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Sam Divine talks tattoos, Defected and her new album

Defected's first lady chats to Clubz about how important the label has been for her career and why the time is right for her to make music

IF you know your house music, then you’ll know Sam Divine.

A worldwide DJ for the past decade, Sam is a House connoisseur with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the genre. She has a reputation as a party starter, with an in-built ability to hype any crowd. Having stormed closing sets with Defected worldwide, Sam is set to embark on her journey to becoming one of the UK’s most respected house DJs. She catches up with us ahead of her set at the paradise Caribbean festival, Groovefest, which takes place in Dominican Republic, to talk tattoos, her new album, her La Vita charity work and much more.

Sam Divine - 201617208nV2
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Defected's first lady...Sam Divine

What is your favourite bit of ink and where is it? How long have you been getting tattooed?

My favourite tattoo is my 5th one. I never intended to get a full sleeve; it started off as cuff but gradually grew up my arm over the space of a year in 3 different stages. 15 hours later I was left with a beautiful Japanese inspired full sleeve. I’ve started a full leg piece, there’s about another 10 hours to go. My 1st tattoo was when I was 15. It’s very addictive. I have 11 in total.

You have been playing Ibiza 11 years now - how much has it changed, and how much have you changed, in that time?

It’s changed heaps, I’m not sure for the better or worse, there a mixture of feelings out there. I’ve got to play every club in the good times so I hold very fond memories of my earlier residencies at Hush, Es Paradis, Café mambo, Pacha, Ushuaia and most recently amnesia and Sankeys so I’ve done the rounds. Every club has its own unique vibe so you have to adapt, I think this is the main reason I’m still playing the big clubs 11 years on. You have to know your onions as my Dad would say.

What is it like to have been linked to Defected for so long? What have you learnt and picked up from the label and Simon and the team?
My time at Defected has been life changing. I’ve played all around the world, met and played with my hero’s, played clubs, festivals, boats, beach clubs, you name it I’ve done it. I’ve even played in a tree in a jungle themed party. I owe my career to Simon Dunmore, he’s been my mentor for more than 7 years. Even before I was signed to the Artist roster the label inspired me musically. ½ my record collection is Defected from 2001. You never stop learning with Defected, it's the only House label in the world that has been running successfully for more than 15 years and it's still selling out shows, and hitting number #1 with singles so the formula is still working.

Tell us a bit more about your new album!?

It’s been a long time coming. A lot of people in the industry told me I would never make it unless I made records but Simon always told me to concentrate on my DJing and nail that as a craft first so that’s what I did and it massively paid off but I felt the time was right to get in the studio and make some music. After how successful Flowers was last year, I had no idea how massive that was going to be. Playing my own music gave me a massive buzz so the album showcases 2 mixes and also 5 brand new productions that I’ve collaborated on with friends who I admire as producers.

You play Space soon for what will be the last time. What makes the club so great, will there ever be anything like it ever again?

I just played Space for the 1st time. It was a very humbling moment. One of my very first clubbing experiences in Ibiza was ‘In bed with Space’ It started in the morning and was the first experience of a real after party. The idea of going to a club at 8am after you’ve been in a club all night already intrigued me. It was really uplifting House music, I remember hearing Barbara Tucker for the first time live to all my favourite records that I had on vinyl and it blew my mind. I’ll never forget that atmosphere. Everyone will be super sad when it shuts, it holds lot of magical memories for tons of people.

When DJing what’s most important to you - selections, technical skills, educating crowds with new music, or simply making people dance?

It’s very different. You can’t go in as hard if you’re a resident. A lot of younger DJ’s don’t get this simple rule. They play for themselves and not as a team. The night needs to build throughout the course of the night. If the promoter programmes the night correctly then you’ll have a party that has a start, middle and ending. I always programme my parties like this. Nothing worse walking into a club and the DJ is smashing it out, it's over-whelming. I miss playing warm up a lot. I love stripping it back, dropping the tempo and playing cool records that I buy or get sent but never have the chance to play out. My bag is deep house and always has been from my soulful days but my sound has grown since then. In my DJ mixes I post online they are always a lot deeper than I play out.

When DJing what’s most important to you - selections, technical skills, educating crowds with new music, or simply making people dance?

Number 1 rule in DJ’ing is to make people dance. If you’re not then you’re not doing your job properly. It used to be about taking people on a journey and educating them on new music but the crowds are getting younger and DJ’s tastes in music is changing. You can’t play the same set out 15 times a month, it gets boring but people already know what the want to hear. They want to hear what every other DJ is playing and sometimes you wont even get a reaction until you drop something they know. It’s really frustrating sometimes. I come from an era where I never used to know anything a DJ played and I still had a banging night so I have the educating mentality drilled into me since day.

Tell us about being involved with Breast Cancer Research. Whats your role and when did you link with the charity?

I founded La Vita in 2006 when I first moved to London. My best friend and I moved from Bristol together. I slept on a sofa bed in the front room for 6 months. I moved initially because Soulful House had dried up in Bristol and Cardiff where I was mostly playing and I knew it was still huge in London but I needed to get my name out there. My Nan passed form Breast Cancer so my mum suggested throwing a party and donating all the funds to Breast Cancer research. So I did some researching and booked 25 female DJ’s. We did it on a Thursday night in the west end at a club called Sin. I had no idea if it was going to work but I was driven by passion. The night was a total success so we carried on doing parties every year and donating all the ticket sales. We’ve had EZ, Matt Jam Lamont & Todd Terry as some of our headliners and to date donated over £36,000.

You play at the beautiful Groovefest in the Caribbean soon - will you play differently in a sunny Paradise like that? What should people expect from you out there?

This is the first time I’m taking my label outside of the UK. We have a D-Vine Sounds party on the beach so this year will be extra special. I love playing Groovefest, this will be my fourth one. It’s great because all the DJ’s stay for a few days and hang out so its good to catch up with everyone and you also make new friends with the party people because you all go to the same parties everyday. Daytime vibes is different to Club vibes. I dig deep when I play in the sunshine, pull out the classics and keep it more groovy, people don’t want to hear 3am club bangers at 5pm on the beach. Groovefest is definitely one of my favourite dates in the summer diary. There’s nothing else out there like partying or playing in paradise and that’s really what it is. Paradise!

Catch Sam playing at Groovefest Dominican Republic Sept 4-11th. For more information . 

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