DJ Sonia and a Mountain of Vinyl: Beating the Boys at Their Own Game

The Stephen Frears film of 2000, “Hi Fidelity” has something of a cult status among music lovers. Based on the novel by Nick Hornby and transposed from London to Chicago, it follows the rather unhealthy passions of three record collectors in their mid-20s. One distinguishing factor of these young and amateur archivists is that they are all male. It is sometimes said that ardent collectors of records, stamps, coins, or any other inanimate objects are trying subconsciously to bring a sense of comforting order into their lives, since they lack the fundamental skills to survive in the “outside” world. Everything has to be compiled, ordered, listed…

The gender-specific aspect of this failing is the source of much humor in the novel and subsequent film, leading to some memorable quotes. Speaking in an imaginary conversation with an imaginary girlfriend, the story’s hero says: “My desert island, all-time, top-five most memorable breakups, in chronological order, are as follows: Alison Ashmore, Penny Hardwick, Jackie Alden, Charlie Nicholson, and Sarah Kendrew. Those were the ones that really hurt. Can you see your name on that list, Laura? Maybe you’d sneak into the top ten. But there’s just no room for you in the top five, sorry. Those places are reserved for the kind of humiliation and heartbreak you’re just not capable of delivering… ”

Girls have no place in a counted, catalogued, and orderly universe.

In the lives of these endlessly anxious young men, representatives of the opposite sex guarantee even more worry. They bring unpredictability and performance anxiety to an already fragile house of cards. So goes the legend and it appears to extend beyond the limits of the English-speaking world. It’s an issue that is also raised in the brief biography of Moscow’s DJ Sonia, who – as we can see above – has been a music fan from a very early age. Online, her work is framed in ways that speak directly to the seemingly universal problem of strange boys and their unwillingness to share records. “It’s generally accepted that fussy or purist record collectors don’t trust girls – and they’ll go great lengths to prove than females have no place in their midst. Nonetheless, when it comes to Sonia, the rule doesn’t apply…”

Stereotypes, be gone!

The reason for this exception to widely-accepted “rules” is the early age from which she began acquiring vinyl herself. Working her way first of all through her parents’ collection, thanks to a turntable of her own, given by her uncle, she obviously developed a finely-honed sensibility faster than her contemporaries. Rumor has it that the first record she was ever given was Kraftwerk’s The Robots, at the age of twelve(!). Somebody was keen to instill a very adult aesthetic as soon as possible. Deadpan Deutsche-humor isn’t really designed for schoolchildren; po-faced, post-industrial wit assumes a slightly older listener. Nonetheless, the record was both received with gratitude and cherished with much love. This same present, says Sonia, also started her gradual move away from mainstream pop and nudged her in the general direction of electronica, which would eventually lead to an enduring passion for dance-related tracks.

The first record that she ever purchased with her own money was equally grown-up: “I bought some ambient recording or other. It had a bright-blue cover; I got in on a trip to Prague in 1997.” In the life of a classic record collector, such early acquisitions are usually entrusted to nobody and slowly garner a legendary status for themselves. Sadly this was no to be, since Sonia decided to lend the disc to a trusted friend, no doubt of the make persuasion. Suddenly the recording was in suspect hands. And indeed: “The record went on a ‘little journey’ to someone’s house… and never came back.”

Rather than cry over spilled vinyl cleaner, it was time to get a big can of energy drink and start a new collection. The game was on.

Sonia first tried her hand at DJ-ing for school discos, after deciding at the early age of 15 that her future lay in the field of live music. These initial sets of all were compiled on cassettes and broadcast using dated equipment that was both cursed by wobbly internal contacts and held together with sticky tape. Such problems were surmountable, though: at home, she had already learned how to solder a turntable to bigger and better speakers.

Nowadays things have reached a slightly more stable stage of evolution, but despite working in more public and profitable spheres, her love of music remains very private. When asked in a recent interview about her greatest fear, she said – partly in jest – that comments left online by anonymous individuals were particularly damaging to a delicate ego: “They can be so evil!”

Should criticism become unmanageable, a sizable trunk is always on hand for a swift exit.

Thankfully, such drama is nowhere to be seen. Music – judging by new comments made to the Russian press – remains the driving force in her daily activities. When asked what she would take with her to a desert island, “music” – not surprisingly – is Choice #1. Whenever she is touring, therefore, she strips down her potentially sizable luggage (and the contents of that trunk) to absolute essentials, including some mobile melodies:  ”I’m always on the road and take with me the laptop, IPhone – since I use it as an IPod, too – and a nasal spray with menthol and eucalyptus! Plus some lip balm…”

Whenever she manages to return home and finds herself able to shoulder something other than a noise-making machine or skincare product, she is frequently occupied with two very different and domestic tasks: painting walls and making soup. Such is the glamorous life of a Moscow DJ.

Packets of dry minestrone and a stiff paintbrush: the cover of Vogue awaits.

Her club work is regularly held in high regard by the Moscow press, especially when the subject turns to issues of choice and/or taste. “Sonia’s selection of the right tracks for her sets is always spot-on. Her record collection is full of real treasures, all the way from jazz, funk, or disco to super-trendy house and techno. She displays this wealth of knowledge twice a month when she plays as resident DJ at [the Moscow club] Propaganda. She also can be seen at all kinds of smaller parties, the kind of places where people really appreciate her taste and ability to set the right mood – with the right records.”

Consulting work is always available on request.

There is one particular event in her brief biography that speaks volumes vis a vis her enduring enthusiasm and the amount of effort needed to win over the kind of male collectors we see in Hi-Fidelity. The first official gig she had in Moscow was at the Ikra club. While Britain’s tech-house outfit Swayzak played on the main dancefloor, Sonia tried to impress the revellers on a secondary stage. She played for nine hours straight! In the absence of loops or samples, thanks heavens for the enormous stack of vinyl at home.

Sonia’s newer work can be found, grabbed, and treasured thanks to several venues. A few of the more recent mixes are housed at Radio Tochka, on the blog at her MySpace account, along with Mixmag, Soundcloud, and at 44100. That alone is over 5 hours of downloadable new music, not to mention the streaming audio.

Burn it all to CD and start your own collection.

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