interview: SOLD [chicago]
Glenna Fitch, aka Sold, has been a DJ for nearly eight years, with roots all over the Midwest United States. Now active in Chicago’s Smart Bar scene, I caught up with her at Communikey, the boutique techno festival in Boulder, Colorado, to talk about her evolution as a DJ, and how Chicago has influenced--and is still influencing--her as an artist.
You’ve been DJing for a while, but what’s your connection to music as a dancer?
Well I used to be afraid to dance out, and I had a lot of trouble at school dances and that kind of thing. In college I wanted to go out to dance nights and we would drive from Kent up to Cleveland to some bar only to wait two hours to start dancing. We were underage and couldn’t drink, too. One time it was really late and people still weren’t dancing, and we were like “why are we wasting our time not dancing” so my friend and I went right up to the front and just started. And since then I’ve told myself that I’ll always be the ice breaker on the dance floor. Even when I go out to Smart Bar today, I carry that mentality with me. To me, music—I believe at its core—was made to make us dance. In a way, dancing is the most important thing.
Do you feel like dance is more of a female thing? Or in some way more understood and appreciated by females? Or is it genderless?
I’ve seen that idea [that dance is gender-specific] perpetuated before. I’ve also seen a lot of jokes surrounding the idea of men dancing, like it’s somehow emasculating if a dude just wants to dance. People make it seem like a strictly gay thing too. I don’t believe that. I think females are more comfortable with expressing it because of the way gender roles are set up in our society. It’s a dual issue. By saying dance is a female thing, you are saying only women can do “women things”, and number two, you are suggesting that dancing is frivolous, which isn’t true. When you don’t care what you look like, and can 100% throw yourself into it, it becomes a form of therapy. I think it’s only more socially acceptable for women to admit it. But I also know plenty of dudes who are willing to admit it because they don’t care about gender rules.
[“We are here to dance. Let’s all be honest with ourselves. We want to get lost in music for a few hours, and we don’t need to find a reason for it or make it more intellectual than it has to be. We can work out issues on the dance floor, I know I do every single time. It’s a basic thing that we need.” ]
There’s been a lot of talk lately surrounding the lack of females, or gender discrimination in one form or another, in the electronic community. What’s your experience like as a female making music in the scene?
There are two different modes of experience and perspectives for me – one, being a DJ, and two, being a dancer on the floor. There are overlapping issues between these two modes of being, and some that are completely separate. But one overarching for both is sexual harassment. Another is not being taken seriously, which goes back to the perspective that dance is frivolous. A big thing I’ve noticed with being a female DJ is, for example, is when you go up to the booth because you are playing and security just assumes you are going up to flirt with the DJ, or make a request. This isn’t as common in the places I frequent, but at some places the staff is very disrespectful to females. One night, my friend invited me to see him DJ. I was dancing on the floor and was harassed. So I went up to the booth to hang out with my friend, and the bouncer (there was a bouncer at the DJ booth) assumed I was dating the DJ, and wouldn’t let me up there, saying “you can come up here when your boy is up here.” When I explained what had happened, and that I didn’t want to be on the floor, he overreacted and said I was “out of control,” so I left. I’ve had people say that it’s your fault [for going to such-and-such club]. But I feel like if I want to go see a DJ at a club I should be able to go, no matter where it is, and not feel like I am going to suffer for it.
You frequent Smart Bar, and you’ve played there. How has Smart Bar influenced your own evolution?
At first I didn’t know anyone. But the first person I met was actually, here, at Communikey, a year ago—Sam Kern (Sassmouth) and once I met her and came to Chicago, she was so awesome and introduced me to everyone, which was really great. Then Movement really solidified it—that’s where I met Marea (The Black Madonna) who does talent booking for Smart Bar. She greatly encouraged my DJing and even pulled me into the Daphne series back in March. I also help out with Hugo Ball.
So are things are feeling fluid in Chicago?
Yeah, Smart Bar has a lot of little groups based on the different monthlies and residencies. The different divisions all interact with each other. Like Sam’s – Planet Chicago – it’s very much her own style (though as an artist she plays a lot of styles and she’s not limited to one genre). And then there’s Oktave--Jeff Derringer’s party--which is more of a techno night. So there are all these different nights and there are regulars that go to some, or one, or all of them. There’s not really any distinct line which is what I love about it. I always go to Sam’s parties and Oktave and Hugo Ball, and it’s really easy to just float between all of them.
Lately I’ve heard that the popularity of house music is fading in Chicago, despite the fact that house is so often equated with the Chicago scene. Would you say house is still the driving force in the Chicago scene?
I’ve seen a lot of articles lately that claim that house isn’t important in Chicago anymore, and I’m not sure why. Someone posted a response to that – it was a photo of something like 50,000 people that came out for Frankie Knuckles’ memorial. I went and it was so insane. So for people that say house isn’t important in Chicago, it’s just not true.
Do you produce?
Not yet, but I just bought a 707. I’ve played around with that for a little while with a friend, and I’m really excited to use it more. I surmise that pretty soon here I’m gonna get more into production. In the 7 and a half years I’ve been DJing—I ask myself “why aren’t you producing yet?” But I don’t want it to feel like an obligation. I’m just letting myself ease into it. I don’t have any concrete plans but I would like to produce. I want to at least try it and have fun with it. And if it turns into something serious, that’d be a great thing. Right now my goal is to try it and to see how it feels.
You’ve grown as an artist in the past few years, regardless. How have you grown and how has your taste changed or progressed?
When I started in college when I was 23, I started DJing mostly because I wanted to dance. We were sick of driving up to Cleveland to see music. So we started DJing at this shitty bar in the town. And I thought, wow, this feels really good – maybe I really want to do this. I started out with the indie-dance stuff, and then it took a turn into bloghouse – which was kind of like a precursor to EDM – so I left that, and then I moved to Denver. I was blown away and realized I didn’t know as much as I thought I did, and I researched music for a long time. Denver really likes a lot of garage and bass. The Hundred crew, for example, they tend more towards the UK influence. Then I got to Chicago – and at this point I was already listening to and DJing house in Denver – but then I got to know way more about house. I started to DJ at a friend’s party that she did at a bar. And I started to think, I’ve been DJing digital for years. I just felt like my tastes were really immature and the only way to focus and grow them was to switch to vinyl.
How long have you been DJing with vinyl?
Only since August. But I had my first vinyl show at Smart Bar, which Marea (The Black Madonna) asked me to do. Before the show, there was a lecture (as part of the Daphne series) and Erika did an awesome thing where she showed everyone all of her machines and what she uses them for. It was a really great moment: to watch people who know these machines—women especially—talking about them. Before this talk, Marea asked me to play some records, and it was terrible. I botched every transition I did. I also had an ear infection so I couldn’t hear well. I felt so terrible about that gig but Maria was like “let me tell you about mistakes. I have made some mistakes.” She made me feel so much better. That was my first vinyl gig.
How would you describe your sound? Do you think of yourself as genre specific?
Not really. There’s so much I like. A friend joked with me that my taste is “wide open.” But I’m exuberant about dance music. I love it. Sometimes I like things that aren’t as “cool” but I feel like it has merit, regardless. However, my taste has definitely matured and now I focus mainly on house and techno. Getting people moving is what matters. That’s always my thing. We are here to dance. Let’s all be honest with ourselves. We want to get lost in music for a few hours, and we don’t need to find a reason for it or make it more intellectual than it has to be. We can work out issues on the dance floor, I know I do every single time. It’s a basic thing that we need.