Exclusive Interview: Young and talented Gloria Ansell

From a very young age, Gloria Ansell has always been involved in music. Her family of mixed heritage from Australia and Hong Kong, with an extensive musical background taught her to play such instruments as guitar, piano and drums, which would eventually pave the way for her future career in DJing.

 

Originally influenced by early electronic dance music, Gloria Ansell began experimenting mixing different genres together in her sets to create a musical journey that today make her sets absolutely perfect for any occasion at any venue around the world. Her sets range from House to Tech and Deep to EDM, Progressive, Trap or Twerk. Her energy and skills behind the decks are undeniable, making her one of the best technical female DJs in the world. This is what sets her aside from most female DJ's. Her passion, devotion, and energy is what she gives and what shows from all her performances.

 

These last few years have seen Gloria Ansell with DJ residencies at some of Southern China’s hottest clubs, from where she started at Evening Show in Shenzhen to Club LAX, and now on to her present residency at Pepper Club of which she is a part owner. Pepper Club has rapidly helped to shape the nightlife scene of Shenzhen and Southern China, of which Gloria Ansell has been instrumentally a part. Since opening it’s doors in 2013, Pepper Club has quickly become one of the leading nightclubs in all of southern China. At Pepper Club Gloria Ansell has shared the DJ booth with world renowned artists such as David Tort, My Digital Enemy, James Zabiela, Federico Scavo, Boy George, Plastik Funk, Dirty Vegas, Dave Seaman, Alex Kenji, Tenishia, Stefan Dabruck, and Howie B. 



In 2014 Gloria Ansell released her very first tech house collaboration with producer Nick Fay titled “Take That”. And in 2015, Gloria Ansell entered into the top 100 list for DJane Mag (djanemag.com) placing at No. 96 and was also voted top DJane for the month of June. She was recently selected in the 4th place for EDMdroid’s Top 10 World’s Sexiest Female DJ’s of 2015. 

DjaneMag: Gloria Ansell is you real name, isn't it? A lot of Djanes use nicknames! Why did you deside to use your real name becoming a Dj, but not a nickname? 

Gloria Ansell: Yes, Gloria Ansell is my real name. Someone told me that I have a very beautiful and unique name and that I should use it. Originally, when I started out DJing I chose the alias, Electra as my DJ stage name, as I was really loving the electro sound. But I switched back to my real name a few years down the line when I wanted to explore more as an artist and venture into the production side of things. 

DjaneMag: Being a female DJs, how it looks like? 

Gloria Ansell: It's an amazing career that I never really dreamed about. Being a female in a what used to be a very male predominant profession has its advantages. Although now that female DJ's are becoming so popular, the market is getting very competitive. But that's why we females need to earn our place through hard work to prove that we also can have the competence and talent to play great music, mix tracks deftly and win the hearts and minds of the audience and fans in front of us. 

DjaneMag: What challenges have you faced being a female DJ and how did you overcome them? 

Gloria Ansell: As a female DJ, one of most important things to me was being respected as a performer and artist not for my looks or sexy outfits but for my skills on the decks and my ability to work up the dance floor and satisfy the audience. Unfortunately there are female DJs out there who take advantage of and rely just on being beautiful who don't bother to actually learn the professional tricks of the trade but just want to take the quick and easy road to the top. The challenge for me was to distinguish myself from them and prove my capability and dexterity first and foremost. Looking good doing it should just be the cherry on the cake! :) 

DjaneMag: Could you describe your feelings when you play music? 

Gloria Ansell: When I play music I feel this energy ignite inside me that makes me want to move and dance. I've always loved dancing since I was a little until now, so any music that lights that spark inside of me to groove or shake I think must be good music. 

DjaneMag: What’s the most difficult thing about your job and what is the most enjoyable? 

Gloria Ansell: Difficult? There's nothing difficult about being a DJ, that's why everyone wants to be one! Ha ha.. No, I would have to say, one of the very time consuming things is always being on the quest to find good music to you can keep your sets evolving and sounding fresh. Also being a DJ means you have to stay up late every night you work even though sleep is very important especially for women. And we also spend a lot of time drinking alcohol and being in smoky, noisy environments, so we need to make up for it by staying fit and leading a healthy lifestyle in our off hours. 

DjaneMag: What style of music do you play? What style of music do you listen at home? 

Gloria Ansell: I play a few different styles depending on the venue and also the time slot I'm playing. But generally I love to play house, deep house, tech, progressive and electro. At home I listen to house music sometimes too, some ballad metal and some rock. 

DjaneMag: What are your biggest sources of inspiration when you are mixing or producing music? 

Gloria Ansell: When mixing, I feed off the energy and responses of the crowd, the smiles on people's faces, the movement of their bodies, the hands in the air and the power that the music fills the room with and I use it to give energy back in to the crowd. When producing I try to empty my mind of everything, focus on the people I love and tap into that pool of inspiration and mind power and then take it from there, listening to my favorite tracks also helps give me great ideas. 

DjaneMag: Do you have any exclusive news for readers at this moment you wanna share? 

Gloria Ansell: Yes, I'm happy to announce that my very first single track called Only One, featuring my own vocals has just been released on Beatport this month. I hope everyone enjoys it! Please check it out and have a listen, like, comment, share and/or purchase your own copy to listen to or to use in your own mixes. I'm also working on a few new tracks with a more future house sound so I hope that the inspiration will flow and there will be some fire bomb tracks coming out for you very soon!