four separate ‘Best of 2011’ shows; best albums, best songs, best remixes, and the originals of remixes. Be sure to catch the next installment this Sunday, 15th January, at 21:00 GMT – click here to set a reminder.
We spoke to her recently about music, Mixlr, and many things in between:
How long have you been collecting music?
This song sums me up pretty nicely: “Ever Since I Was A Kid It Seemed I Collected Something (Hefner Remix)”-Fink
I started collecting music at 10 and I haven’t stopped… I started doing the radio show to justify my music collecting.
The secret I’ve kept from my mom ’til this day is that when I was in high school in the eighties, she would give me $5 for lunch every week (lunch was a dollar a day, 12″ were also $5 each.) i.e. a no brainer… I wouldn’t eat so I could buy the latest Prince 12″. It was a very prolific period for him then. So, I was buying a lot of vinyl. She wanted to know where I was getting all of this money from because I wasn’t working. She asked me if boys were giving it to me ;(
I have a massive CD collection; 2,000+ when I counted over 5 years ago. I collected vinyl in the beginning, but I switched to CDs purely for space reasons. I buy digital songs because I can’t afford to purchase the albums for all of the songs I use in my mixes. If I could, I would. I do believe in purchasing music.
Why do you use themes for your shows?
Because I like sooooo many different kinds of music, the themes allow me to have a focus. Restrictions help me make decisions.
Who have been your biggest influences, musical and otherwise?
At a very early age in my single digits, my uncles, Carl & Charles, who were teenagers at the time, exposed me to a wide range of music. On any given day, they would play anything from edgar winter to yes to parliament / funkadelic to slave to lynyrd skynyrd. So “genre hopping” was really instilled in me from the very beginning.
Musically, Prince has been a HUGE influence for me. I heard Prince’s Dirty Mind as a 10 year old. I didn’t have a clue what he was singing about; all I knew that it sounded amazing. Some people remember when Kennedy got shot, etc. I remember the first time I heard a Prince album.
Your shows feature a lot of more recent electronic tunes too, who are your main contemporary influences?
Prince’s prolificness has tapered off and so I’ve transferred my music obsession to collecting Luke Vibert and Machinedrum. They have so many aliases and side projects that they keep me busy. They also genre hop in their music production so I really appreciate their versatility.
And do you think Mixlr has helped you share your passion for music?
I actually stopped my show for about a year, a couple of years ago, purely because of all the technical difficulties I had with live streaming. With Mixlr I don’t have to worry about whether or not the live stream will work. I know it will. Now, I can concentrate on making the best mix I possibly can. Mixlr has made a huge difference in broadcasting my show.
So, for an extremely well-mixed peek into the mind of an eclectic music collector, tune in to DJ Polished Solid’s shows every Sunday, or check out her showreel here and her website here. And don’t forget to click here to set a reminder for the next show – ‘Best Remixes of 2011’.