Hello Kitty! Natasha Probert gets down on it.
Recently DJing with all her peers on the 99% male Southport Weekender line up. The ascent of DJ Natashya Kitty Katt Probert to such heights, in just a couple of years, has been nothing short of astronomic. The Zine's Dance Music correspondent, Gavin Black, spoke to the Queen of Nu-Disco, and found out what made her tick:.
In possession of an encyclopedia musical knowledge, Natasha Probert first came to my attention when she was out for a drink in London with my music editor, Dizzy Spell. I was intending to join them but due, at the time, to the state of my beloved Liverpool FC, being up to my eyes in my own music/writing and wishing to preserve my liver (!), it ended up with Dizzy (who was with Natasha at the time), phoning me. Bearing in mind that both ladies had had “a sherry or two...” (ahem) the conversation went something like this;
"Gav Gav Gav Gav....You've got to speak to my mate Natasha..she's down here from Edinburgh, loves the same kind of music as you, you both DJ and you've got to try and do something together"...
Natasha was then handed the phone and started a passionately engaging conversation which started with Northern Soul then moved through rare groove, soul, funk, disco, Motown and pretty much every genre of music in between, in chronological order.
I'm not impressed very easily but when speaking to Natasha she was right on the money with her musical history. Her dad was a DJ and obviously pointed her in the right direction. She grew up in a house that had three sets of Technics turntables (her preferred weapon of choice, above Pioneer CDJs (she has two pairs at home and three mixers). Natasha understands the need for advancements in technology. The thing that got me about Natasha is her youth as she has the musical knowledge of DJs twice her age.
She graduated from Napier University with a BA Honours in digital marketing while getting experiece at parties like Ladies On Ratation, Nightlife and Chic 54 in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle. She's even played at seminal club, Cabare Voltaire (a place I'd sell my own eyes to play at). In less than two years she became resident DJ at all of the above.
Natasha cites her musical influences as Ashford and Simpson, Teddy Pendergrass, Loletta Holloway, Chic and Thelma Houston. Her passion for these artistes was fuelled by record shopping in NYC's A1 Records on E.6th Street and Bleecker Street Records. When she talks DJs; Larry Levan (paradise garage god), Joey Negro, Danny Krivit, Joe Claussell, DJ Rahaan and live acts like Motor City Drum Ensemble have played a definite part in shaping her very talented sound.
Recently in the studio with producer Jonas Woolf on some disco re-edits, the future is looking really good. Kitty Kat is ripe for representation. A smart chic star in the making who knows her disco from her rare groove and is that rare thing in dance music, a genuinely nice person with ego in check. Knowing how the industry works, she's not afraid of putting herself out there. Check the links; disco the way it should be. With tradition and simplicity but always forward thinking and funky.