Best of 2011 Interview with Miss Nine

Name: Miss Nine
Location: Everywhere & Amsterdam

DJ Miss Nine has been a major presence on the dance scene for quite a few years now. With her eclectic taste in music, ranging from energetic grooves with plenty of vocals to a deeper, progressive sound, Miss Nine turns heads and moves feet wherever she performs. Miss Nine was born in Germany as Kristin Schrot and at the age of 16, she started her career – not as a DJ, but as a model. Shortly thereafter, she secured a worldwide contract with Elite Model Management. After moving to Amsterdam, she discovered the art of DJ’ing and her passion for music eventually led her become a DJ as well. 

 In 2008, Miss Nine started her own record label called 925 Digital. Having spent so much time in the dance scene, she realied that there were too many excellent progressive-house tracks that didn’t get the release and the attention that they deserved.

Miss Nine was the first female DJ to mix a compilation for Washington-based Yoshitoshi Recordings, the world-renowned leader in progressive and big-room house music.

Nine Sessions is Miss Nine’s monthly radio show which is broadcasted in more than 35 countries including here on 1mix radio, and is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

Dimitri: Do you consider 2011 as a positive, negative or neutral year for the progress of the Electronic Dance Music scene?

Miss Nine: In Think in General it has been a good positive year for the EDM, as it gets closer to R&B and pop music because of all the cooperation’s between deejays and pop artists.

Dimitri: Do you believe that 2011 was a good, indifferent or bad year for the development of your personal career?

Miss Nine: 2011 was a good year for me. I've had the opportunity to play at some awesome venues. Next to that, I started on collaborations with other artists, expanding my own label, and I mixed the first compilation on my own label 925 Music. "Around The World mixed by Miss Nine" Which will be out Dec 28th.

The A to Z of the Best of the Year 2011
 
a)    Best Full Release of the year (original & remixes)
Miss Nine:  David Puentez - Harmonia (Remixes by Miss Nine / Alex Dario & Damien K) [925 Digital]. A great release with a lot of energy. Many bootlegs and mash-ups have been made of this release.
http://soundcloud.com/925-music/sets/david-puentez-harmonia/

b)    Your personal Full release of the year
Miss Nine: Miss Nine - Natsumi/Tsuyu  [Bits & Pieces]
http://soundcloud.com/missnine

c)    Best Single track of the year (only original versions)
Miss Nine: Avicii – Levels

d)    Your personal Best Single track of the year
Miss Nine: My rework of ‘Nevertheless - Just love it’. It will be on the compilation, the ninth track. ;)

e)    Best Remix of the year
Miss Nine: Gareth Emery - Sanctuary -  Miss Nine Remix [Garuda]

Solarstone - The Best Way To Make Your Dreams Come True -  Miss Nine Remix [Solaris]

f)    Best Remix of personal production which you released in 2011
Miss Nine: The remix I did for Gareth Emery – Sanctuary

g)    Best Producer of the year in the style that you play, or any other that you may like
Miss Nine: I think Alesso, Calvin Harris, Dada Life are great, talented producers.

h)    Best New Talent/Big hope for the coming years
Miss Nine: There are a lot of talented DJ’s in the EDM scene these days. It’s hard for me to choose one, but I think Jeremy Oliver is one to watch out for. His productions are great.
 
i)    Best Remixer of the year on personal or others peoples tracks
Miss Nine: Alesso - he brings so much energy into his remixes.

j)    Best Established Label of the year (not started in 2011)
Miss Nine: Of course 925 Music !! 

k)    Best Newborn in 2011 label of the year
Miss Nine: Dutch labels are hot like "Revealed" from Hardwell and "Wall Recordings" from Nick (Afrojack)

l)    Best dance album and mix compilation of the year, in the style of music that you work with…
Miss Nine: That would be 925 Music’s first compilation album "Around The World | Mixed by Miss Nine". This album will make its worldwide premiere on the 28th of December, and includes 13 fresh tracks with energetic melodies and uplifting vocals.

m)    Best Music Video of the year
Miss Nine: LMFAO? - Party Rock Anthem ft. Lauren Bennett, GoonRock.
This is for me a hilarious music video and if you watch it you can’t stop dancing.

n)    Best social network of the year that has been essential for the promotion of your work
Miss Nine: Soundcloud, because I upload all my tracks/remixes through Soundcloud and Facebook is also an essential channel that I can’t miss. All the latest news on Miss Nine is posted on Facebook, and I get to communicate with my fans.

o)    Best new software or hardware that was introduced in this year and you recommended to others.
Miss Nine: Komplete 8 by Native is definitely something to check out. It’s a high-quality tool for producers.

p)   Best and worst DJ’ing or production experience that happened in 2011
Miss Nine: Best:  I am going to tour with Avicii in India in December, which I’m really looking forward to. In August I played at Sun Live Festival in Tenerife with Tiesto. These gigs were definitely memorable for me.
Worst; One time I played at the gig and there was a broken CD played. That was the worst thing that happened to me.

q)    Best country that you performed in this year
Miss Nine: Usually I would say South America, but this year I played in Mumbai / India for the very first time, and it was more than amazing. Didn't expect it to be that good. That’s why I'm already looking forward to the December tour with Avicii, and return to India for the Sunburn Festival.

r)    Best club or open air festival that you attended or performed at this year
Miss Nine: That would be Ultra Music Festival in Miami. The location, the crew, the hospitality, the crowd the whole experience to host the live stage for 2 days, and it was amazing to play with artists like Steve Aoki, Royksopp, Trentemoller, Pendulum and Hybrid.

s)    Best hobby or other activity for 2011
Miss Nine: Tennis & kick boxing is the ultimate work out for 2011 for me. Next to that I love cooking :)

t)    Best radio show of the year and Best radio station that you always check out (fm or online) preferably that plays your kind of music
Miss Nine: Best radio show would be "Nine Sessions" . A radio show with new music, uplifting beats, grooving baselines, colourful soaking melodies with high energetic vocals. www.ninesessions.com
Best radio station is Radio 538 / Dance Department. You can listen to the best electronic dance music.

u)    Best online or ordinary record shop that you used to get your music of the year
Miss Nine: Beatport.com 

v)    Best CD player or any other equipment that you use for mixing.
Miss Nine: I love the Pioneer equipment. Not only because I'm an ambassador for Pioneer, but they make life so much easier, especially the CDJ 2000's are genius. (USB/SD, looping, Hot CUE, Record box, Quantize...)
Pioneer mixer 2000 / 900 I love all the effects on both mixers. You can give your set a little extra touch by using them.

w)    Best vocalist in a dance track of the year
Miss Nine: Too many.... Nero, Adele, Nadia Ali, Rebecca & Fiona…

x)    Best magazine or web site that you always check out for music related stuff
Miss Nine: There are many great sources out there to read about tips, tricks and reviews. Internet Google is still the best to read about it. Future music, computer music some good ones too.

y)    Best fan of your music of the year or best crowd in your performance
Miss Nine: Well, there are some diehards out there. I remember one lately when I gave a red leather jacket away from Goosecraft, where I'm also featured in their Campaigns. She wrote many emails and tweeted almost every day during the competition to win this jacket.

z)    Best thing you have done this year in order to support any social movement, charities, or other people that may need your help.
Miss Nine: I’ve become ambassador for Plan Nederland this year. Plan Nederland is a member of Plan International an independent, children’s development organisation. Girls in developing countries don’t get enough food and don’t have the same rights as boys do in these countries. I am committed to this issue, and visited Bolivia and Haiti to meet the girls that I sponsor.

Dimitri: Can you please let us know your plans for 2012 for your DJ’ing, productions or label?
Miss Nine: I hope to expand my label ‘925 Music’ by releasing many great productions on this and other labels. Gigging, touring, enjoying and bringing good to the people I work with.
 
Dimitri: On the other side is it possible to tell us the track, album, artist/DJ that you believe were the worst of the year and why?
Miss Nine: I would not know. I appreciate everyone’s music and choice.

Dimitri: Please give us your wishes for 2012 and your small piece of advice for anyone that reads this interview, and aspires to get into music production, DJ’ing, or music promotion in general.
Miss Nine: I wish everyone a musical, healthy and magical 2012. May all your dreams come true. Don't dream your life, live your dream.
X Miss Nine

Thanks to Miss Nine for finding the time to reply to this interview

Many thanks to Vass at Urban Rebel Pr for his support to help organise this interview

Interview was written and conducted by Dimitri Kechagias, Radio/Club DJ & Music Journalist

Additional info:
www.miss-nine.com
www.facebook.com/missnine
www.twitter.com/djmissnine
www.soundcloud.com/missnine
www.soundcloud.com/925-music
www.youtube.com/djmissnine