Honey Dijon - Gangstercast 46

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”