Moxie Talks New Sounds and Underrepresentation

From local pirate radio to a world takeover, during the last ten years, London-based DJ Moxie has been on a journey of expansion, driving herself and an arsenal of talented women around the world. With a weekly NTS show, as label boss to On Loop, a voiceover artist and the supplier of eclectic dance music to parties across the globe, Moxie is one of the busiest women in music, but that doesn’t stop her investing in others. We linked up with her at Bilbao BBK live to talk new sounds and underrepresentation.

Since her days playing British dubstep at ATG raves, Moxie’s sound has become more encompassing of the world around her. These sounds, she acknowledges, are just the tip of the iceberg; "the more that you travel for gigs the more of the world you see. There’s always more to take in". "Because I was so much in the UK scene and in the bass world when I first started out over 8 years now, that was the music I was playing. Naturally though, the older you get the more you branch out."

"The more that you travel for gigs the more of the world you see. There’s always more to take in."

Growing and nurturing her ear around the label likes of Hessle Audio and Hyperdub, Moxie has had an innate taste for local, homegrown sounds - a philosophy that she does not leave behind when packing her bags for the next international trip. "There are certain countries, festival stages and clubs that respond to things in different ways. It’s really about testing the water. The more that I travel the world the more I get the opportunity to try things out".

Although her roots are in a London-centric sound, Moxie has been a trailblazer of conflating the local and global. Through her label, 'On Loop', Moxie releases compilation albums featuring some of the greats of global underground scenes. On Loop also tours around various European cities, with a local DJ from that place getting involved to "represent that place that we’re going to". Having hosted stages at the likes of All Points East and Glastonbury, Moxie uses her platform to support female talent. Addressing the underrepresentation of people of colour in dance music, the DJ makes evident that ‘things need to be shaken up to reflect dance music as a culture’.

"You really have to be strong and ignore the bullshit because there is so much misogyny"

In an industry where sexism is still so rife, she advises "you really have to be strong and ignore the bullshit because there is so much misogyny", Moxie has created a platform for the progression of underrepresented groups. Not just a DJ, she is an advocate of women and sends out a simple reminder that with the development of the internet "it’s so easy to find young women and harness their talent". Powerful and gifted women are everywhere.

We asked Moxie what items she could never leave behind when touring:

- Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream

- A packet of Smints

- MAC’s Lady Danger lipstick

- Earplugs to sleep with (can’t go to bed without them)

- D’Angelo’s 'Voodoo' LP downloaded onto my Spotify because it never gets old & helps me relax