Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on March 2011

Courtesy of Planet Gong Productions

DJ Shinedoe is looking forward to getting back behind the decks at Shibuya megaclub Womb. But aside from some wicked memories, she isn’t expecting to come away with much. “I think last time I spent all my Japan gig money on food and clothes, and I have a feeling this time will be the same,” she confesses. “I am crazy about Japanese food and fashion.”

A storied DJ and producer as well as the force behind Intacto Records, Shinedoe has a rep for tracks that span the gamut from punishing Detroit techno to clicky minimal and on to more soulful garage. She first got into dance music in the early ’90s, and it became her career after she took a course in sound engineering in 1996.

“I remember when I first heard the music, it induced a ‘feel good’ factor that felt so natural,” she recalls. “I immediately knew electronic music was going to be a huge part of my life. Club-wise, the Roxy and Mazzo in Amsterdam were the most influential for me. As for local DJs, I’ll always remember Dimitri—he fused different genres and really took you on a sound journey. When I think about the labels, the first that spring to mind would be 100% Pure and Outland Records. They felt Detroit-inspired, they gave electronic music a human factor—dance music with depth, warmth and soul. I loved it!”

These days, Shinedoe has moved from spinning vinyl to using the latest Traktor software, but she retains a connection to the past that reaches all the way back to her motherland. “My Nigerian roots run deep and they continue to influence the way I move, feel and express myself,” she says. “Although the country is 3,000 miles away, it has hugely contributed to my music and my way of thinking. But for me it is not a physical area of land defined by borders on a map—it’s an emotional connection that I feel with a passion, and it’s the same concept that I have for my music—I have to feel it.”

Shinedoe adds that she tries to craft dance music that transcends borders, cultures and genres. “Diversity and fluidity are key,” she says. “I believe everything in life and in my music is linked: connected, not categorized. The title of my last album describes my way of thinking the best: No Boundaries.”

To get a taste of her upcoming set, simply check out Shinedoe’s latest studio effort. “My new EP Bring it On came out on February 16,” she says. “I’d been in the studio and the New Year was fast approaching and I thought, ‘Yes! Bring on 2011, bring it on.’ I guess that ‘ready for everything’ attitude shines through in the melody—it has bounce! My last release, Ritmo Sumbreeze, was straight for the techno dancefloor, [but] this time it’s perhaps warmer, more charming.”

Womb
March 11, from 11pm, ¥3,500. Shibuya. Tel: 03-5459-0039. www.womb.co.jp www.facebook.com/Shinedoe