Time-Defying Female DJs

From Singapore’s All-Girl Punk band pioneer to a chopin-inspired ambient pop producer, time-defying female DJs speak to L’officiel Singapore. The OG multi-hyphenate ginette chittick, the queen of drum and bass Aresha Krishnan, genre-chameleon Farah Azizan, and electronic pop maven Wern Luk – these are the names on our lips for a shimmy like no one is watching

- Maya Menon

On how it all started

Ginette Chittick (GC): At 15 I started playing in indie bands and formed an all-girl punk band with my friends. This was the ’90s and so there weren’t any other all-girl bands in the scene. It was quite an amazing time for local music and we were making zines, trading demo tapes and EPs.

Through the music and clubbing scene I met many like-minded people. I met George Chua and Kelvin Tan – co-owners of the legendary Home Club – who asked me if I wanted to start an indie club night with George and Joe Ng. We ended up naming the night BEAT! and it ran for seven years. I never imagined I would be a resident DJ for so long – it was some of the best times of my life.

Farah Azizan (FA): I started DJ-ing around the age of 20. It was all for fun. I started at house parties first, and then open deck sessions at Home Club and suddenly I was getting booked to play at proper gigs.

Wern Luk (WL): I didn’t start making music until I was at Central Saint Martins, London. I was surrounded by so much talent and creativity, it gave me the push to start experimenting on my own.

I produced demos and posted them on SoundCloud. I got involved with the club scene in London and played at underground raves. An artiste management team and record label based in NYC found my work and reached out to me shortly after. For the next few years, I went on tour and played gigs internationally. Since returning to Singapore, I’ve become more involved with communities here and around Asia.