Lady Bunny has been a colorful and energetic part of clubland with wild appearances, comedic performances, and the legendary Wigstock events she produced. If you've never seen her live, you should check out her DVD (Rated X for X-tra Retarded) or the recent DVD release of Wigstock. It's hard to believe that she has never had a big club hit, but with a featured performance on the new Boneheadz single, that might change.
DJ Ron Slomowicz: It's hard to think of where to start, since you're such a
renaissance woman.
Lady Bunny: Woman? No, this is Lady Bunny's residence.
RS: I disagree, because everytime I see you live you're always on point.
Lady Bunny: On points? On drugs maybe..
RS: Well let's talk about your new single, "It's Tonight."
Lady Bunny: It's the Boneheadz featuring Lady Bunny, so I'm not
exactly the artist but I'm featured. It's coming out on April 2nd on
a new label called Oh My and it's going to be available on
xpressbeats.com and all of the digital DJ download sites. It's
actually a result of the collaboration between this really cute DJ Per
QX, someone I gave my demo tape to a few years ago in Miami at the
Winter Music Conference, and this other DJ on the London scene at
Salvation, Elliot J Brown. They were working on an instrumental track
and thought maybe these vocals would go with it, and they did.
RS: So did you re-sing for the track?
Lady Bunny: No, in fact they pared it down a bit to where it's
actually less of a verse/chorus thing and more of a dubby version with
the chorus and it has some other vocal bits and pieces in it too. I
really like it because it has a little bit of rock guitar and 80s
electro synth disco feel, so it's different from other stuff that I've
done but I think it works really well. These guys really know their
chords.
RS: It's really good when a DJ/producer knows how to make music.
Lady Bunny: The original song is in a little bit of an off-beat key.
I don't read music but I knew it was an unusual chord progression in
the song but somehow they managed to link it up nicely.
RS: You may not be able to read music but you can definitely
play music. I hear your Sunday disco night at Splash is blowing up.
Lady Bunny: Well, I was rather honored to have Grammy award-winning
Hex Hector as my fill in. I'm just teasing. Honey, I can't even mix,
so I'm not a real DJ, but I think I choose pretty good songs and the
crowd likes my spinning as much because they get a DJ and a clown in
one. I'll run down on the dance floor in between songs and carry on
with them. Splash has an amazing sound system and to hear songs like
"Hot Shot" and Debbie Jacob's "Don't You Want My Love" and "Ain't No
Mountain High Enough" on a big system- it's pretty spectacular.
RS: I think you bring a sense of fun that's missing in the DJ world.
Lady Bunny: Part of that is not mixing, because if I was sitting
there and really focusing on beatmixing with the headphones and
straining to hear, then I wouldn't be down on the dance floor hitting
all the stops to the breakdown of "I Don't Want to Lose Your Love." So
it's a bit of a trade-off.
RS: The DJs are billed as entertainers and they play other
peoples' music and you're out there doing that as well as entertaining
on so many more levels.
Lady Bunny: I started as a lounge DJ so it really wasn't that
important to mix, plus you're not on the main floor so I can jump
between different tempos and different styles. I like to let the
producer of the record be God. DJs nowadays see themselves as a god
and it's all about how they mix in and out of tracks which really
don't have a beginning and middle and end, or even a verse and a
chorus or even a chorus. The most exciting thing in most songs is a
drop out and then the same groove builds up. But if you're DJing and
you're playing songs like "Got To Be Real," you want to hear that
intro horn blast, da-da-da-dum da-da-da-dum bom and every bit of the
five minutes. So I believe in letting the producer be the God and I'm
happy to take a backseat and play their work. I was obviously out of
town when Hex was here and they were saying he was doing all kinds of
things like bringing the volume up and dropping the bass out - things
that really talented DJs who mix can do. I mean Hex can work a room
no matter what type of music he's playing and I would love to be able
to do more stuff like that because that does make it more exciting.
Technically I'm not the greatest DJ, but I think in terms of song
selection, I hope, I'm good. It's been fun because dance music in New
York hasn't been very vocal in years and I think people kind of miss
that.
RS: Yes, the whole idea of a song with the sing along to have fun with…
Lady Bunny: Or even a song where they start off slow dancing, like
"Come To Me," that has a slow intro, or "Love Hangover."
