I'm A House Gangster presents The Gangstercast - Honey Dijon - Gangstercast 46

Honey Dijon - Gangstercast 46

10/22/14 • 59 min

I'm A House Gangster presents The Gangstercast

Gangstercast 46 comes from the fabulous Honey Dijon. Based in NYC but Born and raised in Chicago; the home of house music, Honey is known for her unique take on the Chicago sound with inflections of the deep New York underground. Honey is one of the few DJ’s in recent years to defy pigeon-holing. She draws from a wide repertoire of musical styles from old school Chicago House, disco, tech house, tribal, funk, soul, and R& B. She has graced the tables from Ministry of Sound London to Ushuaia Ibiza, Panorama Bar Berlin, Stereo Montreal and everywhere in between. She has also shared the decks with none other Danny Tenaglia, Derrick Carter, Green Velvet, The Martinez Brothers, Satoshi Tomiie, and Quentin Harris.

Like many involved in the scene, her love affair with music began upon hearing her parent’s soul and r&b records at home. Soon she wanted to be the one dropping the needle on the record whenever they held parties in the family basement and the lure of club life soon followed. Before long she was obsessively collecting her own music from record stores, which is where Honey met and formed a long lasting friendship with Derrick Carter, who became a mentor. It was he who introduced her to the underground of Chicago where she was exposed to the sounds of jacking house and Detroit techno.

After relocating to New York City, Honey also met another music giant Danny Tenaglia, whose legendary sets at Twilo were also a major source of inspiration. “Danny heavily influenced my sound as a DJ’, says Honey. “The drama of his delivery and risk taking always informed me of how I wanted to present music. Of course, Derrick and Chicago house were also very influential in my development as an artist, so it’s this combination of Chicago and New York that has helped me develop my signature sound.”

Known for her passion and integrity in her sets, this week Honey takes us back to the old skool sound, with this hugely authentic mix, fusing the bump of Chicago with more classic New York sounds and other European influences, dexterously flowing between house and techno, with a warm, hypnotic feel. The art of mixing itself is very important to Honey, and when telling us of the tracks she chose in compiling this mix, she explained; “I did a bit of research and did a bit of crate digging to try and give a bit of swing and soul but in a modern way.”

When explaining to us how this particular mix represented her as an artist, she told us; “Well being from Chicago, I wanted to mix a bit of my roots with what's happening in dance music at the moment. Since there has been a resurgence of House in Europe, I felt it was the perfect time to pull out a few forgotten classics.”

Being a firm believer in the underground sound, and being a protector of the faith, When asked what the House Gangster movement means to her, she replies; “I just feel it's a gang of like-minded people representing the love of house and paying respects to where it came from and to also where it’s going.”

Honey describes the ‘House Gangster sound’ as “Boompty but with guts and soul! Also with a bit of a techy edge top to it”

Previous Episode

Tizi - Gangstercast 45

Gangstercast 45 brings you a heady mix of underground dancefloor-driven funk and gangster-esque vocals coming from rising underground star Tizi.

Tizi started Djing back in 2009, in her hometown Montreal, Quebec, where sub-genres of house music were still undiscovered grounds to her. “I was more into old school Hip Hop and RnB. It all changed a year later when I attended my first Piknic Electronik here in Montreal, in 2010. Nôze performed a live set and I was absolutely blown away.”

From that point onwards her genre taste had changed and she started to hang out in clubs and bars that only played house music, whereby she attended a DJ SNEAK event for the first time. “I bought my ticket, and once again was blown away. DJ SNEAK lit Salon Daomé on fire. Went home the next day, looked up DJ SNEAK online and bought myself a “I’M A HOUSE GANGSTER” T-shirt and bandana.”

She has since been an avid supporter of IAHG online, right from when the series began back in January 2013, and has even sent in several mixes of her own in sheer dedication to appearing in the series herself.

When asked what the House Gangster movement means to her, she replies; “The house gangster movement is all about that family spirit. Sharing my passion with my homies behind the decks every night, connecting with the crowd, seeing familiar faces who come out just to hear that HG sound, repping/wearing my HG gear. We’re a big happy family!”

Her passion for being a true house music lover, who cares and respects the original sound of the underground, appears evidently within this carefully crafted mix; a mix that comes from the heart.

Representing the House Gangster Girls, with this exclusive mix, she told us how it represents her as an artist; “It represents the grooviness and the funkiness I put in every set. When buying tracks, I'm always looking for that special bassline, catchy vocals or unique sounds/percs.”

As of yet, we have not even had the pleasure of meeting Tizi and only know her from her ongoing online support, but we can already safely say she's one very driven girl! Tizi is definitely one name to look out for in the future, you heard her here first!

Next Episode

Maurice Tamraz - Gangstercast 47

Gangstercast 47 comes courtesy of Maurice Tamraz, a DJ and Producer from California. Maurice is a former member and co-founder of the duo J Paul Getto.

Maurice has worked one on one with an array of A-list artists, including Todd Terry, Felix Da Housecat, Virgin Killer, DJ Dan and collaboration projects with Nile Rodgers and Lee “Scratch” Perry.

Being the face of many genres; House, Techno, Drum & Bass, Grime, UK Garage, Bass and Electronic, he has many different sides to him as an artist. “House is my wife, DnB is my freaky mistress I call for a threesome.”

Fixed in the ‘zone’ for this Gangstercast, when asked how he chose the tracks for this mix Maurice told us “At the time I did this mix, this is what I was feeling at that moment. If I was asked to do another one, it would be totally different.”

When telling us how this specific mix represented him as an artist, he tells us; “This mix represents one side of me as an artist. If there was an all-round theme to my music, I would say that it is dark.”

He goes onto tell us; “When I did this mix I was in the middle of discovering something new. You will hear it a few times in the mix. But I try to keep it under control. If I was at a club, it would have gone in a different route. LOL”

Being asked to describe the House Gangster sound he says, “I think the sound varies from person to person. From all the different gangsters that have done mixes, there is the same idea, different way of projecting it.”

In defining what House Music meant to him, he states; “It always comes first, no matter what. I haven’t been doing this as long as some people. But I know, that I give it the attention that it deserves, which is 100%. No distractions, no side jobs, just 100% focus on music.”