Cruising the London airwaves with Rita Maia

Rita Maia is a London based DJ and broadcaster living on the epicentre of the new UK underground electronic scene; a dedicated music researcher spreading the sound that shapes the present time to the most attentive ears. In the past Rita and her Lisbon based Badmood Collective shaped the citys drum n’ bass scene with their unique DIY attitude bringing up their own parties and soundsystem to clubs. iCrates spoke with Rita just before she jumped on board of this years edition of the Worldwide Festival.

Can you tell us how the music thing started for you and your path until now?

It started with the common music experiences, a few bands etc, in my hometown, Lisbon. There was a lot of varied music around coming out of different communities. It was always very present, but a lot of this music it didn’t reach radios or even labels and it was produced and distributed in a very D.I.Y. basis, from punk, rock and hip-hop bands to all sorts of African music.
At the time, Nsekt who I later started Badmood Collective with, had a studio and was producing a lot of different music. On Sundays me and a few friends would meet up there and anyone that was around contributed somehow to the music, just to experiment things. We did a lot of projects and I learned by watching, listening and trying things out.
I had family in London, and always got sent a lot of tapes, I was interested in what was going on there, so when I travelled, I brought back records for me and other people.
I also played percussion in a reggae/dub band for a few years and listened to a lot of dub, hip-hop, funk, etc., and started playing those records in some underground parties in Lisbon. I then got interested in DJ’ing through d’n’b and jungle because it had elements of all the music I liked and I loved mixing it, so I formed Badmood Collective in 2001 together with another 3 friends, which then extended to a few more people. We had different nights where we played what we thought was interesting at the time in electronic music. A lot of drum n’ bass, jungle, garage, 2-step, breaks and stuff in between that had some kind of feel in common.

Being a female DJ, was it hard for you to break through in the Portuguese drum n bass scene?

It was a very underground scene, there were some great DJ’s around and a couple of good nights that were quite inspiring but most of the clubs in Lisbon were playing very uninteresting music for us, so when we started Badmood we just created a space for us in the scene by organizing events, an internet forum to link people in the country interested in that kind of music, released our first record on vinyl with another crew and just took control of everything we did as much as possible from the design to bringing our sound system to the clubs. We invited many guests from people that were playing out for the first time to more established names and we started having a following of people that liked what we did.
As a female, I guess it was as hard as it would have been to anyone else. There are always loads of walls you come across with, when you try to live from music, I think. Each one has their own, from money to time, confidence, etc. I think when it comes to bookings, there are always going to be clubs and event promoters who book people for reasons other than their music and female DJ’s don’t escape that of course. In general, I just refused bookings I wasn’t interested in, and that included many “ladies nights” if I thought it didn’t make sense musically.
There were quite a few backwards characters promoting clubs, but in general I was respected and people welcomed more women involved in this kind of music. Although you have to deal with some real idiots around (like in any other job) and even though it would be nice to have more feminine energy in those environments, I guess it also reflects people’s interests and what they dedicate their time to and it doesn’t necessarily reflect the opportunities.

… What about as an outsider in the UK

Yeah, it’s a much bigger city to start of with which means you have to reach further to show people what you’re doing, especially with the overload of information and stimulation we get nowadays.
It also always takes time to meet people who you can work with and learn how to move around in the city to find what you need, but that’s what London is about anyway, a lot of people searching around…and in general Londoners are open to stuff that comes from everywhere…
There’s so much going on in London in terms of music, it’s quite an eye opener. It makes you want to get better. There is, on the other hand, a big hype factor which can be counter productive, but that’s probably in most places…
I guess it’s about finding a way to do what you love. In Lisbon, we got a lot done without money being in the picture, exchange of favours and doing things for each other. If you have a whole network of people that’s much more valuable than money I think. And that takes time to build wherever you go.

Was there anyone or any scene that was an inspiration for you to become a DJ?

Many people, gigs, radio shows, journeys… Specifically to start playing, the artists I was listening too and my friends. It was just a progression. I was collecting loads of music and really wanting to include more electronic elements into the band I was playing with, to experiment with other sounds and machines… I was kind of caught by it and then there were a lot of people and situations that inspired me to continue. There are a few records and live gigs that I remember changed things, something clicked definitely, and it keeps happening.
Listening to what was going on in London played a big part, the jungle, drum n’ bass, garage, breaks, the music that then became dubstep… To Pirate radio and doing a few shows, a good example of people doing what they want and believe in, even if it’s not supported or accepted by others. Creating a space for themselves!
All those subcultures in Portugal that bring us so much music, what was coming from Africa, Brazil, etc., and also from doing music projects with the kids in Lisbon and listening to their Kuduro and other very DIY productions and their parent’s music, even though that’s not what I choose to play. My Badmood family played a big part since we started together and shared equipment, records and a flat at some point. Especially Nsekt who’s an incredibly talented producer who taught me a lot and who gave me my first belt drive turntable and mixer and access to his studio.
Djing is just a way of communicating with people and getting in your zone, and a way of bringing people together… and a lot comes out of bringing people together…

What made you move to London? Was it the UK sound? Was it building a career as DJ in the UK?

Basically I came to London for two months but it’s now been eight years… At the time in Lisbon I was working with kids and communities on the outskirts of the city, the most deprived areas of town. Everything we did involved a lot of work and no budget. I was developing music projects and doing research on their benefits. I came to London and a few days later I got a job I loved in a teaching centre in West London where I stayed for 4 years, until we lost our funding… Since then I’ve been working on projects in non-mainstream education around London and continued playing. The summer of 2003 was hot and productive so I decided to stay a bit longer. I felt I could do a lot in the city and there was a lot to learn from. Apart from being expensive, having crap weather, there’s a lot of very special stuff and people in London. And at the moment in terms of music, there couldn’t be a more interesting place for me to be, I think it’s like another golden era, what’s going on in electronic music in the U.K. right now. Plus nowadays it’s easier to be in touch with what’s happening around the world from anywhere.

You have been playing at the Notting Hills Arts Club for a few years now, how did your residence ‘Talking At Me’ happened?

The Notting Hill Arts Club has always been a place I use to go to because of their brilliant, unpretentious nights and relaxed environment. I really found nothing like it in London, that consistent with quality and variety of music, their history and their team. Plus I live in West London, I’m much more interested in doing stuff there than in parts of town that are over developed in that sense.
So, I found a home there. I had a night called ‘Ovni Sessions’ a few years ago, with the purpose of promoting some of what was being done in music and arts in Portuguese speaking countries and creating an exchange of artists between the UK and other places, where we brought people showcasing new electronic music from Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, etc., with bands, DJ’s, live acts, films, exhibitions, live drawing and all sorts of showcases and the same happened in Lisbon. It went on for a few years until I had to stop it as it was too much to handle with such a small budget and after that I kept on playing there.
Last year the program manager Dominic Prosser, created ‘Talking At Me’ and invited me and Coby 1 who used to play at the ‘YOYO’ night, also at the Notting Hill Arts Club, to be residents and do the programme for the night together. It’s a project of four people that has been going on for a year now and it’s doing pretty well. We had some great acts there from Sampha, Ben Westbeech, Funkineven, Throwing Snow, Alex Phountzi, Elgato, Photomachine, Circle Traps, Young Turks, Son Of Kick, DJ MK, Harry Love and loads more…

How did your program ‘Sine Of The Times’ at Resonance FM came about?

I had my show ‘Motions’ on Badmood online radio stopped temporarily, I had also done a few other shows in London and was actually thinking that it would be nice to do something on FM radio.
Last year I met Tom Lee one afternoon at Resonance FM, we were both looking for a partner to do a show with and had a pretty similar idea for it so in January we started ‘Sine Of The Times’. It started to go well and a few months after we had an opportunity to change it to prime time 9 to 10.30 pm on Saturday nights which is perfect for our music.
Resonance FM is a really special radio and its listeners are people with great opened ears so I love doing the show. It covers underground electronic music. It’s not a straight mixing show, we have guests who bring music they listen to or grew up listening to, have a chat, live sessions and mixes.

You’re on your way back from playing at Fusion Festival in Germany and already stepping into Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Festival in France next week. How did you catch Peterson’s ear?

Fusion festival was amazing, no one knew the line up until they got there, and it sold out since last year on the first day. Loads of great acts with no major headliners and it’s run by really passionate people.
For Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Festival, one of the members of their team heard me playing at ‘Talking at Me’ a few times and they invited me to play this year with Boiler Room and Young Turks on Friday at the Beach Stage. I’m really glad to be part of it. The Worldwide Festival is a different kind of festival and the whole line up and setting is unbelievable.

What is your opinion about the current London underground electronic scene? For you who are the ones shaping the present and the most promissing names coming out of it?

I feel something has been brewing for a while now, it feels new, experimental and kind of fearless. People are making music that just happens to be adding on and shaping the present electronic music scene, with stuff that’s unpredictable and works, with elements that link it. This is present across the world, but it’s strong in the UK and I think people feed of each other and that keeps renewing it. Maybe artists are not only listening to artists that are part of their scene only, which means they bring new elements into it.
The music situation in the UK and the appearance of Dubstep opened a door and brought many artists doing really interesting things. There are less rules and that makes things more unexpected in producing and DJing. Having a show on London FM radio at this time, every week I’m looking forward to see what our guests are going to do, and we get sent great music. Somehow this scene seems interesting for me to be viewed as a whole at the moment, made out of many small but important names, it’s too early to be saying who’s promising I think. If we don’t allow things to take time to develop at their own pace, they burn out.
A few new names I’ve been playing in the show: Synkro, Damu, Nguzunguzu, XXXY, Falty DL, 2562, Shed, Arkist, Hypno, Koreless, Hyetal… more established artists such as Ramadanman / Pearson Sound, Zomby, Jamie XX, Sepalcure, Boddika, Addison Groove, most of these from the UK, and artists like LV or Kode 9 who have been around for a while and keep pushing things!
We’ll see where it goes, it can go both ways, as always I think.

You are a DJ that comes originally from drum n’ bass, which is a culture that has always survived through vinyl. Do you think people still prefer to play vinyl opposite to digital?

I think vinyl was always very important in most music genres I played and liked and still is in many, but I guess they’re different tools. One cheaper, more accessible, lighter, compressed, with worse sound quality and one heavy, that will give you a bad back to carry but sounding much better, looking nicer, better packaged and costing seven times more.
There was a period a while ago where I found it harder to find vinyl releases to play, and even some shops closed, but nowadays there’s a lot coming out again.
To be honest I have a lot of records I don’t think I’ll use again… And to buy records to play, I had to stop buying records to listen too at home. Now I’m buying only what I really like or what I think I’ll still use in the future, when I can afford it, so now I get more excited about buying vinyl again. Still most music I buy is on digital release, we get promos in MP3 and I don’t think there are many labels doing dubplates on vinyl anymore. The digital software offers other possibilities for playing out but in no way replaces vinyl. I guess the difference in sound quality also depends on the quality of the production and the sound system.
I’m not sure the younger people have the same feeling with vinyl since they didn’t grow up with it and everything is so disposable and little nowadays, but I think vinyl is bought by a minority and that minority will exist for a long time.
There are still great record shops around and many people like to go, have a look, dig around and speak to the staff about it.

How is your relationship with vinyl, are there any gems that only belong to the collection and the section to play out?

Actually I don’t have that kind of relationship with vinyl. My vinyl is quite used and I don’t really leave anything home because it’s precious or expensive. I like to bring out and play a rare record. It’s all precious! Some more than others, so those I make sure are kept safely in the right cover or even a double cover. Like books, vinyl for me is an object to be used, traveled and marked. Scars for life! Still, I do regret some of the ones that have passed away…

As a DJ and obviously as a collector what are the main genres that colour your collection?

I do have a lot of drum n bass/jungle from the nineties, because that’s what I needed to have more to play out, hip-hop and electronica from that time too, soul, funk, dub and reggae, breaks and then there is the all sorts section with music from all around the world. I still play a lot of these records in more chilled out places like my 5 hour sessions at BBC Club.

Tell me what’s next for you?

Well, we just started a label, Badmood Recordings with a few releases out and others to come out soon. I’m really interested in exploring more of radio so hopefully I’ll keep doing ‘Sine of the Times’ at Resonance FM every Saturday night. We’re breaking for August, back in September.
I’ve been experimenting with soundtracks and studying sound engineering and right now I’m demanding more time in my life to make music! I’m having a break from teaching, projects and events except for ‘Talking At Me’ every second Friday of the month at the Notting Hill Arts Club… And I’ve got the gigs. A few things lined up for the rest of the summer in Portugal, France, Oxford, BBC Club, Arts Club and around London