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A fresh talent from Missouri is emerging on the international Club scene. She’s bringing
unparalleled energy to audiences craving an escape from the everyday grind to a paradise
of harmonic orgasms. The vessel on this melodic voyage is captained by DJ/Producer Vinyl
Bitchie who takes audiences to non-chartered locations every time she performs. This is
quite evident as she takes you on a journey through her new album “UpBeat”.
Born in Ferguson (North St Louis County), Missouri Vinyl grew up in a large family with 5
brothers and 5 sisters. Her family all shared a strong passion for music anchored by Vinyl’s
father. “When I was young my father was in a band. He played guitar and my mom played
the guitar as well”, Vinyl remembers. She was also captivated by her father’s vast record
collection which spanned numerous genres and generations. Her early influences include
Stevie Nicks, Earth Wind and Fire, Herbie Hancock, Tina Turner and Marvin Gaye just to
name a few.
When Vinyl was a little girl she and the rest of the kids in her family performed in church
every Sunday. One week while the kids were performing a local gospel producer selected
her and one of her sisters to participate in a local gospel project. Her petite size led the
producer to assume that she was a soprano but when Vinyl started singing with her deep
voice, the producer instantly knew that Vinyl had something incredibly unique. At this
moment Vinyl realized that music was always going to be a gigantic part of her life and she
was confident that she had something unique to share with the world.
Although she dedicated the majority of her teens/early twenties dancing and modeling, she
never forgot her passion for music. By age 15 she learned how to DJ and started spinning
primarily Hip Hop records whenever she could find the time. As time went by Vinyl grew out
of dancing and modeling and spent more and more time working as a DJ. As time pasted,
her passion for spinning Hip Hop records shifted to Electronica music after being influence
by DJ Heather, Legendary Gary Mac, and Don Tinsley. She began spinning raves, parties
and clubs in and around the St Louis area and slowly started to develop a name for herself
in the house scene.
In 1998 Vinyl took her passion for music to a new level when she accepted a DJ position at
89.5 The Wave, a College radio station in St Louis with an alternative rock format. There
was one problem, Vinyl, known then as DJ Phantazum, was a House, Trance, and
Progressive lover and refused to follow the Alternative Rock format. Diana Kirby, the station
manager at the time, appreciated Vinyl’s spunk and decided to allow her to feature House,
Trance, and Progressive. This decision paid off for the station and Vinyl developed a loyal
following. While DJing at the radio station was great for developing a fan base, she didn’t
feel the satisfaction she wanted as an on-air personality. She soon took over the more
popular Saturday night slot at the radio station and developed an even larger fan-base. She
had to change the name of her show from Friday Night Friction to Melodic Voyage, which
became the name of Vinyl’s entertainment company. After obtaining popularity in the
College radio market, Vinyl was approached with numerous opportunities in commercial
radio.
The major crossroads in Vinyl’s life came when she decided to turn down a steady gig at a
plush radio station in Florida in favor of an on-air spot. Radio began to drive her nuts and
she remembers how annoying it was with the amount of time she spent talking to herself.
She couldn’t see or feel the people she was entertaining when she was on the air. She
decided to quit radio and dive full time into being a live club DJ and getting Melodic Voyage
on its feet. This is when DJ Phantazum died and DJ VINYL BITCHIE was born. “My goal as
a DJ is to bring something new that’s positive, make a point that life is short and you don’t
have to be serious all the time. It’s ok to have an open mind, to look crazy, and to have fun”,
she declares.
In 2003 Vinyl took her skills in the music industry to another level when she met and
befriended fellow Producer/DJ Juxtaposition. The two shared a common passion for music
and together they vowed to help the community by improving music programs in schools.
Juxtaposition was embraced as an intricate part of Vinyl’s company Melodic Voyage. It was
Juxtaposition who encouraged Vinyl to begin producing music. Vinyl took his advice and
under Juxtaposition’s wing they began to create a style of music that she describes as,
“Music that incorporates elements from New York House, San Francisco House, and
Chicago House and mixes it together to create a new sound that’s not so Cookie Cutter.”
Now the elements were all in place and Melodic Voyage had a great system to test their
music. Juxtaposition and Vinyl began to produce as much original music as they possibly
could. Vinyl would then take the music they created and spin it in Clubs and parties around
the Midwest to test what people liked. Melodic Voyage began to take off and finally Vinyl
would begin to garner International attention from fans and critics.
In 2006 Vinyl was interviewed by one of the biggest online female deejay publications, which
hosts female deejays and producers from all over the world, SheJay.net. This interview was
released in the Winter 2006 issue. Vinyl was also featured as one of "The Sexiest DJs In
The World" by M8 Magazine--a very popular UK club culture publication (The March 2007
Winter Music Conference Edition). This magazine hosts top deejays from all over the globe.
She also held the 1 rank for St. Louis Missouri DJs on TheDjList.com, "The world's largest
DJ directory" in 2006 & 2007.
Not only was Vinyl being recognized as an incredible internationally talented DJ, she was
beginning to receive acknowledgment as a producer as well. In 2006 her debut single
"Where Should I Go?" climbed Indy underground charts to the 1 spot, along with her mix
"Frequently Modulated". Her remix "Julez Santana vs Swank -Housework" was in the top 50
spot as well. With the success of her single fans were constantly asking when her debut
album would become available for purchase.
Vinyl knew that it was time to buckle down and give her fans what they’ve been asking for.
So she began the process of creating her debut release, “UpBeat”. The album aims to
break down walls between multiple genres, morphing house and progressive music, with
break beats, trance music and live instruments. When asked what the message was she
was trying to convey on the album Vinyl simply answers, “I just wanted people to know I did
work with Juxtapozishin on a few of the songs on this album, but the song with my credits on
them, I did produce them by myself. I am a Producer. I’m not like most female artist who has
other people producing music for them and then put their stamp on it. I don’t use samples.
Our music is made from scratch. It’s REAL”.
Some of the darkest moments in her life are revealed within the song, “On My Own”, as she
shares the true story of her not being faithful and dealing with the ramifications of almost
losing a soul mate. This turned out to be Vinyl’s favorite song on the album due to the deep
impact it had on her life. The most difficult song to produce on the album, she confesses,
was “Housin’ It” which displays Vinyl’s vocal abilities. “For months I was trying to figure out
what to do with the song, and Juxtaposition started barking at me to sing on the song. At
first I was a little hesitant but then we got really drunk one night and I said I’m going to get
in the closet now and Juxtaposition made it sound super duper nice. The track took 6
months to complete, and it took me getting trashed to get it totally finished.” Obviously the
work paid off as the song proves to be one of the best on the album.
Perhaps the album can best be defined by the Song “Upbeat”. The goal of “Upbeat” was to
create a song that would transcend genres and could be played in a wide variety of
environments. Vinyl sums it up by stating, “The track “Upbeat” uses break beats but the way
I produced it House DJs can spin it also, and that is what I want to do with this album.
Create songs that can be spun by multiple DJs in multiple genres.” This is definitely the
case and Vinyl has succeeded in her mission to take the world on an unforgettable Melodic
Voyage with her debut album. Jump on board and buckle your seat belt while you experience
it for yourself. You will not be disappointed. This is one artist that is sure to be traveling the
road of success for some time to come.
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