Why hello there! Welcome back to the Fierce blog <3
This week we have another treat for ya! We meet the very wonderful Abi Whistance - DJ, radio presenter and disco lover (A GIRL AFTER OUR OWN HEART!!)
Abi Whistance presents a weekday show on Leeds Dance Radio, playing disco, funk and soul - we are simply hooked. With the end of lockdown looming, Abi has a new disco venture called Disco Juice that we are so excited to see take shape!
We set up Fierce to ultimately empower and support female talent, so when we stumbled across Abi we were excited - this is what it is all about after all!
We chat to Abi below on how she got started, what is next for her and any advice she has for anyone reading this that wants to give it a go. You can also listen to her mix here too!
Tell us a bit about yourself! How long have you been working in music?
I’m Abi, a music journalist and DJ living in Leeds! I moved here in 2018 to pursue a career in print journalism, but I ended up falling in love with radio and DJing pretty quickly. I’d been writing for blogs and magazines since I was 14 so it was a completely different direction for me to go in, but 3 years on I’ve managed to secure on slot on local radio and I’m loving it!
We love listening to your radio show on LDC radio! Tell us a bit about your show and the station, how did you get involved?
It was a real coincidence really. I was interviewing Dan Tidmarsh (one of the founders of LDC) for an article for The Yorkshire Post and he just offered me a trial for a daytime show. They were looking for someone to play funk, disco and soul on weekdays and that’s exactly what I do; it just seemed like the perfect fit. I went in for a trial and nearly a year later I’m still there, four days a week!
What kind of music are you listening to at the moment?
During lockdown I’ve been listening to Jonathan Richman on repeat- there’s something really comforting about his music and lyrics. He’s not particularly intricate or the world’s best musician, but there’s a warmth and wit to him that always makes me feel better. Other than that I’ve been listening to heaps of Afrobeat for a similar reason- it always cheers me up and gets me dancing!
What's coming up next for you?
I started my own online event called Disco Juice in November, so currently we’re looking at getting the ball rolling with that and finding a venue to host it in! It’s centred around playing a lot of more of the obscure disco and soul we all love, we’re constantly crate digging on Discogs for new stuff to play at each event. I’m really looking forward to bringing it into the real world in June.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to get into DJing and radio presenting?
It’s highly competitive but the best thing you can do is find your niche selling point and build on that. Creating a brand makes finding work a lot easier, and it makes you look more professional even if you haven’t been DJing or presenting for a particularly long time. It also really helps when you then go on to try and build working relationships with people; they’re much more likely to want to help you out and book you if you have a portfolio of work already online, with a consistent theme running throughout. And, of course, be really friendly and approachable! You never know who you might meet just through having a chat in a bar or at a gig, and you’ll find that most people are more than happy to help you out.
Huge thanks to Abi for that chat & mix! We can’t bloody wait to see you for a dance too! Be sure to follow Abi here <3