The shesaid.so mix series aims to spotlight the diverse artists within our community. We’re committed to championing underrepresented voices from around the world, focusing on female, non-binary, trans and queer individuals. Our monthly mix series allows our contributing selectors to showcase their unique backgrounds and inspirations by creating exclusive, 30-minute live recorded soundscapes.
The shesaid.so Mix series continues this month with LA-based DJ and producer Mary Droppinz, whose eclectic signature sound combines her house and techno roots with electro-injected breaks, acid basslines, uplifting chords, and heavy kicks.
The buzzing selector has become a staple of the LA dance music community, performing at venues like Exchange, Academy, and Catch One, as well as festivals such as Desert Hearts and Minimal Effort’s All Hallows’ Eve.
Having started as a dancer before transitioning into DJing, Mary Droppinz channels her technical expertise and impeccable musical instincts to evoke feelings of transcendence during her performances. We caught up with the creative polymath ahead of her debut performance at Brooklyn’s vaunted Elsewhere venue this July.
Tell us the story of how you fell in love with music.
I fell in love with music when I was just a baby, my family always said I was dancing to Janet Jackson when I was growing up. I also went through a hard core emo phase in high school. I took piano classes and would join in drum circles. My dad plays drums, so watching him while growing up had a huge influence on my love for music.
How has your community, background or upbringing influenced your sound?
Coming from Nebraska and having been into emo music I always used music as an escape tool to connect myself to something deeper, so once I discovered the house & techno scene in Southern California, it was almost instantaneous that this was my path. I really fell in love with deep house to begin with, but as I have grown in the past eight years, I have fallen truly in love with breaks. I think it’s a natural progression of a seasoned musical ear to get to other subgenres in house music, and that’s really what influenced where I am at now. Another pivotal moment into finding my sound was actually the pandemic. When everything shut down, I was forced to face that I wasn’t really feeling the music I had been listening to and there was something different perking up to my ears, and that was breaks. Breaks reignited the gangster inside me.
Who or where do you draw inspiration from?
I solely move off of intuition, so that’s where I have drawn most of my inspiration from. Artists I look up to are Mall Grab, Ben UFO, Nikki Nair, Danny Daze, Peggy Gou, LSDXOXO Green Velvet and the Martinez Brothers.
Is there a theme to your mix? What can listeners expect to hear?
I wanted to make a mix with only my original music, so that’s what I did!
What are you currently working on, and what are you looking forward to in 2022?
I am working on a few exciting remixes and looking forward to playing in your city!