Manda Dex says: "When we started talking we realized we were heading in the same direction, embracing a wide range of styles - from soulful, funky-chunky house, including tech and tribal beats to trance and nu-skool breaks."
Dex says that as a female DJ it is hard to get taken seriously in what is essentially a boys club. "However, while Amber has backing from Denon and Vestax, I am looking to get further into mainstream radio." Currently she presents her weekly Sunday Munch for Point Blank 108FM where she plays all styles of house music and a touch of breaks . . . "but I love the filthy stuff best."
The former professional dancer is also well-known in the Middle East. It was while dancing that she learnt to mix and five-and-a-half years later she can boast a CV which has taken her all over the world. While her partner continues to explore the potential of Denon's DN-S3000 tabletop CD/MP3 players and Vestax PMC-CX Carl Cox Signature mixer - which she won as part of her DJ Telegraph prize - Dex is passionate about mixing on her 1210s, although she concedes there is a large place for the technical advancements offered by the 3000s, and is mastering them alongside Amber.
Following her DJ Telegraph success, the latter had wasted no time in firing up her new rig at RHUL: "I'm really enjoying using the DN-S3000s, especially now that I've had time to get to grips with all the advanced features. The slow-drag start up will be perfect to start the set, and the key lock is a fantastic feature which a lot of CD decks lack - it enables me to play a wide range of tunes faster or slower without it sounding like a chipmunk!"
For tune-to-tune beat mixing, she is discovering that the CD decks are as 'hands-on' in usage as her trusty 1210's. "This is due to the spinning platter, which you can touch just like vinyl - and as it happens you can actually place your own 7" on top for ultimate realness."
Her enthusiasm for the CD platform has quickly rubbed off on Manda Dex and both girls recognise that the DN-S3000's will facilitate a vastly expanded catalogue of tunes. "During the day I can burn the promo MP3s I receive, and by night I can play them out to the crowd," Angel considers. "It's a definite help to small-time producers like myself."
And mastering the art of CD scratching will be vastly simplified with the aid of these decks. "They are obviously a lot lighter to handle than a vinyl turntable, and the size of the platter makes small movements have a big effect. Being able to burn hundreds of MP3s on a single disk will also reduce space needs when travelling to gigs."
(Lee Baldock)
