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Interview by Anitah Imani
Anitah:To get started, I want to get an idea of what influenced your music taste from the beginning. What has been your introduction to formulating a music taste?
Pootiecat:My mom had a big impact on my music taste. Growing up, we used to listen to a lot of hip hop and R&B from the 90s and early 2000s, on the radio. I used to dance technical Ballet, Modern, Jazz, African, Hip Hop, Tap, all those things, and we'd have to find music to dance to. For contemporary, we’d have to find more ambient sounds or tracks without lyrics.
What got me into DJing was me wanting to make my own mixes of what I already like to listen to in my playlists. I already had experience with mixing songs together because of dance, we had to mix our music ourselves. So that's where I started trying to combine all types of music that I like into one mix.
Anitah: I know you've been doing it for a long time, but I just don't know the exact year that you started DJing. Are you from out here, too?
Pootiecat:I'm from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I moved out here in 2016 when I was 19, and after a year of living out here, I ended up buying my first DJ controller in 2017. After June 2017, I did not stop DJing. I was locked in my room practicing so much. Then I finally had my first performance in January 2018, and I was a performing DJ after that.
Anitah: What's your favorite space that you've DJed at in Arizona?
Pootiecat:My top is always going to be Valley Bar, I've been there for so long now. Then Republica Empanda hosts Mesa Mercado where I play every last Saturday of the month. Lastly Chill X Chel events all over Arizona.
Anitah:Would you consider yourself to be an open-format DJ?
Pootiecat:Yes, I feel like my base will always be hip hop and R&B, but I do like to see how I can blend in other sounds like Jersey club, Nola Bounce, Bass, Juke, Jook, Ballroom, Dancehall, Afrobeats and other Afro sounds. Also jazzy and sexy beats that still fall in the R&B category. I do enjoy a nice lounge setting, grown-and-sexy speakeasy vibes. I live for that, so I really enjoy my Sunday night sets at Valley Bar when I’m able to highlight that side of my music taste.
Anitah: What would you say that you enjoy about the DJ culture out here?
Pootiecat: I really appreciate it when people have me on for theme nights. It really pushes me to expand the different crates that I may have started working on. I also like to just get out, besides being on the lineup, and just coming to see what people are curating for the community. So that is nice to see, and also to be a part of. I feel special when someone invites me on because I am capable of creating any sound that they have in mind.
Anitah: What would you say is the sound of Phoenix?
Pootiecat:Well, since we are technically little Mexico, I feel the Latin sound still runs Arizona, you can't escape that. Those people are very proud of their culture and their music, so it is going to be played wherever you go, you're going to catch some type of Latin music. Then on top of that, everyone loves hip hop, so you're always going to hear some hip hop sounds, even in Scottsdale nowadays.
Anitah:Since you do your Valley bar residency, what would you say is your favorite song to play to reset the dance floor?
Pootiecat:I feel you can classify it as timeless: “No Hands”. People love that song down, no matter what. I could lose the floor on accident, and that would always bring them back.
Anitah: Is there anything else that you wanted to add, or something I maybe didn't ask you?
Pootiecat:I have been trying to do my own social events. I started Speed Dating with Valley bar in 2024, and then I decided I wanted to do more for single people. So then I started doing a mix and mingle, and that's been doing very well. I really want to stick to social events where music is what brings people together.
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