So I’m pretty sure by now a lot of you would have seen myself (Chris – Editor) come down the ‘Love Lift’ on ITV dating show Take Me Out recently (Cue pointing and laughing!). Well you may have noticed that my lovely date, Kate from Newcastle, was a DJ so being the perfect date I am (Hmmm!) we had to a chat with Kate to find out more about this upcoming superstar DJ!
Fans of Take Me Out can see what happened on me and Kate’s date this coming Saturday on ITV at 8:45pm. Also make sure to check out Take Me Out The Gossip straight after the show on ITV for all the details. Trust me you don’t wanna miss this!
Check out our interview with Kate below and find out more about how she got started, her influences and her plans for 2013!
HTF: Hey Kate! To those of you that don’t already know, please tell the readers who you are and what you do?
K: Hi to all the Hit The Floor readers! Let me start by introducing myself, my name is Kate McRae and i am from the oh so beautiful part of the UK Newcastle Upon Tyne (geordie bird through and through).
HTF:What made you get into DJ’ing? Any particular DJ’s or tracks that initally inspired you to get into electronic music?
K: The reason I started DJ’ing was due to a number of influences really, music has always been such a massive part of my life and I feel it impacts on every aspect of peoples lives. My first and biggest influence would have to be the 2 seasons which i worked out in Ibiza, hearing music played by some massive names in such amazing clubs surrounded by all your friends on the same wavelength that is a pretty amazing and unique feeling to have and those who have experienced this will all agree it changes your life!
My second influence or should i say one of the things which always sticks in my head was quite a while back when i turned up at Underground which is a villa club in Ibiza, I was dancing away having the time of my life and thought shit yeah this DJ is amazing, I then looked up only to see it was a female smashing these tunes out. I instantly had to go and ask who this goddess was to which she replied Maya Jane Coles instantly i loved her. I would say the tracks which inspired me to listen to house music would have been the golden oldies my mum used to listen to artists such as Chaka Khan, Frankie Knuckles, Womack & Womack, Luther Vandross and from this i started listening to disco and then eventually progressing onto house.
I would also say i get insperation from all the female dj’s who have made it big over the past years, the main ones which stick in my head are Maya Jane Coles, Cassy, Heidi, Monika Kruze, Nina Kravitz, Dinky and TiNI.
HTF: How would you explain your style?
K: I have such a wide range of taste in music depending on mood and what I want to achieve and obviously who is stood dancing to the music i am playing. But i would say what I play the most is mowtown/ re- inventive disco edits to deep house and house and if i really am on one techno. I also like in my sets to just pop in an oldie that people have maybe forgotten about always gets people excited and loving music which should never be forgotten about.
HTF: Being a new comer to the DJ scene what is your ultimate goal?
K: My ultimate goal is to practice practice and practice some more, play out wherever possible, this year i plan to give it my all, i already have a few gigs lined up so lets see what 2013 brings onwards and upwards!
HTF: Favourite track(s) of the moment?
K: This is a hard question as I have so many tracks which i hammer at the moment but I will try and narrow it down to just a few.
1) Hanging on- Andre Crom/ Teenage Mutants
2) Underground- Dennis Ferrer/ Nick Curly
3) Follow the step (kink beat remix)- Rachel Row
4) Ibiza- WAFF
5) Why dont you finish with me?- Benedict
6) The Treatment – Waves
HTF: What are your plans for 2013?
K: Just to get myself out there making people happy on dancefloors all over the UK, gathering a good library of music and ensuring I go to see as many DJ’s at work as I can obviously with all my pals beside me dancing away!
HTF: So recently you were lucky/unlucky enough to appear on the ITV show Take Me Out and bag a date with Hit The Floor’s editor-in-cheif? How was the experience for you? Any chance of getting a DJ residency on the Isle Of Fernando’s?
K: The whole experience of the show was mindblowing, I met the most amazing group of people and have made some friends for life i wouldnt change it for the world I am a very lucky girl. Fernandos was such a laugh and not your everyday kind of experience but I don’t want to reveal too much. You will have to watch next week to find out what happened! Who knows I may be taking over the isle of Fernandos soon haha!
HTF: Any last messages or anything you want to plug?
K: Firstly check out my soundcloud at – https://soundcloud.com/k8mcrae. Add Kasula on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kasulanewcastle and their website is to launch very soon! And something to mark in your diaries for Easter – Thursday 28th March with Argy and guests! Sample in Newcastle are doing a showcase in Bulgaria from March 23-29th. Details here – http://www.togetherski.com/festival/3608. Add Module here – http://www.facebook.com/ModuleNewcastle?ref=ts&fref=ts .
Finally, Newcastle has made Wednesday nights exciting by inviting some well known names to play. Check out the Loop events here – http://www.facebook.com/pages/LOOP/353910938025237?ref=ts&fref=ts
