WHO In a new generation of DJs, Canadian expat Heidi stands out. The Windsor, Ontario native has been living in the fast lane for the past few years since her big break playing with Berlin-based electrohouse duo M.A.N.D.Y. in 2004. The indie, house and techno head moved to London, England in 2000 and fed her vinyl addiction working long hours at a record shop that inspired her and a friend to open their own “über-cool” underground record store called Phonica a few years later. After endlessly compiling records for DJs shopping at her store, Heidi got the urge to DJ, and meeting Patrick Bodmer and Philipp Jung of M.A.N.D.Y. (who also co-founded dynamite label Get Physical Records with Booka Shade) couldn’t have happened at a better time. They got her gigging around Berlin and at Monza Club in Frankfurt, which soon after led to Space Ibiza, Fabric London and Berlin’s “insanely hedonistic Panoramabar. [It’s] the ultimate clubbing experience; the DJ sets don’t start until 6am — trouble!” says Heidi, who debuted on Get Physical in 2006 with her single “Vejer.” She followed it with another co-production with her partner Riton, then toured Europe, North America and Australia with the rest of the Get Physical gang. Showing no sign of stopping, Heidi is currently touring with M.A.N.D.Y. and has an album with Riton in the works.
WHAT “I’m very influenced by Detroit and Chicago [-based music] and I like it when producers from Europe are too,” says Heidi. “And I like anything with a good, warm jackin’ bassline. I need to be moving my butt behind the decks. If I’m not, then I’m doing something wrong.”
WHERE May 7 with M.A.N.D.Y., Audiofly and others at The Social (1100 Queen W).
FAVOURITE RECORD OF ALL TIME “The entire Purple Rain album by Prince. Sorry! He prevails over everything.”
FAVOURITE RECORD RIGHT NOW “Style of Eye, ‘Hide’ on the Dirtybird label gets the kids movin’.”
WHAT IS YOUR MOST SURREAL DJING EXPERIENCE? “They’re all surreal. I’m a lady who came from Windsor, Ontario who gets to go around the world and gets picked up from airports by strangers weekend after weekend [to] play music that I love to hundreds, sometimes thousands of strangers. I love it.”
DIGITAL OR ANALOG? “I’ll say analog. I’m old fashioned. I still only play vinyl. It’s much sexier (and I’m crap at DJing with CDs).”
WHAT IS VITAL TO YOUR DAILY ROUTINE? “Enough sleep!”
WHAT GLOBAL ISSUE CONCERNS YOU MOST RIGHT NOW? “I definitely fly too much. It’s hard with my job not to. We need to make a teleportation device — that would be fantastic! No more airports! Joking aside, I’m very concerned with global warming and just the general stupidity of the people that live on our planet. Unfortunately there isn’t enough room in this paper for me to start ranting so I’ll leave it with that.”
WHAT IS YOUR RING TONE RIGHT NOW? “A very loud one because I’m slowly going deaf and my ears have taken a beating over the years.”
WHAT IS THE LAST GREAT FILM YOU SAW? “Into the Wild directed by Sean Penn. It is absolutely beautiful. I haven’t seen a movie like that in a very long time. I highly recommend it.”
WHAT ACTOR WOULD PLAY YOU IN A BIOPIC? “Someone has already played me — Shirley Temple! That’s why my mom named me Heidi. It was her favourite movie when she was a little girl.”
WHAT ARE YOU READING RIGHT NOW? “Pulp by Charles Bukowski. I’m going through a serious Bukowski phase at the moment, one after the other. He’s a dirty old man and I like it!”