Miss Wendy: “Playing with shaking legs”

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In 2014 Dutch DJ MIss Wendy told me about her fIRST GIG. "The DJ booth was placed on a hay wagon."

This post is also available in: Nederlands (Dutch)

Someone once told me that Miss Wendy sort of is considered to be the 'inventor' of hardclub. That's quite an image to live up to! For sure, I got to know Dutch DJ/producer and house pioneer Wendy van de Paverd a.k.a. Miss Wendy as a strong woman with a powerful sound. In 2014 she told me about her first gig. "The DJ booth was placed on a hay wagon."

“My first gig was on a farm that belonged to one of my friends. It was close to Uithoorn and took place on July 7th 1994, so almost exactly twenty years ago. The event was held on a huge farm.”

Hay wagon

“The whole property was decorated and the DJ booth was placed on a hay wagon. I was the closing DJ and admittedly, I was pretty nervous.” (laughs)

miss wendy toen - Miss Wendy: "Playing with shaking legs"

Shaky legs

“As a result, I played my set on shaky legs. And yes, of course, this added to the pressure of playing,”

Friends and acquaintances

“Most of the people in the crowd were friends and acquaintances. I think we were somewhere in between fifty and a hundred, all together.”

miss wendy press photo 2016 - Miss Wendy: "Playing with shaking legs"

Followed my feeling

“I had prepared my set in general at home, but when I started playing, I totally followed my feeling. It helped that a lot of people who were present supported me.”

A lot to learn

“Looking back on it, the set went pretty well. I’m sure that you can imagine that the first time playing for an audience at a ‘real’ party, there’s a lot to learn. For example, about building up or off. And most definitely about how to interact with the audience and with that, to consider the time I had to play.”

miss wendy 2010 by Gerard Henninger - Miss Wendy: "Playing with shaking legs"

No blueprint

“So yeah, you can learn a lot from your first gig. In those days, there was no blueprint of how to be a DJ or to become one. Nor was defined what skills you needed.”

Only one style

“In the end, there was only one style: house. That was it. Being a pioneer, you just had to figure out everything by yourself. That’s how I created my own style and genre: hardclub.’

miss wendy 2021 - Miss Wendy: "Playing with shaking legs"

“As far as mixing was concerned, I believe it all went pretty well from the start. But sure, through the years my skills have become smoother and on top of that I learnt a lot of new technical moves! It would be weird if I hadn’t!” (laughs)

This interview with Miss Wendy is originally published on DJMag.nl on July 15th 2014.

Who is Miss Wendy?

Miss Wendy has been active as a DJ since 1994. As Miss Wendy experienced the beginning of the house scene in The Netherlands she got inspired to play her own music. So it didn’t take long before she had her own turntables and her own records. From there on it was just a matter of time to DJ at her first party.

After Miss Wendy got her residencies in the hot clubscene of Amsterdam (“Dino’s” and “Club Escape”) she started to get some serious “die-hard” fans. That’s because Miss Wendy is loved for her different “bassy” uplifting style, with the right technical moves at the right moment. This is how “Dino’s” became one of the most hot and busy spots in the city, with the best sound and the best soundsystem.

Together with her DJ colleagues Miss Wendy experienced a full madhouse, every weekend for about eight years. Through those years Miss Wendy has played with the likes of DJ Jean (iT), Guan Elmzoon (King Bee), Tom Harding (UK), Eric Nouhan, Dimitri, Per, Tall Paul (UK), Mark van Dale, Erik E, Miss Djax, Dano, Michel de Hey, DJ Jurgen, Abraxas & Flamman (Fierce Ruling Diva), Robert Armani, Angel Moraes (USA), Billy Nasty (UK) an many more.

Nowadays Miss Wendy is a national and international talent and she is playing throughout The Netherlands in clubs, om events and festivals like: Heineken Music Hall (Amsterdam), Escape Venue (Amsterdam), Wester Unie (Amsterdam), Paradiso (Amsterdam), Dance Valley Festival (UDC), HouseQlassics (Q-Dance/ID&T), Extrema Festival (Eindhoven), Ground Zero Festival (UDC/Multigroove), MTV, TMF, Slam FM and in countries like Switzerland (Loveparade / Zurichfest), Ibiza, Germany (Tunnel, Hamburg / Loveparade, Berlin), Belgium, Portugal, Bulgaria (Samsarabeach / Sofia), Russia, South Africa (Capetown) and Tunis.

Miss Wendy’s music style has finetuned into a variety of electro, tribal, with techno-trance influences and still ofcourse always with a strong bass. By mixing different styles together, her musicsets remain interesting, moving and pumping. Miss Wendy also organized the monthly MINX Exclusive parties in “Club Escape in Amsterdam, together with Alex Motu, Tec909 parties, at the “P3” in Purmerend and their own Amsterdam Dance Radio/TV Live show, with co-host DJ Bob Squat.

More Miss Wendy?

More FIRST GIGs? Check them all here!

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